Insights on the creation of Yoda & other Star Wars creatures

How I got to make the first Star Wars

NickMaley — Jul 25, 2009 11:35 AM

Another question I am often asked is "how did you get started", making movies and building creatures for Star Wars. The truth is that there is no quick and easy route. Before we made A New Hope nobody would have anticipated a movie like the one we made

how the lightsabers worked

NickMaley — Jul 25, 2009 08:33 AM

So many fans ask me how the lightsabers worked that I have posted a diagram at my website to demonstrate. Find it at
http://web.me.com/maeztro/yodaguy/Star_Wars_blog/Entries/2009/7/22_How_the_early_lightsabers_worked.html

Updated info on us creating SW creatures

NickMaley — Jul 18, 2009 09:49 PM

I have been quiet for a while working on my movie museum at Planet paradise in St Maarten. But for your patience I have done a major update about the influences and personalities that shaped the creatures for the classic trilogy. This is true insider

Conceiving Yoda...

NickMaley — Jul 05, 2009 09:41 PM

There are so many rumors about the inspiration for Yoda that they are hard to count. Since I was in the workshop the whole time that Stu Freeborn was modeling Yoda, I have been asked repeatedly set the record a little straighter.

Creature effects school

NickMaley — Jul 04, 2009 11:57 AM

A lot of fans have written to me asking about a good school for creature effects. It is critical info for budding movie makers and model builders hoping to be the next generation of Star Wars techies.

Greedo - the alien makeover

NickMaley — Jun 30, 2009 05:54 AM

As I told you before, there were 6 of us in "the Old Schoolroom" at Elstree Studios creating creatures for the Mos Eisley Cantina while Stu, (Freeborn), our boss was building Chewie across the room

Harrison Ford before the world knew Han Solo

NickMaley — Jun 29, 2009 10:25 AM

Talking on http://twitter.com/thatyodaguy today brought to mind recollections of Harrison Ford while we were making ANH. Only Alec Guinness (Obi Wan) and Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin) were known stars when we prepared that movie and there was no clue

The full sized Wampa suit from ESB

NickMaley — Jun 27, 2009 06:02 PM

A few years back I was interviewed for the Star Wars Insider mag about building the Wampa. The original design was done by Ralph McQuarrie but took no account of the physical limitations that wouls be needed in order to make this creature work.

An unknown Star Wars hero

NickMaley — Jun 24, 2009 06:35 PM

Graham Freeborn is an unsung hero of the Classic Star Wars trilogy. Graham was Stuart Freeborn's son. He was Stu's lead assistant for making all the creatures filmed by the main unit in Elstree,

Chewie descended from 1001 A SPACE ODESSY

NickMaley — Jun 23, 2009 12:42 PM

It is an unknown fact that the Chewbacca suit was based on the work Stuart Freeborn and his team did on the SciFi epic 1001 A SPACE ODESSY.

A Daily Dose of Star Wars history

NickMaley — Jun 22, 2009 12:56 PM

For those of you who have started to follow my blog I hope to be able to give you a daily dose of Star Wars history so you can check here daily for updates. I am not as young as I used to be. In fact I will be 60 on July 17th. But as long as I am fit

Chewbacca's feet

NickMaley — Jun 22, 2009 11:47 AM

Around 1974/5 I was befriended by Britain's second tallest man when I helped my old colleague Colin Arthur to cast his feet (size 20) in order to make shoes on his medical insurance. He was a hospital porter named Peter Mayhew.

Twitterings

NickMaley — Jun 21, 2009 09:00 PM

For those of you who are fans of Twitter you can follow my daily ramblings at http://twitter.com/thatyodaguy

Creating the cantina... continued

NickMaley — Jun 21, 2009 08:58 PM

The creatures were built in a small room at Elstree Studios that was previously known as "The Old Schoolroom". It was pretty crowded by the time we got tables, chairs, materials, paints, glues, foam latex ovens and the six of us in there.

Creating the cantina

NickMaley — Jun 21, 2009 08:51 PM

I was 27 years old in 1976 when I was one of 5 make-up artists in England who assisted Stuart Freeborn in creating the creatures for the main unit shoot of the Mos Eisly cantina. They gave us 10 weeks to create a universe of creatures,

Credibility...

NickMaley — Jun 21, 2009 08:38 PM

To give credibility to what I write here you should read my biography at http://aboutNickMaley.com or search "Nick Maley" at Imdb.com

Who's gonna want to read this?

NickMaley — Jun 21, 2009 08:20 PM

This blog won't be for everyone. If all you care about in Star Wars mythology, roll playing, game playing or lightweight chat, this is definitely not for you. The blog is designed for serious Star wars history buffs and fans who want to build likenesses