Subject:
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Re: He just keeps getting dumber - no original cuts? what's next?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.starwars
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Date:
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Thu, 26 Feb 2004 18:53:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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1379 times
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In lugnet.starwars, Allister McLaren wrote:
> Was Jabba supposed to be a slug originally?
No, and that's the one big thing that I like about the scene not being included
in the original cut. It left Jabba open for redesign when RotJ came along,
since he'd never appeared in the previous two movies. See, if you make a big
hulking bipedal creature that looks physically menacing (Ephant Mon, Wampa,
etc.) and put them in charge of a major crime syndicate, it's pretty obvious
that if anyone acts up, they get a caved-in skull for their troubles. If you
put an immobile slug in charge...your imagination is left to wonder what gives
him such power over his minions, since he doesn't look like he could chase you
down in a dark, narrow alley and take care of you himself.
> This scene is included in the novel, and Jabba is clearly human.
It is, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that he's clearly human. Humanoid,
maybe, but not specifically human. He's only ever described as "a great mobile
tub of muscle amd suet topped by a shaggy scarred skull" and a "gross form".
> If the filmed scene was supposed to have an animated Jabba superimosed over
> the actor, then why was the actor in costume?
Why was Ahmed Best in costume when they planned to superimpose Binks over him?
It lends a bit more credibility to the scene for those who have to act things
out. In Jabba's case, it probably also gives a better sense of the intended
bulk of his character.
> I'd be interested in seeing these pre ANH designs of Jabba as a slug if they
> exist.
That's just it. The slug-form didn't pop up until RotJ pre-production. The
video does include a sketch showing a proposed idea (probably the one that would
have been used) of a Jabba design superimposed over the shape of Jabba MacHutt.
It looks like he would have been approximately 7-7.5 feet tall, and a bit more
rotund than MacHutt, with a massive head that leans towards the shape of the
RotJ version.
> I also heard once that the scene was cut not due to budgetary restrictions,
> but because the scene with Greedo covered much of the same information and
> it was deemed redundant.
It sounds plausible, but I've never heard a direct quote to that effect from
George or anyone else on the ANH production staff. As a stand-alone movie, the
Jabba scene doesn't really add much, but when you consider the impact it has on
events in TESB and RotJ, it's got significance that isn't conveyed in the Greedo
scene.
Then again, my understanding of it isn't fully supported by the video either, so
I'm not sure where I got certain bits of info from. The only thing George says
in this video was that it wasn't possible to film Jabba live with the rest of
the actors (doesn't say why), that they intended to superimpose a stop-motion
miniature over the human actor (shows a concept sketch), that they ended up not
doing it (again, doesn't say why), and that it allowed him to reinvent Jabba for
RotJ (which he clearly did). But I'd heard it involved budget constraints (time
and/or money) years before the SE versions were released, and given the tiny
budget ANH was given compared to the subsequent films, I kinda have to believe
it was involved. I'll grant you that it might have been a case of "it's not
worth throwing this much money at a scene that repeats a lot of what we learn in
the Greedo scene," but I think that if he'd had the level of funding that he had
for the next two, we would have seen Jabba in 1977. I do remember hearing that
the Anchorhead/Biggs scene was cut because it caused the beginning of the movie
to drag along (hence the reason why it wasn't included in the SE, even though
most hard-core fans wanted to see it), but I don't remember hearing that about
the Jabba scene.
> I discount all these claims from Lucas as being nothing but more of the same
> reinventing the past to try and cover up the fact that he really has no idea
> what he's doing any more.
These aren't new claims, though. These are things that he stated in video clips
from back when he was skinny with black hair (this particular one appears to be
ROTJ-era). And he's got the pre-production artwork to prove it.
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