Chewbacca Almost Wore Shorts In Star Wars Due To Complaints From Executives

If there's one thing we all know about Chewbacca from the "Star Wars" saga, it's this: he does not wear pants. Yes, that's right, old Chewie likes to roam free, sans trousers. He doesn't wear any clothes at all, in fact, save for a gun belt thingy he has strapped across his chest. And you know what? That's fine. Chewie is essentially a big dog that yells a lot, and dogs aren't known for their clothes (unless you're one of those people who puts your dogs in tiny little outfits). In fact, George Lucas based the character on his dog, an Alaskan malamute named Indiana (in case you're wondering, yes, that's also who George Lucas named Indiana Jones after — a fact that gets turned into a fun little joke at the end of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.")

At this point, after so many years, Chewbacca's look is iconic. You recognize the Wookiee at first sight. He's a classic character with a classic design, and everybody loves him (I'm assuming this is true; are there Chewbacca haters out there? If there are, I don't want to know). However, there was a point in the "Star Wars" timeline when things could've been drastically different for Mr. Chewie. 

By that I mean: he almost had some pants. And not just any pants, but a pair of tiny shorts that come damn close to looking like lederhosen. Boo! Hiss! No one wants this! Take those shorts off this instant, Chewbacca!

The red-hot news about Chewbacca's short pants comes to us directly from Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. Hamill took to the dying garbage fire landscape that is Twitter to confirm that at one point, studio execs were pushing for pants. As Hamill put it: 

"FUN FACT: Very early in the shooting of #SW studio execs expressed deep concern that Chewie didn't wear any pants & suggested he wear a pair of lederhosen. That they would focus on this amidst all the grotesque elements in the script made us laugh (& a bit worried)."

You can see the tweet, along with concept art featuring some pants, right here (complete with a cameo from Joseph Gordon-Levitt):

FUN FACT: Very early in the shooting of #SW studio execs expressed deep concern that Chewie didn't wear any pants & suggested he wear a pair of lederhosen. That they would focus on this amidst all the grotesque elements in the script made us laugh (& a bit worried)🙄 #TrueStory https://t.co/BCNhWDrwdl

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) April 22, 2021

In the end, I think we can all agree Chewie looks better without his shorts. Strut free, Chewie! Still, it's funny to think of nervous studio execs watching dailies of "Star Wars" and obsessing over the fact that Chewbacca doesn't have any pants on. Picture them now, sitting in a shadowy screening room, sweat pouring down their brows, eyes twitching as they stammer: "Can we do something about the pants? Put some pants on that giant dog-man, please!" Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and Chewbacca remained the pantsless character we all know and love today. 

Now, let's all listen to this song from the "Clerks" soundtrack.