Chewbacca is Based on a Dog

With about a week to go until the premiere of The Last Jedi, I’m fully on board as a Star Wars fan after many years of being less into the films than just about everyone I know. My new conversion is a result of learning that the inspiration for Chewbacca was a dog. Specifically, this lovable wookiee is based on George Lucas’ Alaskan Malamute, Indiana. According to Lucas, Indiana would sit in the front seat of his car like a co-pilot and was regularly mistaken for a person. (On a side note, his dog is responsible for the name of one of Lucas’ other famous characters—Indiana Jones.)

When I first found out that the character is based on a real dog, I assumed that his name, as well as his nickname (Chewie) was a reference to the chewing behavior that we all know so well in our own dogs. However, the name Chewbacca is actually a derivation of “sobaka”—the Russian word for dog. The character was visualized by creators as a mix between a monkey, a dog and a cat, and his voice comes from bear vocalizations mixed in with sounds from other species, including lions, badgers, camels, rabbits and walruses. Still, there is no doubt that his behavior is extremely doglike, in the sense that he is Han Solo’s best and most loyal friend. It’s no surprise that he is considered one of the top 10 movie sidekicks of all time.

Though Chewbacca is not actually a dog, it’s easy to get pulled into a game of guessing which breeds would lead to a Chewbacca-like individual. My picks are a Briard crossed with a Brussels Griffon. With apologies to George Lucas, I see no signs of an Alaskan Malamute, though perhaps the resemblance to his own beloved dog is more behavioral than morphological.