Mardji

Mardji (1953 – 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]

Creating a bantha — 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]

Mardji spent the rest of her life as a Marine World attraction. She was euthanized in November 1995, after suffering from chronic bone inflammation.^[source?]

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]

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]