Neal Scanlan reveals that BB-8 once had a different name

January 11, 2018

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Neal Scanlan, speaking recently with Endor Express, gave some fascinating detail into the production processes behind keeping a character like BB-8 secret from the eyes of the wider world.

Our little globular friend wasn’t always known as BB-8, and there’s a good reason why.

We work absolutely during the production process with codes for secrecy. We have a bit of fun playing with ideas and that’s when we get to hear what their real names are.

BB-8, for instance, started out as Snow Girl or Globe at one time – there were four or five names for BB-8. BB-8 didn’t come until VERY, very late, and that’s probably for very good reasons as he’s such an important character.

ViaNME (via Ruth Newbold)

SourceEndor Express

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.

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Neal Scanlan, speaking recently with Endor Express, gave some fascinating detail into the production processes behind keeping a character like BB-8 secret from the eyes of the wider world.

Our little globular friend wasn’t always known as BB-8, and there’s a good reason why.

We work absolutely during the production process with codes for secrecy. We have a bit of fun playing with ideas and that’s when we get to hear what their real names are.

BB-8, for instance, started out as Snow Girl or Globe at one time – there were four or five names for BB-8. BB-8 didn’t come until VERY, very late, and that’s probably for very good reasons as he’s such an important character.