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Solved a mystery, George Lucas has.
The 80-year-old “Star Wars” creator spoke at the 45th anniversary screening of “The Empire Strikes Back” at the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday and explained why Yoda talks backwards in the films.
“Because if you speak regular English, people won’t listen that much,” Lucas said, per Variety. “But if he had an accent, or it’s really hard to understand what he’s saying, they focus on what he’s saying.”
“He was basically the philosopher of the movie,” the filmmaker continued. “I had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen — especially 12-year-olds.”
Yoda is introduced in 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back” voiced by Frank Oz. He returns in 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” all three movies in the prequel trilogy, and 2017’s “The Last Jedi.”
Oz, 80, told The Guardian in 2021 about how he originally brought the Jedi master character to life.
“I was just looking at the original script of The Empire Strikes Back the other day and there was a bit of that odd syntax in it, but also it had Yoda speaking very colloquially. So I said to George: ‘Can I do the whole thing like this?’ And he said: ‘Sure!’ It just felt so right,” the actor recalled.
When asked if he gets tired of Yoda imitations, Oz replied, “No I’m used to it. But people don’t understand, anyone can do a voice. It’s not the voice – it’s the soul.”
In 2018, Oz spoke to Collider about what the reaction to him playing Yoda again was like on the set of “The Last Jedi.”
“Well, I didn’t pay attention because I am very, very focused. I have to get the best job I can possibly get- that’s all I care about, is the quality,” he said. “But my wife was there, and she said, I guess this is true, but she said everybody was working and then when I came on the screen everybody completely stopped working.”
“That’s kind of exciting,” Oz added, “but I didn’t notice it because I’m too involved. But that’s a wonderful feeling, I guess. If I felt it.”
A “Star Wars” movie hasn’t come out since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” But it was announced at “Star Wars” Celebration in Japan last week that Shawn Levy is directing “Star Wars: Starfighter” starring Ryan Gosling.
The upcoming film is set five years after the events of “Rise of Skywalker.” It comes out in theaters on May 28, 2027.
English (US)