Star Wars: Fun with Action Figures in Death Valley
Introduction Star Wars locations in Death Valley are
not that hard to find. To locate them, one has to keep one thing in
mind. These shots were taken in 1976 to fill in for Tunisia where most of
the location shooting had already been done. Basically, there were some
transition shots, and it was too expensive to head back to Northern
Africa. So, these shots were set up quickly and cheaply, which means -
they were not very far from the road. Also, they brought along an
elephant to pose as a Bantha, and didn't want to cart it very far.
So, if you find you have walked a long way from the road and haven't found the
location, you've probably gone too far.
There is a series of sand dunes near
Stovepipe Wells, marked clearly by an interpretive sign. The
dunes, of course, change constantly as the wind blows, but if you look carefully
at the surrounding mountains, you can figure it out. An Arroyo is a dry river bed, and fans
of course know this location as Artoo's Arroyo. This location is
really close to the parking lot for Artist's Palette, a colorful rock
formation. I took this picture standing on a rock formation behind the
porta-potty that has been put there for the needs of tourists. This location is also near Artist's
Palette, just south of where you first turn in to the parking
lot. You are looking southward - and it's best to bring a photo
along for this one so you can position the mountains
correctly. Luke's landspeeder speeds across
Tatooine in this segment. As I recall, the landspeeder was on
a trailer that was being pulled along to create this effect. There is some confusion about this sequence - apparently several attempts were made to get this shot, both in Death Valley and in Southern California. Key to the shot was the positioning of a mirror. My own opinion is that the shot on the above right, where the bottom of the speeder is obscured was likely taken in Death Valley, but there appears to be no way to corroborate this.
The fact that the shot is in motion, against a non-descript backdrop which is blurred adds to the difficulty in determining the shot's location. OOPS! I was close but no cigar on this
one - I figured this one out once I came home. I mistakenly thought the
Bantha scenes were filmed in Golden Canyon when in fact they were actually filmed within about a mile or so of Golden
Canyon in Desolation Canyon. This obviously was the trickiest site
to find - I didn't find it! However, I think simply asking a
park official where Desolation Canyon is could have solved this
one! This scene is filmed right up at the
top of a vista called Dante's view - looking northward down the valley towards
Furnace Creek. You don't see Furnace Creek in the actual shot, and a matte
painting of Mos Eisley in the distance was added to the final shot Star
Wars. This one is closest to the parking lot - the crew must have been
standing on the guard rail to film this one. Last updated on Sunday, 19, July, 2009 at 4:49:10 PM
Click
here to get to the Star Wars: Tunisia page Click
here for the Star Wars On Location: Mohave and Tatooine Other links of intrerest Sandcrawler
Station - some info here on Star Wars locations in Death Valley Yahoo
Map - Furnace Creek - one possible starting point for a tour of Star Wars
locations in Death Valley end
Shot No. 1 - R2 heads off on his own.
Shot No. 2 - Artoo's Arroyo.
Shot No. 3 - Jawas and the
Sandcrawler.
Shot No. 4 - Speeding Across the Desert.
Some sources have indicated the Death Valley landspeeder shots were filmed along West Side Road which winds through a portion of the
park. I picked an arbitrary location along here to take the action figure picture.
Shot No. 5 - Tusken Raider jumps
onto his Bantha.
Shot No. 6 - "Mos Eisley
spaceport.."