Rumor: Buzz Building for the Return of a Classic Star Wars Character in Episode VIII
This new rumor making the rounds today is about as unsubstantiated as they come, but none the less adds to the buzz of something that has been building for some time. That continued buzz seems to be building towards the appearance of a certain classic Star Wars character who has long been rumored for an eventual return.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS
You may recall past reports which indicated a possibility that Frank Oz could have been in London during production on Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII, which has led to much speculation on the return of a certain petite green Jedi to the franchise. Well now, to add more fuel to that fire, we have a Reddit user by the name of Skywalkergal giving this report here of an interaction at SWCE on the convention floor.
One of the many stalls featured at the convention was Saving Yoda, ran by one of the original team operating Yoda in ESB. While waiting to have my photo taken with the Yoda puppet, the dude running it was talking to another guy. The random guy asked which Yoda puppet was currently on display. In response, we were all told that the one on display was puppet 2 (I think, I can’t quite remember exactly). He looked at both of us, and said that members of the original Yoda team have been called in to work on episode 8, using the Yoda 8 puppet, as they’d all recently been talking about it. He’d have no reason to lie.
Now, second hand reports from anonymous Reddit users, talking to unnamed mystery men on a convention floor, should of course be taken with a heaping helping of salt. But the story is in line with those aforementioned earlier reports. An appearance by the late Jedi also makes sense story wise after Rey’s vision involved some lines from Yoda, implying at least some level of continued connection between the new line of Jedi and the oldest of the old masters. The report of the physical puppet being used also falls in line with this old Making Star Wars report that an elevated set had been built for Ahch-to to accommodate a puppet and this report from Indie Revolver stating that great care had gone into making a new Yoda puppet for Episode VIII.
Of course while none of these reports individually are conclusive of an appearance of a Force Ghost Yoda, together that paint a pretty clear picture of what is to come. Where there is smoke, there is fire. And there is quite a lot of smoke on this particular rumor.
Awesome! Especially if they are reusing a puppet from the original trilogy it should look amazing.
I wonder if Ewan McGregor will show up as force ghost OB1?
I honestly wouldn’t mind Ewan returning, he was one of the few great aspects of the prequels and paid a lot of respect to Alec Guinness’ take on Obi-Wan.
While I agree that Ewan was a bright spot in the PT (even though he was saddled with some really bad lines at times, he pulled it off just about as good as anyone could have) I honestly don’t think this would work too well. As believable as Ewan was as a young Alec Guinness, there were some differences. It was easy to rationalize the differences because of the time gap, but I think it would be too jarring to have Ewan in the PT, Alec in the OT, and then Ewan again (trying to do an old Alec impersonation) in the ST. Now, what I think might work better is if Obi-Wan’s force power has perhaps dissipated more than Yoda’s so that while Yoda can still appear to Luke in a physical form, only Obi-Wan’s voice can be heard. Then it would be like the scene in ESB when Yoda reveals his true identity to Luke while Obi-Wan speaks to them but remains unseen. If they could find a voice actor that could perfectly mimic Alec Guiness’s voice I think it could work well. As for Anakin, Hayden is probably still young enough to pull it off, but I don’t see it happening since the new filmmakers seem to have such an aversion to anything from the PT.
You could make the argument that Force Ghosts can change to look how hey wish, like how Anakin became Hayden Christensen in RotJ.
Maybe Obi Wan maintained an image of Alec Guinness because that’s how Luke saw him, but with Rey, Obi-Wan decides it’s best to appear young again.
I know there are many haters out there, but I actually prefer CGI Yoda greatly. By Episode 3 Yoda was nearly perfect.
I’m hoping that if they are going to do a puppet Yoda, they have some animatronics built-in and they enhance him with CG.
http://static.businessinsider.com/image/555b402e69bedd6d49891f6b/image.gif
Everyone’s reaction on opening night was laughter at this scene. Lucas completely butchered Yoda’s character with this one, ill-advised scene.
I definitely couldn’t stop laughing the first time I saw this.
I remember when I saw this as a teenager I laughed in the theater along with the audience. A scene of something that is supposed to be amazing/badass turned into unintentional comedy. SMDH
The gist I got it was joyous laughter
In my theater it was awkward, cringey laughter.
Very few complained about it at the time.
I’m sorry joy escapes you.
Don’t remember one person laughing, sure you remember correctly?
Were you in my theater? Would be creepy if you were.
Maybe I was, who knows? Or maybe it’s just your angsty cynical teenage memories?
It was joyous laughter at my screenings
Orgasmic joy all the times I saw it.
Re: “Everyone’s reaction on opening night”
Robb, all due respect – but you can’t seriously be speaking for *everyone* here.
I recall what seemed to be the vast majority of the audience gasping & cheering when Yoda walked in, pulled out his saber & went to town on the count.
Re: “butchered Yoda’s character”
How exactly does this action scene butcher Yoda’s *character*?
You didn’t expect he could fight?
He’d pull a Ghandi tactic on Dooku to win?
Go watch The Empire Strikes Back. Yoda clearly had a distaste for fighting and “adventure”. He had a mastery of the Force that implied he had no need for lightsabers and weapons. I think Lucas completely wrote his character wrong in the Prequels. And I think he wrote the Jedi in general, completely wrong and inconsistently with how he wrote them in the OT.
Robb, I get where you’re coming from on that point.
However, I think you might be conflating two different things:
“Yoda clearly had a distaste for fighting and “adventure”.”
“Adventure, heh, excitement” – sure, adventure/seeking out fighting (for sake of it) is not the Jedi way.
But, fighting/violence when it’s *necessary* is a different thing entirely.
It suppose it’s arguable that Yoda could’ve tried to *reason* with Dooku, after walking in on his companions brutally injured/hacked-up by him.
And/or tried some non-violent approach to subduing Dooku/protecting Obi&Anakin. That could’ve been a different take on the confrontation.
But I’d not equate “adventure” with possibly necessary violence.
I think I understand where you’re going with that & the direction Lucas could’ve taken with the Jedi in PT.
A saber / using Force in *defense* & not for attack.
However, it still is a friggin light-saber, not a light-shield Jedi wield.
It’s also arguable, from OT, that Yoda/Ben thought Luke might eventually have to fight & possibly kill Vader/Emperor.
Luke: “I can’t kill my own father”
Ben: “Then the Emperor has already won”
Was Ben being *cagey* again?
Or why not say – “Jeez Luke – we don’t want you to KILL him! Don’t be psycho! We only want you to talk him down/put him in handcuffs”.
I mean Ben took the 1st swing at Vader in ANH – just say’n. 🙂
Hi Robb, i know this conversation is old, but… You presume knowing Yoda, and you are TOTALLY forgetting Yoda was very ill, tired, etc. in ESB, and a retired warrior, and the most important thing, he is a JEDI after all, and what is the weapon of a Jedi? the Lighsaber. Who tell you that a Jedi having a mastery in the force annul the light saber? He is not just a force user, he is a Jedi.
In the prequel era, Yoda was clearly healthier, i think someone very ill and someone healty would look and act a little different, don’t you think?, physicaly and emotionally.
I find a little naive to think that Yoda would opt not to fight when he needed to. A jedi is a keeper of peace, yes, but will figh if it is needed.
And how can George Lucas write wrong the jedi if he is the only one who really know how jedi are? maybe “You want to go home and rethink your life…” 🙂
Dont want to be mean to you, everyone have it’s own opinion but i think what you are saying is nonsense.
Yoda clearly had a distaste for fighting and “adventure” – You’ve got to keep in mind that the events of The Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith had changed Yoda as a character, he’d gone from accepting that fighting and adventure were a necessity to keeping the peace and maintaining the Republic throughout The Clone Wars to realizing that the enjoyment for fighting and adventure in Jedi such as Anakin, Ashoka, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon is what led to the downfall of the Jedi, so he put all that behind him and chose to focus on the teachings of the Force.
It was mostly, “aww, cool!” at my screening. Guess some people forgot or are just acting like revisionists…
Nothing but positive reactions from the audience every time I saw Episode II in theaters. It was Star Wars through and through with the same magic as any Star Wars film that came before or after it.
I never liked it and still don’t but it wasn’t the worst thing about AotC by far. I do think the Yoda vs Palpatine fight in RotS was a huge waste of time.
I liked that what Yoda was teaching Luke on Dagobah wasn’t swordsmanship — it was mastery of the Force and control over himself.
it always struck me as weird that yoda was supposed to a wise old master, yet in both cases of the dooku and palps fights, he walks in like john wayne and drops one liners. the two sides don’t add up for me.
Yeah, I don’t like the way he works in the prequels but so little about them works for me beyond the broad brush strokes of the story (which I think is actually fantastic). Some of his lines are also a little bit… ugh… “around the survivors a perimeter create”.
“not if anything to say about it, i have.”
Agreed about the VERY high level story. At least the bits about the Emperor orchestrating a war to solidify his power. But all of the characters were written very poorly and in contradiction to how they were presented in OT.
Anakin and Obi-Wan were good friends? When? Anakin was a great pilot? When he accidentally destroyed the control ship? When he crashed his fighter into Grievous’ ship? When? Obi-Wan was fool-hardy and adventurous? When? How does Aunt Beru know anything about Anakin’s personality? They met for all of 3 minutes when he was a teenager.
You’re 100% right, Robb.
Yeah that’s exactly my feeling. Almost all the detail is a mess but the political ploy is sound.
Well, that was a period 30 years earlier during a war. His failures during that time are what made Yoda change into the character you see in Empire.
its not even about yoda in the OT vs PT, but from scene to scene in the prequels. he’s talking about being mindful and patient and not giving into emotion, then he’s going full 80’s action star in the next. its a lack of consistency.
He wasn’t being impatient and wasn’t giving in to emotion. He was calm and decisive. When it was time to act, he did. Not a contradiction at all.
One of these days we’ve going to agree on something, I just know it. 😉
I agree 🙂
Actually he did it just didn’t make it into the movie!
They edit things out of movies for a reason!
Yeah the movie was too long — but it was meant to be there. How was Luke supposed to take on Sidious & Vader with no saber skills lol? “Meditate really hard at them!”
he wasn’t meant to fight them at all at that point. hence why yoda pleaded with luke not to go.
Because he hadn’t reached the point in his training that would prevent him from getting killed 5 minutes into his first duel….the movie actually says this! “Complete your training.” Well what’d he miss…oh yeah, Lightsaber 101!
Yet when he returned to Yoda in Jedi he didn’t need any more training.
He beat them by throwing away his saber 😛
Yeah something Yoda and Obi never thought of. The directive is clear in RotJ — “I can’t kill my father.” “Then the Emperor has already won.” You’re getting the movie in your head confused with the movie on the screen.
Oh I know he went beyond what they’d taught him and what they were trying to train him for. I’m just pointing out he beat Sidious without using his saber.
This is what it’s like when doves cry…..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yBg99mH8pyA
They almost always enhance any effect with CGI these days. I do hope they stick to puppet-CGI combo, though.
If you check yoda from epI from 2011, it was impressive…
I think this hardcore anti-CGI/pro-puppet or anti-puppet/pro-CGI disagreement among fans is ridiculous. How about just being a pro-CGI/pro-puppet Star Wars fan? Easy enough for me.
“He’d have no reason to lie.”
Yes, other than trying to talk big to someone to impress them. You never see anyone do that.
That being said, it’s possible this is real. Would be interesting to see where they go with this.
The fact that Disney’s assassins apparently haven’t killed him yet means that this is probably a lie.
Then again, his assassination would mean that he was right, and Disney wouldn’t let that secret get out so sloppily.
Then again again, a TRUE assassin can make it look like an accident.
Then again again AGAIN… it’d be too convenient.
Then again agai
Yoda would be no surprise. Frank Oz is still in good health and has publicly stated numerous times he loves Yoda and would like to perform him more. I do hope for a puppet force-ghost Yoda. I also hope for force-ghost Anakin, but we can dream…
Yoda’s fine but Lando needs to return in VIII
He doesn’t “need” to, but it would be pretty cool if he did. Just remember the Lando we would get now is more like the Leia we got in TFA — for anyone who had an issue with her appearance, which I don’t persoanlly.
Re: “remember the Lando we would get now is more like the Leia we got in TFA”
And with Han out of the way… might be creepy seeing him put the moves back on her now, eh?
What I’m more curious is, will Vader / Anakin force ghost come back,and how they will do it. Is Anakin/ Vader now separate characters,or there is only Anakin now. Since they newer explained it,I am curious how they will pull it off
As long as they don’t do that “slips back and forth between a good and evil force ghost” concept from the art of the force awakens, then I think it makes sense to have anakin back- despite the fact it would make several corners of the internet explode with rage
Vader is gone. Only Anakin now.
I really would not be disappointed at all if there are no force ghosts in E8. As much as I love the OT, I don’t feel the need to cling to its characters. If they do use a force ghost, Yoda makes the most sense and would provide a good connection not only to the OT and PT, but also to TCW and Rebels.
Of course, we really need a force ghost Lando!!! 😉 (this is a joke, for those who can’t tell)
Without the OT characters, the new films will not reach TFA-Box-Office status.
Yoda? Pft, please. The fans are waiting for Sy Snootles. As the main character.
Make it happen, Rian.
Lobot surely?
I have a sticker of Lego Lobot on my laptop by the logo. It’s surprising how often people recognize him.
Re: “recognize him” – “Lego Lobot on my laptop by the logo”
You need to ask them to say that 3 times fast! 🙂
or… “Laptop Logo Located Lego Lobot.”
I love Yoda, but when I saw the headline I was REALLY hoping for Lando.
Ditto
I want both. Not gonna lie, I’ll probably break down and cry if/when I see/hear Yoda on screen again. Yoda is the soul of Star Wars.
Lando –
Now that Han’s out of the way, those smooth moves might work on Leia?
j/k aside …
Would be great to see Lando show up.
However, I’m concerned that they’re shoe-horning in too much for OT to try to please fans, rather than move on with new cast/characters/story.
Kinda odd if true. I mean, LFL seems to be backing themselves into a weird, unnecessary corner with the approach to the next films. On the one hand they’re insistent that this new trilogy is all about the new characters, and that it’s a real struggle finding a path that doesn’t have the original trilogy characters overshadow them. On the other hand, they seem intent on adding OT characters, and based on comments about Luke and Leia in 8 and 9, increasing their story duties. Apart from Luke, I’d much rather see them just commit to the new characters they’ve introduced and move the story forward.
I think the OT characters will always overshadow the new knows because obviously they are the ones we love and are most familiar with. To a certain extent it would be weird if Rey is training with Luke and we didn’t hear from Obi-Wan and Yoda and those who have guided him in the past. They all fit together, ya know?
Really? I disagree (obviously). Yoda missed the fact that Anakin was going bad, he adherred to the dogma of the Jedi which led to their downfall, and he, along with Ben, tried to turn Luke into a Vader-killer, which would have resulted in a continuation of the Sith. He screwed the pooch badly. I don’t need to see him still hanging around 30 years later. Shrug.
Now that they have firmly established the new, it’s okay to use the old without overshadowing them.
I disagree. Yoda is as integral to this universe as the Skywalker family. We know he came back as a force ghost. Not seeing that force ghost at some point would be weird.
Why? Clearly Force ghosts were not a thing prior to the rise of the Empire, something Qui Gon discovered, and taught to Yoda and Ben. I see the need for them to stick around and guide Luke while he was making the transition from boyhood to manhood, but loitering around for another few decades seems to fly in the face of the whole point Yoda made about the way of things just before he died – there is a natural order to the universe, and it’s the Sith who desperately hang on to existence beyond their allotment.
“Yoda will always be with you.” -Obi-wan to Luke after Yoda dies
So if everything Yoda and Kenobi fought to restore with Luke were to go up in smoke, you think they would just remain chilling in Jedi heaven, shrugging their shoulders, and telling each other it’s too bad things didn’t work out last time?
What if it’s Luke that reaches out and communes with them rather then Yoda popping in to visit them?
I don’t think its odd. Just because a story focuses on new characters does not necessarily mean that the older characters should not be in it at all. Look at the Hobbit versus the Lord of the Rings books. The Hobbit centered on specific characters while the main characters of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy focused on new ones. However the old characters still played a major part, and some of their actions had important implications for the story (Gandalf, Bilbo, Gollum, a few of the dwarves from the Hobbit all have minor to major effects in the LOTR trilogy even though not all of them are necessarily main characters). To make a new trilogy of star wars films with aboslutely no inclusion of the past characters would be ridiculous in my opinion, especially with the fact that we know there are force ghosts. Without any of them to aid her, how would Rey even begin to learn about the Force (in an interesting way that doesn’t involve holocrons or middle-men like Lor San Tekka who are followers of the Force or know of the Force but are not wielders). I think you need the old characters to not only tie the old to the new like any good series should, but also to act as histoires who can elevate the storytelling.
That’s a pretty good example of what I’m suggesting though – every time a legacy character shows up, it stops the proceedings dead because everyone wants to know what THEY’RE up to. They HAD the old characters in TFA to bridge the trilogies, and they’ve still got to deal with Luke. Han was sacrificed to raise the stakes, and pass the torch, so now just trust the new characters to carry the story you want to tell from here out.
I disagree. The OT characters are not “pawns” to be tossed aside disrespectfully. They have just as much importance to the new stories as Rey and Finn.
Really? B/c The Force Awakens didn’t stop dead when Han showed up. It kept moving. Same with Leia. It stopped dead when Luke showed up though…because it ended.
I agree.
Also, it seems that the cast of main characters will remain too large.
For a ~2hr movie, with new characters/story lines to invest in, too many characters might be a big mistake.
I’m hoping there’s a really good story reason why Yoda needs to be in this film, and it’s not another Ackbar-like inclusion just to remind everyone of the OT.
There’s actually something from the originals that I’d love to see explored — Obi-Wan’s claim that Force ghosts are powerful, and that they’re capable of interfering. A pair of meddling Force ghosts could provide an explanation for Rey’s power-up.
I’m sure there is.
What was wrong with including ackbar? I mean he was the grand admiral of the New Republic and one of the most famous rebels of all time. Makes about as much sense for him to still be around as leia. To me there is a big difference between shoehorning something in that had no reason to be there (C3PO in episode 1) and having continuity by having any relevant old characters still be around (Bail organa in Rogue One). Yoda transcended death and helped train hundreds of jedi including Luke, I don’t think he would just stop talking to Luke when he needed him most. For me it would need a good reason to NOT include him.
We have the last Jedi Master who has abandoned his calling to rebuild and restore the Jedi Order to help bring peace to the galaxy and restore balance to the Force.
We have a mysterious young woman who appears to be another Anakin Skywalker like vergence in the Force who is wielding Anakin’s light saber.
And Darth Vader’s only grandchild has gone something something Darkside.
What’s a good story reason for the spirit of the most powerful Jedi Master ever not to be in this movie?
The OT characters are better and give the films far more emotional-equity. I do like new characters too, but the OT characters are the foundation and, without them, TFA would not have set the Box Office Records that it did.
No one cares. We have new characters for a reason.
It’s impossible to say that. By and large all the new characters were welcomed positively by the fans. Hell, my favorite part of TFA is the prologue where the OT cast does not exist. Had the entirety of the movie been given to them it would have been a much different story and could still have done well.
As it stands, I doubt the 2 billion it made world wide and repeat viewings by fans were solely to see Leia for 20 minutes, Luke for 1 minute without a line to be spoken, and a little over an hour of Han Solo.
I want Force Ghost Qui-Gon Jinn
TCW establishes that that won’t happen, sadly enough.
– Pomojema
That is so upsetting.
Huh? Doesn’t Yoda say Qui-Gon figured out how to come back?
To speak from beyond, not appear as a ghost.
seems like a jerk move for obi-wan to tell yoda and anakin how to do it but not his former master. 😉
Might have been too late for Qui-Gon at that point. Maybe it’s something you prepare for.
But then how did Anakin prepare for it, Yoda and Obi Wan wouldn’t have taught him and I don’t think the Emperor knew.
Lucas stated Obi Wan and Yoda went and got him and saved him
That’s fair enough, but if they can go and save people how come they never went and saved Mace, Qui-Gon, Ashoka, Dooku, and all their other friends that had died over the years.
Because those people were long dead and Anakin had just died then. They were likely watching what was happening and were there when they needed to be.
Why? that original Yoda was made it thay way, because of the technology available at that time, If the use a puupet now, hopefully it will be enhanced with CGI.
It is undeniable that the CGI Yoda have unlimited posibilities, with facial expresions, realism, tc. and today more that ever. To have a more realistic Yoda, for today times, it needs to be CGI, or CGI enhanced. Animatronics are more advanced now too, but why will you go back with a puppet Yoda, if you can go forward.
Yoda from episode 1 (2011) is really impressive, and they based the movements of the head an body on the pupet they use in 1999, that is the perect mix think, and the key to make a better Yoda.
This is a comparison months ago, when this rumor started, think teh posibilities. and check the Gif animation from ep1 ( yoda talking ) it is impressive to me: https://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/3669/9057/original.gif?w=600&h
I have nothing against CGI for new characters. Maz Kanata looks really good. The problem is, at least I feel like this, CGI Yoda just doesn’t look/feel like Yoda. Yoda originated as a puppet and should stay that way.
maz cantata looked awful i thought. her and smoke really took me out of the movie when they were on screen
I felt Maz blended nicely with the rest of the scenery. You could still tell it’s CGI, but it didn’t bother me. I have to agree on Snoke though, he looked really cheap. Hopefully he’ll look better in VIII.
Likewise. I thought Maz was pretty remarkable in terms of how seamlessly she worked in the scene. Snoke was a disappointment but I’ll maintain hope they’re going somewhere interesting with the character.
maz’s mouth specifically was what got to me. Each to their own though, it didn’t ruin the movie or anything
Snoke looked like early 2000’s cgi. I’m not sure how they let that slip in the film.
I agree completely
Yoda is Yoda, puppet or CGI, sitting or walking, speaking or fighting. I see want you try to say, but maybe you need to open your mind a little, and see the full picture.
I’m pretty sure Yoda wasn’t always ill, lonely and tired as we saw him in Dagobah.
I grew up on the OT and love it as much (if not more) as the next fan, but this strict adherence to the effects we grew up on as the “GOAT” is ridiculous. The effects from the OT are great, the effects from the PT are great, the effects from TFA were great, too. Not that difficult to accept.
He shouldn’t be doing much, so a puppet will do and save money. In the prequels, more so II and III, CGI was needed to cope with the demands made on the character.
Because then they couldn’t have a behind the scenes video where they turn to the camera and say “look! Practical effects!”. But yeah, hopefully it will be a mix of both practical and digital. Both computer effects and even puppetry have come a long way since RotJ and TPH, so this yoda will hopefully look better than any of the pictures shown.
Because this:
http://a.dilcdn.com/bl/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/11/yoda-the-empire-strikes-back.jpg
Will always look better than this crap:
http://nme.assets.ipccdn.co.uk/images/YodaPA250811.article_x4.jpg
That was from ep3, i lke it, but can be better, ep1 (2011) made a much better job, because how technology improved from then, but the real difference is in the performace, the movement, the “acting”, cgi can do alot more. This two images you posted are static, but you can see the gif from my comment, that Yoda was made almost 9 years later than ep2, I don’t think you can say anything bad about it, really. It seems like Yoda, it moves like Yoda, because it is him.
One is made out of latex the other is CGI, but the important thing is both make what Yoda is.
Imagine what can be achieve now in CGI, 5 year later.
If you can’t see that Yoda in the animated gif is really really good, maybe “Your arrogance blinds you..” 🙂
It looks like a cartoon. I will never buy that as genuinely being Yoda. Puppets are obviously limited in movement and facial expression, but at least they are tangible representations on set, with real light shining on them, casting real shadows, dressed in real clothing, interacting with live actors. Yes, CG has gotten much better, but still nothing beats the believability of things photographed on set vs. things inserted by a computer months later.
Facial expresions, movement, and realism in details (skin, eyes, mucles, etc), is what CGI can achieve and Puppet/animatronic don´t, not yet, not at the level CGI does now. Puppetering/animatronics have limited range of everything.
That´s why I beliebe CGI i better now, than only practical latex Yoda, think this, if you like Yoda to look like PT, it can be done exatly in CGI now (2016), and better, imagine an exact CGI replica, and if you add to it, believable movements and a bast range of facial (live) expresions, very sutil because is Yoda, of course, you can have the best Yoda ever.
I like the OT Yoda a lot too, but seeing the posibilities of CGI, and the way he looks in epI, They better use CGI. Just my opinion.
We don’t want CGI yoda. We want REALISM in Star Wars again – we want Practical Effects. Making a puppet with today’s technology is a huge leap forward.
Realism isn’t against Practical or CGI, it depends on what you want achieve, and what can be done.
And yes!, We do want CGI Yoda. 🙂
don’t say “we”.
Shiny CG can show a lot of detail but you can always tells its been transposed and wasn’t shot with the actors on set. For me that breaks the illusion far more than puppets.
You can have a “real” thing in set, then replace it or enhance it with CGI.
Remember Unkar Plutt fron TFA? that was an amazing thing, you only realize the face was CGI beacause it is dificult to have an actor with the eyes to far one from the other and an animatronic with that realism in the eyes and facial expresions, only CGI or a mix of both practical and digital.
I think that was the key in ep1 from 2011, they had the puppet in the set, with voice and movements from Frank, an then they replaced it with CGI. the perfect mix, and all natural.
Enhancement like Unkar is great and where CG works best but full on replacement like Yoda in Episode 1 is clearly an animation.
It just depends on you preference. I can tell puppets are puppets and I can tell CG is CG. When possible I prefer puppets because: A. puppets are physical things on set and B. that nostalgia factor. You might prefer CG for the added detail and shots and animation you can do that can’t be done with a puppet. Both are imperfect illusions so its just a matter of preference.
Animation or puppetery, i prefer whats works better for what is intended, at that days I’m sure that was the best way to do it, and was almost perfect, because they needed a pasive and very ill Yoda, But now there are better ways to do it, And i can assure you that if they could do a more “live” Yoda at that time they had done it that way, even if it was something very sutil.
There is no reason to go back to the past, ILM and George have never think that way, they are always thinking on better ways to tell a story, if they think puppet is better they will use it, if they think they need an other thing they will use another thing, they chose the best way to tell the story, there is nothing to do with the nostalgia factor, of course George is not there now and they will use the nostalgia factor if it sells :).
It really doesn’t mather what they use, I simply think they don’t need to step back y they have the tools they have now, technology have improved a lot and the digital artists care so much, so hopefully they will do it he best way :).
Just saying CGI is best doesn’t make it the better solution. Saying something is best is just an opinion.
nothing against yoda, but there is only one classic character i want to return and he drinks colt 45. make it happen lucasfilm.
With Han gone now they can do-do this scene without him in the way:
https://youtu.be/ZbH_w52gK5E?t=93
To me this was almost a forgone conclusion. I mean didn’t Frank Oz come in to record new dialogue for episode 7? If that was cut then you knew it had to fit into 8 somewhere. Plus it would be a serious plot hole to not address the force ghost situation to let us know just how much Luke is able to consult Yoda, Ben and his father. Was that appearance a one time thing? Is it hard to do or just like ringing someone on the ghost telephone?
i would love to hear the conversation between ghost obi-wan and ghost anakin.
“so… no hard feelings about leaving you to burn to death right?”
“yeah no worries. but I’m sorry about that whole wiping out the jedi order thing… i was just in a bad place at time with the wife dying and all that.”
Yeah, and “don’t be mad bruh, I warned you I had the high ground – that was on you!”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B7FMh3YtK_w
Love that scene (& Robot Chicken)!
I like smoky Yoda
The old puppet is degraded now . They’ll need to create a real ‘old’ yoda puppet.
Hopefully, they still have the molds.
It is the Only way to get him right, what is it with likeneses of heroes that people just cant nail.
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES! Yoda, especially a more organic puppet version could provide Ep 8 with an emotional “reunion” with Luke and Rey. I love this so much.
For your “average Star Wars Film Viewer” (not the hardcore fans here) —- the OT characters are what “sold” the Force Awakens. The Film had to appeal to them in order to really excel. Rey & Finn are cute – and I do like them both a lot – but without the OT characters TFA would not have shattered box office records. The OT characters carry with them an “emotional equity” with fans that can not be re-created with newbies. I like newbies – they are shiny, they are fun, they are cute – but it was Han Solo, Leia, and Luke which gave TFA emotional-gravity.
For people of a certain age maybe but for millennials and younger it’s the opposite. It’s a fine line lucasfilm needs to walk.
You would be surprised — at HOT TOPIC, for example, the OT related merchandise is their “best seller” for Star Wars — and their customer base is very millenial. Most Millenials GREAT UP watching the OT Star Wars with their Parents so they also adore the OT characters. The OT has a gravity which transcends age, race, and gender — and will always be the “fuel” propelling the entire saga forward.
Well I can’t speak to hot topic, but looking at cosplayers you see just as much rey, kylo or rebels characters as the old guard. A good size of the younger fans see the prequels and after as their star wars. Not all but goodly amount.
Prequel Merchandise has tanked out so badly that most retailers / vendors will no longer carry it. There is no market for it as the Prequel characters never achieved even close to the cultural recognition of the OT. And you are right, Rey and Kylo are especially popular on the cosplay circuit right now, as they should be. But without the OT characters involvement in the new Trilogy, I sincerely doubt that we would “care so hard” about both of those characters. The shiny newbies mean far more when the OT is a part of their journey – like Rey’s new BFF – Chewie.
overall OT is still higher regarded than the prequels, but the gap is shrinking. more people who were born this century identify with them then what we grew up with. and the ST is the next link in that chain. most kids will want to be rey or poe or finn, not luke or han or leia. the times are a changing.
Then why have most retailers of Star Wars-licensed-merchandise ABANDONED the Prequel Merchandise? The Prequels “popped” at the Box Office when they were released but quickly dropped out of pop culture and have little to no cultural-relevance today. The times are not changing — with the advent of TFA, the OT is more relevant today than in this entire millennium.
Most retailers ABANDONED the prequel merch b/c the last movie came out….11 years ago. When the movies were still around, prequel merch was everywhere.
It’s the same thing with the overseas audience. Even though Star Wars is pretty big in Japan, for example, TFA was the first Star Wars film for a lot of people.
I would agree with you grand admiral dux. As a guy kind of caught between the two huge aforementioned generations, I loved seeing the old characters, but they to me were just the cute fun nostalgic nod. The new characters sold that movie for me. Emotionally and otherwise.
Im 31 and didn’t get to witness the original Star Wars craze. And was well into my late teens to twenties for the prequels. Kind of caught between the gap. So I’d say Disney and JJ Abrams thought process was the best. A send off for the old characters, but get people invested in the new as well as the plot invested with the new. A fine line to walk for sure.
And for any kind of future to keep going for Star Wars, they really need to start doing more new things. Not just rehashing and revisiting nostalgic nods like making a Young Han Solo movie.
Yep, I’m in the same boat as you. In regards to the solo movie I will say that while we are rehashing characters it’s at least a bigger window into the underworld of the SW universe which we haven’t had yet.
Things to think about, Yoda will be in glowing spirit form. He doesn’t need a lot of movement. Just his face and hands. A puppet should work fine because in ROTJ he was a puppet and this film is closest to that one.
Yoda is very cool but what about Obi Wan ? We ve heard his voice in Rey’s vision aswell
Just give us Lando already.