{"id":1881,"date":"2013-02-22T11:50:17","date_gmt":"2013-02-22T16:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/starwarz.com\/tbone\/?p=1881"},"modified":"2026-05-08T11:58:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:58:52","slug":"mos-eisley-spaceport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starwarz.com\/tbone\/mos-eisley-spaceport\/","title":{"rendered":"Mos Eisley Spaceport"},"content":{"rendered":"

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy… and deleted scenes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

THE ORIGINAL JABBA<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"1639\"<\/a>In the original script of Episode IV<\/em><\/a>, Jabba the Hutt and Han Solo were supposed to have a confrontation in Docking Bay 94. This scene was filmed but ultimately dropped for the theatrical version. Later on, it was restored and updated for the Special Edition, complete with a digital Jabba that somewhat matched the Jabba from Episode VI<\/em>. He was a bit “thinner” and looked noticeably different. The restored Jabba received numerous improvements over the years and across various digital releases, thankfully. The initial version, while nice to have and fun to see, wasn’t a great representation.<\/p>\n

The scene was originally shot with a Jabba stand-in actor named Declan Mulholland, a popular character actor in the UK who passed away in July of 1999. According to several interviews, George Lucas is quoted as saying he had always intended to matte in or layer a puppet\/stop-motion creature of some sort over the actor during post-production.<\/p>\n

If you look at this scene in the Marvel Comics adaptation, it seems that George Lucas and his crew had never actually gotten around to designing the final creature version of Jabba. When it came time to draw the comic, the artists had no visuals for reference. Someone selected a random alien from the cantina (who you can see very well in the alternate cantina footage from the Lost Cut)<\/a> and used him as Jabba for the comic.<\/p>\n

In an IGN interview<\/a> with Gary Kurtz, the producer shed a little more light on the reasons why this scene was originally deleted:<\/p>\n

IGNFF:<\/strong> I’ve heard different stories. One was that it was never intended to be in the film, that it was just a let’s see if we can do this, and replace it later. The other school of thought was, it was always supposed to be there.<\/p>\n

KURTZ:<\/strong> Well, the original idea was that it was supposed to be there. It is in the script… but it was a guy, a human being, this sort of fat guy… looked a bit like Sydney Greenstreet… and the scene is pretty much, I mean dialogue wise, it’s exactly what you see in the Special Edition. But it was a person that was there, and we had technical difficulties with that scene. We shot it over three times for camera problems, focus problems, and film stock problem, and then abandoned it because we ran out of time. We just said, “Well, the bulk of the information that comes across in that scene, about Jabba threatening Han Solo and wanting his money and all of that, we could get across in the scene in the Cantina, with Greedo.” It’s basically the same kind of information. So we just added some bits to the Greedo scene to make it a little bit longer that gets across that information, and then jettisoned that other scene. This all happened while we were shooting. It wasn’t done in the cutting room.<\/p>\n

IGNFF:<\/strong> So it was made at the time of shooting, that the decision was basically made that that scene would be excised.<\/p>\n

KURTZ:<\/strong> Yes, because of the focus problems, and it was slightly redundant anyway because some of the information was already in the Greedo scene \u2013 so why not make all the information in the Greedo scene and eliminate the Jabba scene altogether? That’s what happened.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"151\"<\/a> \"152\"<\/a> \"153\"<\/a> \"154\"<\/a> \"155\"<\/a> \"156\"<\/a> \"157\"<\/a> \"Declan
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/starwarz.com\/tbone\/wp-content\/uploads\/original-jabba.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Clip of the Original Jabba scene from the documentary From Star Wars to Jedi<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

https:\/\/starwarz.com\/tbone\/wp-content\/uploads\/Original-Jabba-2.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Fan-made clip of the Original Jabba scene re-edited together by JediSluggo and Brad.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

https:\/\/starwarz.com\/tbone\/wp-content\/uploads\/original-jabba-3.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Fan-made clip of the Original Jabba scene re-edited by Garrett Gilchrist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MORE LOST CUT BITS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Lost Cut<\/a> of Star Wars contains a multitude of scenes and shots left out of the final film, and the special edition that followed. You can read more about in in the Star Wars Insider<\/i> magazine, Issue #41.<\/p>\n

The Mos Eisley overlook photo is technically more of a “Behind the Scenes” shot featuring Luke, Ben, and the droids looking at Mos Eisley Spaceport. Obviously, the spaceport was added in later.<\/p>\n

While the stormtroopers are searching the city for the droids, this little guy known as Flash (not Flash Gordon, although I suspect that’s where he got his moniker) can be seen running underneath the legs of a tall creature. He runs right at the camera and escapes the tall guy. This quick\u00a0 shot can also be seen in the Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978<\/a> in the sequence called “Life on Tatooine.” You’ll also see a few other shots in that sequence including stormtroopers, Mos Eisley citizens, and more.<\/p>\n

\"158\"<\/a> \"82\"<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/starwarz.com\/tbone\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mos-Eisley-Holiday-Special-Footage.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

“Life on Tatooine” from the Star Wars Holiday Special<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GARINDAN & THE STORMTROOPERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The picture included here is not technically a deleted scene, but more of an alternate angle.\u00a0It’s a still photograph from the scene in the film where Garindan (also known as “Long Snoot”) tells the stormtroopers to head over to docking bay 94 to find those elusive droids they’re looking for. In the final\u00a0 film, you only see a close-up of this shot, but here’s how it probably looked on the set while they were filming it.<\/p>\n

\"83\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SELLING THE LANDSPEEDER<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"3132\"<\/a>We all know that Luke sold his landspeeder after striking the deal with Han Solo in the cantina, but we never saw the deal go down. In the film, we can see the tail end of the sale where a frustrated Luke gives in and complains about the XP-38’s being more in demand.\u00a0The images below imply that an extended version of this scene may have been filmed. While there may have been some early dialogue written, this appears to have been removed from the script.\u00a0In production notes from a meeting in January 1976, it was decided that the “Speeder Dealer” would only be seen in a long shot from across the street.<\/p>\n

The photos below give us a better look at the strange alien and speeder dealer, later named Wioslea, who buys Luke’s landspeeder. According to the book Star Wars Chronicles<\/a><\/i>, she runs a used speeder lot called “Spaceport Speeders.”<\/p>\n

\"176\"<\/a> \"177\"<\/a> \"178\"<\/a>\u00a0\"Selling<\/a> \"179\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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