6. Origins of Wookiees

George Lucas invented a fictional species of intelligent, shaggy bipeds coming from the planet Kashyyyk and named them “Wookiees.” As a Wookiee, Chewbacca is a loyal friend, and a great warrior. Yet, the name of his species has nothing to do with this and it was borrowed from a George Lucas’ movie THX 1138.

There is a scene in THX 1138 where a robotic cop, voiced by actor Terry McGovern, said: “I think I ran over a Wookiee back there”, and so the name for Chewbacca’s species was born.

A show focused on the creation of Star Wars characters revealed that Wookiees were inspired by orangutans and lemurs as well (not only monkeys, dogs and cats). Orangutans and lemurs have long hair and live in a warm climate. This complex mixture of animals resulted in a Wookiee resembling a mythological simian.