59 Fun Facts About Return of the Jedi

Who directed Return of the Jedi?

He joked it was like directing King Lear with Shakespeare in the next room, since Lucas was on set constantly.

Who was George Lucas's first choice to direct the film?

Steven Spielberg was Lucas's first choice, but Lucas had quit the Directors Guild after the Empire Strikes Back credits dispute, and Guild member Spielberg could not direct a non-Guild production.

What was the film's title on its original teaser trailer and posters?

The teaser trailer and advance posters read Revenge of the Jedi; Lucas restored the Return title before release, reasoning that a Jedi does not seek revenge, and leftover posters were sold to fan club members.

What fake title was used to disguise the production from fans and price-gouging suppliers?

The crew worked under the fake title Blue Harvest, a supposed horror film with the tagline 'Horror Beyond Imagination', to keep fans and price-gouging suppliers away from the shoot.

On which planet does the film open, at Jabba the Hutt's palace?

The film opens on Tatooine, where C-3PO and R2-D2 walk to Jabba the Hutt's palace carrying Luke's holographic message offering the droids as a goodwill gift.

How does Leia get into Jabba's palace?

Leia enters disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh with Chewbacca as her supposed prisoner; she thaws Han from the carbonite that night but is caught and made Jabba's captive.

What creature does Jabba drop Luke through a trapdoor to face?

Luke is dropped into the pit of the rancor, the hulking beast kept beneath Jabba's throne room; he crushes it under the pit's spiked gate, leaving its keeper weeping.

What is the cackling Kowakian monkey-lizard perched beside Jabba's throne called?

Salacious B. Crumb is the Kowakian monkey-lizard who cackles at Jabba's side; aboard the sail barge he tears at C-3PO's eye until R2-D2 zaps him.

Into what does Jabba plan to throw Luke, Han and Chewbacca?

Jabba sentences them to the Sarlacc pit in the Great Pit of Carkoon, where C-3PO says victims are digested over a thousand years; Boba Fett tumbles in during the sail-barge fight.

How does Jabba the Hutt die?

His sail barge is destroyed as the heroes escape.

Roughly how heavy was the Jabba the Hutt puppet?

The Jabba puppet weighed about one ton; it took three puppeteers, David Barclay, Toby Philpott and Mike Edmonds, to operate, and Larry Ward supplied the Huttese voice.

Who confirms to Luke that Darth Vader really is his father?

Lucas added the scene after a child psychologist warned kids might think Vader had lied.

Who tells Luke that Leia is his twin sister?

Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force spirit reveals on Dagobah that Leia is Luke's twin, hidden from the Emperor at birth; he adds that Luke must face Vader again.

Where is the second Death Star's shield generator located?

The shield generator protecting the second Death Star sits on the forest moon of Endor, where Han leads a strike team to destroy it.

Which two rebels lead the fleet assault on the Death Star?

General Lando Calrissian, flying the Millennium Falcon, and Admiral Ackbar from the Rebel flagship lead the fleet, arriving to find the shield intact and the Imperial fleet waiting.

Which two pilots fly into the Death Star's core and destroy its reactor?

Lando in the Millennium Falcon and Wedge Antilles in his X-wing fly into the Death Star's core; Wedge hits the power regulator and Lando the main reactor.

How does the Emperor die?

Vader is fatally wounded by the Force lightning in the process.

Which actor plays the unmasked Anakin Skywalker?

Sebastian Shaw, an English stage veteran in his late seventies, plays the dying, unmasked Anakin Skywalker, who asks Luke to remove his helmet so he can see him with his own eyes.

Who plays the Emperor?

Alan Webb was originally cast but fell ill; McDiarmid was in his late 30s under heavy ageing makeup.

Which actor auditioned for Moff Jerjerrod but lost the part to Michael Pennington?

Rickman's film debut came five years later in Die Hard.

Why did Warwick Davis end up playing Wicket the Ewok?

It was Davis's first film acting job; Baker played another Ewok, Paploo, instead.

The Ewoks were originally going to be which species?

Wookiees had become too technologically advanced, so Lucas wanted something short and primitive.

Which dog breed inspired the Ewok design?

The Ewok look was modelled on the Griffon Bruxellois, a small flat-faced Belgian toy breed; Stuart Freeborn's makeup team built the masks from Joe Johnston's designs.

The Ewok language created by Ben Burtt is based on which real language?

Ben Burtt built Ewokese on Kalmyk, a Mongolic language of Russia's Caspian steppe, after hearing it in a documentary and liking its alien sound.

What real-world conflict inspired the Ewoks' battle against the Empire?

Lucas likened the Ewoks' guerrilla fight to the Vietnam War, a primitive society wearing down a technological superpower; he said their job was to distract the troops, not win.

Which word is never spoken in the film despite the creatures' fame?

The word Ewok is never spoken on screen; the creatures are identified only in the end credits, where individual Ewoks such as Wicket and Paploo are named.

Which species is Admiral Ackbar?

Admiral Ackbar is a Mon Calamari, a salmon-coloured amphibious species with large eyes; puppeteer Tim Rose performed him in a full head mask.

Who is Lando's co-pilot aboard the Millennium Falcon at the Battle of Endor?

Nien Nunb, the Sullustan smuggler, co-pilots the Falcon beside Lando; he was a puppet operated by Mike Quinn in close-ups and a costumed actor in wide shots.

Where were the Endor forest scenes filmed?

Vader's funeral pyre was shot at Skywalker Ranch.

Where were the sail-barge battle exteriors filmed?

The sail-barge battle was shot in the Buttercup Valley dunes outside Yuma, Arizona, in April 1982, where the crew built the barge and skiff sets on the sand.

How was the speeder-bike chase through the forest achieved?

Inventor Garrett Brown walked at 5 mph; projected at 24 fps it looks like 120 mph.

At which English studio was the first stage of production shot?

The first stage of production ran at EMI Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire from January 1982, where the film occupied all nine sound stages for 78 days.

Which scene, later cut, was the first thing shot?

It was later included as a deleted scene on the 2011 Blu-ray.

What was Return of the Jedi's production budget?

Return of the Jedi cost $32.5 million, financed entirely by Lucasfilm from the profits of the first two films; ILM's effects work was done in-house.

Roughly how many special effects shots did ILM create for the film?

ILM delivered roughly 900 effects shots for the film, its biggest job yet, running 20 hours a day, six days a week to meet an April 1983 deadline.

Which sound-certification company did Lucas found after test screenings revealed poor theatre audio?

THX, created for Lucasfilm by Tomlinson Holman, set standards for theatre playback; Return of the Jedi in May 1983 was the first film shown in THX-certified auditoriums.

On what date was Return of the Jedi released, chosen to match the original Star Wars?

Return of the Jedi opened on May 25, 1983, the sixth anniversary of the original Star Wars; early posters had advertised May 27 before the date was moved.

Which film's single-day gross record did Return of the Jedi beat on its opening day?

Jedi's $6.2 million opening day broke the single-day record set by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 1982; it added a record $45.3 million in its first week.

Which song does the Max Rebo Band perform in Jabba's palace in the 1983 cut?

Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band perform 'Lapti Nek' in the 1983 cut; the 1997 Special Edition replaced it with the new number 'Jedi Rocks'.

How much did Return of the Jedi gross worldwide in its initial run?

Return of the Jedi grossed $374 million worldwide in its original 1983 run, $252 million of it domestic; re-releases lifted the lifetime total to about $475 million.

Who composed the score, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra?

John Williams composed the score, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, adding new themes for Jabba, the Emperor and the Ewoks; it earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score.

Which future film composer worked as an orchestrator on the score?

Thomas Newman, then in his twenties, worked as an orchestrator on Return of the Jedi, his first film job; he later scored American Beauty and Skyfall.

Which member of the cast wanted Han Solo to die in the film?

Harrison Ford argued Han should die, perhaps sacrificing himself in the raid, to give the film weight; Lucas refused, and Gary Kurtz later blamed merchandising worries.

Which actress plays Rebel leader Mon Mothma?

Caroline Blakiston plays Mon Mothma, the Rebel Alliance leader who briefs the fleet before Endor and mourns the many Bothans who died bringing the Death Star plans.

What change did the 1997 Special Edition make to the pit creature that swallows Boba Fett?

The Special Edition also swapped the throne-room song and added celebrating planets.

In the 2004 DVD, which actor was inserted as Anakin's Force spirit in the final scene?

Christensen had played Anakin in the prequels.

What controversial line was added to Vader in the 2011 Blu-ray release?

The Ewoks were also given blinking eyes.

How much longer is the Special Edition than the 1983 theatrical cut?

The 1997 Special Edition runs about five minutes longer, roughly 135 minutes against the theatrical cut's 131, thanks to the new Jabba musical number and the extended celebration finale.

In what year was Return of the Jedi added to the US National Film Registry?

The Library of Congress added Return of the Jedi to the National Film Registry in December 2021, the last of the original trilogy to be selected; Star Wars entered in 1989 and Empire in 2010.

What is the name of Vader's Super Star Destroyer that crashes into the Death Star?

The Executor, Vader's Super Star Destroyer and the Imperial flagship, loses its bridge to a crashing A-wing and plunges into the Death Star's surface.

Which studio released Return of the Jedi in 1983?

20th Century-Fox distributed Return of the Jedi, as it had the first two films, while Lucas financed production himself as he had Empire.

Who co-wrote the screenplay with George Lucas?

Kasdan built the shooting script from tape transcripts of a two-week story conference.

Who was the producer of Return of the Jedi, replacing Gary Kurtz?

He also produced Raiders of the Lost Ark and helped persuade a reluctant star to return.

Which actor plays Admiral Piett, commander of Vader's flagship?

Kenneth Colley plays Admiral Piett, the Imperial officer first promoted in The Empire Strikes Back, who commands Vader's flagship during the Battle of Endor.

On Endor, who replies 'I know' when told 'I love you'?

Leia answers 'I know' when Han says 'I love you' outside the shield bunker on Endor, flipping the famous carbon-freezing exchange from The Empire Strikes Back.

What rank does Han Solo hold when he leads the Endor strike team?

Han Solo, newly made a General of the Rebel Alliance, volunteers to lead the strike team that lands on Endor to knock out the shield generator.

Which actor is credited as Boba Fett in Return of the Jedi?

Jeremy Bulloch is the credited Boba Fett in both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi; Jason Wingreen supplied the bounty hunter's few lines in Empire.

Who wrote the novelization of Return of the Jedi, released thirteen days before the film?

James Kahn wrote the Return of the Jedi novelization, published May 12, 1983, thirteen days ahead of the film; Alan Dean Foster and Donald F. Glut had novelized the first two.

What species is Jabba's majordomo Bib Fortuna?

Bib Fortuna, Jabba's majordomo who hisses 'De wanna wanga' at C-3PO, is a Twi'lek; the species' lekku head-tails hang from the back of the skull.