Within the ST, why does Obi-Wan’s voice sound like Ewan McGregor’s? The last we see of Obi-Wan is at the end of ROTJ, where he’s shown as Alec Guinness, so isn’t that who he should sound like? Unless you changed the ending to where his Force Ghost is Ewan McGregor standing next to Hayden Christensen, it doesn’t make sense.
I understand that the parts where it’s Alec Guinness saying “Rey” were taken from archival footage, so that’s probably the reason why.
I’m thinking the reason is likely one of logistics and convenience. Sir Alec Guinness is dead, so they’d probably have to go scrubbing through the original trilogy audio to find the lines they’d need. It’s probably easier and quicker for them to just write a quick line or 2 and then pay Ewan McGregor to come in and record.
Probably because Alec Guinness isn’t alive, so they couldn’t record any new dialogue with him (at least not without using AI, which wasn’t as mature in 2015/2019).
EDIT: daveybjones999 beat me to it
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It is probably down to what daveybjones999 and Channel72 said above.
I would also say it seems some of the high-ups at Lucasfilm probably think of Ewan as being Obi-Wan Kenobi, more than Alec Guinness was. Likely on being the more modern performer, and that is who they have likely worked with. More so in that Ewan was also a producer on the recent Kenobi series too.
It did irk me when director Deborah Chow said this about Ewan - “He to me, is Obi Wan”, in the “Obi Wan Kenobi: a Jedi’s Return” documentary, with an emphasis on “is”.
It also didn’t help that the Kenobi series felt more like a Prequel style series than a bridge between the Prequel Trilogy and the Original Trilogy, and that it was meant to take place half way between the two trilogies in the time line, but it just didn’t feel like that, to me.
I did appreciate TFA going to the lengths they did of mixing both Ewan and Alec Guinness voices in TFA, for the “Rey, these are you first steps” line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygFoN3hKi20
The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.
You’re thinking about it harder than they did. The TFA voice over Easter Egg and that whole vision scene had no purpose so it’s kind of irrelevant.
You’re thinking about it harder than they did. The TFA voice over Easter Egg and that whole vision scene had no purpose so it’s kind of irrelevant.
Exactly, Abrams was just slinging around random ideas and easter eggs for “neat factor”. Which, as we all know, is all he does. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that while they were editing TFA Abrams heard Ewen McGregor was nearby and invited him to come take a look at some clips and decided then and there to get him to record a line for the “vision sequence”. Ewen even said he was taken by surprise and had to reremember how to do his Alec Guiness accent. So that just goes to show you how last minute and inconsequential it was.
Oh yeah Ewen also did a line in TROS at the end when she was getting pep talk cameos by a bunch of Jedi right? I can’t watch that thing again to verify 🤷♂️.
Yeah, Mocata is right. A nice touch for an easter egg, but really didn’t amount to anything.
It would be cool to hear Guinness’ voice being used again in the future. That voice AI seems to be getting better, and they likely have his back catalogue of vast work outside of Star Wars to pull from.
Maybe its is just cheaper and easier to get Ewan to do it, as daveybjones999 posted? Or one of the guys who played Obi-Wan in the animated series? The actor Jamie Costa seems to be highly rated for it too.
I do get what you mean by Kenobi feeling more like a Prequel than a bridge between the 2 trilogies, Emre. The fan service didn’t help on that, nor did Ewan doing an impression of the work he did 20 years ago, instead of bridging that work towards Alec Guinness’ Kenobi. But I doubt that was a thing they were even aiming to achieve.
Obviously I’d have preferred to have heard Guinness’ voice in the Sequel Trilogy, Tantive3+1.
But like Fan_edit_fan posted, JJ seemed to be throwing around ideas last minute or off the cuff throughout, including the Emperor’s appearance in TROS according to Ian McDiaimid himself.
The TROS scene with Ewan’s voice as Kenobi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL3ZLxegIyE (3 minute video). Beware: contains TROS!
Unless you changed the ending to where his Force Ghost is Ewan McGregor standing next to Hayden Christensen, it doesn’t make sense.
I hope that never happens in Return of the Jedi. It is bad enough with the nonsensical decision to have Hayden in there from 2004.
I’d prefer to hear Alec Guinness’ voice as Kenobi too. But for years it seems Lucasfilm have often chosen the “quicker, easier more seductive” route. So Ewan’s voice it will be, even in content after the OT.
It did irk me when director Deborah Chow said this about Ewan - “He to me, is Obi Wan”, in the “Obi Wan Kenobi: a Jedi’s Return” documentary, with an emphasis on “is”.
It’s alright. Alec Guinness is Ben Kenobi, anyway. Even the OT end credits agree.
(INB4 “Ackchyually, it’s ‘Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi’ in the end credits”)
“The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution… There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy
Emre1601 said:
It did irk me when director Deborah Chow said this about Ewan - “He to me, is Obi Wan”, in the “Obi Wan Kenobi: a Jedi’s Return” documentary, with an emphasis on “is”.
I don’t know why it should irk you, it’s her opinion, quite clearly she says “He to me”… meaning, in her opinion. That doesn’t mean it’s right or it’s wrong. She’s entitled to feel like that. To a certain generation, yes Ewan McGregor is their Obi Wan. In the same respect that everyone has their favourite Bond. There’s no right or wrong answer to it as it’s all subjective.
Emre1601 said:
It did irk me when director Deborah Chow said this about Ewan - “He to me, is Obi Wan”, in the “Obi Wan Kenobi: a Jedi’s Return” documentary, with an emphasis on “is”.I don’t know why it should irk you, it’s her opinion, quite clearly she says “He to me”… meaning, in her opinion. That doesn’t mean it’s right or it’s wrong. She’s entitled to feel like that. To a certain generation, yes Ewan McGregor is their Obi Wan.
Of course, as a fan in the correct context there is nothing wrong with that. In a documentary for a series where efforts are made to tell us this is a bridge between the Prequels and Originals, and therefore Ewan and Alec, and as we are 10 years between the 2 trilogies, and it coming from the actual director, it irked me.
As I also said in my post: It also didn’t help that the Kenobi series felt more like a Prequel style series than a bridge between the Prequel Trilogy and the Original Trilogy, and that it was meant to take place half way between the two trilogies in the time line, but it just didn’t feel like that, to me.
In the same respect that everyone has their favourite Bond. There’s no right or wrong answer to it as it’s all subjective.
No, I disagree. We’re not bridging Bonds in this situation, like we are told they are doing, or trying to do, with the Kenobi series. But that’s okay we disagree, everyone has different opinions.
I hope you understand a little more why it irked me. But in the end it does not matter, it is just something that stood out in the documentary, giving an indication (to me) this was a more a Prequel story: in tone, style, execution, and also overall underwhelming quality: than an actual bridge, or genuine half way point story between the two trilogies.
The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.
Formerly Emre1601 - computer hard drives are brittle too!
I hope you understand a little more why it irked me. But in the end it does not matter, it is just something that stood out in the documentary, giving an indication (to me) this was a more a Prequel story: in tone, style, execution, and also overall underwhelming quality: than an actual bridge, or genuine half way point story between the two trilogies.
I do, thank you for clearing that up. It’s refreshing to have actual conversations about these things, rather than it dissolving into just aggressive name calling etc. as seems to be the norm on some platforms.
I understand where you’re coming from. Though with the exception of some of the characters (i.e. Obi Wan and Bail Organa) I thought it bridged the setting quite well. There were “prequelly tones/settings” but the inclusion of Storm Troopers pulled it a litte bit into the OT territory. But again, that is just my viewing of it.
I hope you understand a little more why it irked me. But in the end it does not matter, it is just something that stood out in the documentary, giving an indication (to me) this was a more a Prequel story: in tone, style, execution, and also overall underwhelming quality: than an actual bridge, or genuine half way point story between the two trilogies.
I do, thank you for clearing that up. It’s refreshing to have actual conversations about these things, rather than it dissolving into just aggressive name calling etc. as seems to be the norm on some platforms.
I understand where you’re coming from. Though with the exception of some of the characters (i.e. Obi Wan and Bail Organa) I thought it bridged the setting quite well. There were “prequelly tones/settings” but the inclusion of Storm Troopers pulled it a litte bit into the OT territory. But again, that is just my viewing of it.
I agree, and it is why I like this platform more than many others: there is more respect and actual conversation on here, even from people different outlooks and opinions. Thankfully there is not too much “agenda spreading” on here like on many other websites, reddits and YouTubes. And thank you for explaining your view as well.
About Bond: My preferred Bnnd is Connery, followed by Brosnan (more the early films than later), and I wish Dalton had been given more films to do, to see where he would have taken the character. But they are all good, even Lazenby, in an underrated film too. Bu that may be better suited for another thread. lol
The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.
Formerly Emre1601 - computer hard drives are brittle too!
As others have posted in here, it is probably down to logistics, convenience, and the possibility of including something from the Prequels.
For me Alec Guinness is Kenobi, the one and only.
Ewan McGregor, James Arnold Taylor, Sam Vincent all do good jobs at playing Kenobi, with Ewan doing particularly well as he could with the material given to him in the Prequels, but they are simply substitutes for the real thing.
In the Sequels, with the “big 3” from the OT appearing in it, it really should have been more of Alec channelled as the voice, be that through an impersonator, his vast previous body of work, or a voice AI tool. That’s obviously just my opinion, though.
“Don’t tell anyone… but when ‘Star Wars’ first came out, I didn’t know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you’ve planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories - let’s call them homages - and you’ve got a series.” - George Lucas
There is not Logic in Disney Star Wars they dont respect the Canon of the Movies but well Lucas didnt either to the Point Darth Vader vs Obi Wan Fight broke the ANH Canon and Leia never knew about Obi Wan in ANH only Luke knew about Ben or Obi Wan