C is For Count Dooku.
The character of the imperious Count Dooku was played to perfection by Christopher Lee, but here are some things you may not know about him.
He first appears in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones as the leader of the federation of planetary systems rebelling against the Galactic Republic. Dooku was also the Sith apprentice of Darth Sidious known as Darth Tyranus. He didn’t have a lot of screen-time, but he made an impression.
What do he and Darth Vader have in common besides the cape? What does Dooku mean in Japanese? What’s his full name? How much sword fighting did Christopher Lee actually do? What made him say, “I didn’t think you would do this to me George!” Find out by reading the fourteen things you may not know about Count Dooku.
1. Lee was originally offered the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. He turned it down and the role eventually went to his good friend Peter Cushing.
2. Both he and David Prowse, who played Sith Lord Darth Vader, played Frankenstein’s Monster opposite Peter Cushing. Lee was in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Prowse was in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970).
3. According to Christopher Lee’s autobiography, the name “Dooku” comes from the Japanese word for poison, “doku.” To many, it sounds a lot like “dookie.” A slang word for feces.
4. Count Jard Dooku is the full name of Dooku. To become a Sith Lord, Dooku had to murder someone close to him. After Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas revealed to Dooku that he had created a massive clone army for the Republic, Dooku killed him and took over operations.
A reader pointed out the previous trivia is not officially sanctioned.
5. In the Brazilian translation, the name of Count Dooku was changed. In the Portuguese language, “Dooku” has an obscene meaning when spoken (“Du Cu”). I’m not going to explain it, so just Google it. “Dooku” became “Dookan” for one translation.
6. The fight with Yoda was done completely against a green screen. He did all the maneuvers and they animated Yoda to match them. Lee said that it took “a very powerful imagination, experience, professional knowledge, powers of invention of your own and you have to have the right instincts.”
7. After having his hands cut off by Anakin Skywalker, the original script called for him to beg for his life. Christopher Lee felt this was out of character and Lucas had it removed. Instead, he just gives a shocked look before having his head cut off.
8. A bust of Count Dooku is in the Jedi library. The librarian identifies the bust Obi-Wan Kenobi was looking at as Count Dooku in a deleted scene from the film.
9. A small model of Yoda was used in the scene where he fought Count Dooku. Lee played a vampire in Horror of Dracula and, as a practical joke, the crew added vampire fangs to Yoda. Lee joked on-set, “I will not comment on that. I didn’t think you would do this to me George!”
10. Christopher Lee holds the world record for the most swordfights in movies. He did his own swordfights for Attack of the Clones. While a body double was used for the long shots, he was used for close shots. “Almost all the fights were close shots.” he said “And not easy, to put it mildly.” He later said he was surprised to see how much of his swordplay was left in the film.
11. Originally, Yoda was to enter and fight immediately with Count Dooku, George Lucas added the conversation and the fight with the force lightning and rock falls. He felt it showed how powerful Yoda was and crew members felt it would give more drama to the scene.
12. In the fight with Yoda, Dooku used Obi-Wan’s or Anakin’s light saber in addition to his own, but the scene didn’t make into the film.
13. Doug Chiang, the main designer on the Star Wars prequels wanted to create something unique for Dooku and thought that a curved lightsaber would reflect an earlier time. The idea was that Count Dooku was from the “old school” of training and thought.
14. According to Star Wars canon, Qui-Gon Jinn’s death may have led Dooku to leave the Jedi order.
References:
- IMDb Christopher Lee Trivia
- IMDb Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) Trivia
Supershadow.com FAQThe dude’s a liar- Jedi Council Forums – Count Dooku’s Lightsaber (Cached)
- Wookipedia: Dooku
- Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force (Star Wars)
- Jedi Council Forums – Why were some of Count Dooku’s Lines removed (cached)
- TheForce.net Interview with Sir Christopher Lee
What did you think of Count Dooku? Did you learn anything from the post?
[Image Source: WIkipedia]
This post is part of the month long “A-Z Challenge.” For the next 27 days, we’ll be choosing a letter from the alphabet and crafting a post around it. To read more of the posts in the series click here here. To find out more about the challenge go here.
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="40365 ">17 Comments
Never new these things about Dooku except for #5, I had a friend from Brazil told me about this once, many lols were had.
I have learned a lot from the post but I don't want to delve any further, this world is fantasy enough for me hahaha.
MynameisEarl, I heard some Brazillian versions of AOTC still had his name. I can imagine how many laughs he got. PS, it is possible to know too much about your favorite movies. 🙂
I have to admit- I learned everything from this post! nice job 🙂
wow 🙂 nice post
I like a lot Star Wars and didn't know anything of what you've written above 🙂
Count Dooku in the Cartoon Network series is much cooler.
Yes I did and my brain is now full.
Must be difficult to act opposite something that isn't there.
Laura, I'm glad you found it informative!
Denitza, Star Wars is one of my favorites too. I'm always happy to learn more.
Alex, you know more movie trivia than I'll ever forget. You're so humble.
Great post! I love Star War, but I never knew that much about Count Dooku.Â
Wait bait and switch… some of these things were about Count Dooku and the rest about some guy named Christopher Lee… yes I am being a dork.
Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
A to Z Co-Host
IZOMBIE: Visit the Madness
Jeremy, you fell for my evil plan. Mwah ah ah!
You got it Broken Bones. He's a fascinating actor and character.
Now I know these 14 things, thanks for the post.
do check out my D at GAC a-z
My pleasure Pa. I'll definitely hit your blog up.
I would like to know where you got his first name from, because last I checked he was never named. Now I've seen "Jard" in one fan fiction that was shared on the Jedi Council Forums (which you site as a reference, very bad reference too), but other than that, "Jard" is fan made.
Good point. After further research I can't find any official sources. I'll remove it from the list as rumor. Thanks sf