Star Wars: Episode IV | Visual Guide -- Chapter 7: Land of the Jawas

From the Screenplay

EXT. TATOOINE - ROCK CANYON - SUNSET

The gargantuan rock formations are shrouded in a strange foreboding mist and the ominous sounds of unearthly creatures fill the air. Artoo moves cautiously through the creepy rock canyon, inadvertently making a loud clicking noise as he goes. He hears a distant, hard, metallic sound and stops for a moment. Convinced he is alone, he continues on his way.

In the distance, a pebble tumbles down the steep canyon wall and a small dark figure darts into the shadows. A little further up the canyon a slight flicker of light reveals a pair of eyes in the dark recesses only a few feet from the narrow path.

The unsuspecting robot waddles along the rugged trail until suddenly, out of nowhere, a powerful magnetic ray shoots out of the rocks and engulfs him in an eerie glow.

He manages one short electronic squeak before he topples over onto his back. His bright computer lights flicker off, then on, then off again. Out of the rocks scurry three Jawas, no taller than Artoo. They holster strange and complex weapons as they cautiously approach the robot. They wear grubby cloaks and their faces are shrouded so that only their glowing yellow eyes can be seen. They hiss and make odd guttural sounds as they heave the heavy robot onto their shoulders and carry him off down the trail.

EXT. TATOOINE - ROCK CANYON - SANDCRAWLER - SUNSET

The eight Jawas carry Artoo out of the canyon to a huge tank-like vehicle the size of a four-story house. They weld a small disk on the side of Artoo and then put him under a large tube on the side of the vehicle and the little robot is sucked into the giant machine.

The filthy little Jawas scurry like rats up small ladders and enter the main cabin of the behemoth transport.

INT. SANDCRAWLER - HOLD AREA

It is dim inside the hold area of the Sandcrawler. Artoo switches on a small floodlight on his forehead and stumbles around the scrap heap. The narrow beam swings across rusty metal rocket parts and an array of grotesquely twisted and maimed astro-robots. He lets out a pathetic electronic whimper and stumbles off toward what appears to be a door at the end of the chamber.

INT. SANDCRAWLER - PRISON AREA

Artoo enters a wide room with a four-foot ceiling. In the middle of the scrap heap sit a dozen or so robots of various shapes and sizes. Some are engaged in electronic conversation, while others simply mill about. A voice of recognition calls out from the gloom.

Threepio: Artoo-Detoo! It's you! It's you!

A battered Threepio scrambles up to Artoo and embraces him.

EXT. TATOOINE - ROCK CANYON - SANDCRAWLER - SUNSET

The enormous Sandcrawler lumbers off toward the magnificent twin suns, which are slowly setting over a distant mountain ridge.

EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT - DAY

Four Imperial stormtroopers mill about in front of the half buried lifepod that brought Artoo and Threepio to Tatooine. A trooper yells to an officer some distance away.

First Trooper: Someone was in the pod. The tracks go off in this direction.

A second trooper picks up a small bit of metal out of the sand and gives it to the first trooper.

Second Trooper: Look, sir -- droids.

In the radio drama, after he is kidnapped by the Jawas, Threepio asks if the little creatures have seen his companion, R2-D2. He then goes on to describe the stubby droid and even indicates the direction Artoo traveled when the pair separated. Thus, Threepio is the reason the Jawas easily track Artoo and capture the astromech.
On March 26, 1976, during the height of filming, Tunisia was hit with its first winter rainstorm in 50 years.
In the second draft, the droids actually escape the Jawas when the sandcrawler becomes trapped in a narrow canyon pass. As the Jawas attempt to free the vehicle, Threepio and Artoo manage to slip away. They flee to Anchorhead to complete their mission for Deak Starkiller, who has ordered the droids to find Owen Lars.
In order to expand the sandtroopers-combing-the-desert scene for the Special Edition, new footage was shot in Yuma, Arizona in 1995. It was the hottest day on record in the U.S., with temperatures soaring to 132 degrees Fahrenheit. The stormtrooper extras consisted mostly of U.S. Marines who could tough out the heat. Careful inspection of the stormtrooper armor reveals that it is from later films, and not a perfect match for the original armor created for A New Hope.
The dewback featured in the original release of Star Wars was actually a huge puppet. Its head could be turned from right to left, but it was largely immobile. In the Special Edition, the giant model was replaced by several extremely active CG creatures.
Ralph McQuarrie, Concept Artist: "The sandcrawler was just said to be an enormous iron-tracked vehicle, and I put a big trapdoor on the front because it's collecting junk and I made it huge and put a driver's compartment at the top and designed this peak that comes off the front. I added engines, exhaust pipes, and plenty of tracks. In fact, there are four different tanklike tracks on the crawler. I wanted it to look like an old warehouse on tracks."

[ Visual Guide -- Chapter 7: Land of the Jawas ]