George Lucas had a surprise “cameo” in The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has largely ended its run theaters, but while we await the movie’s home release, more interesting details about it are coming to light. Case in point: Star Wars creator George Lucas had a cameo in the film, and I’ll bet you didn’t catch it.

The sound designer team of Matt Wood and David Acord — who earned an Oscar nomination for their work on Rise of Skywalker — told Good Morning America that Lucas appears in the movie in the form of a scream they call “The George,” although they wouldn’t say where it shows up in the film. Apparently, Lucas recorded this scream way back in 1973 for his movie American Graffiti, and it’s being repurposed here. It’s kind of like “the Wilhelm Scream,” a famous sound effect recorded decades ago that’s appeared in tons of movies since, including lots of Star Wars films:

We’re sure it’s only a matter of seconds before someone finds “the George.”

But sneaking in that scream wasn’t the only reason Wood and Acord were nominated for an Oscar. They also did extensive work to splice together several soundbites in order to give the now deceased Carrie Fisher (Leia) her lines in Rise. “We pulled from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, as well as any behind-the-scenes footage we had,” recalled Wood. “Crafting that was hard, but we felt like we wanted to do right by Carrie. We all have our own special relationship with Carrie Fisher, not only as fans but also as colleagues. And we just wanted to tell that story right for her.”

These two pulled all kinds of editing tricks for this movie, such as:

• The grunting sounds the Orbaks (space horses) made in the movie were taken from a “90% pitched, slowed down crow. There’s a little bit of donkey in there as well, but it’s mostly crow.”
• Some of Kylo Ren’s lines were recorded at Adam Driver’s house, in his closet. “Sometimes, the best way to record is to just hang a bunch of clothes in a closet and just go for it because it muffles all the sound,” Wood said. “I think I recorded Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) under a blanket and a couple of chairs to get his lines.”
• The adorable Babu Frik was voiced by Shirley Henderson, who played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies.

• On Exogal, Sith Cultists worship Emperor Palpatine with an eerie chant. They’re speaking Sanskrit, and their words translate to, “Revenge, Soul, Kill.” Apparently, actor Sam Witwer, who played Darth Maul, came up with the phrase.

The pair created 2,000 new sounds for The Rise of Skywalker, more than earning their Oscar nomination. And since this is the last Star Wars movie until at least 2022, let’s hope they bring home the gold on February 9!

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