Solo: A Star Wars Story

Sorry, but the complaints about the names here are pretty silly to me. This notion that there's a distinction between "placeholder names" and "stupid names" is absurd.

Anyone know exactly when "Walrus Man" became "Ponda Baba"? I'm guessing it was some time in the 1990s or early 2000s. At the very earliest, it was probably around 1988 or so. My guess is that either one of the writers at West End Games gave him the name, or Leland Chee did. Regardless, the name "Walrus Man" was literally that character's name for at least a decade. It was only after the fact, when people were demanding that the entirety of Star Wars lore be fleshed out, and every background character get their own little backstory, no matter how insignificant they were, that you started seeing these characters get "proper" names.

So, let's not go putting the original production team or the Kenner creative team on a pedestal for their amazing work. "Greedo the bounty hunter"? Really? We're gonna call that genius? Only if you're viewing it through nostalgia-glasses with lenses as thick as Coke bottles. It's just a silly name and that's okay. It doesn't have to be this grand revelation or flash of genius or whatever. The genius isn't in the stupid name, it's in how you use the characters.

I'm gonna go ahead and make a guess here that a bunch of these characters are going to end up being about as significant as Klaatu, Barada, and Nikto. You remember them, right? The trio of guards on Jabba's skiffs? The ones whose names were flat-out ripped off of The Day the Earth Stood Still?

Or maybe they can aspire to the heights of importance reserved for Willrow Hood, whom you may know better as "Ice Cream Maker Guy," and who only got his name seventeen years after the premiere of the film in which he appeared because they decided to include him in a collectible card game and didn't just want to refer to him as "Ice Cream Maker Guy."


If you want to nitpick the production history of Solo, or talk about how Alden's portrayal seems kinda weak from the trailers, or whathaveyou, go right ahead. If you want to just say "Huh. that's kind of a silly name," go right ahead. But let's not pretend that THIS name is incredibly silly and therefore proves that "Solo: A Star Wars Story" is going to be utter trash, but the likes of Greedo, Walrus Man/Ponda Baba, or Three-Eyes/Ree-Yees should only be spoken with the utmost reverence for George Lucas' singular, visionary genius. Star Wars has a long history of dumb names for its characters, and an equally long history of that fact not mattering one whit towards the quality of the films in which they appeared.
 
Therm Scissorpunch?

This is a joke right? As if they movie doesn't have the sabacc cards already stacked against it?

I feel like between Episode 8 and this we are all being punked. Like George Lucas is going to come out from behind a curtain and reveal that we're all on candid camera.
 
The new Chewie really bugs me. It's pretty obvious it's a new guy in the suit - movements are off. And it seems like the eyes are set even further back into the mask now. WTH?
 
That guy looks good for nothing except scissor-punching.

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The new Chewie really bugs me. It's pretty obvious it's a new guy in the suit - movements are off. And it seems like the eyes are set even further back into the mask now. WTH?

Agreed. Pause it on the 44-second mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=58&v=uIWiCjiYi7o

* eyes too deeply set
* hair too wavy
* teeth too stained (they were practically white in the OT)
* silicon skin instead of latex
* lip curl is wrong

He doesn't look anything like Stuart's OT Chewie. And yes, the actor's movements are off. They've been off in the movies, too. As has his posture.

This is some low-SWIQ stuff.

The Wook
 
Yeah, Wook. I noticed all of those things in TLJ and the obvious differences of the two Chewie actors in TFA.

I know that the new guy isn't Mayhew, but Peter made that character his own, just like Harrison did with Solo. So, it seems to me that it would be beneficial to at least try to mimic what Mayhew did so that it's not just Disney cosplay. It doesn't help that the costuming of that character just isn't like it was in the old days. It looks over-produced or something. I dunno.
 
Yeah, Wook. I noticed all of those things in TLJ and the obvious differences of the two Chewie actors in TFA.

I know that the new guy isn't Mayhew, but Peter made that character his own, just like Harrison did with Solo. So, it seems to me that it would be beneficial to at least try to mimic what Mayhew did so that it's not just Disney cosplay. It doesn't help that the costuming of that character just isn't like it was in the old days. It looks over-produced or something. I dunno.

Not to mention the fact that the vocalization he makes at the 10-second mark is NOT a Chewie vocalization.

I don't want to be too harsh on that screw-up because someone other than LFL may've put it in there, and, because it's just a commercial. But that crap better not be heard in the film.
 
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Anyone know exactly when "Walrus Man" became "Ponda Baba"? I'm guessing it was some time in the 1990s or early 2000s. At the very earliest, it was probably around 1988 or so. My guess is that either one of the writers at West End Games gave him the name, or Leland Chee did. Regardless, the name "Walrus Man" was literally that character's name for at least a decade. It was only after the fact, when people were demanding that the entirety of Star Wars lore be fleshed out, and every background character get their own little backstory, no matter how insignificant they were, that you started seeing these characters get "proper" names.

He was named Sawkee in 1981 for the SW radio plays. Later to Ponda Baba for a reference book. So they obviously wanted him to have a name and not just a description relatively quickly.
 
He was named Sawkee in 1981 for the SW radio plays. Later to Ponda Baba for a reference book. So they obviously wanted him to have a name and not just a description relatively quickly.

Interesting. So Brian Daley -- who swapped out Jabba and swapped in Heater in the docking bay scene -- gave him a name, which was changed later in a reference book. Got a date or title for the book, out of curiosity? I always find this history stuff interesting. I mean that seriously. Not trying to be snarky here.

That said, it doesn't change the fact that they've had dumb names a plenty in Star Wars' history. It didn't make the movie any worse when he was known as Walrus Man. Why would it matter now?

There are plenty of grounds on which to worry that Solo will suck. This ain't one of 'em.

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