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Post #783559

Author
ZkinandBonez
Parent topic
Design failures (and successes) of the PT
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/783559/action/topic#783559
Date created
3-Aug-2015, 4:31 PM

I've always felt that Naboo was one of the "good parts" of TPM. Not only is Theed a very pretty-looking location, but it was one of the few PT locations that felt like it could belong in the SW-universe, while at the same time being different from anything we had previously seen. 
And although I realize there are people who really despise queen Amidala's wardrobe, I can't quite shake that feeling that had TPM not been as poorly written (and had no Jar Jar to ruin everyone's mood) I think people would have remembered her strange look much more fondly.

  
Amidala's design being inspired by Mongolian royalty kind of fits into the SW's general style, which was originally heavily influenced by Japanese culture. If Vader's design was based on samurai generals, why not Mongolian rayalty in the PT?

And maybe this is a somewhat controversial opinion, but I actually kind of like the design of the Gungans. Of course their silly behavior, not to mention their speech, leave much to be desired. But again, had the characters been written differently, but the design kept exactly the same, I think we would have liked them a whole lot more.

   

Heck, even Jar Jar looked kind of cool in some of the early concept art ideas.


I really like this painting. Jar Jar actually looks like a dignified character, rather than being the complete goof he turned out to be. I'm curious as to who actually made this as it shows a very different version of Jar Jar than all the other concept art that was made.

All in all I think that the design of TPM is it's strong side. It may be a bit strange some times but it wasn't as out of place in the SW-universe as many of the Ep. II and III design choices were. The real sinner in TPM was George's mediocre writing, retconning and terrible attempts at humour.

However since this thread is mostly about bad designs I'll finish by showing what is possibly the ugliest concept art for Jar Jar I have yet to see. Seriously this design is so ugly it actually makes me appreciate the current design to some degree.