"12 Star Wars facts you probably don't know" - Really?

Via TF.N News

So, how many did you know?

8 and a half for me: 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and from 12 that it took a long time and that he was inspired by the old serials, but not that he watched it all the time to look for ideas. If that's even true.

Speaking of, I'm pretty sure 1 and 2 aren't even true. At the very least the R2-D2 one always has conflicting stories. Or am I mixing that up with the Post Office that was in grid C3 on the map?

 

I didn't know that David Prowse had a welsh accent

And I was unaware that Starkiller was changed to Skywalker "on the first day of shooting". Not sure whether that's true

 

That article is disingenuous/in error on several points.

First, it inserts a pic of the late 70s TV show Buck Rogers, as though Lucas could have been watching this in the early 70s while writing SW. Misleading, since he would have been watching the 1930s serials.

Second, David Prowse was born and raised in Bristol, which is technically in England and not Wales, but the accent and culture there (as I understand it) have more in common with Cornwall (aka the West Country) than it does either England or Wales. Complicated, maybe, but that doesn't excuse the article writers from getting their facts wrong.

Third, while American Graffiti was technically set in 1962, the American culture on display had more in common with the 1950s and so cannot be truthfully said to depict "1960s nostalgia".

Fourth, since the three major characters had all been in TV and/or film prior to SW, they were not in fact "unknowns". Ford, as noted in the article, was in American Graffiti, a smash hit film that everyone knew about and talked about at the time of its release. Fisher had been in Shampoo, a major film with Warren Beatty, a coupe of years before. And Hamill had been all over TV. These were not "unknowns".

 

Aye, the Bristol and Welsh accents are vastly different. It would be like saying someone with a New York accent had a Mexican accent.

 

The list, errors and all, is copied almost word-for-word from "The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader," and is years old. See here: http://www.neatorama.com/2008/06/12/no-jiggling-in-the-empire-fun-facts-about-star-wars/

For the sake of journalistic integrity, TFN should alter the article/link accordingly.

 

All but 1 and 5 I had read previously.

 

Since when are news ever correct or complete?


The "Unknowns" thing is a bit nitpicky, though. Ford doesn't even count because he wasn't supposed to get the role, and I'd say the other two were 'unknown enough'.

 

I knew about all but three of those facts.

 

In particular, if you have an old copy of the film on VHS, you can see the traveling mattes around the ships.

OR you could just watch the fancy-schmancy "This is our second run at special-editioning these flicks, and we're still more focused on putting unnecessary new stuff in than on fixing the few old effects that really DO need improvement" DVDs...

 

Basically knew all of them (some of which are filled with inaccuracies anyway) except #7:

After the trilogy came out, and years before Parts 1-3, there was an allegedly accurate treatment for what the next film would be, floating around. It detailed how Vader became Vader, as well as the events leading up to ?A New Hope?. One of the minor elements, was the ?13 year old Correllian Cabin Boy? on Captain Antilles? ship. This alluded to Han Solo being there before the events of ?A New Hope?, which luckily did not get included in the new films, as it really wouldn?t have made sense. Too much coincidence ? does everyone have to know everyone?

I know that a teen Han was meant to have a cameo in ROTS, but as far as I know, that was something written between AOTC & ROTS, not some "allegedly accurate treatment" floating around before 1999. I call shenanigans.

 

No, that part's essentially true, possibly depending on your interpretation of "allegedly accurate". It was called Fall of the Republic by John Q. Flynn and it did feature the young Han cameo idea. It was never proven to be legitimate.

 

Ah, they really are stretching the definition - it was only ever 'allegedly accurate' before it was revealed to be fan fiction long ago:

http://starwarz.com/starkiller/fan/fall_of_the_republic.htm

 

Well, it's good that they pulled the plagiarized material, at least. But I'm not sure why this is a did-you-know:

Not only did they force Carried Fisher to strap down her boobs, poor thing, just look at her dress. Every inch of skin is covered, and they couldn?t have made her look more frumpy. However, she does get to show a bit of skin in the last sequence, which is the outfit used for the representation of Leia in the original poster ? scoop neck, not turtleneck.

I did know that; I've watched ANH at least once.

 

They are going to have to try harder than that.

 

Pssh, these are all classic apocrypha to any self respecting fanboy (or girl). True or not, I've heard all these before.

 

The "first day of shooting" story has gone around for a while, but The Making of "Star Wars" confirms that the change actually occurred after shooting in Tunisia had finished and they were about to start filming at Elstree. Just about the same time Lucas decided to kill off Ben, actually.

 

It was changed after the printing of the official merchandise because Lucas decided it was un-Jedi-like to kill stars.

 

This is fascinating. It means that in all the exterior Tatooine scenes, everyone in the cast, including Mark Hamill, thought the character's name was Luke Starkiller. His last name isn't spoken until the Death Star rescue, of course, so no Tunisian re-shoots would have had to be done to correct the name. But it's still intriguing to think that Owen and Beru, Ben Kenobi and Luke himself all had "Starkiller" in mind while playing their scenes.

 

Didn't know James Earl Jones not wanting his voice credited because he thought the movie would be a flop. What? Really? Is there any source to back this up.

Also, the draft rumor of Han being the 13 year old Cabin Boy on Captain Antilles ship in the PT (or just ROTS?)

And finally, that little story with flying coach was new to me. Pretty funny.

 

David Prowse, a weightlifter from Bristol, played the role on screen but the voice was that of James Earl Jones. He was so convinced the film would be a flop, he refused to allow his name in the original credits.

I heard it was because Jones felt that he didn't think he contributed enough to the character to deserve credit.

 

From what I know about Carrie Fisher and the interviews I've heard her give, I can really believe she'd say that to her mother.

 

That sounds far more like James Earl Jones ( a consummate professional), doesn't it?

 

I knew # 10.I saw the mattes in ESB.

 

I knew all of these except for #1.