Mardji (died November 1995) was an Asian elephant who portrayed two banthas in the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Footage of Mardji was also used as a reference for the movements of the AT-ATs in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.
Biography[]
Mardji was an Asian elephant who portrayed the banthas in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.[2] She was transported from Marine World Africa USA in Redwood City, California, to a Star Wars shooting location in Death Valley, California. There, she was outfitted with a bantha costume, made up of layers of fur and a lightweight horned headpiece. Though Mardji was a well-trained elephant, she had difficulty adjusting to her costume, often trying to remove it while the cameras were rolling.[3] Since the filmmakers could only afford a single dressed-up elephant, the scene where Luke Skywalker spotted two banthas side by side was realized through optical compositing.[4]

Mardji being transformed into a bantha
During the production of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, footage of Mardji was taken by a team including special effects artists Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, and Jon Berg. This footage was used as a reference for how the AT-ATs should move.[5]
Several years after her death, she inspired the use of dog actors for the Corellian hounds of the 2018 Star Wars Anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story, as revealed in The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story.[6]
Works[]
Filmography[]
Year | Title | Contribution(s) |
---|---|---|
1977 | Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope[7] | Bantha[4] |
1980 | Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back[8] | Inspiration for how All Terrain Armored Transports should move[5] |
Sources[]
"Around the Galaxy" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 6
"Star News" — Star Wars Insider 28
Empire's Elephant on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
"The Toughest Ever Creatures" — Star Wars Insider 102
bantha in the Databank (original site is defunct)
Drawing from the Present: Familiar Creatures in a Galaxy Far, Far Away on StarWars.com (backup link)
"The Star Wars Archive" — Star Wars Insider 200
Animal Actors | Star Wars Full Circle on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑
"Star News" — Star Wars Insider 28
- ↑
Drawing from the Present: Familiar Creatures in a Galaxy Far, Far Away on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑
bantha in the Databank (original site is defunct)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1
"The Toughest Ever Creatures" — Star Wars Insider 102
- ↑ 5.0 5.1
Empire's Elephant on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
- ↑ The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back