Star Wars: Episode IV | Visual Guide -- Chapter 6: Lost in the Desert

From the Screenplay

EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT

Jundland, or "No Man's Land", where the rugged desert mesas meet the foreboding dune sea. The two helpless astro-robots kick up clouds of sand as they leave the lifepod and clumsily work their way across the desert wasteland. The lifepod in the distance rests half buried in the sand.

Threepio: How did I get into this mess? I really don't know how. We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life.

Artoo answers with beeping sounds.

Threepio: I've got to rest before I fall apart. My joints are almost frozen.

Artoo continues to respond with beeping sounds.

Threepio: What a desolate place this is.

Suddenly Artoo whistles, makes a sharp right turn and starts off in the direction of the rocky desert mesas. Threepio stops and yells at him.

Threepio: Where are you going?

A stream of electronic noises pours forth from the small robot.

Threepio: Well, I'm not going that way. It's much too rocky. This way is much easier.

Artoo counters with a long whistle.

Threepio: What makes you think there are settlements over there?

Artoo continues to make beeping sounds.

Threepio: Don't get technical with me.

Artoo continues to make beeping sounds.

Threepio: What mission? What are you talking about? I've had just about enough of you! Go that way! You'll be malfunctioning within a day, you nearsighted scrap pile!

Threepio gives the little robot a kick and starts off in the direction of the vast dune sea.

Threepio: And don't let me catch you following me begging for help, because you won't get it.

Artoo's reply is a rather rude sound. He turns and trudges off in the direction of the towering mesas.

Threepio: No more adventures. I'm not going that way.

Artoo beeps to himself as he makes his way toward the distant mountains.

EXT. TATOOINE - DUNE SEA

Threepio, hot and tired, struggles up over the ridge of a dune: only to find more dunes, which seem to go on for endless miles. He looks back in the direction of the now distant rock mesas.

Threepio: That malfunctioning little twerp. This is all his fault! He tricked me into going this way, but he'll do no better.

In a huff of anger and frustration, Threepio knocks the sand from his joints. His plight seems hopeless, when a glint of reflected light in the distance reveals an object moving towards him.

Threepio: Wait, what's that? A transport! I'm saved!

The bronze android waves frantically and yells at the approaching transport.

Threepio: Over here! Help! Please, help!

In the rough draft R2-D2 and C-3PO land on the edge of Aquilae, in a place called Kuroland or "No Man's Land" after escaping from aboard the Death Star in an escape pod. The two robots go their separate ways after bickering. The first draft names the planet Townowi, while the second draft christens it Utapau, with the wastelands being named Jundland.
David West Reynolds, archaeologist and Star Wars author, describing a 1995 expedition to rediscover the Tunisian shooting locations: "I tried again to explain to some of the Berber kids, and emphasized the giant skeleton. A light dawned in the eyes of one of them and he gestured East. He thought he remembered seeing something three or four years ago... There, under the harsh glare of the sun, sticking up from the sand, were bones. I knelt, laughing. It was all so impossible. I have hunted dinosaurs in the field, and I know the trill of bone discovery well... all that paled before these few Fiberglas bones in the lonely Tunisian sands."
Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) on shooting conditions of this scene: "I was so cold! If you look at any shots of the crew that day, they're wearing parkas and goggles. I am in a tin can and a pair of knickers. The curious thing is that, in the script, it was written, 'My joints are almost frozen.' My joints were almost frozen! George had obviously planned this thing way ahead of time."
In many instances, the radio-controlled R2-D2 did not function properly because its wheels would clog with sand or it would suffer interference from nearby walkie-talkies. In order to achieve Artoo's climb up the sand dune in this scene, the droid was attached to a piano wire and dragged to the top of the hill. In the course of filming scenes in Tunisia, Kenny Baker's R2 unit was also plagued with malfunctions. At one point, it even began picking up Tunisian radio signals, a problem that was never fully explained.
In every draft of the script, the droids end up in "no man's land," though its proper name changed several times. In the rough draft, it was called Kuroland, on the planet Aquilae. The two robots arrive after escaping from the Death Star. In the first draft, the planet is Townowi, while the second draft rechristens it Utapau. In the rough draft, the droids are picked up by Annakin Starkiller, who is passing by with Princess Leia. The Jawas do not appear until the second draft.

[ Visual Guide -- Chapter 6: Lost in the Desert ]