Faith in me, George Lucas didn’t have. Well, that’s probably what Master Yoda would say if he were to read this article. Being the master of our protagonist Luke Skywalker, Yoda is probably one of the most important characters of the Star Wars franchise.
However, it wasn’t until George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back was released that Lucas felt satisfied with his work. The director revealed that he wasn’t so sure about Yoda since the character had his own difficulties!
Skeptical Was George Lucas For Master Yoda
Yeah, we have got to stop doing that. But anyway, George Lucas had his story planned for the sequel to his 1977 classic Star Wars: Episode IV and director Irvin Kershner sat in the director’s chair for this film.
With Obi-Wan Kenobi dead in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker went out in search of a new master that could teach him The Force.
During his journey, he met Master Yoda. A little creature green in color and a Jedi Master, Yoda became an integral part of the franchise. In an interview with StarWars.com, veteran director George Lucas revealed that he wasn’t a fan of Yoda at the time of shooting.
If [the Yoda puppet] hadn’t worked, obviously the movie would have been terrible. It would have never worked … And you don’t really know until you actually show it to an audience and they don’t get up and storm out and say: ‘This is stupid’.
He further continued,
Everything was always on the run. So I finally got to see the whole thing finished, put together, lit properly, and that’s when I knew it was going to work. Before that I had to rely on Frank Oz [the puppeteer].
Although Lucas was quite happy with the finished product, the sight of the director storming off and saying “This is stupid” to a green puppet is quite funny to imagine.
On the other hand, George Lucas was an improviser and one who didn’t really have a 5-year plan. A similar case happened with veteran actor James Earl Jones when he returned to the franchise in The Empire Strikes Back.
George Lucas Did Not Know What He Did Right
No, that sentence was not in a Yoda voice. He actually didn’t understand how James Earl Jones created the voice of Darth Vader in his 1977 film. All Lucas knew was that it was working.
The character of Darth Vader is introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Although the physical character was portrayed by David Prowse, the iconic voice of Darth Vader was given by James Earl Jones in the film.
When he returned to reprise the role for The Empire Strikes Back, Earl Jones revealed that he asked Lucas whether he could experiment a little with his voice. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, here’s what Earl Jones had to say about his character.
I remember on [Empire], when George had a chance to counsel me, he said, ‘We don’t know what we did right [on A New Hope], so let’s just try what we did.’
We would also like to conclude by saying that whatever James Earl Jones did for the voice of Darth Vader, it worked quite well. The character of Master Yoda was also well-received by the world and became an icon of the Star Wars franchise.
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back received a rating of 8.7/10 on IMDB and a whopping 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. The iconic 1980 film is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
