17 Things You Never Knew About 'Return of the Jedi' on Its 35th Anniversary

It's been a mind-boggling 35 years since "Return of the Jedi" hit theaters and capped off the original Star Wars trilogy.

At the time, fans feared it might be the last they ever saw of Luke, Leia, Han, and the rest of the gang. That didn't turn out to be the case, but this movie still holds a special place in the hearts of Star Wars fanatics the world over. And to celebrate this milestone, here are 16 interesting facts you might not know about this epic threequel.
1. George Lucas created several fake shooting scripts to guard against leaked spoilers. One of these scripts revealed Lando to be the person Yoda alluded to in "The Empire Strikes Back" when he said, "No, there is another."

2. Speaking of Yoda, the aged Jedi Master wasn't originally meant to be included in the film. Lucas added the Luke/Yoda reunion after speaking with a child psychologist and being told that younger viewers needed hard confirmation that Darth Vader is Luke's father in order to accept the twist.
3. Lucas clashed with writer Lawrence Kasdan over how to end "Return of the Jedi." The two considered scrapping the entire Endor sequence and instead setting the climax on Had Abbadon, a planet Lucas envisioned as the capital world of the Empire. The Special Edition re-release instead features a brief glimpse of Coruscant, a world that would become well-established in the Prequels.

4. Another option considered was to set the climactic battle on Kashyyk, teaming Chewbacca with his fellow Wookiees instead of Ewoks.5. The costume designers tried -- and failed -- to design Ewok masks that featured blinking eyes. Lucas later digitally added blinking eyes for the 2011 Blu-ray release.
6. The word "Ewok" is never actually spoken in the film. Also not spoken in the film? Palpatine. The big bad is never referred to by his actual name, just "The Emperor."7. Originally, Luke's lightsaber blade was colored blue in the film, and appeared that way in early footage and on the "Revenge of the Jedi" teaser poster. Lucas changed the color to green in order to make it clearer that Luke had built a new saber and not recovered the one he lost in Cloud City.8. Lando's co-pilot, Nien Nunb, isn't speaking alien gibberish, but an actual Kenyan dialect known as Haya. His lines were dubbed by a Kenyan student named Kipsang Rotich.9. "Return of the Jedi" is the only Star Wars movie in which Darth Vader appears but doesn't Force-choke another character.

10. There actually was a scene of Vader choking an Imperial officer outside Palpatine's throne room, but Lucas deemed it unnecessary.
11. When filming his Endor scenes at the Redwood National Forest in California, Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew had to be escorted by crew members so locals wouldn't mistake him for Bigfoot.

12. Death Star administrator Moff Jerjerrod originally had a more significant role in the story. An earlier draft depicted Jerjerrod as Palpatine's right-hand man, helping his master scheme to turn Luke against Vader and eventually being killed by Vader in retaliation.
13. Han Solo's fate at the end of "Empire Strikes Back" was left ambiguous in case Harrison Ford elected not to return for the sequel. Ford also campaigned for Lucas to kill off his character in "Return of the Jedi," though he wound up having to wait until 2015's "Force Awakens" to get his wish.
14. Four different actors were required to bring Vader to life in this sequel. David Prowse and Bob Anderson both wore the suit at different points, while James Earl Jones provided Vader's voice and Sebastian Shaw portrayed the unmasked Anakin Skywalker. And that's not even counting Hayden Christensen's cameo in the Blu-ray version.

15. Ian McDiarmid had to rotate his throne by using his feet because the actual mechanism never worked properly during filming.
16. Lucas has admitted to regretting Boba Fett's infamous death scene after learning just how popular the bounty hunter had become with fans. Lucas even considered adding a scene on the 2004 DVD release that would have shown Fett escaping from the Sarlacc.17. When it came time to expand the musical sequence in Jabba's palace, actress Femi Taylor was called on to reprise the role of Twi'lek dancer, Oola. She was the only Original Trilogy actor to return for the Special Editions.

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