In 1980, the idea of having a puppet as a supporting actor was still untested.
Ryan looks back at The Empire Strikes Back’s big gamble…
You will go to the Dagobah system.
I can see that world.
I know the way the characters live and breathe.
Its making would take in freak storms, production delays and budget over-runs.
All of these would provide entirely new effects shots to be developed by Lucas effects studio, ILM.
Then there was Yoda.
And that character is usually a frog or a wizened old man on the side of the road.
The hero is going down the road and meets this poor and insignificant person.
And thus Yoda was born.
Its worth pausing to note how risky a concept Yoda was for the time.
In fact, four versions of Yoda had to be built forEmpire, each designed for specific shots.
Nor was it the only creature Freeborns team had to work on.
Ive never modelled anything so quick, Freebornlater recalled.
I thought it was going to be a load of rubbish, you know?
Based on a cast of Frank Ozs hand, Freeborn began sculpting Yodas distinctive head.
It was half me and half Einstein, with all the wrinkles, Freeborn said.
Hes supposed to be a creature so I put creature ears on the top of it.
I thought, well thats it.
I dont have time to change it.
To Freeborns relief, Lucas peered at Yodas wise, faintly mischievous face and said, Thats it!
Thats just what I want!
Even with Yodas face given the official seal of approval, the job was still far from over.
First, a mould had to be made from the clay head a process that destroyed the original sculpt.
It was, to quote Nick Maley, nerve-wracking.
There was no maquette… if we messed up, all that work was down the drain.
Stu was pretty nervous about it and couldnt resist double checking the moulding of the face as it proceeded.
Needless to say, the pressure of building Yoda took its toll.
Maley spent 60 straight hours working on his animatronic Yoda head.
As we got closer to Yoda shooting, Stuart, was looking more and more harassed, Maley recalled.
The first few days of Yodas hut were very difficult.
When it came to Yodas scenes on Dagobah, the shoot itself wasnt without incident.
That mud left its mark on Yoda literally, Maley said.
The crew would wade around in Wellington boots and poor Frank Oz spent half his time lying in it.
The dirt took only a couple of days to migrate to Yodas face.
Through the adversity, it became clear that the appointment of Oz as Yodas main operator was a masterstroke.
The bit where Yoda petulantly raps Artoo on the head with his cane?
That was Oz, too.
Incredibly, Lucas initially resisted the notion of having Oz provide Yodas voice as well as his movements.
I gave him a (demo) tape.
He said, No thank you.
And in post-production for about a year I heard that he was auditioning voices for Yoda.
He had no intention of using me for the voice.
I think wed like to try your voice.
And so I flew back (from Hawaii) and recorded Yoda.
Most of all, the gamble of creating a puppet as a Jedi master paid off.
