Was Chewbacca inspired by Sasquatch? A few days ago, I was reminiscing with my wife about the first time we saw Star Wars, shortly after it premiered thirty years ago today. I told my wife that even as a kid, Chewie was my favorite character ('natch) because he reminded me of Bigfoot. My wife shrugged and said, "Wasn't he kinda supposed to be Bigfoot?" Today, cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, author of Bigfoot!: The True Story of Apes in America, explains why Chewbacca and Bigfoot probably aren't even kissing cousins. From Loren's post:
When I visited Honey Island Swamp, in the 1980s, the Star Wars movies had obviously made an impact on the local naming of the Honey Island Swamp Monster. Locals in the area some miles outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, were calling their Honey Island cryptid, casually, for example, by naming their small swamp boats (wrongly spelled) "Wookie." The Star Wars movies came first, and there is no evidence that the Honey Island Swamp Monster was called a "Wookie" or a "Wookiee" before 1977.Some people, however, seem to think otherwise. Florida cryptozoologist Scott Marlowe has argued on the cryptozoology.com forum that "the term 'Wookie' chosen by Lucas is a North American Indian term for a Bigfoot…It is culturally and linguistically related to the term Shaawanoki which is the Seminole word for the Skunk or Swamp Ape."
This is a highly doubtful theory…
Previously on BB:
• Get Illuminated! podcast with Loren Coleman Link
• Chewbacca gropes Leia Link
• Unruly Chewbacca impersonator head-butts tour guide Link
• HOWTO make a Chewbacca snot-rag-box cozy Link
• Bigfoot porn Link
• Bigfoot 911 call Link
• Loren Coleman profile Link
