Not since “Lapti Nek” will Max Rebo fans have their worlds rocked this hard. A few months back, ace illustrator Brandon Bird reached out to me via the magic of the Internet to back up a certain contention regarding Max Rebo, concerning something most people don’t know about the elephantine keyboardist. Referencing an online article about the action figure incarnation of Max, Brandon insisted that Max was never ever supposed to have legs. And you know what, he’s absolutely right.
Max's legs -- the blue elephant in the room.
This diapered humanoid is how Kenner extrapolated the body of Max Rebo in 1984 for his first toy. It was created with the assumption that he’s sitting at the center of his keyboard. Since that time, the Expanded Universe has run with the idea that that Max has legs. The Ortolan species (which was established by Troy Denning in 1989’s Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Species) has two legs and two arms. This version of the Ortolan continues in the Expanded Universe to this day. Here’s an illustration by Chris Trevas from The New Essential Guide to Aliens (2006).
Has legs, knows how to use them.
But that was never the intent of Max’s original designers.
The Red Ball Jett maquette.
This is the maquette that Phil Tippett created for Max to first define the alien. In this early incarnation, he was known as monster #21, named Red Ball Jett. Look at the shape of those limbs. Those are legs. They terminate not at shoulders, but rather to large muscles at Max’s base that look like a gluteus maximus. A butt, if I may be so bold.
What
Schematic artwork defining how Max could possibly work made it clear he doesn’t have shoulders. The limbs begin at the base. This early plan was to have two performers crammed inside Max. This eventually changed to a single performer inside.
Maquette and cutaway illustration for a single performer.
Uncredited doodle, showing Max
Having a single person inside the finished costume affected the performance. When no one is in the Max costume, the limbs bend in such a way to resemble legs. When someone is in it, the legs can’t help but change shape to resemble arms, because arms are being used to operate them. The peculiar hinging of the limbs — the upward slant of femurs to knee to shins — instead became lateral slants of humerus to elbow to forearms.
Here they look like legs...
Here they look like arms.
Look at these concept pieces by Production Designer Norman Reynolds, determining what the keyboard would look like. Those are legs.
The real clincher in the argument against Max having legs is this blueprint for the keyboard that was published in The Art of Return of the Jedi (1983). Yes, it was built as a donut-shaped instrument because the filmmaking reality necessitated that the performer fit inside. But looking at the callouts in the blueprint, the “ring” that surrounds Max’s non-existent waist is described as a cushion. It was meant to be a pillow that Max is sitting on, not a padded collar that cuffs his midsection.
Behold, The Smoking Blueprint
To quote:
Eliptical [sic] cushion with opening for the operator standing through the middle — cushion to apear [sic] squashed in the middle.
It appears squashed because Max is supposed to be sitting on it, not through it.
Ladies and gentlemen of Jabba’s court, I rest my case.
UPDATE: This post prompted a friend of Brandon’s to notice that Max’s “ears” in the maquette really resemble flippers. I was so fascinated by this idea, I sketched it out on a whiteboard. Amazing how it changes your view of a character you thought you knew.
Will the real Max stand up?
Pablo Hidalgo is paid to know the difference between Romba and Lumat and dies a little bit inside when you misspell Wookiee or Lucasfilm. He lives in San Francisco and also on Twitter as @infinata.
Tags: max rebo, star wars mysteries
Now for the inevitable retcon, wherein there are two distinct branches of Ortolans, and how Max Reebo belongs to the “no legs” branch, which bothers him because they are viewed as low class, and he has aspirations of the high life which requires legs, don’t you know, so he has a false set of legs stashed somewhere in his dressing room.
Can I write a Star Wars book now?
There are human beings with fewer limbs than typical, too, without the need for separate branches of humanity. I think, if we’re going to retcon Max, giving us an alien with a disability (our first?) might be more interesting.
It would be interesting if Max Rebo was a disabled character. He would then have much in common with the drummer from Def Leopard, or Ray Charles. But don’t forget that Darth Vader was a multiple amputee with chronic respiratory issues.
How about that zany Pacithhip (grrr… hate spelling that) backstory where we are meant to believe all the long-legged ones in the movies secretly have mechanical limbs?
I can see it now — job signs in front of seedy cantinas galaxy-wide, reading “short legs/no legs need not apply”.
And we thought the droids had it bad . . .
well does max rebo have legs in return of the jedi?
Ah, that Pacithhip spelling always causes trouble :p
Interesting blog entry. I don’t remember seeing any concept work or a model from Max with legs. So, yes, this must absolutely be true. Thanks to Kenner, Max got a nice pair of legs
This…this deserves an award. I don’t care what kind, just, an award. My mind = blown. Sir, you are a little something that I like to call: GENIUS.
No legs? Now we know why Max has the blues. (I’m sorry. I just couldn’t resist.)
Maybe Ortolans lose their arms when they mature. Like a reverse tadpole effect.
Great article, Pablo. Never knew I cared about Max Rebo’s legs, or lack thereof, so much. The Kenner ideal is far more friendly but the legless design is in keeping with the strangeness seen in Jabba’s Palace. I definitely can see how the filmmakers were trying to up the ante following the Cantina in Star Wars.
Well, now we can all breathe a thigh of relief…
Fascinating ! Although I would have had the original toy figure (presumably with legs), I *think* I had always assumed, from the brief movie images, that he was *sat* on that cushion…. albeit with legs curled under him.
Good point that the creature crew were indeed trying to “up the ante” on the old cantina reshoots ; also, I can’t help but intuit that perhaps, conceptually, Rebo was the forerunner to Sebulba….. ??!
Great jokes, by the way !!!
Nat
Phenomenal! Max and Sebulba should get together and feed each other stuff. That would satisfy some really strange fetishes.
Ha. Now we know why Max Rebo looked a little strange. To be perfectly frank he’s not my favorite character design in Star Wars. And although I like the idea of a flipper-armed, feet-playing-piano Ortolan better, I think the discovery is a little late. In my opinion the character design made everyone believe that he was standing in the middle of the keyboard, not squatting on a pillow. It was unclear what the artists intended there…so I think that we should just stay with the way it turned out. After all, the concept art (both sculpture and illustration) of many characters, has changed dramatically from the early stages of development to the final film. Some characters have tales, different arms, etc. Those versions of them aren’t official, though they may be pretty cool and even spawn new characters. In my opinion in the film it looks like Max Rebo has legs and it looks like that’s what they intended though we know now that they did not. If someone wants to make a new alien based on what the artists really intended, then by all means. But Ortolans seem to be set in their way now in the EU, I don’t think a retcon is necessary.
I’d say put an Ortolan in The Clone Wars to solidify what they really look like but it’s probably too late considering the lead time. Is it possible Max had an accident where he lost his arms and has over come his disability to become a ‘galaxy-class” musician? That would seem compelling to me considering my own physical disability.
I remember seeing those preproduction art sketches and merely assumed that it changed for practical reasons. I think the idea was probably revisited when conceiving the Dugs.
Perhaps Max Rebo is a “differently abled” Ortolan, and that’s what makes him and his band that much more impressive.
Speaking of which, I could go for a good listen to “lapti nek”. no offense to Joh Yowza fans.
I had the Max Rebo and Sy Snootles playset (still do somewhere) and I think this was a communication issue between whoever greenlighted the toy design and Hasbro’s people. The set came with Rebo’s “organ” and it was hollowed out in the middle to allow his arms to be at keyboard height.
Amazing! As for putting Ortolans in “The Clone Wars,” a whole bunch, with legs, were in “Clone Wars.” So that would further confuse, rather than solve, the issue.
The are many different species in star wars
The crew that designed Max may have been reaching a little beyond what they were technologically capable of doing. They finally realized it with the CGI Sebulba, who hopped about on his hands, and manipulated things with his feet.
Thank you for blowing my mind. I was just thinking what Pablo wrote. And they both have trunks. Hmm…
I heard he was hiding out in Jabba’s Palace because he was wanted in South Africa for beating his girlfriend with a cricket mallet and shooting her through the bathroom door.
Make the retcon be that his race has arms but no legs.
Wow! Thanks for the fascinating write-up, Pablo. I LOVE the fact that we still have so much to learn about these films, even 30 years later.
I think Max has dug on his mothers side