Love them or hate them, the new Star Wars movies are continuing to expand the depth of the Star Wars universe and will continue to focus on a new cast of characters. While your favorite droid duo of C-3PO and R2-D2 have taken on a reduced role in the more recent films, the droid void has been filled by the lovable BB-8.
Like any new character introduced into the Star Wars universe, however, BB-8 took some time to put together as a character, including the name. Fortunately, Disney and the Star Wars team landed on BB-8 instead of any of the other ideas tossed around in the planning stages for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
In an interview with Endor Express, special effects and make-up artist Neal Scanlan had some not-so-adorable names that were being contemplated for the namesake of everybody’s favorite rolling droid sidekick.
“We work absolutely during the production process with codes for secrecy. We then often have a retrospective phone call with Pablo (Hidalgo) and the guys and he’ll ask ‘what were you thinking about when you designed this character?’ and I’ll maybe say that this one is kind of like the actor John Candy, he’s sweet at heart but he’s this, this, and that, and we have a bit of fun playing with ideas and that’s when we get to hear what their real names are. BB-8, for instance, started out as Snow Girl or Globe at one time – there were four or five names for BB-8. BB-8 didn’t come until VERY, very late, and that’s probably for very good reasons as he’s such an important character.”
Oh thank goodness they tinkered with the name in the production of the movie. Snow Girl? That seems like a bad nickname an antagonist in Frozen would throw at Anna. And Globe? Sure, BB-8 is round like a globe, but who in their right mind thought that was even good enough to jot down on the scratch pad during the brainstorming sessions?
Fortunately, a lot of bad ideas are tossed around during the production of any movie, and odds are there were some equally ridiculous name concepts for characters like C-3PO, R2-D2, Yoda, Chewbacca and so on. One can wonder if the BB-8 name just sounds perfect because we were introduced to the round droid as BB-8 from the start, allowing the name to land and stick with us since before The Force Awakens even hit theaters, or if it really is just the best name because it is the best name.
Whatever the case may be, BB-8 has already had an impact on the Star Wars universe and the droid certainly feels appropriately named.
