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The Rebel cannon sled[3] was a ground vehicle used by the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War.[2]
History
An ice-cutter (left) in the hangar of Echo Base.
During the Battle of Hoth between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, several cannon sleds were present, with at least one on the front lines and another in Hangar 7 in Echo Base.[2]
Some of the craft had laser-ice cutters mounted to them and were used by the Rebel Alliance Corps of Engineers, alongside excavator machinery, to carve out space inside the caves of Echo Base.[1]
Behind the scenes
Cannon sled prop on the set of The Empire Strikes Back
The vehicle appeared, unnamed, in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.[2] The original blueprints for the prop show its production name was "cannon sled".[4] The 2016 reference book Star Wars: Complete Locations identified the laser-ice cutter on top of the vehicle,[1] and the vehicle itself was officially named in a Star Wars By the Numbers video.[3]
The Star Wars: The Blueprints book indicates the vehicle was mounted on a sled towed by an Aktiv Fischer Snow Trac vehicle.[4] On set footage of the vehicle was included in the rare documentary by Michel Parbot, The Making of "The Empire Strikes Back".[5] There were a number of publicity photos of Luke Skywalker manning the turret on the vehicle which, according to Lucasfilm Story Group executive Pablo Hidalgo, were not deleted scenes but rather on-set photos taken with the prop.[6]
Appearances
Laser-ice cutter in Echo Base
- Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (First appearance)
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back junior novelization (Indirect mention only)
- "A Good Kiss" — From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back (and audiobook) (Indirect mention only)
Sources
- Star Wars: Complete Locations (First identified as laser-ice cutter)
- Star Wars: The Rebel Files
Star Wars By the Numbers: Every Surface Vehicle in Star Wars Movies on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (original link is obsolete) (First identified as cannon sled)
Hoth in the Databank (backup link) (Picture only)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Star Wars: Complete Locations
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
- ↑ 3.0 3.1
Star Wars By the Numbers: Every Surface Vehicle in Star Wars Movies on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (original link is obsolete)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Star Wars: The Blueprints
- ↑
The "Lost" Empire Strikes Back Documentary by Michel Parbot (1980) on the Adywan revisited YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑
Pablo Hidalgo (@pabl0hidalgo) on Twitter (post): "You may occasionally find photos of Luke in his snowspeeder pilot manning the guns online labeled as a 'deleted scene'. It's not. It's more like a photo opportunity, as this prop / vehicle was on set that day" (original link is obsolete)
External links
The "Lost" Empire Strikes Back Documentary by Michel Parbot (1980) on the Adywan revisited YouTube channel (backup link) (Behind the scenes footage and interviews including the cannon sled)