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Look, sir! Zombies!

date posted: May 22, 2006 4:25 PM | updated: Aug 28, 2006 12:26 PM

Can wampas talk?

Those of you born after 1980 won't have any idea what I'm talking about...

Back when the Empire Strikes Back was released, we had a Kenner commercial that introduced us to the fiercesome wampa creature. In that commercial, the proud beast stomped across the icy landscape of Hoth, uttering those unforgettable chilling words: "Wam-pa wam-pa wam-pa..."

Wait a minute now.

What?

"Wampa wampa wampa" ?

Wampas can talk? And if so, their language consists of... their own name?

Is this true? Can it be? Or was it that Kenner was translating for us, from an untranslatable wampa tongue?

I've heard reports that the wampas have their own form of poetry, but at this point, it's still all conjecture. So far, no wampologists have returned alive from their expeditions.

http://blogs.starwars.com/RyanKaufman/33

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	Leland Y Chee Keeper of the Holocron's Blog
date Posted: May 22, 2006 4:33 PM In Cantonese, animal names often come from the sound that they make. For example, a cat is called a mau mau (not unlike "meow") and a dog is called a woe woe (kinda like "woof"). Ergo, the wampas MUST be speaking Cantonese.

	Bravo 225 "Nice Skirt, Hand Washable?" - "Its a Kama!"
date Posted: May 22, 2006 4:36 PM So far, no wampologists have returned alive from their expeditions. I returned... Actually, your conjecture is mostly right here. I heard several wampas singing: Oompa, loompa, dumpedee-dee! If you're wise, you'll listen to me! And so on and so on... It's rather fascinating really!

	RyanKaufman Look, sir! Zombies!
date Posted: May 22, 2006 4:36 PM Good call. That makes me wonder if there are other Wampa dialects too. You know, like the North Ice Fields wampas can't understand the East Wasteland wampas and what-not. Wampa cinema is filled with all kinds of subtitles.

	Nar Cranor Holochronicles: Continuity Hugs for Everyone!
date Posted: May 22, 2006 5:10 PM It makes it sound like they are related to Fozzy Bear. Wokka-wokka-wokka! Maybe he was a rare forest planet offshoot species of the Wampa?

General Tarfful
The Kachirho Daily Journal

date Posted: May 22, 2006 5:19 PM

Wampologists.. I like the sound of that.

In Cantonese, animal names often come from the sound that they make. For example, a cat is called a mau mau (not unlike "meow") and a dog is called a woe woe (kinda like
"woof").

Ah, interesting. So maybe we have it all backwards. Maybe the only reason Wampas are called Wampas is that it's what the earliest wampologists heard them saying when Wampas were first discovered.

General Tarfful
The Kachirho Daily Journal

date Posted: May 22, 2006 5:19 PM

(Athough, I suppose it couldn't have been wampologists who discovered wampas, because there would be no reason for wampologists to exist yet at that point... but maybe they became wampologists simply by virtue of finding and studying them. Part-time wampologists, at least.)

Still, it reminds me a bit of Pokemon. Don't they exclusively speak their own name? When I think of Pikachu I think of him/her/it just saying "Pi-ka-CHU!" with various inflections over and over again.

	Zak Vorkon The blog of a Balosar
date Posted: May 22, 2006 5:20 PM Ergo, the wampas MUST be speaking Cantonese Hmm... That actually makes some sense. Ryan, do you change your avatar for each blog?

	alshf123 Thoughts from a Squib
date Posted: May 22, 2006 5:25 PM Wampologists?! I know nothing. I don't like to talk about.......those weeks.

	The Dark Moose Moose Poodoo
date Posted: May 22, 2006 5:43 PM I've heard reports that the wampas have their own form of poetry Well...given their vocabulary, rhyming would rather commonplace. A wampa in its prime is probably apologizing all the time that they didn't mean to rhyme... something. DM out

Rive Caedo
Rive's Uncharted Settlements

date Posted: May 22, 2006 6:05 PM

This is obviously just another attempt by so called "wampaologists" to prevent the Empire from harvesting precious tibanna gas from underneath Hoth "nature" preserves.

The fact is that Hoth is a wasteland without enough life to fill a starcruiser.

Should we honestly stop progress based on images like this?

Lower our tibanna costs! Utilize Hoth's resources!

	The Stooge Star Wars Joke-A-Day
date Posted: May 22, 2006 6:46 PM Should we honestly stop progress based on images like this? Loved it! And great blog, Mr. RK! This has been a great day for Wampas.

	Son of a Bith The Cantina Corner
date Posted: May 22, 2006 7:37 PM The long lost cousin of the wampa.

	ssgorik ACKBAR IS BACK
date Posted: May 22, 2006 7:46 PM General Tarfful's got it right. Wampas are the long lost Pokemon #1,226.

	hansgirl3 Invoking the Squee
date Posted: May 22, 2006 7:58 PM Man, poor Wampa's, they're always getting the short end of the lightsaber... First Stooge's joke, now a question of their liguistics. When does it stop!

RyanKaufman
Look, sir! Zombies!

date Posted: May 23, 2006 8:04 AM

Guys! Check this out!

An unnamed source has sent me some ultra-secret data, suppressed for years by the Empire. It was discovered written on an ice cave wall. WAMPA POETRY!

Behold:

Ice cave lonely like wampa heart
Wind blow through empty spaces
Wampa sad
Will friend come and play hang-upside-down in cave?

and this!

Wampa heart ache for soulmate
Empty arms bring tear to wampa eye
Lo, soft doth the--- what that noise?
TAUNTAUN!
KILL !!! KILL!!!
RIP HEAD OFF GRAAAAH!!!!

Well, clearly that last one was more of a performance piece.

	The Stooge Star Wars Joke-A-Day
date Posted: May 23, 2006 8:15 AM Well, clearly that last one was more of a performance piece.

	razzy1319 I swear I'm eloquent when not near any writing materials
date Posted: May 24, 2006 12:00 AM Uhoh... Wampas talking like pokemons? That can only mean LFL legal can now sue for property rights for pokemon.... THE END IS NIGh... the pokemon/starwars crossover decade is about to begin... hide...

	ryanlb A Clone's Paradise
date Posted: May 25, 2006 10:10 AM Amazing, and all this time I thought wampas were non-sentient. Well, time for the Empire to enslave them along with the wookies!

	gahmah80 Gahmah's Lair of Trauma (Blog Closed Due to Inability to Renew Hyperspace Account)
date Posted: May 26, 2006 3:39 PM Don't worry, advertisements for toys aren't a canonical part of the SW universe.

	Darthcharlie32 The Cantina at the End of the Universe!
date Posted: May 29, 2006 10:01 AM the pokemon/starwars crossover decade is about to begin... hide... Ignites Saber and Deflects Pokeballs Runnn! Uhoh..... Its Darth Pika!Choke, Sizzle I Pika Am Chu You uuu Fatha

	Darthcharlie32 The Cantina at the End of the Universe!
date Posted: May 29, 2006 10:02 AM WAMPA RIGHTS These are peaceful Animals!

Wampa_Jedi
Jedi Wampa's Playhouse

date Posted: Jun 01, 2006 7:20 PM

How in the name of the seven hells of Hoth did I miss this blog!

Some of us are much more articulate (though bad spellers) and can say more than the name of our species. I can only imagine that the Wampa immortalized in the commercial could only have been the Mascot from North Ice Ridge High. You know how those costumed people work (like at Disney). They're not really allowed to talk, as it might "break character,"

I would have to say you saw a shot in the 2nd intermission of the Anoat Sector hockey championships...we were down 2-1 on our home ice and were trying to get the crowd back into it....

	Wampa_Jedi Jedi Wampa's Playhouse
date Posted: Jun 01, 2006 7:22 PM Either that or, as already mentioned, it was the rare "Pokemon Wampa" "Wampa, 'tear-his-head-off-and-slurp-out-the-insides' attack, GO!!!" "WAM-PA, WAM-PA, ARRRGGGG" Crunch....squish....

	FAN4YRS A Rebel's Ramblings
date Posted: Jun 10, 2006 8:15 AM I remember that commercial and I remember making mine talk that way (I pretty much had EVERYTHING "Star Wars" from age 5 to 12). I would say Kenner goofed, as it did sometimes. There was a vehicle called "Rebel Transport" (from the Yavin scene) that they had a Storm Trooper riding around in.

	tooclonecrazy You will never find a more wretched hive of nerds and geekery.
date Posted: Aug 03, 2007 12:37 PM Sheesh. You guys overanalyze everything! I guess that's what the blogs are for, though, right?

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