In case you don’t remember just who Admiral Ackbar is, we’ll give you a hint. The was the guy that had the fish head on “Star Wars.” He led the rebellion in “Return of the Jedi.” We knew by his title that he was a guy that had seen some action in his time, and that he was an important leader to the group, but here are five things that you didn’t know about him.
He was Grand Moff Tarkin’s slave
This is something that wasn’t shared in the film, but if you read through the variety of reference books on “Star Wars,” you can glean a lot of auxiliary information about the various characters and their histories. Ackbar came from the planet Mon Cala, which is an aquatic world, hence the fish-like features. When the Galactic Empire invaded the planet, they robbed it of resources and left it decimated. Some of the inhabitants were taken as slaves, and Ackbar happened to be one of them. He was assigned to serve Grand Moff Tarkin and his work on the Death Star gave him inside information into what could bring it down.
He has a first and last name
We only hear him referred to as Admiral Ackbar in the film. He doesn’t have many scenes in the movie, but the writers fail to include any allusions to his first name. This may be a bit trivial, but it’s still important for development of the character and helping fans to know more about him. His first name is revealed in “The Essential Guide to Warfare” as Gial Ackbar.
Ackbar wasn’t always an amphibian
Admiral Ackbar stands out from all the other creatures in “Star Wars” because of his unusual appearance that is admittedly on the bizarre side. In his initial conception, the character had features that were more human like and much lighter on the amphibian appearance. The director of “Return of the Jedi,” Richard Marquand was given the green light to make the choice of what Ackbar would ultimately look like. He made his choice from a collection of design concepts and chose the one that made the final cut. This wasn’t what many of Lucas’ staffers had in mind and they were not pleased with the choice, but Marquand would not be moved because he felt that the image would send a positive message to younger viewers, teaching them that appearances can be deceiving and have little to do with a person’s actual abilities.
Ackbar helped in the design of the B Wing Starfighter craft
In reading through the mythology books on “Star Wars,” we discover that Admiral Ackbar was a brilliant strategist and tactician. He assisted in the design of the B-Wing aircraft that helped to take down the Death Star. He was a member of the think tank called the Shantipole Project, with the purpose of building effective starfighters for use in the rebellion against the Galactic Empire.
The actor lending his voice to the character finished in one hour
Tim Rose was the actor who wore the suit and makeup underneath the character Admiral Ackbar. He was a puppeteer who used his hand to make the head and mouth of the character move, but he was not the man speaking. The voice actor for Ackbar was Erik Bauersfeld. Bauersfeld was a known radio personality and he devised the voice based solely on a photograph that was given him. His choice matched the character very well and when it was time to record the dialogue, it only took him an hour to complete the entire script.
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