#StarWars VI - Return of the Jedi - Facts #DisneyAfrica

Hi Guys,

Lucasfilm Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is a global leader in film, television and digital entertainment production. In addition to its motion-picture and television production, the company's activities include visual effects and audio post-production, cutting-edge digital animation, interactive entertainment software, and the management of the global merchandising activities for its entertainment properties including the legendary STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES franchises.

Listen up when the carbonite block in which Han Solo is encased falls to the floor in Star Wars: The Return Of The Jedi (1983). What was used to create the sound of the carbonite mass hitting the ground? Ben Burtt simply recorded the sound of a big garbage dumpster outside his home.

The iconic shot of Han Solo breaking out of the carbonite block was an interesting challenge for the movie’s special effects team. The crew made a wax figure of Harrison Ford and shone a bright light behind it for part of the epic transformation.

It was a huge task to move the mammoth life-size puppet of Jabba The Hutt on the set of Star Wars: The Return Of The Jedi. The special effects team had to stand behind and inside the character in order to try and make him move as realistically as possible. There’s a crewmember in the tail of Jabba, along with two crewmembers on remote controls, which were used to move the tongue and the eyes of the behemoth character.

The sand dune backgrounds for the scenes in which Jabba The Hutt’s barge heads to the Sarlacc Pit were all shot in Yuma, Arizona. When the background scenes were being shot, a sound crew was sent into the dunes – but the main thing they captured was sand in their equipment due to the high winds in the area! Instead, the sound crew headed off to a local naval air station where they recorded jets landing and taking off. These sounds became the basis for a lot of the speeder bikes seen later in the movie.

South African fans can access the Star Wars Digital Movie Collection exclusively on the South Africa iTunes Store via www.itunes.com/starwars.

Conversations: The Effects The technological advances made possible by the Star Wars franchise is celebrated in this exciting bonus feature. A number of iconic video effects artists share stories and secrets from their groundbreaking work on the original films…

The Effects
There were many “happy accidents” during the shooting of the movie. One of the most spectacular lighting effects on the Imperial Walker scenes was discovered when the team shut down the lights to head off for lunch.

Discoveries From Inside: The Sounds Of Ben Burtt
Discover the inspiration for the sounds of C-3PO, R2-D2, the Lightsaber and more in this bonus feature with iconic sound designer Ben Burtt…

The Sounds Of Ben Burtt: Fact #1
Star Wars Sound Designer Ben Burtt went to a scuba shop to research the sound of Darth Vader’s breathing. He recorded himself breathing through different scuba tanks with a tiny microphone he placed inside the valve of the breathing apparatus.

The Sounds Of Ben Burtt: Fact #2
On the campus of the University Of Southern California, Ben Burtt was a projectionist who enjoyed the magical ‘humming’ sound of the projector motor when it was turned on. Burtt recorded the motorized hum and later added the buzzing sound from the back of his television set to become the basis sound for all of the lightsabers in the Star Wars movies.
 
Legacy content includes “Classic Creatures: Return Of The Jedi”; “Revenge Of The Jedi Teaser Trailer”; Return Of The Jedi Launch Trailer; “It Began TV Spot”; “Climactic Chapter TV Spot”; plus five deleted scenes.

For over 90 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under the following banners: Disney, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel Studios; Disney|Lucasfilm; and Touchstone Pictures, the banner under which live-action films from DreamWorks Studios are distributed. The Disney Music Group encompasses the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, as well as Disney Music Publishing. The Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Disney on Broadway, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!. Overall it's Entertainment Megahouse is what they are! 
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#StarWars V - The Empire Strikes Back - Facts #DisneyAfrica

Hi Guys,

In the Star Wars fan world, there’s a lot of controversy about the color of the coat Han Solo wears on the planet Hoth in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Many fans think the coat is blue, but it’s actually brown. You can see it in the bonus extras of Star Wars: The Digital Collection. It's kind of same conversation that took the twitter by storm some days back with a girl's dress color.
 

If Anthony Daniels fell over in his C-3PO costume, he couldn’t get up on his own. The costume wasn’t very flexible at all. In fact, the actor couldn’t sit down whilst wearing it. Whenever you see C-3PO sitting in The Empire Strikes Back, either you don’t see below the waist or Anthony would sit down on set without the costume and they would build it up around him.
 

Which everyday kitchen item was used to create the sound of C-3PO moving in the early movies? According to Ben Burtt, it was a couple of ice-cube trays being bashed around.

Harrison Ellenshaw – Matte Painting Supervisor for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back – is no stranger to Disney. Harrison is the son of Peter Ellenshaw, who was a matte painter for Disney for many, many years. Peter worked on iconic movies including Mary Poppins, Bedknobs And Broomsticks and Swiss Family Robinson – and he was named a Disney Legend in 1993. Harrison can be seen talking about the use of matte paintings in the Star Wars saga in the bonus extras for the new digital release, Star Wars: The Digital Collection.

South African fans can access the Star Wars Digital Movie Collection exclusively on the South Africa iTunes Store via www.itunes.com/starwars.

Conversations: The Lost Interviews
Listen to never-before-heard interviews with the cast and crew of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in this exclusive bonus feature. Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and others reveal the thrills and challenges of their early days on set…

The Lost Interviews: Fact #1
Carrie Fisher was petrified about her iconic swing stunt with Mark Hamill in Star Wars. Stunt actors were not used for the scene, which was tackled by the two actors. Hamill wore a girdle to carry their weight for the swing, but Fisher didn’t.

The Lost Interviews: Fact #2
Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher’s iconic swing to safety was shot in one take on the set of the movie. Fisher wanted to do it again, but Lucas decided against it. Boxes were placed underneath the actors to break their fall if anything went wrong!

The Lost Interviews: Fact #3
At one point, C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels wasn’t interested in meeting George Lucas to discuss working on Star Wars. The actor wasn’t interested in playing a robot in a sci-fi movie until he read the script!

Discoveries From Inside: Matte Paintings Unveiled
Esteemed artist and painter Harrison Ellenshaw discusses the nearly lost art of matte painting; an element crucial to the look of Star Wars and so many other classic films…

Matte Paintings Unveiled: Fact #1
Harrison Ellenshaw was the supervising matte painter on A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. How many people were in his extremely technical department? Just one.

Matte Paintings Unveiled: Fact #2
Take a closer look at some of the iconic scenes from Star Wars movies. You might think that huge sets were built and hundreds of extras were used – but sometimes, the sets and even the stormtroopers were merely part of a meticulously prepared matte painting.

Legacy content includes “A Conversation With The Masters” (2010); “Dennis Muren: How Walkers Walk”; “George Lucas On Editing The Empire Strikes Back 1979”; and “George Lucas On The Force: 2010”; plus six deleted scenes.

This movie is the second part in the original trilogy and was directed by Irvin Kershner. 
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#StarWars IV - A New Hope - Facts #DisneyAfrica

Hi Guys,

Star Wars IV - A New Hope was the first movie in the original trilogy and was released in 1977 by 20th Century Fox. One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, 20th Century Fox Film produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of 20th Century Fox Film: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International Productions, and Twentieth Century Fox Animation.

Despite being a big-budget blockbuster, the creative team often built props as economically as possible. For example, the pod that C-3PO and R2-D2 use to escape in Star Wars: A New Hope was created from two paint buckets. It was only used in two shots in the movie.

Ben Burtt is a Lucasfilm icon who created the many sounds of Star Wars. To research the sound of the Star Destroyer at the start of Episode IV, he had a fairly unsuccessful recording expedition to White Sands Missile Range. The sound designer was invited to record a number of military and scientific rockets taking off – but the result was crackly and poppy rather than the deep, rumbling and booming rocket engine. The sounds couldn’t be used as he’d hoped.

Look closely at the asteroids in A New Hope. The creative team was criticized that their asteroid designs resembled potatoes – but if you look in the far distance during Millennium Falcon chase scenes of A New Hope, real potatoes were actually used!

Archivists at Lucasfilm recently discovered the original lightsaber prop from Star Wars: Episode IV. You can see the discovery in all its glory in the bonus extras from the new digital release, Star Wars: The Digital Collection. What else will you discover with the new extras? Between 1975 and 1978, Charles Lippincott interviewed the cast and crew of Star Wars: A New Hope. These tapes remained lost for 40 years… Until now! You can hear excerpts from the tapes in the exclusive extras for the new digital release.

South African fans can access the Star Wars Digital Movie Collection exclusively on the South Africa iTunes Store via www.itunes.com/starwars.

Conversations: Creating A Universe

In this documentary, longtime collaborators Roger Christian and Joe Johnston discuss the impact that George Lucas had on their lives and share memories of building the Millennium Falcon, as well as other iconic elements of the Star Wars universe…

Creating A Universe: Fact #1
A full-size model of the original Millennium Falcon design was built for the film shoot of Episode IV, but then Space: 1999 aired on television and George Lucas discovered the designs for the two main spaceships in both projects were too close. The Millennium Falcon’s original design was canned – and the designers went back to the drawing board.

Creating A Universe: Fact #2
By the time the hamburger-shaped Millennium Falcon was ready to be built on set, budget was tight. This resulted in only half of the full-size circular Millennium Falcon being built.

Discoveries From Inside: Weapons & The First Lightsaber

The hallowed Archives at Skywalker Ranch are opened up to showcase classic props created for the Star Wars Empire in this bonus feature…

Weapons & The First Lightsaber: Fact #1
Han Solo’s iconic blaster was created using a Mauser C96 pistol with a silencer attached. A set decorator for Star Wars Episode IV named Roger Christian came up with the look of the perfect prop pistol.

Weapons & The First Lightsaber: Fact #2
Did you know that many of the stormtroopers in the early movies shot their pistols left-handed because of the design and the way that the empty shells expel from the barrel? The design of the stormtroopers’ blasters used in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back was based on a Sterling submachine gun.

Weapons & The First Lightsaber: Fact #3
Roger Christian discovered the inspiration behind the iconic lightsaber in the most unlikely of places. Inside a random box at the studio, Christian found a number of Graflex handles, which were from flashguns of vintage cameras from the 1940s. They became the iconic basis of the lightsaber handle in the movies.

Legacy content includes “Anatomy Of A Dewback”; Star Wars Launch Trailer; plus eight deleted scenes.

Keep enjoying the series along with these fun facts! I am loving the series myself a lot just like a small kid who is watching the series for the first time.

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#StarWars III - Revenge of the Sith - Facts #DisneyAfrica

Hi Guys,

It's very rare that a movie series keeps breaking records after records but Star Wars did it and made a hat-trick when they released Start Wars - Revenge of the Sith (2005).

In total, 72 sets created for Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith. The largest set was the stage where Anakin Skywalker has an epic lightsaber battle with Count Dooku [played by Christopher Lee in the movie].

Christopher Lee wasn’t on set when the fight scene between Count Dooku and Anakin Skywalker was shot. A stunt man performed the fighting choreography and his face was replaced with Lee’s. In other parts of the scene, a completely digital Count Dooku was used, too.

Adding a mechanical arm to Hayden Christensen’s body in the movie’s bedroom scene was an interesting challenge for the Star Wars special effects team. During the filming of the shirtless scene, Christensen wore a blue glove on set. The special effects crew later replaced the glove with a computer-generated robotic arm for the finished film.

George Lucas and his two daughters make a cameo appearance in the hallway of the movie’s elegant opera scene. George’s daughters refused to appear in the movie unless their father joined them. In the finished film footage, the director has a blue face and can be spotted talking to his younger daughter. His oldest daughter is in the center of the hallway as Anakin Skywalker runs past.

South African fans can access the Star Wars Digital Movie Collection exclusively on the South Africa iTunes Store via www.itunes.com/starwars.

Conversations: The Star Wars That Almost Was

Iconic moments and stories from the Saga almost took very different paths in the Star Wars movies. Find out more in this exclusive bonus feature with Star Wars historians and writers... 

The Star Wars That Almost Was: Fact #1
George Lucas’ first draft of the screenplay for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was very different to the finished film. In his early scripts, Han Solo was a giant green alien and R2-D2 talked full sentences. 

The Star Wars That Almost Was: Fact #2
The original draft for A New Hope saw the story visit lots more locations that were cut out of the movie. Some of these locations included the Imperial Capital and a palatial estate. 

The Star Wars That Almost Was: Fact #3

In the original movie scripts, Obi-Wan Kenobi survived his iconic fight with Darth Vader. Why did that change? Whilst filming the movie in Tunisia, George Lucas decided that the Death Star wouldn’t be menacing enough without a significant death – and the fatality of Obi-Wan Kenobi was the result.

Discoveries From Inside: Hologram & Bloopers
Enter the Archives to view an early version of the Death Star explosion and a recently discovered blooper reel featuring actors’ hilarious flubs…

Hologram & Bloopers: Fact #1
Film cameras were allowed inside the Film Archives at Skywalker Ranch for the very first time in order to film this exclusive bonus feature for the new digital release of the movies. Inside the film archives, the original film audio and video material from all six Star Wars movies are housed. This includes all the dailies and work prints from the original trilogy!

Hologram & Bloopers: Fact #2
Check out the bonus feature to see the original work prints for the 35mm hologram of Princess Leia in A New Hope.

Legacy content includes documentaries “Within A Minute: The Making Of Episode III”; The Journey Part 1; and The Journey Part 2; plus six deleted scenes.

I am really having fun to read this stuff as I am getting to know it for the first time ever. I still hope it will be of some value to all of you fans out there.

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#StarWars II - Attack Of The Clones - Facts #DisneyAfrica

Hi Guys,

Here is another facts and bonus content from the second episode of the Star Wars series - Attack of the Clones (2002).

Look carefully at the head statues in the Jedi Archives that Obi-Wan visits in Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones. The busts are sculpted in the shape of some very famous Star Wars faces including George Lucas, animation director Rob Coleman, model supervisor Brian Gernand and visual effects supervisors Pablo Helman and John Knoll.

A secluded lakeside retreat in Lake Como was the romantic setting used as the location for Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala’s first kiss. George Lucas was on vacation in Lake Como – and in the process of writing the script for the movie – when he decided that the ultra romantic setting would be perfect for the film.

The scene where Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan travel in an elevator at the start of Episode II wasn’t in the original script. George Lucas wanted to add an introductory scene to the movie to show how well these two characters get along, even though there is a little tension between them in the scene that follows.
C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels makes a cameo appearance in the movie’s club scene behind Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker. Daniels is not in his C-3PO outfit for the shot, but the actor’s face is clear to see. Can you spot him?

The calm Kaminoan race appears briefly in Attack Of The Clones. They are a very graceful and serene alien race – but they were completely CG in the movie. Fashion models and the elegance of tai chi inspired the movie’s animators in creating Kaminoan characters Taun We and Lama Su.

South African fans can access the Star Wars Digital Movie Collection exclusively on the South Africa iTunes Store via www.itunes.com/starwars.

Conversations: Sounds In Space

Iconic sound mixers Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood meet at Skywalker Ranch share the surprising sounds that made the movies roar to life and celebrate the franchise that defined their careers…

Sounds In Space: Fact #1
Did you know that one of the first sounds Ben Burtt worked on for Star Wars was the sound of the Wookiee? Over the years, the movie’s creative team has gathered almost a million different sounds and sounds effects in their mammoth library and archive collection.

Sounds In Space: Fact #2
Ben Burtt used an unlikely tool as inspiration for the deep, roaring sound of the Star Destroyer at the start of Episode IV: A New Hope. During a night in a hotel, the sound designer heard a heavy rumbling sound and decided to investigate. An air conditioning unit was the cause of the rumble, so Burtt put a microphone on top of the unit. That sound eventually became the roar of the Star Destroyer.

Sounds In Space: Fact #3
Australia wildlife served as the unusual source for a number of significant Star Wars sounds. The mating calls of penguins were recorded in Melbourne and the sound of fruit bats fighting over a banana was recorded in a rainforest in Cairns. They were mixed together to create the iconic sound of the Geonosian species in the Star Wars movies.

Discoveries From Inside: Costumes Revealed
Take a look at some of the most iconic wardrobe pieces in cinema history in this exclusive bonus feature. And discover some interesting insight into the costumes of Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Han Solo and other fascinating Star Wars characters.

Costumes Revealed: Fact #1
In order to make the masks of the Tusken Raiders, prop designers raided a number of plumbing stores, hardware stores and camera stores in England. They picked up whatever they thought would work for the fearsome desert savages.

Costumes Revealed: Fact #2
George Lucas is a huge fan of the Samurai. In fact, the chest plate and mask of Darth Vader’s costume reflects his fandom of the iconic Japanese warriors.

Legacy content includes “From Puppets To Pixels: Digital Characters In Episode II”; State Of The Art: The Previsualization Of Episode II; and “Films Are Not Released, They Escape”; plus Episode II Visual Effects Breakdown Montage and six deleted scenes.

I hope that you must be enjoying to read all the fun facts shared by Disney films with fans around the world. Check out the first part of the post - http://www.thelifesway.com/2015/04/starwars-i-phantom-menace-facts.html

Third part or next part of the series - http://www.thelifesway.com/2015/04/starwars-iii-revenge-of-sith-facts.html

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