A Dog Inspired Two Of The Best Characters In Hollywood History
At first glance, Chewbacca and Indiana Jones don’t have much in common. One is the Star Wars franchise’s resident co-pilot and angry chess player, while the other is a globe-trotting adventurer with a penchant for grave robbing. There is one key bit of trivia that ties both characters together, however: they’re both based on George Lucas’s dog.
Named After The Dog
Okay, maybe “based” is a stretch when it comes to Indiana Jones. The rogue archeologist did receive one key thing from Lucas’s mutt, however: his name. George and Marcia Lucas owned a Malamute named Indiana early on in their marriage. Lucas was extremely fond of the dog and used the name Indiana for the adventurer character he and Steven Spielberg created.
Yup. Good ol’ Indiana Smith, star of some of the biggest blockbusters of the 1980s. Yeah, it turns out that while George Lucas nailed the first name, the second part of Indiana Jones’s world-famous Nom de Guerre took a little more effort.
Furry Co-Pilot
Meanwhile, Indiana’s other traits inspired Lucas while working on Star Wars. Namely, her penchant for riding in the passenger seat during car rides as George’s “furry co-pilot.” As George Lucas himself put it, “A Malamute is a very large dog, like a hundred and thirty pounds and bigger than a human being and very long-haired. Having her with me all the time inspired me to give Han Solo a sidekick who was like a big, furry dog.”
Big Furry Dog
Star Wars fans know Chewbacca is nothing if not a “big furry dog.” Loyal to a fault and ready to fly into a rage the second someone tries to hurt one of his friends. Oddly enough, artist Ralph Mcquarrie’s initial design for Chewbacca looks nothing like a big friendly dog and more like some weird monster. Picture the Wolfman with Swamp Thing’s nose and the yellow eyes Michael Jackson had in the Thriller video after he turned into a werecat.
Luckily, at some point, Lucas must have realized that the character shouldn’t just act like Indiana but look more like her as well. Chewbacca’s final look in Star Wars obviously isn’t 1:1 with George Lucas’s black and white Malamute, but it’s closer than the ghoul Mcquarrie originally sketched.
We Named The Dog Indiana
While it might not be common knowledge that George Lucas based Chewbacca off of his dog, the story of where Indiana Jones got his name should be familiar to anyone who’s seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. One of the best scenes in the movie occurs near the end when Indy’s father explains that the archeologist’s real name is Henry Jones Jr.
“I like Indiana,” the main character exclaims. “We named the dog Indiana.” Henry Jones Sr. retorts. This prompts a belly laugh from Indy’s companion, Sallah, who remarks, “The dog? You were named after the dog!” Indiana Jones finishes the back-and-forth with a sentence that could have come from straight from Lucas’s mouth: “I have a lot of fond memories of that dog.”
Inspired By A Very Good Girl
Lucas even took it a step further. While it’s barely mentioned on-screen, Henry Jones Jr.’s middle name is Walton, the same middle name Dorothy Ellinore Lucas, and George Walton Lucas Sr. gave their young son George jr in 1944.
So, if you’re a Star Wars fan who loves Chewbacca or you’re fond of Indiana Jones just remember, you have a certain special good girl to thank for both characters.
