To get into the entire Star Wars universe is like finding a needle in a haystack, you can either do it the easy way, or the hard way. But no matter how you get into it, you’ll be hooked once you do. It all comes down to just how vast and cohesive George Lucas’ thinking was while creating an entire universe filled with possibilities and propagating it through every form of media known to mankind.
While the franchise may predominantly have been in the motion picture space, it has branched out into a connected universe in recent years. But before the Disney+ TV shows were even on the horizon, Lucas produced a radio series with the original cast, all except Frank Oz, the voice of Yoda. Fortunately, John Lithgow was there to replace him and save the day.
John Lithgow Replaced Frank Oz As Yoda In Star Wars’ The Empire Strikes Back Radio Series
While cinema still is the dominating force in the film industry today, there was a time when radio media was prevalent among the masses when movie theatres were the main source of film entertainment. Thus, seeing an opportunity to grow the Star Wars universe to even greater heights, George Lucas took the initiative to create a ten-part radio show titled The Empire Strikes Back.
The only problem was that Frank Oz, who was the voice of Yoda in the main cinematic timeline refused to feature as his character on the radio.
In a past episode of The Graham Norton Show, the host was in conversation with many A-list celebrities, and two-time Oscar-nominated star John Lithgow was also among them. Here, he revealed that after the release of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, the creator had the idea to bring the story to radio as well, but due to circumstances, Oz wouldn’t voice Yoda.
But one day, John Madden, the director of the radio series, was in conversation with the Bombshell star, and he just happened to bring it up. Here, Lithgow gave him an impression of Yoda in his voice. He said:
“Frank Oz didn’t want to play Yoda merely on the radio. I was rehearsing a play with John Madden at the time. John Madden the film director back then was a big-time radio director. He shared the fact that he couldn’t find anyone, and I said (Yoda impression) ‘Oh! Impatient Is He?’ Easiest job I ever got.”
Not only was Lithgow selected to play Yoda, but he also worked with original actors from the films like Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams.
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What Was The Empire Strikes Back Radio Series About?
The Empire Strikes Back was a ten-part radio adaptation of the original film, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Thus, it was a series that was made to reach the masses through the most prominent medium of the time for those who couldn’t or didn’t want to visit their cinemas or had missed the screenings in the past.
The show first started airing on National Public Radio in the United States on February 14, 1983. This drama series was made after the success of the first drama series that followed the story of the first film and was five hours long in total.
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Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, streaming on Disney+.
