Yoda, Frank Oz Would Reprise
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With rumors that the first Star Wars stand-alone movie could feature everyone’s favorite Jedi Master, Yoda, Disney quickly played down the buzz, insisting that they were merely “kicking around” ideas. Whether or not there is any truth to these claims, a Yoda stand-alone movie could be a good idea if handled well.
Legendary voice actor and puppeteer Frank Oz expressed his interest in returning to the role of Yoda, although Disney and Lucasfilm have not approached him as of yet. Oz told Hero Complex:
“He’s in my heart. I know Yoda very deeply … I think it depends on the story, but I think at this point you can’t go back to the puppet. The reason George [Lucas] did the CGI, which I supported, was that he wanted to tell a story that would have been hampered by the physical limitations of the puppet.”
In 1980, Oz voiced and did the entire puppet work for the character of Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back. He continued to bring Yoda to life until the character was turned into a CGI character for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Oz did continue to do the voice work in those films.
It appears Yoda could be at the center of one of these Star Wars stand-alone movies, it’s just a question of when Disney would release them. Considering that development for Star Wars: Episode VII is well under way, it doesn’t look like Disney would be releasing a stand-alone film until after Episode VII is released.
Regardless, it’s good to know Frank Oz is ready to take up the Yoda role again. If a Yoda movie will happen, it would be most likely another prequel film, given the Jedi Master’s fate in Return of the Jedi.
