R2-D2 is one of the most famous droids in Star WarsBut his name has a much less famous origin story. R2-D2, or as he is fondly known, Artoo Detoo, was a droid who proved extremely useful throughout the entire Skywalker saga of Star Wars Movies. He served some of the most powerful Jedi in Star WarsAnd he witnessed some of the most important events in the entire galaxy. Star Wars Timeline. Artoo is an extremely high-profile droid, but there are still some parts of his character that remain much less well known.
Although Artoo appears in most of these Star Wars movies, there’s still quite a bit of trivia and facts about R2-D2 that aren’t immediately obvious. One of these facts is the origin of his name, which is a seemingly random combination of letters and numbers. Although it would be easy to assume that George Lucas, the original creator of Star WarsPicked the name of Artoo at random, the droid’s moniker actually has a much older origin. In fact, Lucas got his inspiration for the Astromech years before he made it Star WarsWhile he was working on a different film.
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George Lucas noticed the name of R2-D2 on the set of American graffiti
According to Life: George Lucas and the Making of Star WarsGeorge Lucas actually got the inspiration for Artoo’s name from a completely different film: American graffiti.
“The trial also granted [Lucas] A Future Character Name : Sound editor Walter Murch referred to one of the elements of the film, “Reel 2, Dialogue 2,” as “R2-D2.” Lucas liked how R2-D2 sounds and made note of it.
George Lucas has only directed two feature-length films besides Star WarsOne wise American graffitiAnd the other being THX 1138. Both films he worked on before Star Wars Clearly impacted his space opera, and even the characters in it. R2-D2’s name is proof of that, but it’s also proof of another truth Star Wars: Some of the franchise’s best names come from truly random sources.
The best Star Wars names come from the most random places
Like R2-D2, many others Star Wars Characters got their names from unusual places. One of the best examples is Salacious B. Crumb, the Kovacian monkey lizard featured in Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi. Salacious Crumb’s name originated from visual effects artist Phil Tippett slurring the word “shoelace” during a night of drinking. Other characters, too, have unusual origins for their names: Chewbacca’s name is derived from the Russian word for dog, “sobaka.” Other characters seem to have names that were more humorous in nature, such as Solo: A Star Wars Storys Therm Scissorpunch or the drug dealer Elan Sleazebaggano.
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The unusual character names of Star Wars Highlight something that makes the franchise truly special: it is ready for inspiration from any source to make itself better. George Lucas famously combined elements of several different genres to create the original Star Wars In a sort of melting pot of his favorite films. Likewise, the names of the galaxy far, far away take inspiration from everything from linguistics to Lucas’ previous work to make them sound unique. It is because of this willingness to look at unlikely sources that it is almost guaranteed that R2-D2 Won’t be the last Star Wars Character with an interesting origin story.