Where did the inspiration for Star Wars' mechs come from? They are really cool. I guess most of the stuff in SW is ripped off from something so they had to come from somewhere right?
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westen mecha trash.
The AT-ATs were inspired by this piece of Syd Mead art.
I'm not sure whether its right to say it was a ripoff, the Star Wars artists might have been on friendly terms with Mead. I've never heard a controversy re: Mead and the AT-AT design.
The AT-STs might have been an original creation from Ralph McQuarrie, but I'm not sure.
The AT-ATs were inspired by the Tripods from War of the Worlds.
>In the DVD commentary to The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas explains that he got the idea of the AT-AT from the massive tripods from H.G. Wells' 1898 novel The War of the Worlds.[37]
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/All_Terrain_Armored_Transport
If you understand how Lucas works like in TCW, he usually points to something that exists n previous cinema and tells the people working under him to model on that example for the concept/character in SW.
For example Cad Bane and Boba Fett being based on Angel Eyes and Man-With-No-Name from Good, Bad and the Ugly.
>the AT-ATs were inspired by War of the Worlds tripods
>the AT-ATs were akin to ancient war elephants
Part of growing up is knowing when to call George Lucas on his bullshit. I say this as a prequel defender.
This is the correct answer
https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/star-wars-the-surprising-origins-of-the-at-at/
Yes, war elephants walk on four legs, and the war of the worlds tripods are an early concept for walking war machines: but the leg designs for the AT-ATs are virtually identical to Mead's cargo walker design, which was depicted walking through the snow.
As an artist, you try to throw people off from your direct inspirations because people tend to cry "ripoff", despite every work of art being a "ripoff" of something (either from real life or another artists work), or maybe you want to hide your inspirations because you don't want people making anything like what you're making...
But it was Mead. That's the direct inspiration for the AT-ATs.
You are correct but in anon’s defense for the way the ATAT’s walked they used an elephant for reference, the same one that played the bantha’s in a new hope so in a way both statements are true From a certain point of view
Fair, fair.
My frustration is frankly with George Lucas and his tendency to obfuscate and arguably straight up lie about the making of Star Wars. And I say that as someone who thinks he deserves a LOT more credit than people seem willing to give him these days.
I've got a book for you, then: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BM7M3C/
>With this book, Michael Kaminski does a brilliant job debunking that myth, step by step through the entire chronology of the Star Wars saga. I've always wanted someone to write a book like this, and was thrilled to discover that Kaminski has not only done the job but has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Sadly, there's no "smoking gun" - there's no revelation of a media reporter from the 80s who has come forward with an actual audio or video recording of Lucas in his own voice talking about his "three trilogies" saga. It would be nice if such a recording did exist, so it could be played back to Lucas while he was on camera, and watch him squirm his way out of admitting that he originally wanted to do three trilogies, and then changed his mind. For some reason Lucas can't just admit he changed his mind. Instead, he tries to retcon history itself, and Kaminski does a phenomenal journalistic effort at disproving the retcon.
>I-It's just true okay
The absolute state of mid-50s losers butthurt at George Lucas
Except him pointing at something from an older movie and wanting to reference the movie (like Dam Busters, Ben-Hur, Hidden Fortress, Searchers, etc) is well documented in the bts stuff for the OT/PT, Clone Wars and ST to the point that it's pretty credible that he said it especially given the guy has watched a lot of movies. It's how he works with other people in that people under him can then reference that previous thing for inspiration.
But your article even says the person inspired by the Syd Mead was Joe Johnston who was art director and provided concept art on ESB and worked on the Walker Scenes. So I am not sure what you are trying to get it. Because it's not a smoking gun of Lucas being inspired by anything.
And the OP asks "what was the inspiration for the walkers in Star Wars" not "what did George Lucas say was the inspiration for the walkers".
The answer is it was Syd Mead's painting.
>Dam Busters
George likes the dog's name
Is it not possible for all three things to be true bruh? The AT-ATs are conceptually pretty similar to the tripods. George Lucas says "make tripods in Star Wars", they find that piece of art, use it as inspiration and then use elephants as the source for the walking. George was definitely a fan of the tripods because the magna droids in the prequels are very obviously inspired by them.
I don't know man check the widely-released DVDs and BDs that have hours of bonuses on things like this.
It's pretty mundane. The AT-AT were akin to ancient war elephants and AT-ST being derived from a bird.
The AT-ST in particular was something extra cobbled together by the ILM model crews during production of Empire Strikes Back. George Lucas liked it enough to allow for brief scenes alongside the AT-AT walkers.
I remember coming across some weird lawsuit years ago. I think the name was "Garthian? Grathium? Strider" or something.
I always liked the AT-TE
I hate those things. They're always made to be impractical in video games because of their depiction in Return of the Jedi where they had to slowly navigate the overgrown terrain. Also they are bland-looking and I hate reverse-kneed legs. GW did the design much better with it's IG Sentinels.
>GW did the design much better with it's IG Sentinels.
lol, lmao even
iirc the "nine movies" was established long enough ago that Mad did an article in the mid 80s about "lol imagine if they actually made the other six movies hahaha that would just be crazy"
Lucas was spitballing: there was no concrete plan to do anything beyond what was budgeted, with things improvised on the spot. It's especially obvious in the prequels:
>Only last month [May 2005], Lucas, now 61, told an audience of fans what has been increasingly obvious since 1999. The Phantom Menace contained just 20 percent of this original outline’s first three episodes, ditto Clones; the picnics and pod races, George confessed, were “padding.” Lucas may have numerically bound himself to three full prequels long ago but for fans the truly essential material amounted to one story, an origin story that still has a [60-80] percent remainder: [Episode III]
didn't lucas also say that he had some ideas three for spin-off movies, involving wookies and droids?
Yes in the 80s.
Why would Mad do an article AFTER RotJ about a nine movie saga? The idea of nine movies was dashed by RotJ's ending, which combined the post-RotJ very tentative plans for more movies into one movie. All that was left to speculate about was the mythical episodes I-III.
>Why would Mad do an article AFTER RotJ about a nine movie saga?
I dunno. Go get a ouija board and ask Bill Gaines
iirc the final movie would reveal that The Force was Luke's REAL father all along
which isn't really a great punchline but it's an odd parallel to the direction Lucas went with Lil' Vader
been probably thirty years since I've read the article, I recall it was much more on the "sensible chuckle" side of things.
lol it would probably be faster to list the stuff that didn't have inspiration from Moebius
The Probot came from a Moebius design from Metal Hurlant comic magazine.