CLASSIC IMAGE: ICON HEROES...

Pals through thick and thin, during Empire and Rebellion, Han Solo and Chewbacca the Wookiee are quite an enduring team still very much loved by STAR WARS fans and film fans worldwide.

This is a shot I found online that I'd never ever seen before. Photographed for RETURN OF THE JEDI in 1982, it's one of the few posed studio pixs of the pair taken for that film that I've seen (and believe me, I've seen very little so far). There must be more B/W and colour variations of this image out there in the LUCASFILM Archives waiting to be published or released by OFFICIALPIX...

In the meantime, why not check out how to get hold of our AFICIONADO BEST OF ISSUES 1-4, with its major section devoted to the smuggling duo, here: STAR WARS AFICIONADO: THE BEST OF ISSUES 1-4

NOT QUITE THE WARM REUNION WE WERE HOPING FOR...!

Harrison Ford, wearing his best COWBOYS & ALIENS promotional hat, was on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show in the US last night and had a fun comedy sequence where he's re-united with his old Wookiee buddy, Chewbacca. Alas, the iconic expected meeting does not go as expected- "I'm done with that STAR WARS crap!"- in this fun skit directed by Jon Favreau.

Watch out, Daniel Craig, you're Ford's "Wookiee Bitch" now!

Here's the ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY link: Harrison Ford fights with Chewbacca on Jimmy Kimmel | Inside TV | EW.com

Jimmy Kimmel, Chewbacca and Harrison say "Cheese!" Image: Randy Holmes/ABC TV.

DELETED SCENES GALORE COMING ON BLU-RAY!

A Treadwell droid watches Luke as he looks to the heavens in a classic deleted scene from STAR WARS.

Finally, LUCASFILM opens the vaults and shows us some of the Classic Trilogy Deleted Scenes goodies coming up on Blu-ray, and they're all the ones we want to see, as witnessed in this trailer: StarWars.com | Comic-Con 2011 Star Wars Blu-ray Deleted Scenes Teaser

Artoo escapes a carnage wielding Wampa in the caverns of Echo Base in EMPIRE.

Luke looks at the space battle overhead in STAR WARS.

Lando helps an injured Chewbacca to the Falcon in JEDI's famous Sandstorm sequence.

A shot of the Millennium Falcon and Princess Leia's Y-wing on Tatooine.

Luke conceals the damage to his mechanical hand in JEDI...

Luke makes his way to his X-wing during the Sandstorm.

A Mon Calamari pilot joins the Death Star II battle in JEDI

General Solo and his team come under Imperial attack in JEDI

The Bunker battle continues...

CLASSIC IMAGE: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOOKIEE?

Peter Mayhew in his iconic Stuart Freeborn created Chewbacca costume poses for a side angle publicity/costume reference image from 1982 for his final Classic Trilogy STAR WARS appearance in EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI.

SCENES WE WANT ON BLU-RAY 5: REBEL INFILTRATION!

General Han Solo and Princess Leia, with Chewbacca and their Rebel Commando squad, continue their uneasy journey into the dark and dangerous corridors of the Imperial energy shield bunker so as to find and neutralise its command and control area for the incoming "surprise" fighter attack on the Death Star II.

This action sequence, which involves the group accidentally running into a Stormtrooper patrol and getting into a firefight, is probably one of the most desired deleted scenes from RETURN OF THE JEDI, after the infamous Tatooine Sandstorm, that I hope will be included on the Blu-rays. So far, those talented people at ORIGINAL TRILOGY.COM have found a foreign Blu-ray/DVD classifications source (FSK - FSK Suchergebnis) confirming that the deleted/extended scenes for both trilogies will have a running time of up to 45 minutes each, so it looks like we'll get a worthy selection of material to enjoy...

Here's an early look at the box sets from a LUCASFILM STAR WARS MEDIA DAY press event last week: A Destiny Revealed: Star Wars Media Day Brings Blu-ray and More to New York City: BigPictureBigSound

AFICIONADO POLL 7: "THE CLONE WARS" SEASON THREE

Ahsoka Tano's pairing with the mighty Chewbacca in THE CLONE WARS episode WOOKIEE HUNT was surely one of the best decisions ever made by the LUCASFILM ANIMATION production team and undoubtedly a main highlight of the Third Season, too. But what did you think of that whole year of animated storytelling in general?

Why not spare a minute of your time and tell us, by taking part in our current AFICIONADO poll, here:
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF "THE CLONE WARS" SEASON THREE?

CLASSIC IMAGE: A SHOULDER TO MOAN ON!

The battle damaged golden shell of See-Threepio rests uncomfortably on Chewbacca's furry back-an unlikely duo unique to STAR WARS- as they race to the Bespin landing pad sheltering Boba Fett's about to depart Slave One craft, in this classic race against time moment of comedy and suspense from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

CLASSIC IMAGE: ESCAPE FLIGHT!

Making last minute adjustments to his beloved Millennium Falcon, currently berthed in Docking Bay 94, Han Solo is soon perturbed by a squadron of attacking Stormtroopers.

Check out our latest issue of STAR WARS AFICIONADO magazine: THE BEST OF ISSUES 1-4, which has a special section devoted to the Corellian pilot and Chewbacca (page example below), as well as the iconic actors that played them, here: BEST OF ISSUES 1-4 INFO and how to get hold of it, here:  BACK ISSUE PDF CATALOG

OUT NOW! STAR WARS AFICIONADO: THE BEST OF ISSUES 1-4

Just in time to celebrate the upcoming Blu-rays, check out our latest edition- a compilation PDF magazine of numbers 1- 4, featuring the best articles, some of them slightly revised with additional material and photos, from our previously sold out printed editions of 2002 -2004.

BACK ISSUE PDF CATALOG

BEST OF ISSUES 1-4 INFO

CLASSIC IMAGE: HIGH SPIRITED REBELS!

Overjoyed with their first gargantuan success against the Empire: the destruction of the fearsome Death Star, our trio of heroes-Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Prncess Leia, followed close behind by Chewbacca- depart the fighter bay hanger of the Massassi Temple on Yavin IV, and get ready to par-ty!

THE CLONE WARS: SECRETS REVEALED

Our synopsis/review guide to Season Three of THE CLONE WARS has been completed. Head over to the link below and enjoy some of our best opinion and notes on the current series.

THE CLONE WARS YEAR 3 EPISODE GUIDE

AFICIONADO REVIEW: "WOOKIEE HUNT"

Please note: This blog contains a very mild spoiler...

I don't normally post advance reviews of CLONE WARS episodes (especially as US fans don't see the two part finale until April 1st), but I saw WOOKIEE HUNT yesterday and I'm happy to report that its an absolute winner which STAR WARS fans will love from beginning to end, and a real highlight of this season. Dave Filoni does a terrific job with this episodes direction, with its shades of PLANET OF THE APES, JURASSIC PARK and PREDATOR, and Chewbacca's introduction into the tale is cleverly handled. The much-loved iconic character, thoroughly immersed into the story (whch Expanded Universe fans will really get a kick out of), gets to show all of his best characteristics and works well with his new colleagues-in-arms. And boy is he a beast of action this time! As shown in the online documentary, the animators, alongside Peter Mayhew, have really done a fine job re-creating the character, and kudos to the sound design for resurrecting all the great Chewie barks and subtle language noises, too. My only complaint is that the episode, already tight and exciting, was too short. Another two or three minutes would have been even better-lets hope the eventual Blu-ray and DVD season release of this episode has extra material.

With a last ten minutes where fans of all ages will be cheering at the screen a lot, WOOKIEE HUNT brings Season Three of THE CLONE WARS, after a mixed start, to a very successful and very satisfying close.

Episode rating: a worthy 5 out of 5

With thanks to SKY MOVIES HD.

"WOOKIEE HUNT" - BEHIND THE SCENES

In anticipation of next weeks exciting Season Finale of THE CLONE WARS: "Wookiee Hunt", featuring the return of Chewbacca, SKY MOVIES HD, showing the episode in a world exclusive this weekend, have kindly sent me a couple of great behind the scenes pics relating to it- one of the Chewbacca CGI animation maquette reference, and the other of original Wookiee costume encumbent Peter Mayhew with Series Supervising Director Dave Filoni, joining forces in bringing Chewie to life in the animated medium.

CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: WOOKIEE WORLD!

I found this scan online a while back of a pre-production drawing of the Wookiee civilisation on Kashyyyk (love the mountain climbing Wookiee in the bottom right corner!), but I'm not sure who did the art or whether it was done in post production in 1978 for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (when there were early plans to have the Wookiees involved), THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL, or, much later, in 2002-4, for EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH.

If anyone out there can help with any info, please get in touch.

CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: THE BOWCASTER.

Continuing our celebration of our favourite Wookiee's return to the STAR WARS saga with THE CLONE WARS, here's a great behind the scenes reference image of the Bowcaster, the distinctive crossbow/laser weapon hybrid which Chewbacca has but ultimately doesn't use in the first STAR WARS, though he soon proves an excellent shot with it in a very cool moment from RETURN OF THE JEDI, when he skillfully takes down an accelerating Speeder Bike pilot within the forests of Endor.

I'm not sure if the Bowcaster was a specially made prop for the films or an adapted weapon from a British armourers (I'm assuming the latter), so if anyone has any more info on it, please get in touch...

CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: ONE MAN AND HIS WOOKIEE!

In his workshop at ELSTREE, legendary British make-up artist Stuart Freeborn brings the Classic Trilogy Chewbacca mask to reality.

With thanks to Chris Baker for the image.

Fans of Stuart's work on the three STAR WARS films, and the rest of his spectacular career, including such notables as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and the SUPERMAN films, check out AFICIONADO's exclusive interview with him and his wife Kay in our exhaustive MAKING OF "RETURN OF THE JEDI" special issue from 2008, which is available here: http://www.starwarsaficionado.com/catalog/item/6975337/8512430.htm

CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: THE RUSS MANNING ADVENTURES

In the UK, STAR WARS fans get to see the new two-part Chewbacca/Ahsoka CLONE WARS episodes on SKY MOVIES HD a few weeks prior to their US cousins, so, in celebration, this week I'll be putting up a few more blogs linked to our favourite Wookiee species, and their number one son.

First up, here's a few scans of a classic 1979 Russ Manning Los Angeles Times Syndicate Wookiee related strip: THE DEPTHS OF KAZHYYK. I loved Manning's colourful tales set just after the first STAR WARS (I wish LUCAS BOOKS could have collected all of them in their original state and put them up as a glossy set of hardcover books rather than the DARK HORSE comic compilations of the nineties)- look out for the use of Ralph McQuarrie's Wookiee tree dwellings from THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL, and, long before the CLONE WARS, and like early MARVEL SW comics, see the Stormtroopers without helmets: as individual soldiers rather than Clones. Let's hope that some of the Kashyyyk environments and creatures seen here make it into the animated series...

Check out our archive on another classic 1979/80 STAR WARS Russ Manning adventure, THE FROZEN WORLD OF OTA, guest starrring Boba Fett, below: http://www.starwarsaficionado.com/theforzenworldofota.html

THE WINNING WOOKIEE!

Love that exclusive cover. Well done, INSIDER!

CLASSIC IMAGE: BUNKER SNARE!

On the forest moon of Endor, captured by a legion of Imperial troops, Han, Leia, Chewie and the Rebel commando team are unable to carry out their destructive mission against the shield generator protecting the Death Star. Soon enough, though, the tide will turn...

RETURN OF THE JEDI is showing today on the UK's ITV 1 HD channel this mid-afternoon.

CLASSIC IMAGE: WOOKIEE LEGEND!

To celebrate the welcome return of Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca in THE CLONE WARS two part Season Three finale, here's a great pic you don't see much of these days of the legendary 200 year old Wookiee from the original STAR WARS, from the characters first filmed scene at Docking Bay 94.