Word: artoo
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...grow," the little gnome explains. "Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we . . . Feel the flow. Feel the Force around you." Luke does, to a degree. By an exertion of will he can move rocks and other small objects-like a wildly beeping and protesting Artoo Detoo. Yet when he tries to raise his ship, which is mired in the swamp, Luke fails. He then watches in amazement as Yoda levitates it to dry land. "I don't believe it," he says. "That," retorts Yoda, "is why you fail...
...some scenes Artoo Detoo is played by a real robot; but in closeups little Kenny Baker is the brain and motor within. Baker had a hard time moving that heavy tin can in Star Wars, and his new model Artoo Detoo was a big improvement; it was lighter and easier to push, and it did not have the bruising nuts and bolts the old model had inside. Unfortunately for Baker, he is fast becoming obsolete. The real robots were much smarter than they were in Star Wars, and they were able to do many action shots better than the Baker...
Looking back at Star Wars and his other big movie, American Graffiti, Lucas discovered a common ingredient, what he calls an "effervescent giddiness." It is not a bad analysis, and Star Wars had more of it than does The Empire. There are many amusing scenes, as before mostly involving Artoo Detoo, Threepio and Chewbacca. Lucas' imagination once again lays out its bounty in a lavish and wonderful spread. The invention of Yoda alone would keep many film makers bragging for years. Lucas adds ice monsters, strange-looking beasts-half dinosaur, half llama-that can be ridden bareback, the city...
Only two of the main characters will appear in all nine films, and they are the robots, Artoo Detoo and Threepio. Says Lucas: "In effect, the story will be told through their eyes...
Luke, with Artoo Detoo as his friend and companion, is the unpretentious cinematic heir to a long line of such heroes: Prometheus, Jason, Aeneas, Sir Galahad, John Bunyan's pilgrim. Luke begins his adventure and soon encounters Ben Kenobi, who, as such figures often do in traditional fairy tales and myths, offers advice and the benign protection of destiny. In classical myth such a role was played by Mercury, or Hermes as the Greeks called him; in Egyptian myth the part belonged to Thoth. After Ben is transported to that place where all good Jedi Knights go in Star...