Back in the early '70s, George Lucas conceived of a visit to a primitive Wookiee planet at the end of Episode VI. "But I loved the Wookiees so much that I didn't want to wait, 'cause I wasn't sure I was going to get those other films made," he says. He figured that the only way to get a Wookiee in Episode IV was to make him technologically advanced. "I made him Han Solo's copilot, saying, 'Well, I'll deal with that problem when I get there.' " Two blockbusters later, "I got there and I said, 'Now what am I going to do? I already made them technologically advanced, and they can't be.' So I said, 'Well, I'll just cut them in half and call them Ewoks.' " That was then, and this is the new trilogy: Lucas gets the planet he once envisioned.

In Episode III, Yoda will visit the Wookiees' home, the never-before-seen Kashyyyk, where a major battle against a droid army will take place. The scene lasts less than seven minutes, but it's bound to satisfy Star Wars fans who've been buzzing for years about the possible return of Chewbacca, everyone's favorite walking carpet. Kashyyyk will have dense forestation, with computer-generated enhancements to aerials shot in Thailand and landscapes filmed in China. In order to create an army of Wookiees, seven costumes were constructed, each a different shape—from fat to thin to totally buff—and worn by Australian basketball players, who were then duplicated by ILM.

Peter Mayhew, in and out of full makeup, plays Chewbacca.

The approximately 180-year-old Chewie, once again played by Peter Mayhew, will look lighter in color than when we last saw him but essentially the same. "Peter desperately wanted to play Chewbacca again," says producer Rick McCallum of the seven-foot-four 60-year-old Englishman. Adds Mayhew proudly, "He's a major character now. He's his own man. It is very nice [for him] to stand there on his own and say, 'I'm here.' "