Star Wars: 20 Things You Didn't Know About Return Of The Jedi

18. The Jabba The Hutt Puppet Cost $500,000 & Weighed 2,000 Pounds

Mark Hamil Return Of The Jedi
Lucasfilm

As won't surprise anyone who knows much about practical effects, the Jabba the Hutt puppet used during the movie was a massive pain in the ass for the crew.

Legendary creature designer Stuart Freeborn and his team took three months to build Jabba at a cost of $500,000, and the final prop ended up weighing a colossal 2,000lbs.

During shooting, the puppet required three operators, and George Lucas was ultimately unhappy with Jabba's appearance and movement on-screen.

On the film's DVD commentary, he even declared that had sufficient CGI technology existed in 1983, Jabba would've been an entirely digital creation, just as he appears in the Special Edition version of A New Hope.

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