The unofficial Jar Jar Fan Page

Obi Wan and Qui Gon meet Jar Jar

Although many are afraid to admit it, Jar Jar is quite possibly one of the most important, and most interesting characters in the star wars universe. Unfortunately he has gotten a pretty bad rap from many fans. Jar Jar's unofficial fan page's opinion on the matter is as follows:

Yoda fan's are jealous of Jar Jar and have been sabotaging him and giving him bad press.

Think about it. Yoda is a puppet character that speaks funny, Jar Jar is a cgi character that speaks funny. Jar Jar gets more screen time in episode one and Yoda fan's get jealous. Apart from their similarites (funny speach, no shoes, big ears) the two have juxtiposing qualities as well: Yoda is wrinkly Jar Jar is smooth, Jar Jar has floppy ears, Yoda has pointy ones. Jar Jar is yellow Yoda is green (which are optical opposites).

The main connection between the two, however, is that both are initially considered to be unimportant and then later prove their importance. When Luke first encountered Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back he didn't see him as being important at all later we find that Yoda is extremely important for Luke. Similarly Jar Jar is believed to be unimportant by Obi Wan when they first meet. Later we find that he is more important than one might think in that his loyalty to Qui Gon, who saved his life, helps bring the aid of the Gungans to the Naboo.

Jar Jar is comparable but also more silly than Yoda. Yoda talks funny and looks funny but if you say that to a fan they might feel that you are insulting their idol. The determining factor in the animosity towards Jar Jar, however, is that he was always CGI. Yoda fans were also afraid of this, because then Yoda might and in fact did become CGI as well. For many years Yoda fans have been advocates of puppet characters having spent years defending the integrity of a muppet. Also, Jabba's transformation from puppet to CGI was less than favorable in the opinion of many. But CGI has improved to a large degree, and at this point there's really nothing wrong with being a CGI character, just ask Jar Jar.

Unfortunately all the bad vibes from Yodaphiles got their way and as the prequils progressed Jar Jar got increasingly less on screen time. In episode 2 he has very few lines, and in episode 3 he doesn't have any lines and is just seen sitting at a senate meeting and walking past the camera at Padme's wake.

  8 reasons Jar Jar is cooler than yoda:

  1. Has more on screen battle droid kills than yoda.
  2. Jar Jar can walk at a normal pace without the help of a floating chair.
  3. Jar Jar takes action quickly: Yoda is always stalling, saying stuff like "he's too old to begin training" or "difficult to see the dark side is" If yoda would have got up off his butt and trained Anikan himself maybe he wouldn't have turned to the dark side in the first place.  When the supreme chancellor needs someone to speak up for the republic, on the other hand, Jar Jar does it right away... It's not his fault if the Chancellor happened to be an evil sith lord.
  4. Doesn't need to use the force to change a light bulb.
  5. Way long tounge comes in handy with the ladies way more than a little green wrinkled... you know.
  6. Can beat Yoda hands down in a breath-holding-contest.
  7. Jar Jar's swamp has cleaner water and cooler monsters.
  8. Went digital before yoda. Yoda has been completely digital since Episode II, Attack of the Clones.

Gungan Mysteries:

I'm not sure if this information exists right now, if you have an answer please send email to gray_m at hotmail dot com:

Gungans are said to be amphibious humanoid creatures. Does this just mean that they are good swimmers, or do they actually start off as tadpoles like a salamander or frog? Also, do gungans have just one child at a time or do they lay eggs like an amphibian?

Starwars.com says there are "a number of different races." Will Jar Jar eventually become short and green like Boss Nass or is Boss Nass a different race of Gungan? If Boss Nass is a different race, was he always green or did he change at some point, and can the Boss Nass type Gungan breed with other gungan races?

If all Gungans eventually become shorter and Green, at what age does this change happen, and does this happen for males and females alike? Jar Jar changed color in his twenties, and he didn't show signs of being green at the age of 33, so the changed would have to happen at least after 33 years of age.

Jar Jar Character Statistics

Ahmed Best Acting the Part of Jar Jar Before CGI Is Applied

Another Jar Jar Site

Jar Jar Fan Connection

Interesting Jar Jar Facts:

The name Jar Jar was made up by George Lucas's son.

Star wars episode II was originally going to be called Jar Jar's Big Adventure.

Ahmed Best who plays Jar Jar has a cameo as a Jedi in Episode I as Palpatine arrives in Naboo, and in Episode II in the bar scene. In addition to playing the voice of Jar Jar, Ahmed wore a Jar Jar costume playing the part of Jar Jar along with the other actors. Jar Jar was then given his CGI skin in editing.

Jar Jar is portrayed by Ahmed Best in three of  the six star wars movies making Jar Jar one of the most consistant characters. The only charactars who appear in all six movies are R2D2, C3P0, Anikin and Obi Wan. Runners up include Yoda and Palpatine with five appearences each. Also, Leah and Luke have 4 appearences if you include their birth scenes.

Jar Jar Trivia from theforce.net:

Q: What was the froglike creature called that Jar Jar tried to steal? Who was the vendor?
A: The frog was a "gorg" as it is called in Huttese or "chuba" as it is called in Basic and was sold by Gragra. (Source - Episode I Visual Dictionary)

Q: Why was Jar Jar Binks banished from Otoh Gunga?
A: He accidentally flooded most of Boss Nass's mansion and several adjoining bubbles while working as a waiter at a high-class party. (Source: Episode I Visual Dictionary)

Q: Name the creatures who attacked Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Jar Jar in the Gungan Bongo inthe order they attacked.
A: Opee Sea Killer, Sando Aqua Monster, Colo Claw Fish (Source: Episode 1 Novelization)

Q: Which famous pop star wanted the role of Jar Jar?
A: Michael Jackson. The following comes from a Rolling Stone interview with Ahmed Best: Once, in London, Portman, Lucas and Best went to a Michael Jackson concert. "Backstage, George introduced me. He goes, 'This is Ahmed, also known as Jar Jar Binks.' I thought, 'I wonder why he said that.' Come to find out, Michael was campaigning for the part. George said to cast him would compromise the movie because he's such a big star."

Visit theforce.net for more Star Wars trivia.