To Celebrate Star Wars Day, here are some weird and wonderful facts you may not know about the franchise

Why is today Star Wars Day?
May the 4th is a play on the famous Star Wars saying “May the Force be with you”

Boba Fett’s face is actually visible in the original movies
You may think you never see Boba Fett’s face in the original trilogy, but the actor who played Fett, Jeremy Bulloch, did stand in for an Imperial officer at the last minute.

Medic in the house
Harrison Ford famously broke his ankle on the set of The Force Awakens in 2014, after one of the Falcon’s hydraulic doors slammed down on his leg. What you perhaps didn’t know, however, is that J.J. Abrams broke his back while trying to rescue Ford. 

Speed racer
In the 1999 episode of The Phantom Menace, Anakin Skywalker drives a Podracer, which was actually constructed from the shell of a Maserati Birdcage. This was a racing car first introduced in the 1960s, making its design a bit of a vintage ride as young Skywalker raced across Tatooine.

“I have a bad feeling about this”
The phrase “I have a bad feeling about this” or “I have a very bad feeling about this” is said in every Star Wars movie and quickly became a running gag for the franchise

Depending on what movie you’re watching, Yoda has a different number of toes
In The Phantom Menace, Yoda has three toes. But in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith, he has four.

Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey share almost the exact same production crew
George Lucas admired Stanley Kubrik, and when he set out to make Star Wars, he hired so many people who worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey that the group was referred to as “The Class of 2001.”

Ewoks speak Tibetan
The Ewok language is a combination of Tibetan and Nepalese.

Didn’t quite fit
When you see the Jedi swooping through the stars in Revenge of the Sith, their feet are actually sticking out of the front window. To get the best angles of the amazing atmospheric battle in Episode III, Anakin and Obi-Wan had to dangle their legs outside of the cockpit to keep their knees out of the shot.

Yoda was almost played by a monkey
George Lucas originally planned for Yoda to be played by an adorable monkey wearing a mask and carrying a cane.

Unfortunate feuds
C-3PO and R2-D2 may have been best buddies on-screen, but off-camera the actors who played the droids allegedly despised one another. 

Millennium Falcon’s peril
Harrison Ford’s Han Solo may have been the pilot of the Millennium Falcon, but on set Ford got so angry with the way production was going he actually took a saw to the beloved ship which was made of wood.

“Ewok” was never spoken in the original trilogy
The word “Ewok” is never uttered by a character in the original trilogy. Although, the species is identified in the script and closing credits.

They call me Bond, Stormtrooper, Bond..
Remember the scene in Star Wars: The Force Awakens where Rey uses the force to free herself from Kylo Ren’s interrogation chair? Well, underneath that Stormtrooper grab is Daniel Craig, the actor best known for playing James Bond.

Admiral Holdo, played by Laura Dern, couldn’t resist making “pew pew” sounds
Sometimes, you can see her mouth moving to make the accompanying sound effect when firing her blaster in The Last Jedi

You can use Star Wars collectable coins as real money
The tiny South Pacific island of Niue accepts limited edition Star Wars collectable coins as legal tender

The TV movie special which shall not be spoken of…

Not everybody knows there was a Star Wars Holiday Special released in the summer of 1978.

The Holiday Special introduced Chewbacca’s family, who the Wookiee then proceeds to never visit or mention for the rest of the trilogy. Chewie’s wife Malla, his son Lumpy, and his father Itchy all live in the same tree house on Kashyyyk, but they look a little less put together than the rebel in the family.

Their Wookiee suits were made a lot more cheaply than Chewbacca’s, which made them functional death traps. The actors could only be inside the suits for 20 minutes at a time before overheating, after which they needed rest, fluids, and, in some cases, oxygen

The actors who participated in The Star Wars Holiday Special did so out of both contractual obligation and a desire to keep the surprising success of the first film rolling. None of them were particularly happy with what they went through. Harrison Ford describes the whole experience as “an embarrassment.” Carrie Fisher isn’t any kinder, calling it “awful” and not in the “good way.”

Mark Hamill is the only one with a somewhat positive view on the Holiday Special. He says he knew it was a mistake from the start, but doesn’t feel they should be ashamed about it, because it showed how fallible they were.

Many Star Wars fans hate the Holiday Special, while others appreciate its quirkiness. A rare few even celebrate it as a high point in the franchise. It’s unlikely, however, than many people feel more strongly about it than George Lucas, who is not a big fan.

Lucas has adamantly refused to re-release or re-broadcast the Special, forcing anyone who wants to watch it to seek out a bootleg. In fact, Lucas once described how he’d love to track down each of those bootleg copies and smash them with a sledgehammer.

Want to know what we’re talking about? Watch it for yourself HERE.

Want to join your next work video conference with some of the coolest backgrounds by Lucas Films? 

Be just like the team at Clarence Valley Independent and report back to your work mates from the Death Star or Millennium Falcon! The Official Star Wars website recently released a range of galactic images for you to use in your next video call.

STAR WARS VIDEO CALL BACKGROUNDS HERE