By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
One of the more surprising things that Star Wars fans often debate is which films have the best and worst titles. For example, films like A New Hope, The Phantom Menace, and even the much-maligned The Last Jedi all have fairly exciting titles. Compared to those, Attack of the Clones sounds like something goofy that director George Lucas picked out of a Cracker Jack box. However, in a hilarious twist of events, the Maker almost went with a different name: the earliest draft of his second prequel was initially titled Jar Jar’s Great Adventure.
Jar Jar’s Great Adventure
Needless to say, this working title was the director’s way of thumbing his nose at the many criticisms of the CGI character he introduced back in The Phantom Menace. Originally, Jar Jar Binks was created to be a comedic character whose antics would amuse children and adults alike, all while making Jar Jar actor Ahmed Best a star. Instead, the character became a cultural mascot for everything wrong with that first film, and fans held Jar Jar up as the ultimate example of what not to do when trying to create a cinematic follow-up to the Original Trilogy.
Because of all of this criticism, George Lucas decided to have a little fun by initially giving the movie that would become Attack of the Clones a different name: Jar Jar’s Great Adventure. While the joke title was a tad self-deprecating, it also contained a bit of a puckish threat to it. This was basically the acclaimed creator’s way of telling fans who hated the new character that they better buckle up for a movie that was likely to put the character front and center.
If the idea of titling a film (even as a joke) Jar Jar’s Great Adventure seems a little out of character, it’s fair to say you don’t know the real Lucas. As Mike Stoklassa of Red Letter Media helpfully reminds us, this famous director once tried to build a film studio on his ranch and was thwarted by his neighbors. After an annoying fight, Lucas ditched the studio plans and subsequently used that space to build homes for the poor…a move that just so happened to piss off the same wealthy people who objected to his studio.
In other words, Lucas has a real petty streak which, combined with his strange sense of humor, resulted in Attack of the Clones initially being titled Jar Jar’s Great Adventure. Despite the implied threat that we’d be seeing plenty more of this strange alien character, though, Jar Jar Binks only has two lines of dialogue in the final film, and a scene where he gets personally thanked by Palpatine was ultimately cut from the movie. To his credit, Lucas eventually took the public criticism to heart, and Jar Jar didn’t make any major film appearances outside of glorified cameos for the rest of the Prequel Trilogy.
In light of Kathleen Kennedy stepping down from Lucasfilm, we can’t help but wonder if the time is finally right for a Jar Jar’s Great Adventure film to become a reality. It could be a Disney+ exclusive, one that might just draw the attention of generations who grew up with the prequels. And if you’re skeptical about the idea, we’ll leave you with this question…do you really think a solo Jar Jar film could be any worse than The Rise of Skywalker?
Search your feelings. You know it to be true. It’s time for this character to make a comeback over a quarter century in the making. And there’s no time like the present for you to start making your very own “somehow, Jar Jar returned” memes to help celebrate the once and future clown prince of Star Wars.
