Star Wars: Creating this exciting character was challenging

Let’s say: The Star Wars Lucasian galaxy is inhabited by an almost infinite number of all kinds of creatures. And each film, of course, had the opportunity to bring its share of news into this repertoire, more or less successfully elsewhere.

In Star Wars – Episode I: An Imaginary Threat, Especially Vato Entering Bestaria. One of the largest traders in Mos Espa, he is a scrap dealer, spare parts dealer and gambler, in addition to owning Shmi Skywalker and Anakin.

Memory sequence …

“He is one of my favorite characters” Said George Lucas. “From the beginning, when I read the script and the lines that he was going to give to Qui Goni, I fell in love with this character. He is stubborn, he has a bad temper. He obviously likes Anakin, but he thinks he is.

Creating it was not easy. “Technically, he created problems for us. He has a big belly and wings on his back, and we were worried that the public would not believe he could fly. We had a whole wave of conversations about bumblebees and various birds and what it is. It looked like it really did fly “ Lucas continued. Steve Rawlins, one of the animation managers, said: “Giorgi told us: ‘Imagine he has helium in his stomach.’ Do not imagine him as an earthly figure! ”

Lucasfilm’s design director, Doug Chiang, gave the ILM art department great freedom to create the first drawings. In this way, artists Terryl Whitelch and Ian McKeig developed several concepts: Whitelch painted Vato as a large parrot with large wings, while McKeig created a creature with four large arms and smoked a cigar.

George Lucas did not support the drawings of this concept. Chiang then combined the concept head with another creature that appealed to Lucas, a dirty body and hummingbird wings.

Hence, it is a beautiful and charming creature with an impressive beard hair, neglected and, moreover, insensitive to the mental manipulation that the Jedi love. “No, but you think you are a Jedi or what? It goes through your hands like that. I’m a Toidarian. Your mental affair does not work for me. Only money works! No money, no part, no deal!” By the way, Vato turns on Qui-gon, who is just trying to influence his thinking, in a nice sequence.

“What improves its appearance is under the skin of the chin and tracking of its trunk.” Said Steve Rawlins. “The chapter spins, but there is a sequel to what we call ‘secondary motion’ in animation. It does not happen by itself on the computer. You have to think about it when you move the character.”