Jabba the Hutt is perhaps one of the most iconic villains in the entire Star Wars saga –
even without a funky jetpack or a cool looking lightsaber.
So much so that I'm willing to bet a rather large sum of C-3PO tape dispensers –
yes, you know the ones I'm talking about –
that even those who have never seen any of the films...
...could probably pick him out of some kind of sci-fi police lineup.
I'm gonna have an awful bother photoshopping that... Ah, I shouldn't have said that!
I mean, it's not every day you bear witness to an egregiously hideous space slug – am I right?!
But what about Jabba's original form?
By that I mean the rather plump human with an off-putting Northern Irish accent,
not the horrifically cheap-looking CGI model of the 1997 special edition re-releases.
Which we will not be talking about - because quite frankly, it gives me shivers just thinking about it!
Anyway, why did everyone's second favourite Hutt change from an actor in a fluffy coat...
...to a state of the art puppet?
And why did George Lucas completely shun the original actor from updated versions of A New Hope?
Well, my friends, let's find out!
It may be a little difficult to recall now –
unless you grab yourself a copy of Harmy's Despecialized Edition –
but Han Solo's encounter with Jabba the Hutt in Docking Bay 94...
...was entirely removed from the final cut of the film.
And while the novelisation of A New Hope left the scene very much intact,
it failed to shed any more light on whether or not the crime lord was actually human.
So how did George Lucas initially envision the character?
Well, more or less from the start, he pictured Jabba as we all know him today –
a claim seemingly supported in the 1979 book The Art of Star Wars:
Sounds like my brother, I'm describing...
Don't worry, he doesn't watch these videos...
So if Lucas always intended for Jabba to be a disgusting hunk of green meat -
again, kinda like my brother -
then you may be wondering why he had initially cast Declan Mulholland in the role.
The answer, however, is somewhat difficult to decipher.
On one hand, the costume department took great care in dressing the would-be crime lord –
meaning there must have been at least some interest...
...in using Mulholland's performance in the theatrical release of A New Hope.
But on the other, Lucas ran into some financial trouble when it came to the necessary visual effects:
Seems like a rather straight forward answer, right?
Well, that's if you overlook yet another contradiction –
aside from the fact Mulholland was brought back for a second day of filming.
Let's just sweep that under the rug...
I mean, why would Harrison Ford choose to circle his on-screen counterpart,
knowing a CGI incarnation of Jabba would feature a lengthy tail?
Perhaps George simply enjoyed needlessly overworking his visual effects artists...
All we do know for sure is that certain members of the crew, such as Marcia Lucas,
fought tooth and nail to retain this now iconic scene:
Producer Gary Kurtz, on the other hand – well, he deemed the scene entirely unnecessary:
Poor Declan Mulholland...
But, hey – at least he still enjoyed a successful acting career following his stint in the galaxy far, far away.
With all of that being said, do you wish Jabba the Hutt remained as a regular human character?
Or do you prefer his iconic puppet/CGI form?
Ugh, the CGI version...
Let me know in the comments below.
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