5 Examples of the Star Wars TV Shows Resurrecting Concept Art
Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars have allowed an incredible expansion of the Star Wars universe, and have been populated with concept art from Ralph McQuarrie and others. Here are 5 examples of concept art from the movies being reused in the TV shows.
Boba Fett concept to Mandalorian troopers
Mandalorian armor is by far my favorite looking armor in the SW universe. Every time I see the ‘T’ eye slit helmets, I get giddy with excitement. Boba Fett went through many different design changes before he appeared on screen, and every phase looked fantastic. In one of the phases, he had almost the same armor in design, but the design consisted of all white armor with a red triangle on the forehead. This was an awesome look, and it was great to see the design make an appearance in Rebels, in the form of Imperial Mandalorian guards.
freaky-ass spider things
The planet these things live on would have been a great first test for the Death Star. I am not ashamed to admit that, even though this is a kids’ TV show, when I first saw these krykna on screen, it made my skin crawl. Originally, Ralph McQuarrie was tasked with designing a ‘knobby, white spider’ for Luke to fight as part of his training on Dagobah. It is a shame they weren’t in Empire Strikes Back as this, at least to me, is the embodiment of fear (Hell, even Steven King’s IT’s true form is strikingly similar) and seeing Luke overcome it would have been a nice piece of symbolism. Fortunately, this knobby spider finally made its way on screen in Rebels.
Original protocol droid
The original design of C-3P0 screams 30's futurism. The look of the original sketches of 3P0 feel eerie, and very inhuman. This could be due to the stigma imposed on this style. Before Star Wars, when a humanoid robot was on screen, it was plotting against mankind. C-3P0 and R2D2 were a very stark change of pace from what society had in mind of sentient robots. In Rebels, the protocol droid pictured does have the ominous feel to it, and sure enough, it does try to kill all humans.
Darth Maul turned witch
This is one of the least known comparisons from the TV shows. Several drawings for Maul were done, and I can see why he went through so many iterations. Prior to Episode 1, only two there were, Vader and the Emperor. The new guy has to compete with those icons. How in the world can you top Vader? In the Star Wars costume exhibit, several sketches of Maul were shown off, and some were not seen before online. One of these depicts a sorceress, shrouded in red, and has a very ominous presence. The terrifying image of this sorceress became Mother Talzin in The Clone Wars. It’s no coincidence that Mauls story arc is heavily entwined with Mother Talzin, as they were molded from the same clay.
Zeb came from the original concept for Chewbacca
One of the main characters in Rebels, Zeb, pretended to be a wookie in the first episode. Had the wookie concept art made it into the movie, his impression would have been spot on. The lasat species is almost exclusively recycled wookie concept art. To draw from the similarities further, the Rebels lineup looks very similar to the original sketches for the gang in A New Hope.
It’s great to see some of the fantastic art that never made it into the movies be reanimated (pun intended) into the TV shows.