George Lucas has finally revealed why Yoda speaks backwards in the Star Wars universe, and it might just shock you.
Fans first fell in love with the wise little Jedi master all the way back in 1980, after the franchise began in 1977, and ever since, everyone has been wondering what the deal is about his voice.
Particularly, why he speaks backwards and can’t seem to talk in a structured sentence like the rest of the characters.
While you might have thought it was just a little quirk of his, there’s actually an intension behind his vernacular pattern, and it’s not just because it’s cute to listen to.
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The central figure in the film and television universe can often be heard using backward phrases, where half of the sentence will be pushed to the end, instead of being said at the front.
This can be something like: “Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”
Translation: Your fear must be named before you can banish it.
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So, why does he talk like that?
According to George Lucas, the creator of the franchise, it’s so that people pay better attention to his words.
According to Variety, Lucas appeared at an anniversary screening of The Empire Strikes Back in Hollywood, and opened up about his thought process.
“If you speak regular English, people won’t listen that much,” Lucas explained. “But if he had an accent, or it’s really hard to understand what he’s saying, they focus on what he’s saying.”
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He continued: “He was basically the philosopher of the movie. I had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen — especially 12-year-olds.”
But when Disney’s The Mandalorian was filmed, a book about Star Wars, which was released in 2022, claimed that Lucas was concerned about the series after it introduced its Baby Yoda character.
This is because he wanted him to have ‘a proper amount of training’ - which did indeed occur.
But Lucas no longer calls the shots when it comes to the franchise, after decades of leading it to success.
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This happened as Lucas sold his company Lucasfilm, which owns the Star Wars franchise rights, and now Disney owns it.
However, this was not a choice that was easy for the director, who called it ‘painful’ to make.
He explained in 2020, as per The Independent that: “I've spent my life creating Star Wars – 40 years – and giving it up was very, very painful.”
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He added: "But it was the right thing to do. I thought I was going to have a little bit more to say about the next three [films] because I'd already started them, but they decided they wanted to do something else.”
In the end, ‘things don't always work out the way you want it. Life is like that'.
Oh, that’s sad.
The deal was made between Lucas and Disney in 2012.
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In the book, it states that Lucas shared how each film took a decade, and at that time he was about to welcome a daughter into the world.
He said: “In 2012, I was 69. So the question was, ‘Am I going to keep doing this for the rest of my life? Do I want to go through this again?’ Finally, I decided I’d rather raise my daughter and enjoy life for a while."
Topics: Disney, Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Entertainment, Film and TV
Britt Jones