Max Rebo Band

The Max Rebo Band is a fictional alien pop music band that appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi as in-house performers for crime lord Jabba the Hutt. The original lineup consisted of the blue-skinned Ortolan keyboardist Max Rebo, a plump Kitonak woodwind player named Droopy McCool, and the spindly-legged Pa'lowick lead singer Sy Snootles. Their role in the Star Wars canon is elaborated upon in several short stories and comics.

The group are classified in Star Wars literature as jizz-wailers, which, according to the Star Wars Encyclopedia, refers to a "musician who plays a fast, contemporary, and upbeat style of music."

Max and Droopy were portrayed by actors in bodysuits, while Sy Snootles was operated by two puppeteers who were stationed above and beneath the set. For the 1997 Special Edition re-release of Return of the Jedi, the band was quadrupled in size while Sy Snootles was computer-generated.

Appearances

Film

The Max Rebo Band made their Star Wars canon debut in Return of the Jedi during the scenes set in Jabba's palace on Tatooine. In the original version the trio performs a Huttese-language pop song titled "Lapti Nek" ("Work It Out"); the lyrics are about dancing. The track was replaced in the Special Edition with "Jedi Rocks," described by the Star Wars Databank as a "less-dated piece of music."

In both versions, the song was performed shortly after C-3PO and R2-D2 were enslaved to Jabba. The group thereafter played festive instrumental tunes, during which Max was the only band member who appeared onscreen. The fate of the trio was unclear following the explosion of Jabba's sail barge after the unsuccessful execution attempt of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca.

Literature

The original members of the Max Rebo Band make several appearances in Star Wars Expanded Universe literature. Max, Droopy, and Sy are featured in John Gregory Betancourt's short story And the Band Played On: The Band's Tale, from the 1995 anthology Tales from Jabba's Palace. According to the story, the band begins as a quartet called "Evar Orbus and His Galactic Jizz-wailers." They arrive on Tatooine in 3 ABY (one year before the events of Return of the Jedi) for a gig at the Mos Eisley Cantina, but incumbent band The Modal Nodes objects to the presence of a second group, and Orbus is killed by Nodes leader Figrin D'an following a scuffle aboard an airbus.

Droopy and Sy elect Max as their new bandleader, and the trio secures an audition with Jabba the Hutt, who is pleased with their performance of the piece "Lapti Nek." He offers the band a lifetime contract paid in food instead of money, much to Max's delight and Sy's disdain. However, the execution of Han, Luke, and Chewbacca at the Great Pit of Carkoon descends into chaos as Jabba is fatally strangled by Princess Leia, and the band flees from Jabba's barge sans instruments just before it explodes. Droopy quits the group on the spot after wandering off into the desert to join fellow Kitonaks he hears playing in the distance, and Sy and Max join forces as the Max Rebo Duo. The book's epilogue describes the pair splitting up; while Sy flops as a solo act, Max joins up with the Rebellion and uses his musical talents to entertain the troops.

Comics

In the 2000 Dark Horse release A Hot Time in the Cold Town Tonite!, Jabba sends the puzzled trio to the frozen planet Hoth to play for a rival crime lord, Bingo Mehndra, who threatens to feed the band to his pet Wampa if he suspected any kind of trickery. The group soon discovers that Jabba is actually using them as pawns in an assassination attempt against Bingo after they discover explosives hidden inside their speakers. They successfully manage to escape by superimposing holograms of themselves from a past performance onto the stage, which Bingo realizes just as the explosives detonate. Even though Jabba had blatantly endangered their lives, the band nonetheless chooses to avoid his wrath by returning to Tatooine.

In Dave Cooper's non-canon Stop That Jawa! (part of Star Wars Tales 2 published by Dark Horse Comics in 2000), the trio has their instruments "salvaged" by Jawa scavengers outside the Mos Eisley Cantina. They are then pursued by a droid bounty hunter who earlier overheard Sy badmouthing Jabba in the cantina. The bounty hunter was revealed at the conclusion to be a human musician named Tik Tali Talosh, who pressured the Jawas into returning the instruments before proclaiming his adoration of the group and requesting an audition.

Other

The original band has made minor appearances in other Star Wars media. The unfinished 1982 David Tomblin mockumentary Return of the Ewok showed them in Jabba's Palace. They appeared in an October 1985 episode of the animated series Star Wars: Droids titled "The Lost Prince," in which they performed in Doodnik's Café on the mining planet of Tyne's Horky, their last gig before relocating to Tatooine. The trio also featured in the video games Star Wars: Demolition (2000) and Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005).

In May 2003, nearly six years after the rerelease of Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Insider published brief biographies of the band's new members for an article called "Jabbapalooza: Who's Who in the Max Rebo Band."

Concept and creation

Star Wars creator George Lucas stated that the scene featuring the band was intended to be an elaborate production, but the crew "never really had the time" to film it. Lucas commented, "I thought [it] would be funny [to have a musical number] in the middle of a Star Wars film."

The original members of the band—Max, Sy, and Droopy—were puppets designed by Phil Tippett of Industrial Light and Magic's Creature Shop. Lucas was not entirely pleased with the scene, claiming the puppets were too static and motionless, but his options were limited. Executive producer Rick McCallum concurred that the requirements of the scene were too complex, even for animatronics.

For the 1997 rerelease of Return of the Jedi, Sy Snootles was recreated entirely in CGI, and nine new musicians and dancers were added to the sequence, while Max and Droopy's screen time was reduced in comparison to the original film. Visual effects supervisor Dave Carson described the process of creating Sy and new character Joh Yowza as similar to sculpting clay models, adding that CGI characters were more like puppets than cartoons and that animators "constantly find limitations: [the] characters don't bend right, or their mass isn't right," problems he claimed that confronted puppeteers.

In addition to the new characters, "Lapti Nek" was replaced with the blues-inspired "Jedi Rocks." Lucas insisted that the revised sequence added more atmosphere and quality to the film. However, author and critic Tom Bissell described it as the "most unspeakable sequence in all the films, almost too depressing to discuss at any length." He particularly took umbrage with the decision to feature Boba Fett "flirting with the humanoid tarts who make up Jabba's dancing troupe."

Band members

Original members

Droopy McCool

Droopy McCool is the stage name of a slow-minded Kitonak musician and original member of the Max Rebo Band. He plays a chidinkalu horn, an instrument that resembles a clarinet. Droopy stands at only 1.58 meters (5'2") tall, and his actual birth name is a series of unpronounceable flute-like whistles. He was purchased as a slave and renamed Snit by Evar Orbus, who forced him to join his band due to Snit's musical talents. After Orbus's death, he is freed and given his familiar stage name by bandmate Sy Snootles. After the band flees Jabba's barge following his death, Droopy wanders off alone into the desert to search for other members of his race. He is never seen again, but people in Tatooine's Dune Sea report hearing the sound of Kitonak pipes in the distance.

Droopy was played by Deep Roy in the original version of Return of the Jedi, and briefly appeared in new footage shot exclusively for the Special Edition.

Max Rebo

Max Rebo is the stage name of Siiruulian Phantele, a stocky Ortolan keyboardist and eponymous leader of the Max Rebo Band. He plays a Red Ball Jett keyboard, which is similar to a circular reed organ. Max was a founding member of Evar Orbus and His Galactic Jizz-wailers, but after Orbus's death, he is elected the group's new leader.

Like other Ortolans, Max is a glutton; he ecstatically accepts a lifetime contract from Jabba that is paid in endless meals instead of money, which angers the rest of the group. With their contract terminated following Jabba's demise, Max and Sy team up as the Max Rebo Duo in the wake of Droopy's departure. After performing for Lady Valarian, the pair splits. Max joins the Rebel Alliance, one reason being that "the Rebellion has the best food." After the Galactic Civil War, he quits the music business and opens a chain of successful restaurants throughout the galaxy. He retires to a life of wealth and luxury on Coruscant.

In a nod to his physical appearance, Max's real name, Siiruulian Phantele, is a play on the words "cerulean elephant." He was portrayed by Simon Williamson in both versions of Return of the Jedi, and the character was a puppet designed only from the waist up by ILM. During filming, Williamson was flanked by two puppeteers who assisted in the movement of Max's arms due to the immense overall weight of the costume.

Sy Snootles

Sy Snootles is a robust female Pa'lowick who is an original member of the Max Rebo Band, as well as the lead vocalist. After Evar Orbus's death and the band's relocation to Jabba's palace, she is angered at Max's negotiation of a lifetime contract in which the band is paid in food instead of money. Attempts to rework the deal prove futile, and Sy resorts to secretly spying for over a dozen of Jabba's enemies, in particular Bib Fortuna, to earn credits. She teams up with Max as the Max Rebo Duo following Jabba's death and Droopy's departure from the band. Following a brief gig for Lady Valarian, Sy dissolves her relationship with Max and begins her solo career, but her subsequent recordings sell poorly and she is relegated to touring Outer Rim dives with another jizz-wailer band under different stage names.

During production, Sy Snootles' nickname was "Ms. Snooty." In the original version of the film, the character was a marionette-like puppet operated by puppeteers Mike Quinn and Tim Rose; Quinn was stationed on scaffolding and controlled her upper body, while Rose moved her legs from beneath the set. The character's oversized ruby lips were suggested by George Lucas, who referred to them as "Mick Jagger lips."

Sy was voiced in the original version of Return of the Jedi by Lucasfilm sound engineer Annie Arbogast, who also wrote the Huttese-language lyrics to "Lapti Nek." The music was composed by Joseph Williams (son of series composer John Williams) and arranged by Ernie Fosselius of Hardware Wars fame. "Lapti Nek" was recorded at Lucasfilm's Sprocket Systems (currently Skywalker Sound), and was even the recipient of a 1983 Apex Award. For close-up shots, Sy's mouth was articulated using a nearly invisible wire connected to a microphone stand. The puppet was replaced with a computer-generated image for the Special Edition rerelease.

Special Edition members

Ak-rev

Ak-rev is a leathery-faced Weequay drummer from the planet Sriluur, a guard in Jabba the Hutt's skiff fleet, and one of nine characters added to the band in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi. He was portrayed by an actor in a latex mask designed after the Weequay characters from the original Return of the Jedi. According to the Star Wars Databank, his drumming is derived from the Japanese art of Taiko drumming.

In Sriluur's capital city, Al-Campur, Ak-rev had been a monk in a monastery devoted to the Weequay god of thunder; he played the monastery's sacred drums. While on a trip to Tatooine, Ak-rev brawls with one of Jabba the Hutt's Gamorrean guards. Jabba is impressed by Ak-rev's tenacity and hires him as a skiff guard. Ak-rev accepts since several Weequay are already employed at Jabba's Palace. One day, Jabba hears Ak-rev drumming and insists that he play part-time for Max Rebo's Band. One the day of Luke, Han, and Chewbacca's execution at the Great Pit of Carkoon, Ak-rev and fellow drummer Umpass-stay remain at the palace. Upon hearing of Jabba's demise they flee from the Hutt's enclave. En route to Mos Eisley, the pair is ambushed by Tusken Raiders and Ak-rev is beaten to death.

Doda Bodonawieedo

Doda Bodonawieedo is a green-skinned Rodian musician in the Max Rebo Band. Doda plays a sliterhorn, a fictional wind instrument similar to a heckelphone. He was one of nine characters added to the Max Rebo Band for the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi. He was portrayed by an actor in a latex mask designed after Rodian characters from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) and the original Return of the Jedi.

Doda was born on a transport shuttle and raised in Mos Eisley. His family fled their homeworld, Rodia, due to the harsh policies of Navik the Red, a Rodian warlord. Navik banned emigration and penalized those who left the planet. Bounty hunters tracked down the Bodonawieedos and killed them. The orphaned ten-year-old Doda held an affinity for classical Rodian music and crime. His connections with the Tatooine underworld lead him to Jabba the Hutt and the Max Rebo Band. Doda remains at Jabba's Palace during the execution at the Sarlacc; when he hears of Jabba's death he steals several valuable statues from the palace and disappears.

Barquin D'an

Barquin D'an is a dome-headed, black-eyed Bith musician from the planet Clak'dor VII and a member of the Max Rebo Band. He plays a Kloo horn, a fictional wind instrument that resembles a bassoon. He is one of nine characters added to the Max Rebo Band in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi. Barquin was portrayed by an actor in a latex mask designed after Bith characters from the cantina scene of A New Hope.

Barquin is the estranged older brother of Figrin D'an. Barquin resents the success of his brother's band, the Modal Nodes. Determined to make it in the music business, he travels to Tatooine to join Figrin's band. When he arrives on the planet, he discovers that Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes had fled the planet. The trip to Tatooine bankrupts Barquin, who starts performing with local musicians and eventually joins the Max Rebo Band. He is not accustomed to the depravity he witnesses in Jabba's Palace, and flees after Oola's gruesome death.

Greeata

Greeata is a green-skinned, female Rodian singer and musician from the planet Rodia and a back-up vocalist in the Max Rebo Band. She is one of nine characters added to the Max Rebo Band in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi. Like Doda Bodonawieedo, Greeata was portrayed by an actress wearing a latex mask designed after Rodian characters from A New Hope and the original Return of the Jedi.

Greeata has no interest in her people's violent culture. Most of her time is spent in the Rodian capital intermingling with off-worlders. Greeata is employed on a luxury starship called the Kuari Princess playing the Kloo horn. She becomes good friends with Sy Snootles, the band's lead singer. Greeata and Sy become a duo and eventually meet Max Rebo, who gives them contracts. After Jabba the Hutt's death, Greeata and fellow singer Lyn Me come to their rescue as the band is threatened by marauding Tusken Raiders. They acquire banthas and ride to Mos Eisley.

Lyn Me

Lyn Me is a chalky-skinned, female Twi'lek dancer from the planet Ryloth and a back-up vocalist in the Max Rebo Band. She is one of nine characters added to the Max Rebo Band in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi. Lyn Me was portrayed by dancer Dalyn Chew.

Her village on Ryloth is plagued with constant raids by slavers who sell young Twi'lek girls into slavery. Lyn Me's village pooled their resources to hire a protector, the bounty hunter Boba Fett. The bounty hunter leaves the village destitute, but kills the slavers and saves the village's children. Lyn Me becomes infatuated with Boba Fett and follows him to Tatooine where she joins the Max Rebo Band at Jabba the Hutt's palace. She meets her hero, but is later enraged when she learns that he is killed during the skirmish at the Sarlacc pit. She and fellow dancer Greeata head out into the desert on a stolen landspeeder and rescue Max Rebo, Droopy McCool, and Sy Snootles from Tusken Raiders. When she arrives at Mos Eisley, she vows to take revenge on Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker for their part in the death of Boba Fett.

Rappertunie

Rappertunie is the stage name of Rapotwanalantonee Tivtotolon, a frog-like, pot bellied Shawda Ubb musician and member of the Max Rebo Band. Rappertunie plays a harmonica-like instrument called a growdi that is described in the Star Wars Databank as a cross between a water organ and a flute. He is one of nine characters added to the Max Rebo Band in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi. The character is a 0.3 meters (0.98 feet) tall puppet digitally composited into new and existing footage of the film.

Rappertunie comes from the swamp planet of Manpha. The musicians wanderlust eventually leads him to Tatooine and the Max Rebo Band. Rappertunie, however, despises the dry, desert environment of Tatooine and rarely leaves Jabba's Palace even though his short stature of 0.3 meters places him in constant danger of being eaten. After the death of Jabba the Hutt, Rappertunie leaves Tatooine to continue his music career, however, his knowledge of computer technology leads him to employment as a computer engineer for a corporation that manufactures MSE-6 droids.

Rystáll

Rystáll is a colorful female humanoid singer and dancer. She is one of nine characters added to the Max Rebo Band in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of Jedi. Rystáll was portrayed by dancer Mercedes Ngoh in full-body make-up.

Rystáll is near-human from Coruscant: her father is human and her mother is a Theelin. She is orphaned on Coruscant as a small child and never knows her parents. Rystáll is cared for by Ortolan musicians that offer her the chance to performance with them as a dancer. Because of her striking beauty, she draws the attention of a high-ranking lieutenant in the Black Sun criminal organization. Infatuated with Rystáll, the criminal promises her a life of luxury and the chance to travel across the galaxy. Instead, he enslaves her and her adoptive parents. Lando Calrissian comes into possession of the group, winning them from the criminal in a sabacc game. Detesting slavery, Lando frees them and they travel to Tatooine. The Ortolans arrange for Rystáll to perform with the Max Rebo Band in Jabba's Palace as a back-up singer and dancer. At the Hutt's palace, Rystáll's beauty attracts the attention of bounty hunter Boba Fett, who converses with the dancer prior to the arrival of Princess Leia disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh.

Umpass-stay

Umpass-stay is an energetic Klatooinian drummer with a canine-like snout and hooded eyes. Umpass-stay is one of nine characters added to the Max Rebo Band in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi. He is portrayed by an actor wearing a latex mask and gloves used in the original Return of the Jedi to portray a Klatooinian skiff guard. The drumming style Umpass-stay and fellow drummer Ak-rev is inspired by the Japanese art and practice of Taiko.

Umpass-stay spent most of his life as a servant to the Hutts. Born a slave on the agricultural planet Shawti, Umpass-stay's family belonged to Shebba the Hutt, uncle of Jabba the Hutt. Umpass-stay serves as a capable personal bodyguard to Shebba, but fails to view Shebba's nephew as a risk. Jabba kills Shebba and Umpass-stay's ownership transfers to him. As a servant of Jabba, Umpass-stay works as a spy and a guard. When a troupe of traveling minstrels try to assassinate the Hutt, Jabba insists on having his guards join the band for protection. At this point, Umpass-stay becomes a drummer in the Max Rebo Band. Umpass-stay remains at Jabba's Palace during the execution of Luke Skywalker and his friends. Although he is free following the Hutt's death, Umpass-stay willingly becomes a servant in another Hutt household.

Joh Yowza

Joh Yowza is the stage name of J'ywz'gnk Kchhllbrxcstk Et'nrmdndlcvtbrx, a short, furry alien creature called a Yuzzum from the forest moon of Endor. Joh Yowza is a lead singer in the Max Rebo Band; he is one of the nine characters added to the band in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi. The Yuzzum design, however, dates back to the original production of Return of the Jedi. According to the Star Wars Databank, the Ewoks of Endor were planned to have a companion species, but Yuzzums proved too costly to produce in quantity. Only one Yuzzum puppet was made and was used as a barely-visible background creature of Jabba the Hutt's palace. In the Special Edition, the Joh Yowza design was revisited as a computer-generated image. The original Yowza puppet became the Yuzzum character Wam "Blam" Lufba in the Jabba the Hutt sequence of Return of the Jedi.

Joh Yowza is considered short for a Yuzzum, standing only 1.4 meters (4.59 feet) tall. On Endor, he is ostracized by other Yuzzums. While the rest of his herd forages for food, he is left to fend for himself. Often, he would sit alone, vocalizing the strange cries that comprised the Yuzzum language. While searching for food, Yowza spotted a star freighter that had landed for repairs. Not knowing anything about modern technology, Yowza boarded the ship looking for food. The ship launches into space and the captain, Roark Garnet, discovers Yowza and calls him "Furball". He keeps the Yuzzum around to help cook, clean, and perform other menial tasks. In return, Yowza is well fed and taught Galactic Basic.

During a trip to the Hutt moon Nar Shaddaa, Yowza wanders from the ship and into a cafe where he sees Evar Orbus and His Galactic Jizz-wailers. Impressed by the music of Max Rebo, Sy Snootles and the others, Yowza sings along. Orbus signs the Yuzzum, who performs for food and shelter. The lead singer, Sy Snootles, gives Yowza his stage name. When Evar Orbus is killed on Tatooine and Max Rebo becomes the new leader, Yowzah accompanies the band to audition for Jabba the Hutt. Although the Hutt detests Yuzzums, he is pleased by the vocals of Yowzah. After the death of Jabba, the group disbands and Yowza travels to Mos Eisley. He finds a job on a small passenger liner and performs with the liner's house band in exchange for a free food and passage throughout the Outer Rim.

Expanded Universe members

Evar Orbus

Evar Orbus is an eight-tentacled, beak-mouthed Letaki singer and musician. Orbus first appeared in the short story "And the Band Played On: The Band's Tale" by John Gregory Betancourt, printed in the anthology Tales from Jabba's Palace (1995). More of the character's history is revealed in the May 2003 Star Wars Insider article "Jabbapalooza: Who's Who in the Max Rebo Band".

Orbus is the founder of the band Evar Orbus and His Galactic Jizz-wailers with Max Rebo and Sy Snootles. He later purchased Droopy McCool, a Kitonak musician Orbus referred to as "Snit". Orbus brings the band to Tatooine to play at a Mos Eisley cantina, but upon their arrival they are confronted by a local band called Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes. A gunfight ensues that results in the death of Evar Orbus. Following his death, the band is renamed after Max Rebo, whom the band elects the new leader.

Tik Tali Talosh

Brennan Tik Tali Talosh is a human from the planet Derf and president of the Max Rebo Band Fan Club. The character first appeared in an issue of Star Wars Tales, then showed up again in a 2003 article of the Star Wars Insider magazine by Rich Handley, entitled "Jabbapalooza: Who's Who in the Max Rebo Band".

Brennan Tik Tali Talosh is the President of the Max Rebo Band Fan Club who dreams of auditioning for his favorite musician, Max Rebo. He realizes his fantasy when he is invited to play with the band shortly before the Battle of Endor at Jabba's Palace. After the group disbands, Tik writes a biography entitled Blue Man's Group. Max and the band are furious when they learn about the book's publication and Tik's failure to obtain their permission to print their secrets. As a result, the band cuts ties with him. While he regrets being shunned by the band, Tik treasures his brief status as a member of the Max Rebo Band.

References

Further reading

External links