This painting represents R2-D2 and C-3PO first arriving on Tatooine after
their narrow escape from the Imperial Stormtroopers via a Life Pod (which can
be seen in the background). McQuarrie used a photograph of the Oregon coast
to guide his painting of the landscape, following the line of the cliff and
replacing the ocean with sand dunes.
C-3PO was inspired by the beautiful robot seen in Fritz Lang's classic silent
film Metropolis, but Lucas wanted it to look more male then female.
McQuarrie's C-3PO looks much more graceful and slim than the 'droid was to
become in the film. The problems of a person moving in all of that equipment
made it necessary for C-3PO's body to be bigger and to have larger joints.
Lucas wanted R2-D2 to be like a small tripod which would move by throwing one
leg outward and pitching itself forward like a man on crutches. but the
problems of getting R2-D2 to move in that manner couldn't be solved, so he had
to be made to glide forward or hobble about.
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(Last updated at: 980414)