Fictional city in Star Wars
Mos Eisley
is a
spaceport
town in the fictional
Star Wars
universe.
[1]
Located on the planet
Tatooine
, it first appeared in the 1977 film
Star Wars
, described by the character
Obi-Wan Kenobi
(played by
Alec Guinness
) as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy".
A notable scene set in a seedy Mos Eisley
cantina
crowded with numerous alien races made a particular impact on audiences. Location filming for the spaceport took place from 1975 to 1976 in
Tunisia
, with interiors filmed at
Elstree Studios
near London.
Depiction
[
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]
Film
[
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]
Mos Eisley made its first appearance in the original 1977 film,
Star Wars
. It is depicted as a busy, bustling
port city
situated in a desert plain, populated with transients of all species. The lawless spaceport attracts criminals, smugglers and fugitives.
[2]
Spacecraft land at docking bays dotted across the city.
The Mos Eisley scenes occur early in
Star Wars
, when the young hero
Luke Skywalker
and his mentor
Obi-Wan Kenobi
travel to the spaceport in Luke's
landspeeder
in search of a pilot, accompanied by the droids,
C-3PO
and
R2-D2
. Obi-Wan warns Luke that the spaceport may be dangerous. Upon arrival, Luke and Obi-Wan enter Chalmun's Cantina, a dimly-lit tavern patronised by visiting starship pilots. Strong drink is on sale at the bar and there are frequent outbreaks of violence among the clientele. The cantina attracts a range of exotic
alien species
, although
droids
are not permitted to enter; the bartender orders them to leave, saying "We don't serve their kind in here". A band of domed-headed aliens plays a set of otherworldly jazz-style music.
[3]
[4]
Luke is threatened with violence by two of the customers,
Ponda Baba
, an
Aqualish
, and
Doctor Evazan
, a deformed
human
, but Obi-Wan intervenes with his
lightsaber
, cutting Ponda's arm off in the fight. This is the first time a lightsaber is used in combat on-screen in the
Star Wars
franchise. Obi-Wan introduces Luke to a pair of smugglers,
Chewbacca
and
Han Solo
, and they negotiate terms for passage to the planet
Alderaan
, which prompts Luke to sell his landspeeder to get the money they need to pay Han. After Luke and Obi-Wan have departed, Han is involved in a brief confrontation with
Greedo
, a green-skinned gangster; the exchange ends violently when
Han shoots
and kills Greedo.
[5]
[6]
As the group prepare to leave, they are followed to Docking Bay 94 by
Garindan
, a spy working for the
Empire
. Following a brief gunfight with
Imperial stormtroopers
, they board the
Millennium Falcon
spaceship and take off from Tatooine.
Books
[
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]
In the novelization of the film,
Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker
by
George Lucas
(
ghostwritten
by
Alan Dean Foster
), Mos Eisley is described as a haphazard, run-down settlement built of concrete and sandstone, a large part of it built underground to escape the heat of Tatooine's
twin suns
.
The cantina is described as a dark, sinister bar full of "one-eyed creatures and thousand-eyed, creatures with scales, creatures with fur". The narrative describes "Tentacles, claws and hands... wrapped around drinking utensils".
The
Expanded Universe
anthology of intertwined
short stories
,
Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
, edited by
Kevin J. Anderson
, explores the cantina and its clientele further. The book names the establishment as "Chalmun's Cantina", introducing its proprietor as a
Wookiee
named Chalmun; it also reveals that the
bartender
is named Wuher. The book also explores the reasons for the cantina's ban on droids: the bartender claims to dislike everyone, but lashes out at droids because they are the only thing that will not try to fight back; the proprietor Chalmun does not tolerate droids because they do not drink, and therefore occupy valuable space. The
backstory
of the cantina's resident swing band is also expanded in the short stories "We Don't Do Weddings: The Band's Tale" by
Kathy Tyers
and "Empire Blues" by
Daniel Keys Moran
. The band is named as Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes and it is revealed that the players belong to a race called
Bith
. Their main musical number is also given a title, "Mad About Me".
[9]
Television
[
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]
Mos Eisley appears in the 2019
Star Wars
television series
,
The Mandalorian
. In "
Chapter 5: The Gunslinger
",
the Mandalorian
is forced to set down in Mos Eisley for repairs after a space battle with another bounty hunter. In order to pay for the repairs, the Mandalorian goes to a local cantina to look for a bounty. There, he meets a rookie bounty hunter, Toro Calican, who hires him to help locate
Fennec Shand
, a dangerous mercenary. The pair locate Shand just beyond the Dune Sea and apprehend her. However, when the Mandalorian goes to retrieve transport for them, Shand tries to turn Calican against him by telling Calican about the Mandalorian turning against the bounty hunter guild to rescue the child. Calican mortally wounds Shand and decides to capture the Mandalorian and the child and collect all three bounties. The Mandalorian, however, is able to overcome Calican and rescue the child and Peli, a mechanic that was repairing his ship and watching the child. The Mandalorian gives Peli the reward for Shand as payment for the repairs and he and the child depart Tatooine.
Production
[
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Filming
[
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]
The first view of Mos Eisley in
Star Wars
is a shot of
Death Valley
in
California
from the
Dante's View
lookout, with a matte painting added in the distance. The actual filming on location took place on the
Tunisian
island of
Djerba
.
In 1975, during the early stages of production on
Star Wars
, the appearance of the Mos Eisley cantina and its clientele was realized through the work of
concept arts
Ron Cobb
,
Rick Baker
and
Ralph McQuarrie
and
costume designer
John Mollo
.
[10]
[11]
Mollo worked with George Lucas to compile a chart of visual designs for a range of character types. In collaboration with Mollo,
make-up artist
Stuart Freeborn
designed the masks and
prosthetics
to match each of the costumes, along with Doug Beswick,
Rick Baker
,
Phil Tippett
,
[12]
Nick Maley, and
Christopher Tucker
.
[13]
Freeborn has remarked that the cantina scene was specifically set up to be a "shock" scene; until this point in the film, there had been few appearances of non-human creatures, and the entrance into the cantina suddenly presented the audience with an array of outlandish species. Working from Lucas's direction and a
maquette
, set designer
John Barry
created the cantina set complete with circular bar and shady alcoves. Mollo included a few costumes borrowed from
Westerns
, and based some other costumes on characters from the 1950 film
Destination Moon
and the 1960s television series
Lost in Space
.
[14]
The alien musicians in the band were played by a number of the
Industrial Light & Magic
crew, including Phil Tippett, Jon Berg, Rick Baker, who all mimed to the
Benny Goodman
tune "
Sing, Sing, Sing
" at George Lucas's suggestion.
[12]
The exterior scene was initially filmed in 1976 at the little town of
Ajim
, which is a fishing port on the
Isle of Djerba
,
Tunisia
. The film crew added some false frontage to the structure, which has seen no refurbishment since 1976.
[
citation needed
]
The local owner was reimbursed eight dollars a day.
[15]
The interior set was constructed and filmed on Stage 6,
Elstree Studios
near London.
Harrison Ford
filmed his first scene with
Alec Guinness
; Ford later remarked that the prospect of working with Guinness "scared the shit out of me".
[14]
As filming progressed, Lucas encountered many problems; the production was running over-budget and both cast and crew were suffering health problems. Stuart Freeborn fell ill and was unable to complete his work on the cantina creature masks.
In early 1977, under pressure to complete his movie (now more than $2 million over budget), Lucas negotiated limited additional funding from
20th Century Fox
executives to support
second unit filming
. Some of the most important additional footage shot was to enhance the cantina scene at
Hollywood Center Studios
. Lucas had been dissatisfied with the make-up in previous shots due to Freeborn's illness, and was now able to fully realize the scene with several close-ups of alien creatures, complete with Freeborn's masks. Lucas also supplemented the limited coverage he had from the Tunisia footage with footage from Death Valley.
The new material was cut into the film by Lucas's editors, including Lucas's then-wife,
Marcia Lucas
.
[14]
[19]
[6]
Lucas remained dissatisfied with the final cut of the cantina scene, and beginning with Lucasfilm's release of the
Special Edition of
Star Wars
in 1997, made
a number of changes
to it. He adjusted the confrontation between Han Solo and Greedo, to portray Greedo firing at Han first. This change was repeatedly further altered and has proved one of the most controversial among
Star Wars
fans, giving rise to the popular slogan "
Han shot first
" in protest of it.
[20]
For the 2004 DVD, the opening sequence of the cantina scene was modified to replace some practical creatures with completely new
computer-generated
aliens. This includes, for example, a sinister
werewolf
-like creature, which was replaced by a pipe-smoking reptile.
[21]
Music
[
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]
Throughout the cantina scenes in
Star Wars
, there is constant background music played by an alien band. This
diegetic music
was composed for the film by
John Williams
, and consisted of two pieces written for
trumpet
, three
saxophones
,
clarinet
,
Fender Rhodes piano
and percussion, along with
steel drum
and
synthesizer
. George Lucas briefed Williams to imagine "several creatures in a future century finding some 1930s
Benny Goodman
swing band music ... and how they might attempt to interpret it". Williams combined traditional jazz instruments with instruments associated with
Afro-Caribbean music
in order to create a sound that was "both alien and yet familiar at the same time."
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
Spin-off merchandise
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]
Toys
[
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]
In 1978 the toy manufacturer
Kenner Products
released a Cantina Adventure Set as part of its range of
Star Wars
action figures
. The playset consisted of a miniature plastic bar with a cardboard backdrop depicting various cantina creatures and an
Imperial stormtrooper
. A second version of the playset was brought to market in 1979, named the Creature Cantina Action Playset.
[26]
In September 2020, LEGO Released a Master Builder Series (MBS) Mos Eisley Cantina (set number: 75290). It featured 3,187 pieces, 21 Minifigures and cost
USD
/
EUR
349.99.
[27]
[28]
Music releases
[
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]
The first piece of music from the Cantina scene was released in 1977 on the
Star Wars Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
, entitled simply "Cantina Band". Later CD
re-releases
of the soundtrack album included the second piece, which was titled "Cantina Band #2". The first "Cantina Band" number has since been retitled "Mad About Me".
[25]
That same year, the record producer
Meco
released a
space disco
version of the
Star Wars
title theme
and "Cantina Band" on his single "
Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band
".
[29]
Since then, numerous popular
cover versions
and parodies have been released which feature the "Cantina Band" melody, including "Cantina Band" (1995) by the rock band
Ash
, as the
B-side
of their single "
Girl From Mars
";
[30]
"Digga Digga Doo" (2004) by the
Asylum Street Spankers
, from their 2004 album
Mercurial
;
[31]
and "Cantina" (2007) by
Voltaire
from his album
Ooky Spooky
;
[32]
A
bluegrass
version of the theme is heard during the bar scene in the 2011 film
Paul
, recorded by Syd Masters and The Swing Riders.
[33]
Legacy
[
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]
In 1979, the cantina was the setting of a
drunk driving
PSA
produced by the
U.S. Department of Transportation
's
National Highway and Safety Administration
. In the PSA,
Muftak
's friends help him stagger out of the cantina and the message "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk" is shown.
[34]
[35]
In 2010, clothing company
Adidas
created a
FIFA World Cup
advertisement featuring electronic music duo
Daft Punk
,
Snoop Dogg
,
David Beckham
, and others inserted into a reimagined version of the 1977 scene.
[36]
[37]
[38]
References
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]
Footnotes
Citations
- ^
"Spaceports"
. Orbital Vector. March 25, 2010
. Retrieved
January 15,
2017
.
- ^
"Mos Eisley Spaceport"
.
StarWars.com
.
Archived
from the original on September 26, 2018
. Retrieved
September 26,
2018
.
- ^
"Star Wars Databank: Mos Eisley Cantina"
.
StarWars.com
.
Archived
from the original on July 6, 2018
. Retrieved
July 7,
2018
.
- ^
Windham, written by Ryder (2005).
Star Wars the ultimate visual guide
(1st American ed.). London: Dorling Kindersley. p.
80
.
ISBN
9780756614201
.
- ^
"Ponda Baba"
.
StarWars.com
. Retrieved
July 7,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"7 Things You Might Not Know About the Mos Eisley Cantina | StarWars.com"
.
StarWars.com
. January 27, 2015.
Archived
from the original on July 6, 2018
. Retrieved
July 6,
2018
.
- ^
Anderson, Kevin J., ed. (1995).
Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
. New York: Bantam Books.
ISBN
9780553564686
.
- ^
Titelman, Carol; Hoffman, Valerie, eds. (1979).
The Art of Star Wars
(1st ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 61?63.
ISBN
0345282736
.
- ^
Scoleri, John (January 14, 2014).
"An Annotated Guide to The Star Wars Portfolio by Ralph McQuarrie"
.
StarWars.com
. Lucasfilm.
Archived
from the original on June 24, 2017
. Retrieved
June 24,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"9 Things You Might Not Know About the Aliens of Star Wars: A New Hope | StarWars.com"
.
StarWars.com
. May 24, 2017
. Retrieved
July 8,
2018
.
- ^
"The 'Star Wars' Cantina Scene: The Out-of-This-World Story Behind the Galaxy's Favorite Dive Bar"
.
uk.movies.yahoo.com
. December 11, 2015
. Retrieved
February 13,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
Rinzler, J. W. (2007).
The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film
.
New York
:
Del Rey Books
.
ISBN
978-0-345-47761-3
.
- ^
Daniels, Anthony (2019).
I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story
. DK.
ISBN
9781465492562
.
- ^
"Mos Eisley Cantina"
.
starwars.com
.
- ^
"Han Shot First"
.
Know Your Meme
. April 30, 2013
. Retrieved
July 8,
2018
.
- ^
Woodward, Malcolm Campbell and Tom.
"Star Wars: The Changes"
.
www.dvdactive.com
. Archived from
the original
on July 8, 2018
. Retrieved
July 8,
2018
.
- ^
Williams, John
(2004).
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Audio CD (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD) ? liner notes
.
MCA
.
ASIN
B0002YCVIS
.
- ^
Kinos-Goodin, Jesse.
"5 things you didn't know about the Star Wars Cantina band (unless you are a total Star Wars nerd)"
.
CBC Music
. Retrieved
July 7,
2018
.
- ^
Zdenek, Sean (2015).
Reading Sounds: Closed-Captioned Media and Popular Culture
. University of Chicago Press. p. 238.
ISBN
9780226312781
. Retrieved
July 7,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Bartkowiak, Mathew J. (2012).
Sounds of the Future: Essays on Music in Science Fiction Film
. McFarland. pp. 91?92.
ISBN
9780786456505
. Retrieved
July 7,
2018
.
- ^
"Kenner's Star Wars Playsets, Part 1: Cardboard Death Stars and Creature Cantinas"
.
StarWars.com
. February 5, 2014.
Archived
from the original on March 10, 2018
. Retrieved
July 6,
2018
.
- ^
Lego Group (September 9, 2020).
"This Place Can Be A Little Rough - The LEGO Group Announces LEGO Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina™ Construction Set From Star Wars: A New Hope"
.
Lego.com
. Lego
. Retrieved
September 9,
2020
.
- ^
LEGO Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina - LEGO Designer Video 75290
. October 28, 2020 – via
YouTube
.
- ^
"MECO"
.
Official Charts Company
. Retrieved
July 8,
2018
.
- ^
"Ash's debut album 1977: 20 things you (probably) didn't know"
.
WOW247
.
- ^
Rawls, Alex (March 8, 2004).
"A Good Spanking"
.
The Advocate
. Retrieved
September 27,
2018
.
- ^
"Music"
.
www.voltaire.net
. Aurelio Voltaire
. Retrieved
September 27,
2018
.
- ^
Ditzian, Eric.
"
'Paul': Five Secrets Revealed"
.
MTV News
. Retrieved
July 8,
2018
.
- ^
"
Star Wars
Drunk Driving PSA"
.
StarWars.com
. Archived from
the original
on March 10, 2007
. Retrieved
January 17,
2024
.
- ^
Jagernauth, Kevin (July 24, 2015).
"Michael Jackson Wanted To Play Jar Jar Binks; Watch Vintage 'Star Wars' Drunk Driving PSA"
.
Indie Wire
.
Archived
from the original on January 17, 2024
. Retrieved
January 17,
2024
.
- ^
Dombal, Ryan (June 4, 2010).
"Daft Punk do Star Wars for Adidas"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
April 7,
2023
.
- ^
Lo, Danica (June 4, 2010).
"Star Wars, Adidas, FIFA World Cup, David Beckham, Snoop Dogg, Daft Punk, Ciara, Noel Gallagher, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Franz Beckenbauer all in one YouTube Video, OMG"
.
Racked
. Retrieved
April 7,
2023
.
- ^
"adidas Originals - Daft Punk- Star Wars Cantina 2010"
,
YouTube
, retrieved
April 7,
2023
Sources
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External links
[
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]