Watch the new animated short narrated by Mark Hamill now, with insights from the creative team!
A gaggle of Jawas turned loose on an animator’s desk have gotten more than they bargained for this Star Wars Day.
In the new short How NOT to Draw R2-D2, an illustration tutorial for the astromech quickly turns into a game of hot potato with C-3PO’s head after a group of scavenging Jawas shows up at the drawing board. Watch as the mayhem, narrated by Star Wars icon Mark Hamill with Anthony Daniels reprising his beloved role as C-3PO, unfolds!
“Creating an R2-D2 short was one of our ‘pie in the sky’ dreams for our How NOT to Draw team,” director Steve Hirt tells StarWars.com. Each installment of the whimsical Disney Channel series parodies drawing how-tos, turning the illustrations loose on the real-world for hilarious hijinks. “My dad worked as a draftsman for blueprints and technical drawings, and that sparked my interest in not only the act of drawing, but also all the gear,” Hirt adds. That knowledge comes in handy while brainstorming with storyboard artist Kevin Leal. “Kevin has amazing visualization and comedy chops. We workshopped a lot of different ways that the Jawas would capture C-3PO’s head, including a drawn net, a chain of paper clips, a binder clip, or having it roll down a drafting triangle. In the end, we wanted something unique that couldn’t be done in any other type of medium — peeling the drawing away with Silly Putty! It conveys a moment of capture, but at the same time is the silliest (literally) thing we could use.”
“We had A LOT of discussions with our leadership and writers about how to tackle seeing under the Jawas’ robes,” adds Leal. “Were we allowed to do it? Did it feel too weird? What would the drawing of a Jawa look like under their robe?” That gag, using the light table and one of Artoo’s many handy tools, made the cut, but another possible bit with a Jawa getting trapped under a glass like an insect did not. “In the storyboards, the Jawas look a bit different than in the final short,” Leal adds. “We had a couple different design ideas but ultimately went with the scribble bodies.”
The longtime fans were delighted to work with Hamill, who famously plays Luke Skywalker in the original and sequel trilogies. “Having Mark Hamill voice the animator felt like a fever dream,” Leal says. “It was such an unreal feeling to hear [Hamill and Daniels’] voices over my storyboards in the animatic. I think back a lot to being in art school only a couple years ago and if I got to tell that version of myself the fact that I got to work with the original actors in Star Wars, I just wouldn’t believe it.”
“Mark Hamill immediately put us at ease with his jokes and anecdotes,” adds Gino Guzzardo, series creator and executive producer. “The recording session felt like a private convention panel and we had to remind ourselves to get to work.” And Daniels voiced his iconic protocol droid while standing in Threepio’s usual stance, elbows bent, to give him the perfect posture, he notes. “As Anthony Daniels got into character, he actually performed with his whole body. Seeing those famous robot arms in action will remain a career highlight.”
The final short — created in collaboration with story editor Daniel Siegel, editor Matthew Brailey, staff writer Benjamin Siemon, and Flux Animation Studio — is a family friendly homage to the joy and silliness of the Star Wars galaxy. “I think all the characters in the Star Wars universe are up to the challenge of navigating strange worlds, so why not as a drawing on a desk?” adds Hirt. “I hope viewers get a kick out of seeing these iconic characters where you least expect them — next to the push pins and #2 pencils!”
