Boba Fett's Origin Still a Mystery! or: Who invented this guy?

Of course, we finally know Boba's childhood and why he became a bounty hunter, having seen AOTC. But as far as this character's rise to poularity....

I know his first appearance was in the cartoon in the holiday special. This preceded his film debut in the original release of TESB. Did Lucas have notes and designs on this character but never got to use him in ANH, and therefore gave him over to the cartoon people?

By the way, i love that little cartoon, but I guess we can't consider it canon since Han had never heard of Fett. Also, Boba really wasn't Vader's right hand man, although 3PO could have been embellishing.

That cartoon also saw the inclusion of an Ackbar-type Mon Calamari character for a second. How did this little bit of animation come to feature major bits of the filmed canon which would not even be seen for years?

Who actually invented Boba Fett?

 

If Lucas didn't, then your best bet would be to look up the credits for the Holiday Special. You should find some insight there.

 

somebody actually attached their name to the credits of the holiday special? now that is brave.

even still, that's a good idea, but i wonder what the real story is behind creating boba and why there were so many elements in that little cartoon we would come to see in the films.

 

Perhaps George Lucas viewed the cartoon and like what he saw....

 

Fett was one of the first new characters to be designed for The Empire Strikes Back. He can trace his origins to rejected Darth Vader concepts that once had the Dark Lord as a rogue bounty hunter. Concept artists Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston were most responsible for Fett's design. He first appeared in an 11-minute animated segment of the lamentable "Star Wars Holiday Special" television broadcast in 1978. Fett had another pre-Empire appearance in the daily newspaper strip story arc entitled "The Frozen World of Ota." Given that Fett and Skywalker meet for the first time in both stories, and Luke unwittingly befriends the bounty hunter each time, one or both of these tales is probably apocryphal.

Fett was the first new action figure for The Empire Strikes Back line of toys. He was originally available as a mail-away offer; kids would send in the appropriate proofs-of-purchase and Kenner would send the toy out. The original mail-away offers stated that Fett would feature a rocket-firing backpack, but safety issues dictated that the toy was released with the rocket glued in.

Fett's big-screen appearance had actor Jeremy Bulloch behind the mask, though the character was coldly voiced by Jason Wingreen. For his return appearance in the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition, various Industrial Light & Magic artists wore the armor.

Fett's return from the dead was first chronicled in a 1984 Star Wars #81 comic entitled "Jawas of Doom." A dyspeptic Sarlacc regurgitates the hunter onto the desert sands. Fett, stunned and suffering amnesia, stumbles across Solo once again. The tale ends with Fett tumbling into the Sarlacc again, though it was definitely not his last appearance.

In 1985, Fett made an appearance in the animated Droids television series. Toronto-based Nelvana Studios had animated Fett once before, in the aforementioned Holiday Special. Fett's second ink-and-paint cameo aired in the episode "A Race to the Finish."

In 1992, Dark Horse's Dark Empire comic saga was shaking up the Star Wars universe. It was in these full-color pages that readers discovered that Fett was alive and well, and once again on Solo's trail.

That's from the OS. I hope that helps you some.

 

Yep; Lucas and co came up with the concept and costume, just it was used in the HS before the film debut.

 

excellent answers! ask and ye shall receive the best answers i guess! thanks for the legwork.

i guess everyone made Fett who is he today. Lucas, McQuarrie, Nelvana, Jeremy Bulloch and more.

my next question is.....can you imagine if they went with the fett costume as vader? i think the movies wouldn't be as great. every little detail sets off a chain reaction of what makes the movie work.

that's why these special editions and the like make me nervous. if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

In AotC DVD Audio Commentary, GL says Boba was always a clone, to begin with, except he started out as a stormtrooper clone that had for some reason or other broken away from the stormtrooper clones. He didn't give much more thought to Boba's origin until EP2.

 

Here's a good question, who in God's name is Judo Kast supposed to be? A Boba Fett fan, a wanna-be, or just a really creepy costume coinsidense?

 

Jodo Kast is an EU character.

As far as I know, he was able to get his hands on a suit of armour like Boba's. Since he was already a bounty hunter, this armour helped to increase his abilities and notoriety.

Due to this, sometimes Boba got the credit for Jodo's work, but he mostly got the blame. This annoyed Boba no end! Jodo carried on like this for a year or so, until Boba was able to do something about it.

During this time, Boba had managed to free himself from the Sarlacc and was recovering, but his armour was very damaged and not much use. He instead contacted the Bounty Hunter's Guild and posed as a client for Jodo.

Jodo turned up to take on a commission, only for Boba to kill him and take the armour for himself.

I think there's a graphic novel called 'Twin Engines Of Destruction' from Dark Horse that has more info about this. That's about all I know.

 

My Thread: Click Me!