Gaffer Tape said:
Haha, the Battle of Kashyyyk is entirely absent from the novel?! That's great! It took me three viewings of the film before I even became aware that that sequence ever took place it was so boring and pointless!
With me being probably the youngest user on this site, I remember all the marketing that went into Revenge of the Sith, and probably the biggest hyped thing (other than Darth Vader) was Kashyyyk and the wookies. It was even in the trailers. I was in like 4th grade when it came out and I remember they where releasing legos based on the film, and more than half of the legos where Kashyyyk based, not to mention the tons of other merchandising associated with the hairy things. Even when I was just 9 years old I was wondering why there was so much hype about the 2 minute scene. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the picture on the back of the DVD a picture of some clone, Yoda, and Chewbacca?
Kashyyyk is probably the best example I can think of for Lucas and his team adding stuff in the film for merchandising purposes.