Don Bies in Pod Race Garage

This one may be new to you, this is the first time (as far as we know) this has been pointed out publicly. In the background of the scene before the pod race, just before Watto proposes to throw his 'chance cube', you can see Don Bies working on one of the pods. Don Bies is the man who created the 'all terrain' version of the Artoo model, and he also operates Artoo's remote controls most of the time during filming (see SW Insider #39).

Qui-Gon's repeating sequence

This one just came in and is not confirmed, but sounds promising. When someone gets further confirmation, please write in and let us know. This sure will be easier with a video tape of the whole movie, no? In the hangar before the pod race when Anakin is explaining that he will win the race this time to Padame, the background shows Qui-Gon doing the same thing twice, taking something out of the hands of an onlooker.

The spaceman talking to himself on Tatooine

In the shot where Darth Maul's probe droid whisks through Mos Espa, most of the people walking around and many of the background sections were all shot as separate elements. For example, near the very end of the shot there is a character in a space suit that comes walking along as the Sith probe disappears past him around the corner. Here's where it starts to get interesting. Originally, there were two space-suited characters, one with a large hose-like contraption coming out the top of his helmet. During dailies George remarked that he didn't like the look of it and told the technical direct to lose the hose. They did, and the shot was recomposited without the hose and again shown to George. Well, George still thought the character still looked "goofy" so he requested that the character be ditched all-together. Next time you see that shot look carefully, because the one character was removed totally from the shot, the other character who remains is talking to himself. Interestingly enough, you might recall that there's an establishing shot of the Mos Espa streets earlier in the film in which you can see the two space-suited characters walking along together. Lucas must have felt that the "goofy" costume wasn't distracting in this high-angle, long distance shot.

Jawa Sandcrawler Before Pod Race

The jawa transport, aka the Sandcrawler, can be seen in the upper left corner of the screen when the camera pans around the Pod Race arena just before the big race. It's just to the right and a bit to the back of the end of the podrace stands.

Mambo Jumbo

Before the start of the pod race, after Greg Proops' comentator has introduced Quadranaero, his other head (which for some reason learned a different language) says, phoenetically "bumshaklaka Tito Puete!", a blue competitor waves and the crowd chears. Tito, of course is the Mambo mogul who has appeared in, among other things, The Simpsons episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" and the Jim Henson production, Sesame Street. The phrase bum-shaka-laka was, I believe, used by the tribe of pigs in Muppets Tresure Island, another work the Henson clan.

Chief Model Maker in Pod Race

In the Mos Espa Arena while Qui-Gon is putting Annie in the podracer there's a man with long curly hair and a beard, with a hook on his head, walking by in the background. This man is Lorne Peterson, Academy Award winner, and chief model maker at the ILM.

Vader in the Pod Race

Tyson is sure that Vader's helmet is present in the background of TPM's pod race. The face plate is the distinguishing characteristic supposedly, although we've had few reports of this being accurate.

Rob Coleman's cameo

The lead animation supervisor Rob Coleman has a brief cameo behind Jabba and Gardulla the Hutts at the pod race. Check the pic above on where to find him.

Leia's slave girl outfit Cameo

Kelly reminds us of one of the more obvious cameos in TPM, but is still definitely worth the mention. One of his favorite cameos? Leia's slave outfit. Jabba's slave girl, visible just as he emerges from his vantage point over the podrace on the right, is wearing what looks just like the skimpy 2-piece that Leia wears in ROTJ. I guess ol' Jabba really likes that suit.

On to Page Eight

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Introduction and General Cameos | The Jedi Arrive | The Palace Walls | Arrival on Tatooine | Visit the Junkyard | Anakin's House | Pod Race Hangar | Aurra Sing at the Races | After the Pod Race | Naboo | The Galactic Senate | Battles | Celebration and Credits | Untrue Cameos