Yoda Was Originally a Monkey in a Mask

[Logan Westbrook]

Yoda Was Originally a Monkey in a Mask

Muppet Yoda wasn't George Lucas' first choice to bring the character to life. The first Yoda liked bananas and picking fleas off you with the force.

Making sci-fi movies in the early eighties was a tricky business. While you could put whatever you liked in the script, actually getting that giant lizard or space station up on the screen was a different matter. But when it comes to Star Wars, one of the most problematic things was actually one of the smallest.

In a new book [http://www.amazon.com/Making-Star-Wars-Empire-Strikes/dp/0345509617/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286799957&sr=8-1] chronicling the creation of Empire Strikes Back [http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Episode-Versions-Widescreen/dp/B000FQJAJG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1286799957&sr=8-2], J.W. Rinzler said that Yoda, the diminutive Jedi master, left the special effects team scratching its head, as animatronics wasn't thought to be advanced enough to pull it off convincingly. Instead, the crew tried putting a trained monkey in a Yoda costume, including a mask. They soon abandoned the idea, however, when someone with prior experience working with primates on 2001: A Space Odyssey [http://www.amazon.com/2001-Odyssey-Blu-ray-Keir-Dullea/dp/B000Q66J1M/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1286809822&sr=1-1] pointed out that the monkey would keep pulling the mask off. It was at that point that Lucas turned to Jim Henson, and the puppet Yoda that we know and love was born.

Also revealed in Rinzler's book is that the Wampa attack on Hoth station was cut because the costume for the Yeti-like beast looked fake and no one could take more than a few steps in it withput falling over. The Wampas were supposed to be the reason that Han Solo's Millennium Falcon was so unreliable in the movie, but with the scene cut, the Falcon just became an old and occasionally unreliable ship.

With modern computers making incredibly sophisticated animations and puppetry possible, the days of monkeys in suits are just a memory. All the same, it's super interesting to see all the creative ways that filmmakers achieved the effects they were looking for before CGI could fill in the blanks.

Source: io9 [http://io9.com/5660319/yoda-was-originally-played-by-a-monkey-in-a-mask-and-other-secrets-of-the-empire-strikes-back]

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[maddog015]

Thank god we didn't have a monkey Yoda.

Also, check out "Building Empire", which basically shows cut scenes, alternate takes, unused shots, etc. as the movie is running, also has some text describing other facts about the movie. Very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbkvK8ggMbE

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

Sometimes I wish movie makers would use the old methods more often. CG is great and all, but more often than not I find myself more convinced by puppets. Well, perhaps other than in huge budget epics, but a so-so CG character is, in my opinion, easily beaten by good puppet work.

On a side note, funny mental images pop up when you mention Yoda was originally a monkey.

 

[WrongSprite]

It's a shame about the Wampa attack being cut, I think that'd make for an awesome scene.

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

...You... you... you m-mean Yoda's n-n-n-not r-r-r-real?


[sub]This is just like finding out about Santa...[/sub]

 

[Evilsanta]

Sometimes the most simple effects are the most awesome.

 

[Mechsoap]

it would certainly have brought some life to him

 

[Tiamat666]

Seems like monkey-training techniques have improved since then, since they revisited the monkey in a costume idea in Episode I.

 

[Brotherofwill]

So what did they do with the monkey? Put him in R2-D2? Just kidding.

With modern computers making incredibly sophisticated animations and puppetry possible, the days of monkeys in suits are just a memory. All the same, it's super interesting to see all the creative ways that filmmakers achieved the effects they were looking for before CGI could fill in the blanks.

Which is a shame because for me CGI never fills in the blanks. I'd take monkey's in costumes over the effects in Episode 1,2 and 3 anyday.

Sometimes I wish movie makers would use the old methods more often.

Exactly.


At first I thought they he wanted to make Yoda a monkey, because he does have quite a few monkey like features. I always thought of Rafiki, the monkey in Lion King, kind of like a Yoda if he was an animal. Strange that in the Lion King they chose a mandrill for Rafiki, because mandrills are fucking beasts. Testosterone filled beats. Woah, getting off track here.

 

[Buchichu]

so Lucas abandoned putting monkeys in suits and decided to have them writing his movies instead.

 

[hansari]

They soon abandoned the idea, however, when someone with prior experience working with primates on 2001: A Space Odyssey pointed out that the monkey would keep pulling the mask off. It was at that point that Lucas turned to Jim Henson, and the puppet Yoda that we know and love was born.

Ahh procrastination...

Thats the only reason for not contacting Henson first, then trying the monkey mask thing as a last resort. Its only when they realized it was impossible...

But now ask yourself...what it if was possible? And what if the producers deemed the scene as only looking "slightly retarted"?

 

[Nimzar]

You want low-tech special effects.

Watch Metropolis. They did green screen effects with mirrors and miniatures [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%BCfftan_process].

 

[SageRuffin]

Ooh, concept footage. I'll have to check that out sometime.

On the same vein, has anyone seen the Red Letter Media review for Episode 1? In one of the final parts the guy says how Han Solo (or was it Luke?) was originally some frog-looking character, and how C-3PO was supposed to be some greasy used-car salesman.

Shocking, isn't it?

 

[Harkwell]

This is pretty cool and i have to agree on the CGI. I miss the use of costumes, I get tired of seeing CGI people.

 

[Callate]

The more "accidental" things we find out about that worked in the "original trilogy", the more I understand why things went wrong with the second.

 

[katsumoto03]

...You... you... you m-mean Yoda's n-n-n-not r-r-r-real?


[sub]This is just like finding out about Santa...[/sub]

I find it extremely amusing that EvilSanta posted right below you.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

"Throw feces at you, I will."

-Monkey Yoda.