Who doesn’t love R2-D2?

The plucky “astromech droid” has a significant role in each of the six Star Wars movies. Indeed it’s arguable the entire saga hinges on this one character. As Wikipedia notes about the first movie Star Wars, Episode IV — A New Hope:

Princess Leia slips R2-D2 a disc containing a distress message and the plans for the Death Star battle station and jettisons the droids in an escape pod that crashes on Tatooine.

Without R2-D2 crossing paths with Luke Skywalker, he doesn’t learn about Princess Leia. Doesn’t meet up with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Doesn’t leave Tatooine and become a Jedi warrior.



But the character’s charm extends well beyond narrative functions. Check out this background via Wikipedia:

Ewan McGregor, who portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy, said in an interview, “As soon as R2-D2 comes on the set, everyone goes a bit silly.” He recalled how his then four-year-old daughter announced she was in love with R2-D2, and then confessed his own affections for the astromech: “…there is something about him that makes you feel great affection for him. I think it is a combination of his shape, his high-pitched voice. He’s just incredibly appealing. In fact, I believe he is George [Lucas]’s favorite actor.” Lucas confirms this in the audio commentary of the Episode III DVD. In this discussion on the audio commentary, George Lucas also notes that it is intentional that R2-D2 saves the day at least once in every film.

Because R2-D2 carries key information about the Death Star, introduces Luke to Princess Leia, and is a staunch ally in movie after movie, providing able assistance at key moments, I think we’d have to consider the droid a Mentor figure.



Here are some fun facts about R2-D2:

* Lucas has stated that Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 feature film The Hidden Fortress (USA release 1962) was a strong influence, particularly Tahei and Matakishi, the two comic relief characters that serve as sidekicks to General Makabe.



* R2-D2 was partly inspired by the robots Huey, Dewey, and Louie from Douglas Trumbull’s 1972 film Silent Running, which themselves resemble the “gonk droids” that function as mobile power supplies in the Star Wars films.



* R2-D2’s character, and communication entirely in musical tones, may also have been partially inspired by the Mother Thing in Robert A. Heinlein’s science fiction novel Have Space Suit — Will Travel. The two characters are both on vital secret missions to save the galaxy, look deceptively small and cute, are extremely competent at everything they do, and overcome very bad odds. They have abilities that even their closest friends don’t guess until they’re revealed, and are determined to complete their missions and beat the evil characters, yet kind with their friends.



* The name is said to derive from when Lucas was making one of his earlier films, American Graffiti. Sound editor Walter Murch states that he is responsible for the utterance which sparked the name for the droid. Murch asked for Reel 2, Dialog Track 2, in the abbreviated form ‘R-2-D-2’. Lucas, who was in the room and had dozed off while working on the script for Star Wars, momentarily woke when he heard the request and, after asking for clarification, stated that it was a “great name” before falling immediately back to sleep.

What is it about R2-D2 that makes him a great character?



[Originally posted February 4, 2011]

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