Want to see the furry, masked little critter who was originally supposed to play Yoda in Star Wars?

Back before Jim Henson was brought on to make the cutting-edge (at the time) animatronic Yoda puppet we all know and love, George Lucas had tinkered with the idea of using a trained monkey in a costume and mask to portray the Jedi sage in the original Star Wars trilogy.



Now, thanks to Will McCrabb, we have a peek at the furry little dude who almost brought Yoda to life. One shot shows the monkey sporting what must have been an initial mask design for Yoda (which looks like an old guy with big eyebrows), while the other shows the little dude practicing his Yoda-walk with that trademark mini-cane.

It’s a fascinating peek into sci-fi cinema lore, and it’s crazy to think how close we came to having this little guy — as opposed to Henson’s famed puppet and puppeteer Frank Oz — as one of sci-fi's most iconic characters.

(Via Movies.com)