The Hutts, in 1983 and in this, seem ridiculous. If the show even flirted with realism, they would have been done away with quickly and easily. If you’re a worm that has to be carried everywhere, you can be easily killed by the criminals and killers you keep close by. But I digress…
Realism? In Star Wars? And even so, real life mobsters, or dictators for that matter, weren’t always all that tough themselves. Money and extortion are often far more powerful than just muscle, and the Hutts aren’t necessarily as weak as they seem either. They don’t have to be carried around, they just do it as a sign of power. 1983 Jabba didn’t move about simply because they didn’t have the technology to pull it off (at least not to Lucas’ high standards), and we’ve seen Hutts move about in TPM and throughout the cartoons. Some canonical Hutts are actually quite dangerous.