Jar Jar Binks, the goofy amphibious character who irritated many Star Wars fans in the 1999 film The Phantom Menace, will not appear in the new movie The Force Awakens, producer Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed.

The film-makers have declined to divulge much about what audiences will see when The Force Awakens opens in cinemas on 18 December, but Kennedy did answer a question at a news conference about what is not in the film.

“Jar Jar is definitely not in the movie,” she said to applause and cheers.

Binks and his inexplicable cod-Jamaican accent annoyed hoards of cinema-goers in all three of the prequel films. A bumbling alien from the planet Naboo who George Lucas reportedly intended to provide comic relief and keep young children happy, he was voted the most annoying film character of all time in 2006 poll.

Audiences of the new film also won’t see any Ewoks, the furry creatures from 1983’s Return of the Jedi, Kennedy said. “That’s because Harrison insisted on it,” she joked, referring to Harrison Ford, who returns to play Han Solo in Force Awakens.

The Force Awakens is the seventh episode in the sci-fi franchise created by Lucas. Walt Disney Co took over the series when it purchased the Lucasfilm studio in 2012.