THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: SHADY SPECTATORS!

He's bet heavily on top pilot and regular Mos Espa Boonta Eve racer (aka cheat) Sebulba to score yet another victory at the epic event. Now glory and profits are seemingly on the horizon for the overjoyed Watto, enjoying proceedings in a special area with a variety of other shady business creatures from across the galaxy.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: WATTO'S WORLD OF JUNK WONDERS!

Outdoors within Watto's diverse tech and vessel backlot, Qui-Gon and the flying junk dealer barter over the latter's rare T-49 generator, in a scene presumably filmed at the Mos Espa set in Tunisia, and whose junk verite includes (behind them) one of the starship Discovery's pod vessels from 2001: A Space Odyssey- a fond visual link/ 'easter egg' to one of the most important sci-fi movies of all time, and a classic which had been an inspiration for Lucas in making the original Star Wars back in 1976.

The 2001 movie's Discovery pod as seen on location in Tunisia.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: INTRODUCING WATTO!

Junk dealer extraordinaire, Watto!

"No money. No parts. No deal."

The memorable words of the ultimate shady wheeler dealer businessman and flying nuisance egotist Watto, the only alien in town who'll have the T-49 hyperdrive generator that Qui-Gon and his party vitally need for their damaged ship. And accepting Republic credits as payment? Don't bet on it when dealing with Watto, one of the best CGI animated characters of the Prequel saga, given distinctive vocal life by British actor Andrew Secombe, a talent called to work on the film by its then casting director, Robin Gurland, after being made aware of his producing and voicing an animation series for the UK's Channel 4 TV. Secombe would spend three weeks on and off at Leavesden filming the role in mid-1997, with three weeks on location in Tunisia for outdoor scenes that either never made the final cut or were planned for but abandoned.

Art by Doug Chiang.

Two character development art pieces from Iain McCaig circa 1996.

By Iain McCaig.

Anatomic design reference by Terryl Whitlatch.

Close-ups of the ILM reference model.

When asking for more character information, EPISODE I's Animation Director Rob Coleman was originally told by George Lucas that Watto was a native of Tatooine, though this was later changed in the film, and by the time of The Clone Wars animated series, instead becoming a part of the Toydarian race. For EPISODE I the character was to have worn a hat but this extra piece of animation was abandoned until Watto's cameo return appearance with EPISODE II.

"Watto proved a different challenge because of his design-he's got that huge belly! I remember some people at ILM saying because of his wing ratio he'd never fly. I happen to be watching one of the science and nature channels and there as a documentary on bumble bees and a scientist said, "Actually, the wing to body ratio is quite confusing, because technically they shouldn't be able to fly." I went back in and said, "The bumble bee has wings that are too small, so Watto's got wings that are too small. And by the way, his belly's filled with helium!"

Rob Coleman- Star Wars Insider magazine - 2010

The clay reference model of Watto comes to life at ILM via Mark Siegel.

"The general brief was for an Italian sounding second-hand car salesman. Apart from that I was left almost completely alone, except for the odd direction of "faster" or "slower". George (Lucas) is a man of few words."

Andrew Secombe  - Star Wars Aficionado Magazine interview (conducted with Ian Trussler) - 2006

Wattoo calls in his young 'helper' to front of shop duties.

On set scene positioning for later ILM CGI reference - Leavesden, 1997.

Andrew Secombe on set providing the voice and body reference to Watto, and wearing the character's hat discarded until EPISODE II.

CLASSIC IMAGE: CHUT-CHUT WATTO!

Through good times or bad, on a winning streak or not, that flying Toydarian ego that was junk dealer Watto (voiced with miserly disdain by Andrew Secombe) will always be a survivor, as seen in EPISODE II, where, despite losing all his money in the years between early Prequel films, he's still carving out an existence in Mos Espa. Not a loveable rogue by any means, Watto was nonetheless one of the best created and most memorable CGI characters for the next generation of STAR WARS fans by Rob Coleman and his team.

CLASSIC IMAGE: "NO MONEY, NO PARTS, NO DEAL!"

Flying Toydarian pest Watto, STAR WARS intergalactic version of the classic miser Scrooge, proves uneasy and mercenary to deal with when it comes to business negotiations, as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn soon discovers in this Mos Espa set scene from EPISODE I.

CLASSIC IMAGE: THE WRONG BET!

In the Mos Espa Pod Race bay hangar, conniving junk dealer Watto prepares to make what will ultimately be the worst deal of his life with Qui-Gon Jinn, in a memorable scene from EPISODE I.

CLASSIC IMAGE: BEFORE THE RACE!

Respected British author/actor Andrew Secombe may not have appeared on screen to deliver his excellent vocals as the greedy Toydarian Mos Espa junk dealer, Watto, for the Prequels, but he certainly was filmed delivering those lines to the actors during the principal photography of EPISODEs I and II at LEAVESDEN, and then in Tunisia - and he was a vitally needed presence there, too, so that the actors could respond correctly to where the flying character was going to be CGI placed by the animators at ILM. Note in this shot that Secombe is wearing a hat-this visual idea for the character was dropped for EPISODE I, but it came to eventual fruition for his outdoor cameo scene for EPISODE II seveal years later.

With the Toydarian race in general back in the new season of THE CLONE WARS, and, from a brief trailer snippet, what looks like a possible return to Tatooine and Mos Espa, might we also see the return of the wheeler dealer? Let's hope so.