After seeing some of the comments after my last post, both here and on facebook, i need to address a few misconceptions about the wampa and what it was being used for:
1- There is no test footage of the wampa. It didn’t get to a stage where everything was complete in order to start any test shooting. It only got as far as the costume fitting stage.
2- It wasn’t being built to add any extra scenes into the film. The editing of the cave scene is being reverted back to how it was in 1980. The extra inserts of the Wampa eating etc have all been taken out (apart from the added arm in the one shot where it is approaching luke as he cuts himself free). It worked better the way it was in 1980 when we only got glimpses of the Wampa. So the suit was created to replace the two shots in the original cave scene( the “sliding” wampa shot and the final lunge where it is a completely different design from the one we saw attacking luke originally) . It was also going to replace the first two puppet shots so that there was a consistent looking wampa throughout.
3- release a version now without the Wampa and then another one later with it added once i can get it working. This is something that won’t be happening. From ESB onward there will be only one version released of any of the films in HD and SD formats.
4- Get someone else to wear the suit. It was built specifically to fit my wife. I can’t even get my head into it without all the padding. Unless someone was the exact same dimensions then it wouldn’t fit. It would require months of work to modify it to fit anyone else, which would include rebuilding the whole skull and bodysuit.
But, there may be a glimmer of hope. After making my last post about the Wampa cancellation, a few ideas came to mind that might enable me to use the wampa for just the two cave shots needed, so i haven’t given up on it fully anymore. well, not just yet. If these ideas work, then i can just replace those two shots and keep the original puppet ones at the beginning. I’ve been modifying the face slightly ( repainting the horns to be the lighter grey on the puppet along with the end of the one horn being chipped off) and i will be doing some tests over the weekend, If it works, then i can finish the dirtying up and adding the wax ice on the fur and shoot the thing towards the end of next week. If it doesn’t then i can just get everything rendered out and release it. It’s still a very long shot that this might work, so don’t get your hopes up.