Great Pit of Carkoon/Legends

"You will, therefore, be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the Pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all powerful Sarlacc."

- C-3PO's translation of Jabba the Hutt's words to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca

The Great Pit of Carkoon was located within the Northern Dune Sea on the planet Tatooine. The large depression in the sand was the home of a rapacious, if slow-eating, adult sarlacc on Tatooine.

Its proximity to Jabba's Palace, paired with the torturous death provided by the sarlacc, made it an ideal spot for executions to be carried out for Jabba the Hutt's pleasure.

It would be the place of the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon, and the subsequent death of Jabba.

History
The pit served as a site of execution for Jabba for many years, although it is unknown for how long the Sarlaac has been in residence there, it was most likely present for thousands of years. After the capture of Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca, Jabba took his rebel  prisoners to the pit, to be digested over years by the sarlacc. The prisoners, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca who the rebels were attempting to  rescue Han Solo, managed to overcome their guards, with the help of R2-D2 and Lando Calrissian. While Luke, Han, Lando and Chewbacca fought on their Skiff and managed to knock Boba Fett into the pit, Leia used the chains she was bound in to strangle Jabba. Luke subsequently destroyed Jabba's sail barge and escaped with the rebels and the two droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Behind the scenes
The sound of the sarlaac was created from sounds of alligator hisses, as well as the sounds of some of the Jedi crew's stomachs after eating pizza.

The sarlacc went through a series of changes when George Lucas re-released the original trilogy as the special edition on VHS in 1997. Several additional tentacles and an extension with a beak-like tongue were added.

Note that while the original Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi showed Boba Fett falling in the pit and then lost from view, leaving some freedom to Expanded Universe authors to retcon his escape, the Special Edition CGI beak-maw actually is shown to swallow Fett. However, this makes little difference, as the beak-tongue's insides are the same as those of the pit in general.

Filming the Great Pit for Return of the Jedi took place in the Yuma Desert in Arizona in April 1982.

The Pit was set to be located in a Rakatan temple on Tatooine, and guarding the Tatooine Star Map in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. However, the Sarlacc was replaced by a Krayt dragon, and the Rakatan Temple by the Krayt dragon's cave full of ancient Rakatan artifacts.

The Great Pit of Carkoon was originally supposed to be called the "Sloth Pit," but this was later changed prior to the release of the script.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Star Wars: Anakin's Speedway
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition
 * Choose Your Own Star Wars Adventure: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game
 * Choose Your Own Star Wars Adventure: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game