Kithaba on the set of Return of the Jedi
What if all of the aliens that appeared in the Star Wars movies weren’t just actors in prosthetics, puppets or CGI characters? What if they were real aliens hired to play themselves in the films? That was the initial idea behind this drawing and I tried to make it look like one of those candid behind the scenes photos taken during the filming of ROTJ.
Excerpt from a 1982 fanzine where this “photo” was first published:
“This is Kithaba on the set of Return of the Jedi, where he’s just finished filming all of his scenes for the day and is taking a short water break. The location is Buttercup Valley, California, and, officially, they are making Blue Harvest: Horror Beyond Imagination. But in reality this is the big “Sarlacc Pit” battle which will end up being one of the key action sequences for the third Star Wars film.
When he was first offered the role, Kithaba accepted it enthusiastically, being a huge fan of the first two films. However, he was absolutely floored when he learned that he’d be acting right next to Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford for his motion picture debut. Speaking through his translator, Kithaba told us that he started a strict workout regime as soon as he learned that he had gotten the part. He tells us that all the exercise helped condition him to give his best performance in the punishing desert heat.
He’s not allowed to go into too much detail about what his role is, except that he’s referred to as a “skiff guard”; but he is holding out hope for a returning part in a future Star Wars film. George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, has stated that there will be a total of nine Star Wars films (although an earlier source had that number as high as twelve) so Kithaba’s chances of returning are probably really good.”