Star Wars: 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Jabba The Hutt
The hidden secrets behind Star Wars' most celebrated slug.
Jabba the Hutt, the mafioso mollusc, pretty much owns the first third of Return of Jedi where his baleful presence, immunity for mind trick shenanigans and fondness for captive space royalty pose obstacles to the heroes' rescue of their frozen buddy Han Solo.
Even though he was present only in one movie and was killed off relatively quickly, Jabba's impact was such that he has appeared in the prequels, been retroactively inserted into another of the original trilogy, and endured in popular culture as one of Star Wars' most recognisable characters.
Jabba's endurance might have something to do with how unusual he is, not only in Star Wars but among movie aliens in general. He's an unconventionally non-humanoid creature, genuinely alien, whose hangers-on have to adapt to his titanic wormlike bulk.
He also puts on an excellent performance, with a combination of design, puppetry and sound work combining to exude a decadent, viscous malice. As a symbol of greed, corruption, decadence and cruelty, Jabba has few equals in fiction.
And as with so much in Star Wars, with so many movies, books, games and animated series fleshing out an already fleshy character, there's always more about cinema's favourite Hutt to discover.
10. He Was Based On Sydney Greenstreet
The initial concept for Jabba was an icon of corruption and greed. His character, and later his appearance, were modelled on Sydney Greenstreet, especially the character of Kaspar Gutman in The Maltese Falcon. His character of Signor Ferrari in Casablanca was also cited as an influence, to the extent that some concepts of Jabba had him wearing a fez like the Casablanca character.
Though he was only in Hollywood for eight years, Greenstreet worked with just about all the top names of the era including Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Joan Crawford, Hedy Lamarr and Spencer Tracy. He received an Oscar nod for his performance as Gutman and was known for portraying corrupt kingpin types, especially alongside frequent collaborator Peter Lorre.
Gutman's combination of corpulence, deceitfulness, malevolence and an appreciation for luxury are all apparent in Jabba's character.
Other inspirations include a late-career Orson Welles, early depictions of the Michelin Man, the hookah-puffing caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland and, from the animal kingdom, annelid worms, amphibians and snakes.