CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: WOOKIEE WORLD!

I found this scan online a while back of a pre-production drawing of the Wookiee civilisation on Kashyyyk (love the mountain climbing Wookiee in the bottom right corner!), but I'm not sure who did the art or whether it was done in post production in 1978 for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (when there were early plans to have the Wookiees involved), THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL, or, much later, in 2002-4, for EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH.

If anyone out there can help with any info, please get in touch.

CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: THE RUSS MANNING ADVENTURES

In the UK, STAR WARS fans get to see the new two-part Chewbacca/Ahsoka CLONE WARS episodes on SKY MOVIES HD a few weeks prior to their US cousins, so, in celebration, this week I'll be putting up a few more blogs linked to our favourite Wookiee species, and their number one son.

First up, here's a few scans of a classic 1979 Russ Manning Los Angeles Times Syndicate Wookiee related strip: THE DEPTHS OF KAZHYYK. I loved Manning's colourful tales set just after the first STAR WARS (I wish LUCAS BOOKS could have collected all of them in their original state and put them up as a glossy set of hardcover books rather than the DARK HORSE comic compilations of the nineties)- look out for the use of Ralph McQuarrie's Wookiee tree dwellings from THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL, and, long before the CLONE WARS, and like early MARVEL SW comics, see the Stormtroopers without helmets: as individual soldiers rather than Clones. Let's hope that some of the Kashyyyk environments and creatures seen here make it into the animated series...

Check out our archive on another classic 1979/80 STAR WARS Russ Manning adventure, THE FROZEN WORLD OF OTA, guest starrring Boba Fett, below: http://www.starwarsaficionado.com/theforzenworldofota.html

CLASSIC IMAGE: WOOKIEE LEGEND!

To celebrate the welcome return of Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca in THE CLONE WARS two part Season Three finale, here's a great pic you don't see much of these days of the legendary 200 year old Wookiee from the original STAR WARS, from the characters first filmed scene at Docking Bay 94.

CLASSIC IMAGE: TAKING A BREATHER!

One of the EPISODE III behind the scenes crew assists Tarfful the noble and fierce Wookiee leader, played by Australian star Michael Kingma, in a filming break on an ILM green screen stage somewhere between 2003 and 2005 in the US. Much of the footage for the Wookiee battle, albeit seen far too briefly in the finished movie, would be directed by respected animation supervisor Rob Coleman.

NEVER FORGET....

A happy Wookiee family reunited for LIFE DAY! Ahhhh!

THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL aired on CBS this very date way back in 1978. Despite its faults- and there are many!- AFICIONADO still hopes that it will one day get an official release of some kind!

CLASSIC IMAGE: CORUSCANT- A CITY WORLD OF WONDER!

One of the great things that the STAR WARS Prequels did so well, and what continues to make them stand out and be so pioneering in comparison to so many other modern sci-fi films and TV programmes out there, is the incredible worlds of wonder that George Lucas and his team of artists and digital/model makers would think up and create over the space of three movies. And especially so for EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH - from the volcanic and dangerous Mustafa to the lush, tropical Wookiee world of Kashyyyk, and to here, in this picture, the incredible and beautiful capital and Senate District of the sadly corrupt Republic, and the later birth place of its Imperial Empire- Coruscant- as seen in this terrific ILM image - a true testament to the films amazingly talented artists and model makers.

We look forward to seeing these incredible vistas once again on both the small screen (with pristine quality Blu-rays next year) and, even better, the big screen, and in 3D, in the hopefully not too distant future...