Star Wars fans met Kanan Jarrus (Spectre-1), Hera Syndulla (Spectre-2), Chopper (Spectre-3), Zeb Orrelios (Spectre-4), Sabine Wren (Spectre-5), and Ezra Bridger (Spectre-6) when Star Wars Rebels made its explosive debut with “Spark of Rebellion” on October 3, 2014. Co-created by Dave Filoni, Carrie Beck, and Simon Kinberg, audiences joined the Ghost crew in their adventures during the early days of the Rebellion. Whether you laughed and cried week to week as each episode aired for the next four years, or you experienced their journey all at once on Disney+, there’s still a few things you probably don’t know about your favorite found family.
For example, you probably know that Zeb was based on an early sketch of Chewbacca by Ralph McQuarrie.
You might even know that the brave and beleaguered Imperial inventory droid AP-5 is named after Lucasfilm Animation’s Athena Portillo.
But did you know the World Between Worlds was inspired by C.S. Lewis's "Wood Between Worlds" from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew? Or that Commander Jun Sato's name is an homage to director Jun Fukuda and composer Masaru Sato of the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla?
In celebration of the series’ 10th anniversary, we’ve gathered 10 more things you probably don’t know about Star Wars Rebels! (The ones above are freebies. You’re welcome.) Read on to see if you’ll learn something new.
1. A website teasing the series hit the internet over a year before Star Wars Rebels debuted. Sienarfleetsystems.com put out a colorful call for workers to build TIE fighters on the planet Lothal in October of 2013, a playful take on a recruiting poster. The Imperial propaganda would later be seen as a mural in the premiere episode, “Spark of Rebellion.”
2. The production name for the animated series was “Wolf.” Seen on concept art for the series, the codename was a nod to executive producer Dave Filoni’s not-so-secret obsession. (You can also guess who designed the Loth-wolves that appeared later in the series.)
3. Kanan Jarrus’ look was inspired by a classic teen movie. While exploring early designs for the erstwhile Jedi, it was a sketch based on a classic 1985 coming-of-age film that solidified his look.
“A Dave Filoni drawing inspired by The Breakfast Club informed the final direction,” said art director Kilian Plunkett. Fittingly, the sketch resembles the rebel of the group stuck in detention.
“This is the attitude [for Kanan],” Filoni confirms. “I got that from Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club. There's a promo shot of him sitting like that.”
4. Bendu, an ancient being with a mysterious connection to the Force, has an origin dating back to 1973. His name comes from the first Star Wars story treatments written by George Lucas; he called Jedi Knights “Jedi Bendu” in his early brainstorming.
Bendu’s design in Star Wars Rebels as a giant horned creature was based on a fantasy story written by Filoni – featuring a wise old moose.
5. Princess Leia’s voice might sound familiar to Disney Parks fans. When the young rebel was set to make an appearance in “A Princess on Lothal,” the team turned to someone who was already familiar with her regal voice.
“Leia in Star Tours is just amazing,” said Filoni. “You almost feel like they found footage of Princess Leia somewhere. So we looked up the actress, Julie Dolan. Julie had to create a performance prior to the Carrie Fisher performance [story-wise]. It’s a really complicated thing for an actor to pull off, and I think she did a wonderful job.”
Bonus fact: Leia’s outfit in the episode is inspired by early Ralph McQuarrie concept art of the princess.
6. The Grand Inquisitor and Galen “Starkiller” Malek share an unlikely link… The ringed hilt wielded by the Grand Inquisitor — deemed a “cheat mode lightsaber” by Filoni — felt very familiar to concept artist Amy Beth Christenson.
“I was assigned the lightsaber for the [Grand] Inquisitor,” she said, “and then they pulled out this concept that was never used before. I looked and it was actually a lightsaber that we had designed for The Force Unleashed, which I was lead concept artist on. I was like, ‘Um, yeah, I could totally do that!’”
7. … And the Fifth Brother has his own behind-the-scenes connection to Kylo Ren. The distinctive-looking Inquisitor, who would later appear in the live-action series Obi-Wan Kenobi, owes a little bit of his appearance to the future Knight of Ren.
“The Fifth Brother’s helmet was a concept created for Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens that didn’t make it into the film,” revealed Plunkett.
Filoni recalled making that connection. “I was sitting in on those [The Force Awakens] meetings early on and I’d see some pretty cool stuff, and I was like, ‘Heyyyyy… Is anybody going to use that?’” he said. “Why waste it? It was a great design. I try to utilize everything. I keep my eyes open when I walk around the studio or when I walk around the film sets. I’m always looking for those bizarre little things that we can borrow from.”
8. Jon Favreau tweeted about the Darksaber in Star Wars Rebels in 2017, years before it would appear in his own series, The Mandalorian. Favreau, who voiced the Darksaber-wielding Mandalorian Pre Vizsla in The Clone Wars, was obviously watching the weapon with great interest, nearly a year before his involvement in the first live-action Star Wars series would be in the news. “Glad the Darksaber ended up in good hands,” he posted.
9. Maul’s final swing of a lightsaber is the same move he used to finish Qui-Gon Jinn. The duel between Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace came full circle in Season 3’s stunning “Twin Suns”.
“The move that Maul tries after the initial exchange, he actually attempts the move that killed Qui-Gon Jinn. He tries to bash [Obi-Wan] with the hilt,” revealed producer Henry Gilroy. But Kenobi had learned a lot since that fateful day, and it became the last move Maul would make.
10. Several iconic Star Wars people, places, and things made their on-screen debut in Star Wars Rebels. The list includes Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Imperial Troop Transport, sabacc, purrgil, the planet Kessel, and the Inquisitorius. Rebels also marked the first time we heard the word “beskar.”
Rewatch your favorite Rebels episodes, then find out what happens next to Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Zeb Orrelios, and Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, all on Disney+.
