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TheStar Warsprequels remain a crucial part of the space opera franchise despite fans continuing to have a love-hate relationship with the entries. Directed by franchise creator George Lucas, the films introduced the Battle Droids who played an important role in the first installment before becoming progressively useless with each subsequent entry.
During a fan convention,Star Warssound editor and actor Matthew Wood spoke about the characterization of the Battle Droids in the prequels. Wood revealed that it was Lucas’ idea to make the droids stupider in the subsequent installments. However, the filmmaker had a valid reason for this change. Here is why the Battle Droids became more useless as theStar Warsprequels progressed.
Star Warssound editor reveals the real reason Battle Droids were so useless
The Battle Droids were first introduced in 1999’sThe Phantom Menace, serving under the Trade Federation. While the droids were competent in their first appearance, they became more useless inthe following installments. Their incompetency was also the focus of several gags inThe Clone Warsanimated series.
During an appearance at New York City Comic Con, sound editor Matthew Wood discussed the change in the Battle Droids’ characterization in the prequels. At the fan convention, Wood revealed that creatorGeorge Lucascame up with the explanation for the droids to become worse at their job.
As we went on into the next couple of films, they got a little more ridiculous. The idea that George had was that the CPUs that were put into the battle droids were very expensive. So in order to mass produce all those droids, they have to kind of tone down some of these elements.
Wood made the above statement (viaCinemaBlend), revealing that mass production of the droids posed a major obstacle that ultimately hampered their efficiency.
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Starting withAttack of the Clones, the droids were utilized by the Confederacy and proved effective against the Clones. However, the Battle Droids were mostly useless against the Jedi and according to Wood their faulty construction, especially the cheap CPUs used was to blame for their incompetence.
Matthew Wood explained how he voiced the goofierStar WarsBattle Droids
Aside from serving as a sound editor for the prequel trilogy, Wood also performed the voices of the Battle Droids and played Bib Fortuna in live-action media. During an interview withthe officialStar Warswebsite, Wood explained how he devised the voice of the Battle Droids.
Wood revealed that he and sound designer Ben Burtt initially voiced the Battle Droids together. However, as the droids got goofier with the subsequent installments, Wood took over more of the voice acting, almost completely taking over the roleby the time ofThe Clone Wars.
By Episode III and into The Clone Wars, I’ve done every battle droid’s voice. Ben and I both have that nasally, kind of happy voice, and I still use Ben as an inspiration.
Wood made the above comment, explaining how he defined the Battle Droids’ goofy voice using Burtt as a template for his performance.
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Ultimately, the Battle Droids became the most hilarious aspect of the animated series, with Wood lending his voice in a total of 69 episodes. Aside from voicing the Battle Droids, Wood also lent his voice to the fan-favorite prequel trilogy villain General Grievous.
TheStar Warsmovies and TV shows are streaming on Disney+.
Pratik Handore
Content Writer
Articles Published :1774
With a keen interest in comic book movies and blockbuster franchises, Pratik usually covers news and updates on the DCU, MCU, Star Wars, and more.A die-hard fan of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, Pratik spends most of his time exploring different storytelling mediums that invoke a sense of wonder and adventure. Other filmmakers whose works have deeply influenced him include Alfred Hitchcock, James Gunn, and Guillermo del Toro.
