brash_stryker said:

this boy without any training is now the galaxy's last hope and being granted an audience with Yoda. THE Yoda.

As much as I agree with this idea (whether or not the promo material ruined the surprise....fan edits CAN and DO change the meaning of films all the time...that's kind of the point)......it IS a difficult one to achieve. SO much time was devoted to Yoda in the PT that removing the footage would be fairly difficult.

I think having him absent, but mentioned, (as Brash has explained) builds him up nicely for a reveal in ESB....BUT....how do you do this if you plan on removing him from the PT? Ok, sure....some shots can have him substituted with a hologram.....you can even intentionally mask his appearance and somehow explain that Yoda WANTED to hide his appearance because he could distantly sense that the Sith were possibly returning and that one day his hidden identity might serve a greater purpose (the PT needed more Force perception like this)......BUT, what about scenes where you CAN'T replace him with a hologram? His confrontation with Dooku for example? Even if you want to heavily cut into scenes, and remove much of what IS there.....the stuff that remains is shot from very specific angles, corresponding to Yoda's diminutive stature. If you're going to flat out replace with with someone else then you have to consider a Jedi like Even Piel (spelling?....am I even using the right name?) (The friggin little pink guy with the huge downturned Yoda ears). And what of the end battle with Sidious? Yoda's all over that thing......take Yoda out and you're lookin at a 30 min movie (I'm exaggerating but you get my point).

This isn't to say I wouldn't like to see it done...and I am certainly willing to shoot the required material that Ady needs for whatever he wants to do with the PT....but removing Yoda from the PT would be a major overhaul.