In the beginning of The Phantom Menace, Jedi ambassadors Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive on a Federation ship for negotiations. They are instead attacked, and end up on the surface of Naboo. Qui-Gon Jinn finds an unlikely ally, while Obi-Wan Kenobi crawls out of a swamp to try and find his master.
OBI-WAN IN THE SWAMP
In the early drafts of the script, Obi-Wan stows away on a Federation landing ship, only to end up hiding out in a murky swamp or lake of some kind. His head comes up out of the water, and in the background you can see the Federation Troops readying for the big invasion. Obi-Wan takes a few deep breaths and submerges back into the water once again.
In 1999, the UK aired an Episode I special on BBC 1 called the “Episode One Omnibus Special.” This documentary included a few quick deleted nuggets. One of them involves the filming of this swamp scene involving Obi-Wan emerging from the water. The scene includes dialogue between George Lucas and Ewan McGregor about the scene, and a brief shot of the actual filming against bluescreen.
The first two pictures you see below are from the Episode I Illustrated Screenplay and the Episode I Comic Adaptation, respectively.
JAR JAR’S ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
Jar Jar was originally given a more elaborate and expanded introduction. In the theatrical version of Episode I, Jar Jar just appears in the midst of the confusion during the Naboo invasion, grabbing on to Qui-Gon as he passes by in a panic. According to the Episode I Illustrated Screenplay, Jar Jar was enjoying a nice morning meal before all the ruckus began. This is further supported by his small speech to Padmé aboard the Queen’s ship about how his day “…starten out pitty okeyday witda brisky morning munchen.”
Here’s the passage from the Illustrated Screenplay:
An odd, frog-like creature Gungan, JAR JAR BINKS, squats holding a clam he has retrieved from the murky swamp. The shell pops open. Jar Jar’s great tongue snaps out and grabs the clam, swallowing it in one gulp.
The “Episode One Omnibus Special” includes a CG Test shot of this scene. It also contains a quick shot at the end of Jar Jar with energy balls rolling past him from later in the film.
Jar Jar is a friendly Gungan, but did you know that he was originally supposed to hug and kiss Qui-Gon after saving him from getting run over in the swamp? Yikes.
Jar Jar test footage from the Omnibus BBC special, courtesy of Yannick Morin.
OBI-WAN AND THE FRIED LIGHTSABER
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were separated when they landed on Naboo. This first photo shows Obi-Wan standing in the Naboo forest, searching for Qui-Gon, we assume. The second is an alternate angle of Obi-Wan as he’s being chased by the droid STAPs, just before Qui-Gon steps in to help him out. This photo is from the Episode I Insider’s Guide CD-ROM.
These shots segue nicely into another deleted scene. After Qui-Gon uses his lightsaber to save Obi-Wan from the battle droids, Qui-Gon scolds Obi-Wan gently about his lightsaber, reinforcing the master/apprentice relationship they have. In the finished film, this takes place right before Jar Jar pops up and Obi-Wan asks, “What’s this?” Here’s the scene as it reads in the Episode I Illustrated Screenplay:
Obi-Wan
Sorry, Master, the water fried my weapon.OBI-WAN pulls out his burnt laser sword handle. QUI-GON inspects it, as JAR JAR pulls himself out of the mud.
Qui-Gon
You forgot to turn off your power again, didn’t you?OBI-WAN nods sheepishly.
Qui-Gon (cont’d)
It won’t take long to recharge, but this is a lesson I hope you’ve learned, my young Padawan.Obi-Wan
Yes, Master.
My good friend, Rob Beasley was fortunate enough to attend a special Episode I DVD Day at Skywalker Ranch shortly before the release of the DVD. He was able to ask a question to George Lucas, and this scene was mentioned.
Q: There are only seven cut scenes on the DVD and there are numerous other cut scenes from the film. Was it difficult for you to make decisions on which scenes to complete?
George Lucas: I picked the seven that are actual scenes. I mean we can just sort of go through and cut random dialogue, or you know we tried to get things that actually developed into a real scene that went on for at least a minute. You know sometimes a little bit less, but you know we tried to get substantial things. In the end you cut out an enormous amount on a movie. You know there’s another ½ hour of bits and pieces and things that are kind of not really relevant to anything. And they’re not relevant to an entity that was taken out, it’s just trims and cuts and lines that are lost and that sort of thing.
Q: One of the scenes I was hoping to see, that I’ve seen pictures of, is Obi-Wan being lectured in the swamp by Qui-Gon when his saber burned out.
George Lucas: In the end you know, it’s like four lines. I mean the scene is there, it just would be longer. And it’s the kind of thing that overall in looking at the movie, I felt that that discussion didn’t really fit into the movie. It’s relevant in a more grand scheme of things, which is relevant to the movie that I’m making now, and kind of things, it’s a kind of minor version of what Jabba the Hutt was in A New Hope. Which is, it’s not really relevant to A New Hope but it is relevant to Return of the Jedi. And, you know, in the second one too but mostly when you go back to see the last film. And this is just a couple of lines that sort of resonated against similar kinds of lines that are going on in this movie. But you know, in the end it’s a shading, it’s not really a big issue. And in a lot of cases you’re sort of trading off shadings that might be appropriate in the grand scheme of six movies, but not appropriate in the individual movie as it exists. Unfortunately, I’m writing a novel and I’m writing it a chapter at a time. And one chapter comes out every three years. So each chapter has to kind of work unto itself. And it’s kind of tricky, because you don’t want to do things that bring the whole thing down just because if you saw the whole thing at once it’ll all make sense, but it doesn’t individually. So I have to kind of weigh those two things against each other all the time.
