It was Elsey and the rest of the Creature Department who gave fans their initial glimpse at Chewbacca and some new Wookiees as they fitted and constructed new elements to the costumes. Elsey and her hardworking team of creature creators would often give webcam watchers a front row seat as they transformed ordinary actors and extras into exotic-looking Jedi and unusual species of Senators.
"The great thing about the Episode III set was that there was a real sense of family and teamwork," Elsey remembers. "For myself, being a fan of the original trilogy and growing up with all of the Star Wars characters, every day was a real buzz. It was great to be there. We were building Wookiees from morning till night. It was fantastic!"
However constructing Wookiees all day isn't without a few challenges.
"The main challenge for me was recreating these memorable characters and honor the originals created by Stuart Freeborn," Elsey explains. "Working on Chewbacca was a real privilege for me -- not to mention nerve-racking. He is such an iconic figure; he had to be perfect. I enjoyed every hair I laid on that head."
After the Wookiee suits were complete, it was time for the ultimate test -- making sure actor Peter Mayhew was comfortable once again as Chewbacca.
"The most memorable moment for me was getting Peter into the new, finished Chewbacca suit, and him liking it!" Elsey says. "We took him onto set to see George [Lucas] and Rick [McCallum]. As we walked on, everyone on the set stopped to look. George walked over and said, 'It's Chewie!' I was so relieved!"
In addition to Wookiees, Elsey found herself having to build an exact replica of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi -- which the Creature Department fondly nicknamed Foamy-Wan Kenobi.
The Creature Department constructed the Kenobi doppelganger for scenes wherein the Jedi is knocked unconscious. Anakin Skywalker carries the inert Kenobi through a veritable maze of traps and hazards; to facilitate filming this physical activity, a much-lighter-than-Ewan replica was built for Hayden Christensen to carry.
"The Obi-Wan dummy was great fun to make," Elsey says. "The body was articulated and weighted to give realistic movement. The hair on the beard was individually punched. I spent days starring at pictures of Ewan McGregor's beard, to get the color and the hair direction right. While I was working on that piece, every time I bumped into Ewan, I found myself starring at his beard. It became a bit embarrassing after a while!"
Being able to work on such memorable Star Wars characters every day was a dream come true for Elsey who happens to be a huge fan of the films.
"I think I became a fan when I was about 8 or 9," Elsey recalls. "I sometimes went to play at a friend's house after school. Her brother had a Millennium Falcon toy. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. It was actually the only reason I kept going 'round there. That's terrible, isn't it?"
Elsey recently returned to the Episode III production for the filming of Wookiee scenes during postproduction. Though the suits were constructed a year ago during the principal photography stage, the Wookiee action wasn't part of that original schedule. She plans to return, alongside Dave Elsey and Rebecca Hunt, the Creature Shop Supervisors, for additional photography scheduled later this month.
