‘Star Wars’ Designer Shares A Photo Of Scrapped Dagobah Dragon

Cute But Dangerous!

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 3 min read

The special effects and creature designs in Star Wars have always been top-notch, and they are filled with dozens of fascinating creatures, planets, people, and items. However, even with a world as expansive as Star Wars, not every creature design can be implemented in the final film. Sometimes there isn’t enough time, money, or resources to fit in everything in the original plan. That is why there are a lot of pieces of concept art that do not appear in the final film. Recently, a new Star Wars creature design was revealed that did not make it into The Empire Strikes Back as it was initially planned.

Nick Maley, who also goes by “That Yoda Guy,” was a special effects make-up artist on both the original Star Wars film and The Empire Strikes Back. Recently on Twitter, he revealed a look at a figure of a dragon that was originally meant to appear on Dagobah in Empire Strikes Back but sadly never made it into the final film.

The design appears to be more amphibian than most modern dragons people are familiar with, but it still looks like it would be massive and intimidating on screen. This is not the first time Nogard has been shown to the public, but this is probably the best look anyone has gotten at it. Several years ago, Alleycat Animation, who has worked with Maley in the past, shared images of Nogard on their Facebook page. However, those pictures were not nearly as vibrant or colorful as the photo Maley shared. Maley has also stated that part of the reason Nogard was never used was due, in part, to “an unprepared presentation for George Lucas.”

Maley himself has had a lasting impact on Star Wars saga outside of his unused design. As stated above, he worked as part of the special effects team for both A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. He was hired by Stuart Freeborn, who is credited with creating the design for Yoda. Maley played a significant role in Yoda’s creation as well. He crafted Yoda’s head, hands, and feet, so a large part of Yoda’s ability to walk and speak came from Maley. Of course, that design has become incredibly iconic with the continued success of the Star Wars franchise and Yoda as a fan-favorite character. It is also thanks to him that Grogu’s design is so iconic and adorable. Without him, Grogu might have looked incredibly different from the one fans know and love, as would countless other media pieces.

Even if the presentation with George did go as planned, there were likely other reasons why Nogard could not be included in the final version. The scenes on Dagobah have a lot going on in them, and throwing in a dragon to fight might have made it feel too clustered. That being said, it would have been amazing to see Luke face off against it as part of his training or have that be the guardian of the cave he entered. On the other hand, Nogard could have been Yoda’s pet, an effective teaching tool, or even a sweet animal companion for Luke to hang out with while he was on Dagobah. Just because Nogard did not make it into The Empire Strikes Back does not mean it can’t ever appear in the Star Wars universe. Several unused characters are brought back in future projects. With so many characters making their returns in modern media, this may not be the last time Nogard the Dragon of Dagobah rears his amphibious head.

Written By Alex Lenzini

Source(s): CBR

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