Deaf actor Troy Kotsur creates TSL; Tusken Sign Language for The Mandalorian

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

You may not be aware that the sign language displayed by the Tusken raiders seen in The Mandalorian is far more than just hinting at an alien language. Deaf actor Troy Kotsur actually developed TSL – Tusken Sign Language, for the show and he discusses that with Renca Dunn at The Daily Moth.

RENCA DUNN: You mentioned that you were a Star Wars fan since how old?

TROY KOTSUR: Eight years old! I have been a fan since that age. Remember that in the year of 1977, technology was limited and accessibility for Deaf people were limited, but that Star Wars movie blew my mind. It changed my life. Why? It was like “wet-eyes” – so visual for me. For the first 5 minutes, remember the opening of that movie? The spaceships shooting, the robots, C-3P0 scrambling, and all of that overwhelmed my eyes. I watched it 28 times. I watched the movie “Star Wars: A New Hope” 28 times.

RENCA DUNN: Oh wow!

TROY KOTSUR: My hearing parents were probably annoyed, but they were fine with it because they would go food shopping every time and then picked me up when the movie was over.

RENCA DUNN: Wow! Well, I am curious of your view on the Star Wars movies from back in the old days and up until today with all the modern technology in the movies. Do you miss the old days with how Star Wars movies were made? Or do you like the modern technology used today?

TROY KOTSUR: Good question. Good question. You would need to ask people like your parents’ age and your grandparents, what the best movie they have seen. I am sure they would say “Gone with the Wind” movie. Because it was the first movie with colors, had a swear word, and other things. So, like that- Star Wars was our first experience of seeing new things that blew my mind. I do wonder what the next generation’s movie “inspiration” would be. I am sure that is your experience too.

LEGO Star Wars Tm Mos Eisley Cantina 75205
  • Includes 4 minifigures: Han Solo, Greedo, Wuher and a Sandtrooper
  • Mos eisley cantina features a detailed bar, sliding entrance door, seat-tipping functions, open-out design and detachable sections
  • Also includes a Ubrikkian 9000 pod with opening minifigure cockpit and top-mounted stud shooter
  • Open out the cantina and play out classic Star Wars: a new hope tavern scenes.
Mark Newbold
Mark Newbold
Exploring the galaxy since 1978, Mark wrote his first fan fiction in 1981 and been a presence online since his first webpage Fanta War in 1996. He's contributed to Star Wars Insider (since '06) and Starburst Magazine (since '16) as well as ILM.com, SkywalkerSound.com, StarWars.com, Star Wars Encyclopedia, Build The Millennium Falcon, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia, Model and Collectors Mart, Star Trek magazine and StarTrek.com. He is a four-time Star Wars Celebration Stage host, the only podcaster to have appeared on every Celebration podcast stage since the stage began in 2015, the Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and the co-host of Making Tracks, Canon Fodder and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

You may not be aware that the sign language displayed by the Tusken raiders seen in The Mandalorian is far more than just hinting at an alien language. Deaf actor Troy Kotsur actually developed TSL – Tusken Sign Language, for the show and he discusses that with Renca Dunn at The Daily Moth.

RENCA DUNN: You mentioned that you were a Star Wars fan since how old?

TROY KOTSUR: Eight years old! I have been a fan since that age. Remember that in the year of 1977, technology was limited and accessibility for Deaf people were limited, but that Star Wars movie blew my mind. It changed my life. Why? It was like “wet-eyes” – so visual for me. For the first 5 minutes, remember the opening of that movie? The spaceships shooting, the robots, C-3P0 scrambling, and all of that overwhelmed my eyes. I watched it 28 times. I watched the movie “Star Wars: A New Hope” 28 times.

RENCA DUNN: Oh wow!

TROY KOTSUR: My hearing parents were probably annoyed, but they were fine with it because they would go food shopping every time and then picked me up when the movie was over.

RENCA DUNN: Wow! Well, I am curious of your view on the Star Wars movies from back in the old days and up until today with all the modern technology in the movies. Do you miss the old days with how Star Wars movies were made? Or do you like the modern technology used today?

TROY KOTSUR: Good question. Good question. You would need to ask people like your parents’ age and your grandparents, what the best movie they have seen. I am sure they would say “Gone with the Wind” movie. Because it was the first movie with colors, had a swear word, and other things. So, like that- Star Wars was our first experience of seeing new things that blew my mind. I do wonder what the next generation’s movie “inspiration” would be. I am sure that is your experience too.

LEGO Star Wars Tm Mos Eisley Cantina 75205
  • Includes 4 minifigures: Han Solo, Greedo, Wuher and a Sandtrooper
  • Mos eisley cantina features a detailed bar, sliding entrance door, seat-tipping functions, open-out design and detachable sections
  • Also includes a Ubrikkian 9000 pod with opening minifigure cockpit and top-mounted stud shooter
  • Open out the cantina and play out classic Star Wars: a new hope tavern scenes.
Mark Newbold
Mark Newbold
Exploring the galaxy since 1978, Mark wrote his first fan fiction in 1981 and been a presence online since his first webpage Fanta War in 1996. He's contributed to Star Wars Insider (since '06) and Starburst Magazine (since '16) as well as ILM.com, SkywalkerSound.com, StarWars.com, Star Wars Encyclopedia, Build The Millennium Falcon, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia, Model and Collectors Mart, Star Trek magazine and StarTrek.com. He is a four-time Star Wars Celebration Stage host, the only podcaster to have appeared on every Celebration podcast stage since the stage began in 2015, the Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and the co-host of Making Tracks, Canon Fodder and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
Close Popup
Privacy Settings saved!
Privacy Settings

When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Control your personal Cookie Services here.

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems.

Technical Cookies
In order to use this website we use the following technically required cookies
  • wordpress_test_cookie
  • wordpress_logged_in_
  • wordpress_sec

Google Adsense
We use Google AdSense to show online advertisements on our website.
  • _tlc
  • _tli
  • _tlp
  • _tlv
  • DSID
  • id
  • IDE

One Signal
For performance reasons we use OneSignal as a notification service.  This saves a number of cookies in order to apply notifcation services on a per-client basis. These cookies are strictly necessary for OneSignal's notification features.  It is essential to the service that these are not turned off.
  • _OneSignal_session
  • __cfduid
  • _ga
  • _gid

Affiliate Links
Fantha Tracks is reader-supported.  When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Media Net
We use Media Net to show online advertisements on our website.
  • SESS#

Decline all Services
Save
Accept all Services
Mastodon