http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-03-25-empirestrikes25_CV_N.htm
30 years after 'Empire,' Boba Fett strikes back in a big way
"He had that Clint Eastwood vibe to him": In The Clone Wars cartoon airing in April on The Cartoon Network, a teenage Boba Fett leads a motley crew of bounty hunters.
By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY
3-25-10
The upcoming 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back is turning into a fete for Fett.
Boba Fett, the galaxy's most fearsome bounty hunter, was just a supporting character in the original Star Wars sequel, but his cult-favorite status has placed the masked mercenary at center stage in plans to commemorate the movie, which opened May 21, 1980.
There will be new toys, a convention and special screenings hosted around the world. But the biggest development: A teenage version of Fett will appear next month in the popular Cartoon Network show The Clone Wars, bridging the generational gap between fans of the original trilogy and kids reared largely on the prequels.
Who is he? That question is what makes him so popular.
Mostly silent, his face hidden behind a sinister helmet, he wore green Mandalorian armor (a race of Star Wars galaxy warriors) and seemed to unnerve even Darth Vader. "No disintegrations!" Vader warned him in Empire— the context of which still remains a mystery.
As fans guessed at his background, Fett stood out in the film by using cunning and camouflage (in the form of jettisoned space junk) to track the Millennium Falcon, leading Vader to a fugitive Princess Leia in Cloud City, and freezing Han Solo in carbonite as a trophy for gangster Jabba the Hutt.
Much of Empire's heralded dark tone can be laid directly on Boba Fett.
"Well, he started out as a character in the famed Christmas special," notes George Lucas, referring to the comically bad 1978 TV program — which he has since hidden away like an awkward high-school prom photo.
"I thought the idea of a storm trooper-ish kind of guy with rocket packs who was actually a hero — not just a nameless, faceless guy — had a chance for pizzazz. So, we made an über-storm trooper and I called him Boba Fett. I liked the idea that he was a bounty hunter and carried six-shooters. ... After the (Christmas show), we put him in the films. And then after that, he became more and more of a popular character."
The special featured Fett as a cartoon. He wouldn't appear in live action until two years later, when Empire premiered. Meanwhile, kids who collected Star Wars action figures could mail in proof-of-purchase tags to get a free Fett toy.
Dave Filoni, now the supervising director of The Clone Wars, still remembers getting his. "It came to my house in a little white box," he says. "I knew this had to be the coolest guy in the Star Wars universe — and he hadn't even done anything yet!"
When the movie finally revealed Fett as a villain — merciless, but still mysterious — the character stood out even among Yoda, the tiny, ancient, alien Jedi; gambler-turned-politician Lando Calrissian; and the film's big revelation — Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father.
"It speaks to individuality," Filoni says. "The storm troopers look cool, but they're all the same. Boba Fett looked like he'd been through a lot, like he must have a lot of stories. He had that Clint Eastwood vibe to him."
Filoni kept that in mind when bringing Fett into The Clone Wars. The character begins on the show April 23 and continues in the season finale April 30.
"What makes Boba Fett interesting is the mystery," Filoni says. "So I'm very careful about how much we reveal. When you watch the movies later, even if you've seen all the Clone Wars episodes, the mystique is still there. It's not like I'll turn on all the lights in the room."
Some clues have emerged
But after three decades, countless Lucasfilm novels, short stories, comic books, video games, and three feature-film prequels, fans finally know much, much more about Fett's origin.
In 2002's Attack of the Clones, it was revealed that the storm troopers are all replicas of one notoriously tough bounty hunter, Jango Fett (actor Temuera Morrison). Boba, it turns out, is also a clone — but one created without the subservience of the others, and raised by Jango as his son.
We last saw the child Boba (played by Daniel Logan, who voices the character in The Clone Wars cartoon) utterly alone, staring contemplatively into the face of his slain father's helmet.
What does he want in the animated series? "If there's one word: revenge," Logan says.
That's bad news for the Jedi, who took out his double-dealing old man. But it could be good news for real-life fathers and their kids by uniting older fans with the young in a shared appreciation for all things Fett.
Star Wars superfan Tom Pniewski, 44, co-host of the podcast We Talk Clones, says his 10-year-old son is a big Commander Cody fan (a major character from the cartoon) but hasn't developed the same appreciation for the beloved bounty hunter.
"Bringing Boba Fett on as a 12-year-old and 13-year-old means those tweens can catch on to him and attach to the character," Pniewski says. "For me, he doesn't need the explanation. But maybe for this generation he does need that."
As much as fans crave a return of the character, there's an inherent risk, too. "Their love is so profound that it almost becomes like this is sacred text. When you start messing with that, even when the creator starts messing with that, the fans take it personally," says Alexandre O. Philippe, director of the new documentary The People vs. George Lucas, about the love-hate relationship some hard-core Star Wars fans have with the franchise.
However, if Fett's appearance on The Clone Wars manages to please both old and young, Philippe says, "that would be great! But (older) fans have been so cranky for so long, it's difficult to figure out how they'll react."
Man behind the mask
One older fan who is curious about the new Fett story line is Jeremy Bulloch, the English actor who brought Fett to life in Empire and Return of the Jedi.
All of the character's back story is news to him. "I never had a script!" Bulloch says. He was just given his lines on the set and instructed to look menacing.
"The least you do with a character like Boba Fett, the stronger he is," Bulloch says. "He moves in a very slow way. Like a snake, a cobra. He stands up — then he strikes, and it's all over. And he goes back into this pose."
Boba Fett is one of the veteran character actor's smallest roles, but it has made him famous the world over. Bulloch credits three things for the popularity:
•The costume, which includes a grappling hook and wrist-mounted flame-thrower, not to mention that famous rocket pack. "And he has Wookiee braids," Bulloch says. "It's like a scalp, like the Indians. He just hangs them over his shoulder." They are never explained, but suggest bad things could be possible for Chewbacca and his kind.
•The prey, specifically the smart-aleck smuggler played by Harrison Ford, who owes galactic gangsters more money than his life is worth. "Of course Boba Fett captures Han Solo, so he gains respect for that," Bulloch says.
•The backtalk. Not only does Vader seem wary of Fett's recklessness, but he also gets scolded by the bounty hunter when Fett fears he will kill Solo instead of turning him over as a prize. "Not many people do that and get away with their lives," Bulloch says with a laugh.
While the costume made Fett iconic, it was horribly awkward to wear. Much of the character's trademark stillness came from the heaviness of the suit. "My main aim was to stand upright," Bulloch says. "It looked so cool, but to wear it was unbearable."
That's another thing many fans have come to appreciate over time. Adam Homan, 38, a metal sculptor from Tucson who has been a life-long Star Wars fan, recalled making his own Boba Fett armor for a Halloween party when he was a college student.
"At the end, I made my way to the door, saying goodbye to people, and there was this little table by the door with all these Hummel figurines and collectibles. And as I turn to leave, the jetpack just sweeps across this table — and smash," he says.
No one was interested in telling Boba Fett it was no big deal. "This gal was on her knees on the floor, trying to piece them together with her hands, saying, 'These were my grandmother's!' "
In that moment, a childhood wish returned — flight. "There was no way to play it cool," Homan says. "If the rocket pack had actually worked, I would have just fired right out of there."
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