(CNN) 鈥� is one of the most cherished extraterrestrial characters in movie history, and part of that has to do with the peculiar way in which he speaks.
鈥淭he greatest teacher, failure is,鈥� 鈥淢uch to learn, you still have,鈥� and 鈥淲hen 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not鈥� all demonstrate the Jedi master鈥檚 unique way of formulating thoughts, as voiced by the legendary Frank Oz 鈥� charmingly disjointed and out of sequence.
鈥淪tar Wars鈥� mastermind George Lucas commented on this particular aspect of Yoda鈥檚 character at an anniversary screening of 1980鈥檚 鈥淓mpire Strikes Back鈥� this week, where he explained that it came about in order to ensure that the little alien鈥檚 usually profound messages really landed with audiences.
鈥淏ecause if you speak regular English, people won鈥檛 listen that much,鈥� Lucas said at the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival, per . 鈥淏ut if he had an accent, or it鈥檚 really hard to understand what he鈥檚 saying, they focus on what he鈥檚 saying.鈥�
鈥淗e was basically the philosopher of the movie,鈥� the filmmaker added. 鈥淚 had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen 鈥� especially 12-year-olds.鈥�
Also this week, the verified Instagram accounts for Disney+, Star Wars and LucasFilm 鈥� Lucas鈥� film and television production company 鈥� posted on the set of 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� films, with Oz continuing to do the voice and manipulate the heavy Yoda puppet even on takes that were unusable.
Suffice it to say: One for the ages, Yoda is.
The-CNN-Wire
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