The Anatomy of the Star Wars Prequels

With the release of the Prequel trilogy almost two decades ago, we were re-introduced to many of the classic alien species. What better way to connect the new films to the Original saga by adding some familiar faces to the crowd? And it made sense, as we visited Tatooine, where we had been twice before, and Coruscant, capital of the Galactic Republic and the place where all life of the galaxy came together. But almost 16 years of sitting on a shelf had not been optimal to the old alien masks and costumes, and developments in make-up effects warranted the re-visualization of some of our favorite aliens.

With the creation of the new costumes, there was room for improvement. Surely, the aliens would have to look like their OT predecessors, but honestly, some of the masks from the OT, especially the ones used for background characters in the Cantina scene, were rather crude. And of course, a bigger budget helped as well. In this entry to the blog I wanted to show you some of the differences between the OT and PT alien make-ups, and how some of the larger differences were later explained.

Many species did not change all that much, and were quite true to the originals. Certainly, there was more attention to detailing, adding intricate skin patterns and textures. But the differences were minimal, and easily justified as not all members of a species look alike in our own biology either. A good example of these improved costumes are the Bith, who have much more detail in their faces. The Ithorians were also vastly improved if you compare them to the good old Momaw “Hammerhead” Nadon. Much more subtle differences are seen in species such as the Ishi Tib, the Klatooinians, the Nikto and the Rodians.

What is interesting to see is that often the most obvious differences for these improved aliens were the hands. Apparently the Prequels needed to be aware of their budget every now and then, a fact witnessed in the repeated use of the same, three-fingered-hand gloves. These can be seen on several species, such as the Ishi Tib, the Nikto, the Pacithhip, the Quarren and the Weequays in the Mos Espa scenes of The Phantom Menace (also check the image on top of this article). The Quarren used to have suction-cup-tipped hands, Ishi Tib had some sort of bulky claws (the hands of the Ishi Tib are very hard to see on images of Return of the Jedi), whereas the Nikto and Weequays had five-fingered hands. All in all, these differences are minor, and could just be neglected, but for some other species they were explained in later sources.

Much larger differences were seen in a species such as the Aqualish. Not only were their faces much more refined, showing actual protruding tusks instead of the more buttocks-looking visage of Ponda Baba, they had additional eyes as well. In addition to the extra eyes, they were missing a few fingers. Not that the Aqualish from the old days were all so consistent, mind you. For those of you that have ever taken a good look at footage of Ponda, you will see that sometimes his five-fingered hands are replaced by a sort of flipper-like suction cups. The reason behind that is the original scene shot in the UK had these flippers, while the additional shots in the US used the fingered hands instead. The fingered hands are also seen in Rogue One. The flippers were later used for Teak Sidbam, a character in the Holiday Special. The difference was explained by creating two subspecies for the Aqualish: the Quara, fingered Aqualish that evolved on the marshy islands of Ando, and the Aquala, finned Aqualish that lived in the seas. This third iteration of the Aqualish was therefore easily explained: a third subspecies, the Ualaq, who were postulated to be a result of a genetic mutation.

Another such example is the Gran. The Gran in the Prequels are still very much recognizable as Gran, as they share most facial features with the Gran we know from the OT, Ree Yees. The Gran are a good example of a greatly improved design, with the Gran mask that was used for non-background characters such as Ask Aak being completely remote controlled, allowing for much more facial movements. Other than much more intricate detailing and patterning, the main difference for the Gran were (again) the hands. Ree Yees had these odd, bulbous hands with very short, stumpy fingers. The Gran from the Prequels had six digits on much slimmer hands, presumably because these gloves were easier to work with for the performers. The New Essential Guide to Alien Species provides an explanation to this difference by introducing a recessive genetic mutation that caused some Gran to suffer from misshapen and swollen hands and feet.

The four lekku (the Twi’lek head-tails) on the Twi’lek Senator Orn Free Taa were later attributed to his obesity. When Twi’lek males became as corpulent as Orn, the thick brows on their forehead developed into an extra set of fatty “lekku”, which were seen as a status symbol on Ryloth. It’s a neat little explanation, that also deals with the fact that Orn is missing those bulbous brows we know from other Twi’lek males such as Bib Fortuna.

One final species that stands out is the Sullustan. There are a few Sullustans hiding in the background of Attack of the Clones, most notably on the Jendirian Valley, the refugee ship Anakin and Padmé use to get to Naboo. While they are definitely recognizable as Sullustans by their droopy jowls (known as dewflaps) and their black eyes, something is… off. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but it seems as if these Sullustans are somehow more “human” than Nien Numb, with a more pronounced nose and mouth. I also cannot shake the feeling that this particular Sullustan in the image below might be a female, which might be a potential explanation for these differences. Funny enough, the remake of Nien Nunb in The Force Awakens adds a lot of detail to him as well, but stays very true to his original design. Another thing worth mentioning is that Attack of the Clones is actually the only movie that shows the Sullustan hands, instead of gloves, but they appear to be recycled Bith hands with the sharp claws.

I don’t necessarily feel all the subtle differences need to be explained. The over-use of the three-fingered-hand glove in The Phantom Menace is something we can dismiss. Subspecies and genetic mutation are always interesting, but we mustn’t use these too much. Although I would one day like to see an explanation for the difference between the OT and PT (and The Clone Wars) Quarren, as I feel the suction cups seen on Tessek were a much better fit for the species than Tundra Dowmeia’s claws.

Sources

• The Complete Visual Dictionary, DK Publishing 2005
• The Essential Guide to Alien Species, Del Rey 2001
• The New Essential Guide to Alien Species, Del Rey 2006