Wookiee
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| Attributes | |
|---|---|
| Home world | Kashyyyk |
| Language | Shyriiwook, Xaczik |
| Distinctions | Brown, white, or black fur |
| Races | Rwook |
Wookiees (/ˈwʊkiːz/) are a fictional species of intelligent bipeds from the planet Kashyyyk in the Star Wars universe. They first appeared in the 1977 film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The most notable Wookiee is Chewbacca, a companion of Han Solo.
According to an interview with creator George Lucas, the inspiration for the Wookiee was Lucas' dog, Indiana (whose name is used in the Lucas-inspired Indiana Jones movies). "He was the prototype for the Wookiee. He always sat beside me in the car. He was big, a big bear of a dog." During the climactic chase scene in THX 1138, one of the robotic cops, voiced by actor Terry McGovern, improvises: "I think I ran over a Wookiee back there", and thus the word was born. Wookey was the surname of a friend of Terry's, Bill Wookey, and Terry thought it would be a funny in-joke to include his friend's name in the soundtrack for THX-1138.
In one episode of Animal Planet's series Animal Icons, focusing on the creation of Star Wars figures, it was revealed that the Wookiees were also based on orangutans and lemurs, which are long-haired creatures that live in a warm forest climate. The net effect in terms of the Wookiees' appearance is a marked resemblance to descriptions of the legendary Sasquatch of the Pacific Northwest.
Adult Wookiees are typically taller than most humans, averaging 2.1 meters (6 feet 11 inches). They possess enormous strength; Solo states that a Wookiee can pull a man's arms out of his sockets if angered or slighted, and in books and comics no humanoid species is shown to equal a Wookiee in pure strength. Wookiees have a keen sense of smell, are fully covered with a thick coat of hair, have good hand–eye coordination, and are shown to be excellent marksmen. Wookiees have been shown in many diverse environments, such as those of Hoth, Tatooine and Endor, never wearing any protective clothing or showing any signs of discomfort. Wookiees have a lifespan of several hundred years.
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