The "Secret" History of Chewbacca

There is an excellent article about the origins of Chewbacca -- both story role and visual design -- here.

The upshot of this very well-researched overview is that it is a more complex story than Lucas' simplistic explanation: "My original inspiration for Chewbacca was my dog Indiana. She was the one that sat there with me as I was writing the script all the time. She?d ride with me in the car as a co-pilot."

This statement is essentially correct, but there's a lot more to the Wookiee's development than that. Believe it or nay, bestselling fantasy author George RR Martin has an (unwitting) hand in Chewie's final design, a fact which, as a fan of Martin, delights me to no end.

One thing that the article does not mention is that the word "wookie", which according to THX-1138 voice-actor Terry MCGovern was the last name of a friend of his, is also a place-name in Britain, Wookey Hole Caves. McGovern spoke the line "I think I just ran over a wookie!" as an homage to his friend (who, like me, is from Texas), but I think it bears noting that there are other possible sources for the word as well.

Enjoy the read, and long live Chewie!