Genesis of Star Wars’ Banthas

Thanks to our friends at starwars.com, we now know how those beasts the Banthas from Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope came to be created.

Concept

“Bantha” as a word appeared as early as The Star Wars rough draft (dated May 1974), in which we meet an enemy Sith Lord (who were way more frequent before Darth Vader and the Emperor) who was called — or had the call sign — “Banta Four.” With the Sith warriors mostly disappearing in later drafts, it was the second draft (dated January 1978) that introduced “Banta One” as a Rebel fighter during the attack on the Death Star. Curiously enough, the second draft also mentions a Grey Tusken — special soldiers working for the Empire to track down the droids.

Banthas as a creature were first mentioned in the third draft of the film (dated August 1975) as “monstrous banthas” ridden by a group of savage desert nomads called the Tusken Raiders. Their attack on Luke after he spotted the beasts of burden was also included.

To read the rest, you need to go to the starwars.com site itself

Banthas

Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episodes IV-VI) [DVD] [1977]