Star Wars, the first film in George Lucas's sci-fi saga, opened in United States cinemas on 25 May 1977. To celebrate its 35th anniversary we've uncovered some lesser-known links between the film franchise and Wales, plus some rare behind-the-scenes photos (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)

Han Solo's spaceship, the Millennium Falcon, was hired by Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode IV. For the follow-up, 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, the only full-scale model was built in Pembroke Dock (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)

The model Millennium Falcon was built over three months in early 1979 by a Pembroke Dock company, Marcon Fabrications. The construction was a closely guarded secret which the company referred to using the codename 'Magic Roundabout' (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)

Weighing 23 tons and 70 feet in diameter, the full-scale Millennium Falcon was constructed in a giant aircraft hangar out of wood and a steel frame. It was then dismantled and transported in sections to Elstree Studios for filming (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)

Richard Marquand was the Cardiff-born director of 1983's Return Of The Jedi. He's pictured here in the centre, next to the film's executive producer George Lucas, above a model of Jabba the Hutt's Sail Barge (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)

Richard Marquand was the only British person to direct a Star Wars film. Here he is on the set of Return Of The Jedi talking to Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo in the original trilogy (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)

As well as directing Return Of The Jedi, Welshman Richard Marquand also appeared as an AT-ST pilot, and voiced the character of EV-9D9, a droid in Jabba the Hutt's palace (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)

The computer-generated slave owner Watto, in The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones, was voiced by Andy Secombe, the son of Welsh comedian and singer Harry Secombe (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)

Andy Secombe, seen here voicing the character Watto, was born in 1953 in Mumbles, south Wales (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)

Andy Secombe, pictured here with Natalie Portman and Jake Lloyd in a Phantom Menace production shot, also did voiceover work for the 2004 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (image © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved)