Thursday Thirteen

Happy Star Wars Day!

I am a fan, though not a super fan of the Star Wars franchise. I enjoy the movies (even the bad ones) and  characters, but I don't watch Star Wars every year like I do Lord of the Rings. But it's all good.

Anyway, here are 13 facts about Star Wars.

1. The words “I have a bad feeling about this” are said in every Star Wars film. It's a running joke.

2. No female fighter pilots appear in the original trilogy. They were in the screenplay but removed from the final cut. (Figures, eh?)

3. In the story development phase of Return of the Jedi, George Lucas thought about having Luke turn bad. The thinking was that after Darth Vader died, Luke would put on the helmet and say,"Now I am Vader," and then turn to the dark side. Thankfully, the light side of the Force won out.

4. Universal Studios and United Artists both turned down the original Star Wars film. I bet someone was fired for that.

5. The words “Yoda” and “Yoda-like”, referring to a wise elder, now appear in the Oxford English Dictionary.
6. On May 4, 2015 astronauts on the International Space Station celebrated Star Wars day by watching the film on a big screen.

7. The second part of Darth Vader’s name is Dutch for father.

8. Yoda is the Sanskrit word for warrior. (Yoda was originally supposed to be called Buffy. Thank goodness someone stopped that atrocity, eh?)

9. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is one of only three films that have taken more than $2 billion at the box office. The other films are Avatar and Titanic.

10. The only film to have sold more tickets in the US than the original 1977 Star Wars (now retitled A New Hope because of those lousy prequels) is 1939’s Gone With The Wind.

11. One of the asteroids seen floating in outer space in The Empire Strikes Back is actually a potato.

12. Yoda had a different number of toes in the films. In The Phantom Menace, he has three toes. In The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Revenge of the Sith, he has four.

13. The South Pacific Island of Niue accepts limited edition Star Wars collectible coins as legal tender.

And two extra facts (because there are thousands):

14. Burt Reynolds, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, and Christopher Walken were the top contenders for Hans Solo. Aren't we glad they found Harrison Ford instead?

15. Hans Solo was supposed to be killed off in Return of the Jedi, leaving the Rebel forces leaderless as Luke disappeared into the wilderness. But director/creator George Lucas later said he thought killing off main characters would hurt toy sales, so he changed the ending to the big Ewok dance party. (I actually would rather have not known that, I think.)

May the Force be with you, always!

_______

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 498th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.