Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

[[Stunt]] coordinator [[Nick Gillard]] was recruited to create a new Jedi fighting style for the prequel trilogy. Gillard likened the lightsaber battles to a chess game "with every move being a [[check (chess)|check]]". Because of their short-range weapons, Gillard thought that the Jedi would have had to develop a fighting style that merged every sword fighting style, such as [[kendo]] and other [[kenjutsu]] styles, with other swinging techniques, such as tennis swings and tree-chopping. While training Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, Gillard wrote a sequence that lasted around 60 seconds and intended to be around five or six sequences per fight.<ref name="Prime">''Prime of the Jedi'' DVD Special Featurette, [2001]</ref> Lucas later referred to the Jedi as "negotiators" rather than high-casualty soldiers. The preference of hand-to-hand combat was intended to give a spiritual and intellectual role to the Jedi.<ref name="Prime"/> Because Gillard thought that the stunt jumps with the actors and stuntmen dangling from wires did not look realistic, [[air ram]]s were used to propel them into the air instead.<ref name=mak>{{harvnb|Bouzereau|Duncan|1999|pp=102–3}}</ref>

[[Stunt]] coordinator [[Nick Gillard]] was recruited to create a new Jedi fighting style for the prequel trilogy. Gillard likened the lightsaber battles to a chess game "with every move being a [[check (chess)|check]]". Because of their short-range weapons, Gillard thought that the Jedi would have had to develop a fighting style that merged every sword fighting style, such as [[kendo]] and other [[kenjutsu]] styles, with other swinging techniques, such as tennis swings and tree-chopping. While training Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, Gillard wrote a sequence that lasted around 60 seconds and intended to be around five or six sequences per fight.<ref name="Prime">''Prime of the Jedi'' DVD Special Featurette, [2001]</ref> Lucas later referred to the Jedi as "negotiators" rather than high-casualty soldiers. The preference of hand-to-hand combat was intended to give a spiritual and intellectual role to the Jedi.<ref name="Prime"/> Because Gillard thought that the stunt jumps with the actors and stuntmen dangling from wires did not look realistic, [[air ram]]s were used to propel them into the air instead.<ref name=mak>{{harvnb|Bouzereau|Duncan|1999|pp=102–3}}</ref>

Lucas decided to make elaborate costumes, because the film's society was more sophisticated than the one depicted in the original trilogy. Designer [[Trisha Biggar]] and her team created over 1,000 costumes that were inspired by various cultures.<ref>''Costumes'' DVD Special Featurette, [2001]</ref> Biggar worked closely with concept designer Iain McCaig to create a color palette for the inhabitants of each world: Tatooine followed ''A New Hope'' with sun-bleached sand colors, Coruscant had grays, browns and blacks, and Naboo had green and gold for humans while Gungans wore "a leathery look, like their skin". The Jedi costumes followed the tradition from the original film;{{sfn|Bouzereau|Duncan|1999|p=23}} Obi-Wan's costume was inspired by the costume that was worn by Guinness. Lucas said he and Biggar would look at the conceptual art to "translat[e] all of these designs into cloth and fabric and materials that would actually work and not look silly". Biggar also consulted Gillard to ensure that the costumes would accommodate action scenes, and consulted the creature department to find which fabrics "wouldn't wear too heavily" on the alien skins. A huge wardrobe department was set up at [[Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden|Leavesden Film Studios]] to create over 250 costumes for the main actors and 5,000 for the background ones.{{sfn|Bouzereau|Duncan|1999|pp=60–64}} McCaig initially designed Darth Maul as a cross "between a ghost and a [[serial killer]]" after he was given a piece of the script where it stated "give me your worst nightmare", but when Lucas saw the design, it terrified him. He closed the book and told McCaig "give me your second worst nightmare".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Dan |date=May 24, 2019 |title="All Films Are Personal": An Oral History of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace | StarWars.com |url=https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250530052453/https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history |archive-date=2025-05-30 |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=StarWars.com |language=en}}</ref> McCaig later based Darth Maul's design on [[Bozo the Clown]].<ref>https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history</ref>

Lucas decided to make elaborate costumes, because the film's society was more sophisticated than the one depicted in the original trilogy. Designer [[Trisha Biggar]] and her team created over 1,000 costumes that were inspired by various cultures.<ref>''Costumes'' DVD Special Featurette, [2001]</ref> Biggar worked closely with concept designer Iain McCaig to create a color palette for the inhabitants of each world: Tatooine followed ''A New Hope'' with sun-bleached sand colors, Coruscant had grays, browns and blacks, and Naboo had green and gold for humans while Gungans wore "a leathery look, like their skin". The Jedi costumes followed the tradition from the original film;{{sfn|Bouzereau|Duncan|1999|p=23}} Obi-Wan's costume was inspired by the costume that was worn by Guinness. Lucas said he and Biggar would look at the conceptual art to "translat[e] all of these designs into cloth and fabric and materials that would actually work and not look silly". Biggar also consulted Gillard to ensure that the costumes would accommodate action scenes, and consulted the creature department to find which fabrics "wouldn't wear too heavily" on the alien skins. A huge wardrobe department was set up at [[Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden|Leavesden Film Studios]] to create over 250 costumes for the main actors and 5,000 for the background ones.{{sfn|Bouzereau|Duncan|1999|pp=60–64}} McCaig initially designed Darth Maul as a cross "between a ghost and a [[serial killer]]" after he was given a piece of the script where it stated "give me your worst nightmare", but when Lucas saw the design, it terrified him. He closed the book and told McCaig "give me your second worst nightmare".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Dan |date=May 24, 2019 |title="All Films Are Personal": An Oral History of ''Star Wars'': Episode I ''The Phantom Menace'' |url=https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250530052453/https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history |archive-date=2025-05-30 |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=StarWars.com |language=en}}</ref> McCaig later based Darth Maul's design on [[Bozo the Clown]].<ref>https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history</ref>

[[List of Star Wars characters#Nute Gunray|Nute Gunray]]'s [[Thai language|Thai]] accent was chosen after Lucas and McCallum listened to various languages to decide how the Neimoidians would speak.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 30, 2002 |title=Silas Carson: Hero with a Thousand Faces |url=https://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/bts/profile/f20020530/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305140705/https://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/bts/profile/f20020530/indexp4.html |archive-date=March 5, 2008 |access-date=April 5, 2009 |publisher=StarWars.com}}</ref> The character design of [[Watto]] was an amalgam of rejected ideas; his expressions were based on video footage of Secombe's voice acting, photographs of animation supervisor [[Rob Coleman]] imitating the character, and modeler Steve Alpin saying Watto's lines to a mirror.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112000442/http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/bts/production/f19990617/index.html |url=https://www.starwars.com/episode-i/bts/production/f19990617/index.html |archive-date=November 12, 2007 |title=Watto's Character Development&nbsp;– From Concept to CG |date=June 17, 1999 |publisher=StarWars.com |access-date=April 5, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Lucas described [[List of Star Wars characters#Sebulba|Sebulba]]'s design as "a spider crossed with an [[orangutan]] crossed with a [[sloth]]",<ref name="time"/> with a [[camel]]-like face, and clothing inspired by medieval armor.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524235020/http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/sebulba/index.html |archive-date=May 24, 2011 |url=https://www.starwars.com/databank/character/sebulba/index.html |title=Sebulba at the Star Wars Databank |publisher=StarWars.com |access-date=April 24, 2009}}</ref>

[[List of Star Wars characters#Nute Gunray|Nute Gunray]]'s [[Thai language|Thai]] accent was chosen after Lucas and McCallum listened to various languages to decide how the Neimoidians would speak.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 30, 2002 |title=Silas Carson: Hero with a Thousand Faces |url=https://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/bts/profile/f20020530/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305140705/https://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/bts/profile/f20020530/indexp4.html |archive-date=March 5, 2008 |access-date=April 5, 2009 |publisher=StarWars.com}}</ref> The character design of [[Watto]] was an amalgam of rejected ideas; his expressions were based on video footage of Secombe's voice acting, photographs of animation supervisor [[Rob Coleman]] imitating the character, and modeler Steve Alpin saying Watto's lines to a mirror.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112000442/http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/bts/production/f19990617/index.html |url=https://www.starwars.com/episode-i/bts/production/f19990617/index.html |archive-date=November 12, 2007 |title=Watto's Character Development&nbsp;– From Concept to CG |date=June 17, 1999 |publisher=StarWars.com |access-date=April 5, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Lucas described [[List of Star Wars characters#Sebulba|Sebulba]]'s design as "a spider crossed with an [[orangutan]] crossed with a [[sloth]]",<ref name="time"/> with a [[camel]]-like face, and clothing inspired by medieval armor.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524235020/http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/sebulba/index.html |archive-date=May 24, 2011 |url=https://www.starwars.com/databank/character/sebulba/index.html |title=Sebulba at the Star Wars Databank |publisher=StarWars.com |access-date=April 24, 2009}}</ref>