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Long before Yoda became the wise, green Jedi Master we know and love, Star Wars creator George Lucas had something wildly different in mind: Yoda as… a monkey. Lucas nearly hired a tiny primate with a cane and a mask to play Luke Skywalker’s legendary mentor. This quirky plan almost became a reality until one crew member said, “The monkey’s just going to pull the mask off repeatedly. It’s never going to work.” And just like that, the little monkey with big Jedi dreams was out.
The story of Yoda’s near-monkey-moment has become a piece of Star Wars lore that leaves fans equal parts relieved and amused. So how did we get from a masked monkey to the iconic puppet, and eventually CGI, that shaped a generation? Let’s journey back to the swamps of Dagobah and this curious chapter in Yoda’s backstory.
The Yoda We Know: Almost a Monkey?
Introduced in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda was first meant to appear as an eccentric, pint-sized creature in the fog-drenched Dagobah. When Luke Skywalker crash-lands in his hunt for a Jedi Master, viewers expected a grand reveal.
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But Lucas nearly took Yoda’s quirky arrival to a new level with his unusual casting choice. While Yoda’s ultimate design as a puppet was already groundbreaking, fans got to hear about Lucas’s alternate vision years later in The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back by J.W. Rinzler. Images from this book, showing the test-run monkey in costume, periodically make the rounds on social media, reigniting this “what could have been” scenario.
Not only was the monkey idea ditched, but Jim Henson (yes, the Jim Henson of The Muppets fame) was eventually brought in to bring Yoda to life. Henson handed over the puppeteering to his colleague, Frank Oz, who gave Yoda his memorable voice. But that monkey idea? Dodged just in time. Imagine trying to give Jedi wisdom through a frustrated monkey yanking off its mask. Disaster averted.
The Evolution of Yoda
The puppet design wasn’t the last stop on Yoda’s character journey. In The Phantom Menace, Lucas pushed Yoda forward, experimenting with a slightly refreshed puppet look. Yet, as technology evolved, so did Yoda. When Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith came along, the little green Jedi transformed from puppet to CGI, and Yoda took on epic lightsaber battles. Sure, fans were divided—some missed the old puppet—but CGI Yoda could now spar with Sith Lords. The change allowed for incredible fight choreography, something a puppet could never do.
Yoda’s CGI moments paved the way for him to return as a puppet once more in The Last Jedi, giving fans a satisfying dose of nostalgia. This mix of tech and tradition has kept Yoda alive across decades and trilogies. He adapted but kept the wisdom, humor, and gruff charm that made him a beloved character.
And if you think that monkey plan was the oddest casting quirk in The Empire Strikes Back, think again. Another monkey cameo lurked in the scene where Vader speaks with the Emperor via hologram. Ian McDiarmid, who would become the official Emperor in Return of the Jedi, hadn’t been cast yet. So, in that brief hologram scene, the eyes viewers saw were… a monkey’s! Yepas returned to the original plan and used monkey eyes to add an alien look to the Emperor’s image.
As for Yoda’s name? He was almost “Buffy” before Lucas settled on “Minch Yoda,” and finally, just Yoda. For fans, it’s another “what if” about a character who’s practically become immortal. One thing’s for sure—if George Lucas had gone with his original ideas, the galaxy might have looked a lot different.
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