10 Lies About Star Wars You Probably Believe
6. Chewbacca's Name Had Russian Origins
Happily taking his place as arguably the most beloved alien creature this galaxy far, far away has ever known, it's been widely documented how a number of intriguing sources were used as inspiration for the fiery Wookiee sidekick by the name of Chewbacca.
Away from George Lucas' dog Indiana giving the director the initial idea for a big furry side character in Star Wars, though, another widely circulated rumour isn't actually as valid as his canine origins.
Again uncovered during Phil Szostak's Twitter thread of Force-sensitive goodness, the idea of Chewbacca's name deriving from the Russian words chudovishye and sobaka (meaning monster and dog, respectively) was thoroughly dissected by the Lucasfilm creative arts manager.
As Szostak noted, Lucas himself went on record in The Making of Star Wars book to admit that the likes of Chewbacca and other Wookiee names were created by simply "changing words around", with there being zero mention of the aforementioned Russian inspirations.
On top of this, the site that originated this particular myth didn't come equipped with a source for said information either, again suggesting that its validity is questionable at best.
2. In The Making of #StarWars, George Lucas says that he came up with “Chewbacca” and other Wookiee names by “changing words around”. No mention of Russian.
3 The origin of the Russian words myth appears to be a 2007 website which cites no other sources or quotes.
MYTH BUSTED? pic.twitter.com/5kIPOOxPWN— Phil Szostak (@PhilSzostak) August 6, 2019