April 23, 2014

Drafting Darth Vader: Star Wars Storyboards

Photo: Courtesy of Abrams/Lucasfilm

Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO didn’t emerge fully formed from George Lucas’s brain in 1977—he had help from storyboard artists like Alex Tavoularis, Joe Johnston, and Ivan Beddoes. The new book Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy collects the early drawings that gave the Star Wars movies their visual inspiration. Click through the gallery ahead to see nascent versions of a pipe-smoking Yoda, young Luke Skywalker, and more.

*This article appeared in the April 21, 2014 issue of New York Magazine.

“The snout [in this drawing] was different than in the movie,” says Tavoularis. “I think my drawings of Darth Vader were scarier than the final designs.”

“The snout [in this drawing] was different than in the movie,” says Tavoularis. “I think my drawings of Darth Vader were scarier than the final designs.”

“I was thinking about the movie Metropolis when I drew this, in an Art Deco style,” says artist Alex Tavoularis. “The eyes are very human. I was also thinking about the Speed Racer cartoon, where they had real human mouths superimposed over the animation. I thought we could use real eyes on C-3PO.”

“I was thinking about the movie Metropolis when I drew this, in an Art Deco style,” says artist Alex Tavoularis. “The eyes are very human. I was also thinking about the Speed Racer cartoon, where they had real human mouths superimposed over the animation. I thought we could use real eyes on C-3PO.”

“He looks pretty cute in this drawing,” says Tavoularis. “But in the movie, R2-D2 looked more like [conceptual artist] Ralph McQuarrie’s paintings. I hate to say it, but his were better than mine.”

“He looks pretty cute in this drawing,” says Tavoularis. “But in the movie, R2-D2 looked more like [conceptual artist] Ralph McQuarrie’s paintings. I hate to say it, but his were better than mine.”

“This was from a storyboard from an unused scene in the original Star Wars,” says Tavoularis, “but they repurposed the design for Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back.”

“This was from a storyboard from an unused scene in the original Star Wars,” says Tavoularis, “but they repurposed the design for Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back.”

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