Jar Jar BinksGunganOne of the "good guys", Gungan outcastUnknownUnknownMale (?)NabooGunganGungan Battle StaffBongo Sub"Mesa called Ja Ja Binks. Mesa yous humbule servaunt.""Well, youssa Jedi not so special as yousa cracked to be.""Gungans no liken outsiders.""Woah, yousa guys bombad!""Wesa dyin' here!""When is yousa tinkin' wesa in trouble?!?!"

The Facts





Where did the name Jar Jar come from? In the Star Wars Insider #41, Rick McCallum says, "I know that [the name] Jar Jar came from his [Lucas's] son Jett. I don't know if Katie helped in the naming of the other characters, but definitely Jar Jar came from Jett."

Lucasfilm has registered the domain names www.jarjar.com and www.jarjar.net and it links back to the official site. The name "Jar Jar Binks" is also registered with the US trademark Database. Jar Jar can also be seen in the trailer extensively.





The following come from the Jar Jar Binks action figure (courtesy of Sir Steve's):

A creature from the underwater depths of the planet Naboo, Jar Jar Binks must convince his fellow Gungans to take up arms against the greedy Trade Federation in battle to preserve their planet. Jar Jar Binks comes equipped with a Gungan Battle Staff.

In an interview with U. Magazine Ewan McGregor said that Ahmed Best was playing a character called "Jo-Jo" and that character was one of the leads. George Lucas told the Star Wars Insider (#35) that Ahmed Best's character would have a speaking pattern 10 times more complicated than Yoda's. Samuel L. Jackson was on TV and mentioned a tentacled alien he saw on the set which sounds very much like a Gungan, perhaps Jar-Jar:

01/96/98 -- "Last evening Samuel dropped in on Late Night with David Letterman where he discussed two pretty interesting characters that were on set with him at Leavesden. He made reference to the two actors in costume, by calling one Calamari, because he had tentacles and spots like a squid, and another that had to put his hair up in rollers while eating, to keep the hair on his face back."

Thanks to Qel-Droma for bringing this to our attention.

In issue #13 of the Star Wars galaxy magazine, Rick McCallum explains a little about his favorite character in Episode I:

"[My favorite character in Episode I is] an amazing new character, portrayed by Ahmed Best, which will eventually require computer animation and post-production work. Ahmed's one of those guys who seizes a character and embodies it. He's given the character an attitude. What happens is that Ahmed comes in, and we rehearse the scene with him. We'll do it four or five takes until the actors feel incredibly comfortable. Then, once we have that take, we will shoot a blank plate without him there. After we have done six, seven, takes all together with the rehearsals and everything else, the actors are pretty comfortable because Ahmed gives so much to that. He's off camera, so he's giving the lines. They know where they're supposed to be looking; they know know they're interacting with him. Then we use that as the plate that we'll then animate."

"He's a wonderful sidekick. He's discovered by Liam Neeson's character, and he becomes a part of the Jedi entourage. There is a whole movement of him throughout the course of the film that is very interesting."

"[He plays] a seriously major role [in the story]. He'll be in the film for an hour."