In the latest ongoing series of articles on the official site, Dan Zehr takes a look at what is arguably the most famous vessel in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon.
Behind the Scenes
You may have heard that the Falcon was inspired by a hamburger, but that isn’t really accurate. As Amy Ratcliffe wrote on StarWars.com, the original design looked very similar to the ship from Space: 1999, so the team had to completely refabricate an all-new look in one day. In Amy’s article, she quotes legendary creator Joe Johnston from Starlog Magazine. “We took components from the blockade runner, like the cockpit, and stuck it on the side of a big dish with some mandibles out in front,” he said. And in Light & Magic, Johnston further explains that it was the sight of dirty dishes that sparked the initial redesign; he caught a glimpse of stacked plates at home, and imagined sandwiching two together to create a saucer-like ship. That original design ultimately became the template for the Tantive IV, while the Falcon became the ship we know and love.
For another deep-dive into the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, check out our debut episode of Start Your Engines, and mark your diary for 2 weeks today when we’ll be delving into the AT-AT and AT-ST.
