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In the early seventies, George Lucas, the distinguished filmmaker, arrived unannounced at Freddie Pearl’s studio on a motorbike, dripping wet, wearing a white rollerneck pullover and jeans. He introduced himself, asked to see Pearl’s work and left saying he would be in touch. As a result of this encounter, Pearl was commissioned to do specialist work on a film project Lucas was developing – Star Wars. The ‘Dewback’ which Pearl developed went on to become an official part of the Star Wars universe.

The only known model of a Dewback head outside of the extensive LucasFilm archive will be sold in a sale of Rock, Pop & Film Memorabilia at Bonhams in Knightsbridge on Wednesday 27 April 2005. Produced by Fred Pearl, it was specially commissioned by George Lucas and is estimated at £10,000-15,000.

Bonhams’ Consultant of Film Memorabilia, Adrian Cowdry, comments, “Outside of the Star Wars archive this is the only known item pertaining to the Dewback. It is a massive find for Star Wars collectors and hugely significant due to all the publicity shots of the Stormtrooper in the saddle on top of a Dewback. This is possibly the only chance ever to obtain such an item, rarely have there been any Star Wars creatures available at auction.”

The Dewback is a large lizard found on the desert island Tatooine, home to the trilogy’s hero, Luke Skywalker and his father, Anakin Skywalker, later known as ‘Darth Vader.’ They are used by the locals as mounts and beasts of burden by the Imperial Stormtrooper patrols, since they were able to withstand the heat and dust that would often lead to breakdowns in more technologically advanced conveyances.

Lucas envisioned a creature that would be an organic contrast to the mechanical craft and extensive technology featured throughout the film, thus relating the films futuristic technical developments to a more grounded past, bridging the natural and motorized worlds. Pearl was asked to create a monster in which a Sandtrooper, a heavily armoured soldier of the Empire, could sit. The commission called for a whipping tail, moving head and mobile left leg. The brief was concise – Pearl was handed a sketch and from there a full size Dewback slowly emerged in his workshop. He produced a reptilian head and affixed it to a Rhinoceros body and created a tail, taking from December 1975 to March 1976 to complete the project.

In the final cut of Star Wars in 1977, the Dewback remained behind the scenes during filming in Tunisia, the location Lucas selected to represent the imaginary desert world of Tatooine. Deemed too static and lacking the funds to animate the creature, the Dewback was used instead for extensive photographic reference and publicity material. The triceratops-like collar, a part of the original concept, was also a discarded by Lucas on location.

With the proven acceptance of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) in 1993 with the blockbuster Jurassic Park, George Lucas was able to tweak his original saga including animating the Dewback for the special edition release of the Star Wars trilogy. This included updated special effects and previously unseen footage, including a new key sequence including the Dewback. Of course, with CGI, Tatooine could afford to be more densely populated and the giant beast animated and mobile. Consequently, the Dewback can also be seen in the first of the Star Wars ‘prequels’, Episode One: The Phantom Menace, pulling Podracer parts to the gridline.

“The Dewback is one of my favourite commissions,” comments Mr. Pearl, who was also responsible for the arms and legs of the fussy and worry-prone protocol android, C-3PO, confidante and ally of the epic’s heroic rebels, Luke and Princess Leia. As with the Dewback, he was given no more than a sketch as an idea from which to develop the project. The mould for the leg and the drawing plan will also be included in the sale on 27 April, alongside a collection of Star Wars posters, including the first Howard Chaykin poster advertising the film at the Comic and Sci-Fi conventions. George Lucas and Gary Kurtz sold the posters for $1 each but very few were sold – until the popularity following the film’s release made them extremely rare collectibles. Also included in the sale is an original banner of Episode One: Phantom Menace and a unique Empire Strikes Back poster, recalling the original trilogy.

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For more details visit the Bonhams web site.