After the Jedi stow-away aboard some Federation landing ships, they end up on the surface of Naboo. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan need to regroup and hatch a plan. Qui-Gon finds an unlikely ally and Obi-Wan crawls out of a swamp to try and regroup with his master. Here are a few scenes from the Naboo swamps that didn’t make the final cut of the film.
OBI-WAN IN THE SWAMP
In the original drafts of the script, Obi-Wan stowed away on a Federation landing ship only to end up hiding out in a swamp or murky 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 into the muddy water once again, readying himself to meet up with Qui-Gon.
In 1999, the UK aired an Episode I special on BBC 1 called the “Episode One Omnibus Special”. This documentary included a few quick cut scene nuggets. One of them is the filming of this scene with Obi-Wan emerging from the water to see the Federation landing ships behind him. You can download the scene from the UK special here (courtesy of Yannick Morin). The scene includes dialogue between George Lucas and Ewan McGregor about the scene and a brief shot of the actual filming against bluescreen at the end.
The first two pictures you see below are from the Episode I Illustrated Screenplay and the Episode I Comic Adaptation, respectively. The rest of the stills found here were sent to me by Chris Nichol and the guys at the site called Fort Tusken (no longer active).
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Download: Video clip of the filming of Obi-Wan in the swamp from the Omnibus BBC special. (courtesy of Yannick Morin) |
JAR JAR’S ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
Jar Jar’s introduction was originally a little more elaborate than we saw on the screen. In the theatrical version of Episode I, Jar Jar just sort of appears in the midst of all the confusion, grabbing on to Qui-Gon as he passes by. According to the Episode I Illustrated Screenplay, however, Jar Jar is enjoying a nice morning meal before all the ruckuss. This is further supported by his small speech to Padmé later on aboard the Queen’s ship when he tells her 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 Omnibus UK special (mentioned above) included a CG Test shot of this “brisky morning munchen” scene. You can download it here on the page (courtesy of Yannick Morin). It also appears to have a quick shot at the end of Jar Jar with the energy balls rolling past him. I’m also including a storyboard image from the Illustrated Screenplay as well as some other great stills of the segment from the Omnibus UK special which were sent in by Chris Nichol.
[T-Note: Jar Jar is a friendly Gungan, as we all know, 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? Ewwwwwww.]
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Download: Video clip of the filming of Jar Jar test footage from the Omnibus BBC special. (courtesy of Yannick Morin) |
OBI-WAN AND THE FRIED LIGHTSABER
As we have mentioned, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stow away on some Federation ships and plan to meet up on the surface of Naboo. Then, in another scene mentioned above, Obi-Wan hides in the murky swamp waters after landing and eventually makes his way through the woods to find his master.
Here are some more pictures you won’t see in the film.
One is of Obi-Wan standing in the Naboo forest as if he’s searching for Qui-Gon.
Then there’s an alternate angle of Obi-Wan as he’s being chased by the 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 lead us directly to yet another cut scene.
After Qui-Gon uses his lightsaber to save Obi-Wan from the STAPs, Qui-Gon scolds Obi-Wan gently, reinforcing the Master/Apprentice relationship they have together.
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 managed to throw a question at George Lucas himself and this scene was mentioned.
Q: There’s only seven cut scenes on the DVD and there’s numerous other cut scenes from the film. Was it difficult for you to make a decision on which scenes to complete?
GWL: 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 (?) saber burned out.
GWL: 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 New Hope. Which is 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.
