Highlights From 'Disney Gallery: The Book Of Boba Fett'
During the celebrations of Star Wars Day, Lucasfilm and Disney surprised us with an episode of Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett, available now on Disney+. This behind-the-scenes featurette focused on the executive producers' and directors’ process behind the narrative, technical and aesthetic decisions. We also got to see the filming process and even a few surprises with the return of Mark Hamill on set. Here is a recap of the best moments from behind the scenes of The Book of Boba Fett.
Bringing Boba Fett Back To Star Wars
"Our responsibility is to be respectful to all of Star Wars and that means, the films I grew up with, to some extent the expanded universe, as well as everything that’s been established as canon."
– Jon Favreau
The philosophy behind the comeback of an iconic character that did not receive large characterization in the original trilogy was to redirect the character's purpose to a deeper story than just that of a lawless armored gunslinger. Even though Boba Fett was in fact present in many Legends stories, this character was only known for being a skilled bounty hunter, with a combination of coolness and mystery that made him everyone's favorite action figure. This ambiguity of the character raised the question for Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau about what kind of Boba Fett story would be suitable for a live-action show. The answer was clear for Favreau:
"As much fun as it is to think about a character who has questionable morality blasting his war through the galaxy that only goes so far. You can’t really explore storylines...Star Wars has to be about each character facing certain obstacles usually emotional ones as well as physical ones. There might be a villain you are facing off but if there’s no internal conflict going in with the character, you’re losing half of what makes it impactful."
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The creative latitude allowed the showrunners to create a new story arc for the former bounty hunter. References from films like The Godfather gave a new angle for Boba Fett to explore while also conserving his traditional identity as a gunslinger to some degree. The parallel of Fett as Clint Eastwood and the return of Cad Bane as the villain of the show mimicked Lee Van Cleef in the legendary film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Another heavy hitter in the creative decisions for Boba Fett's new storylines was Robert Rodriguez, whose creative additions were sometimes questioned by the fans when the show was first aired. Filoni and Favreau contacted Rodriguez after he wrapped up The Mandalorian’s “Chapter 14: The Tragedy” when Boba Fett first made his comeback to live-action since Return of the Jedi. In the larger capacity as executive producer, Rodriguez explained how he returned to his filmmaking roots of action figures, and crude animatronics in creating the lizard-like creature that Boba Fett fought in the series premiere. He was also behind the Mods, the street gang of cyborgs that operated in Mos Espa. Rodriguez revealed that he intended for them to reflect a change in generational thinking. Whereas droids were disregarded by humans before, now humans wanted to modify their bodies to mimic droids and boost their physical capabilities.
Boba Fett's New Identity
"So, we found a way to, hopefully, preserve the edginess of the character. How good they are at what they do. That they were a top bounty hunter in the galaxy that was being hired by Darth Vader."
- Jon Favreau
Boba Fett encountered a complicated dilemma in this show. He had to face the challenges that would make him go from the faceless stoic warrior to a man making a choice about what kind of person he truly wanted to be. The first new characterization of Boba was added by Temuera Morrison himself. Since the Mandalorian Din Djarin had taken up the role of the gunslinger, Morrison found inspiration in his Māori roots to complement Boba Fett's fighting style with the Gaffi stick and personality. He brought in the Haka (ceremonial dance of the Māori culture) and other cultural elements in collecting the “energy” to shape Boba Fett.
For Jon Favreau, the story of Boba Fett had two facets. First was the challenge of creating a tribe of his own with what he had learned from his time with the Tusken Raiders. Second, was his rise to power, and what was the true purpose of wielding such power. Robert Rodriguez added the element of Boba Fett’s emotional journey in search of a family, which the former bounty hunter never really had. This was shown in how Boba conducted business in the palace, how he worked his way up the ranks among the Tusken Raiders, and how he connected with Ming-Na Wen's Fennec Shand.
World-Building: Mos Espa, Wookie Warriors, Rancors, And More.
The series also introduced a big deal of world-building to the Star Wars canon. Some elements were borrowed from other Star Wars media, while others were introduced for the first time in The Book of Boba Fett.
Favreau talked about the opportunity to evolve the culture of Mos Espa, a city that we have seen in the movies before, but never really got to know. In the past, there was essentially no difference between Mos Espa and Mos Eisley. The introduction of Garsa Fwip's casino was an opportunity to explore how businesses really operate in the biggest city of Tatooine. Here, we saw familiar faces like the legendary Max Rebo, and a whole array of costumes created by designer Shawna Trpcic
The introduction of Black Krrsantan to live-action was satisfying for comic lovers. Dave Filoni had wanted to distinguish the former gladiator from another familiar Wookiee like Chewbacca. This led to the change in posture and overall threatening aesthetic brought on by Carey Jones, the actor portraying Krrsantan.
Another element that the showrunners wanted to introduce is the start of Boba Fett's menagerie. Jon Favreau drew on the idea of the Rancor keeper Malakili weeping after Luke killed Jabba's Rancor Pateesa in Return of the Jedi. This curious event gave rise to questions such as are Rancors like dogs, are they loyal to their owners, are they intelligent to some level, and most of all, can they be tamed? Boba Fett’s interactions with his Rancor was Favreau’s answer.
Filoni and Favreau remarked on the introduction of Mandalorian lore in the series. They had taken the opportunity to introduce visuals of the Night of the Thousand Tears and depict a portion of Mandalorian culture in the Din Djarin's story as a bounty hunter who wielded the darksaber. Bringing so many elements together and presenting them in an organic way did not come without challenges. Filoni stated that these were fortunately similar challenges in the production of The Clone Wars. Thus, he was able to bring the solutions from the animated show to the live-action show.
Mark Hamill Is Back As Luke Skywalker
“When Luke is training Grogu, you have to make the audience believe that it actually might be better for Grogu to be with Luke than it is to be with Mando. That’s the whole trick. Of course, we want him to be with Mando. But is that the right thing? And I don’t think Luke is presenting an argument either way. Because I think Luke also, of any Jedi in the galaxy, understand what it would be like to be with the person you care about most. To be with your father figure.”
-Dave Filoni
Finally, we had Mark Hamill's triumphant return as Luke Skywalker. Hamill mentioned the satisfaction he felt with the full-circle experience for his character. His first student was of the same species as his Master. Like poetry, it rhymed. Hamill perceived Luke's actions as suppressing his sentimental side so that he could pass on important values to his student.
On the contrary, Filoni interpreted Luke’s journey as being more in line with Qui-Gon Jinn's path. Filoni explained that even though Luke had never met Qui-Gon himself, Obi-Wan could have taught Qui-Gon’s methods in the very early days of Luke’s training. In a more complicated thread, Qui-Gon’s teachings could have been passed down to Obi-Wan, then to Anakin, then to Ahsoka, and finally to Luke.
This led to Filoni’s discussion of the “strange relationship” between Ahsoka and Luke. On one hand, Ahsoka learned from his father, whom Luke never really knew. On the other hand, Ahsoka never saw a redeemed Anakin. Thus, they presented each other with different sides of Anakin Skywalker in a beautiful way.
What did you enjoy the most about this Disney Gallery episode? Did these explanations from the showrunners give you new insight into The Book of Boba Fett?
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