On the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD there is an easter egg that unlocks a video of Yoda doing a hip hop video to “Don’t Say Nuthin” by The Roots. It’s a non-canonical musical performance by Yoda and a group of clone troopers from the 41st Elite Corps (in phase II armor) in the Jedi Temple.
Interestingly, the video was made in secret by the animators after one took a hip hop dance class.
“I was lucky enough to attend a hip hop class offered through ILM and
taught by Jackie Burns,” Michel d’Annoville recalls. “She was nice
enough to allow me to film the class in order to study the movement. One
of Jackie’s routines was to ‘Don’t Say Nuthin’ by The Roots. Not only
did I like the song itself but the choreography included breakdancing
which I thought would be fun to animate. I mentioned to Jackie my idea
of Yoda hip hop dancing. She thought it was a really cool idea and
that’s how the project began.”
The biggest challenge was the deadline of the production of Episode III. They had to pull late hours and hide the rendering from Animation Director Rob Coleman. “Everybody who worked on Hip Hop Yoda kept the project very secret from
Rob, which became difficult toward the end as we needed to use Star Wars
production processors to make the renders possible.” Michelle said, “I was lucky to
have Assistant Technical Director Maggie Oh watching my back and keeping
the renders going smoothly and discreetly.”
After it was done, George Lucas saw it and decided to put it on the DVD. It eventually found it’s way to the Internet.
What do you think of Yoda’s mad breakdancing and rapping skills?
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="39781 ">8 Comments
That seems like a lot of work for something with no real purpose.
Maybe a rock anthem would've been better?
I don't know what's more awesome, the fact that this was made, or that it was so cleverly hidden.
Pat, I just find it fascinating that they were able to create an entire video without anyone finding out.
Alex, I like the breakdancing, but maybe Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive?"
I know Tony! It's nice to know they have fun at Skywalker Ranch.
I'm impressed they managed to keep it a secret; must have taken a lot of time to do!
Awesome! 'Nuff said!