Pooh

Pooh was a young cinnamon bear whose vocal sounds Ben Burtt used as the basis of Chewbacca's voice.

Biography

Pooh was young by 1975, and was cared for by trainer Monty Cox and his partner, stuntwoman Susan Backlinie, in an animal farm near Tehachapi, California.^[1]

While working for Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Ben Burtt was collecting sound samples of bears in order to create Chewbacca's speech. Having little luck with zoos, he visited Cox's farm with his boom technician Richard Anderson, and spent a day in Pooh's pen with the help of Backlinie. Pooh was deliberately unfed by Cox, and seeing his meal (bread soaked in milk) withheld, he produced crying and moaning sounds. During that process, Cox also paraded other animals near Pooh, such as a mountain lion on a leash, causing the young to produce different vocalized reactions. At one point Pooh stood up and hugged Anderson, who was terrified.^[1]

Pooh's voice consisted the major bulk of Chewbacca's, and Burtt created a library of vocalizations, grouped according to the different emotions they conveyed according to their intonation -- anger, fear, happiness or inquiry. Burtt complemented the library with other sounds from walruses and dogs.^[1]

For The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), Burtt revisited Cox'x farm, but by that time Pooh had matured and was not cooperative.^[1]

Filmography

Sources

• Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide
• Drawing from the Present: Familiar Creatures in a Galaxy Far, Far Away on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Star Wars in 100 Scenes
• Much to Learn You Still Have: 8 Things You Might Not Know About Wookiees on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Weird But True! Star Wars