Jabba the Hutt is one Star Wars character who has captivated (and disgusted) fans through the years. However, his reintroduction in the 1997 special edition of A New Hope was not as convincing as people had hoped. Luckily, a YouTube video has fixed the problematic scene with a practical solution that could have been utilized when the film was first released in the 1970s!
Jabba the Hutt's appearance has evolved significantly since his first introduction in A New Hope. While George Lucas had always envisioned Jabba as the unsettling alien crime lord he is known as today, the technology available in 1977 was not advanced enough to bring his vision to life. Instead, a human actor was used as a stand-in.
The scene in which Jabba confronts Han Solo about a debt owed was originally shot with a human actor but was removed from the theatrical cut of A New Hope. It was intended to be reinserted in alignment with Lucas' vision for Jabba. The YouTube channel Star Wars Story showcases different versions of this scene, including one that the creator of the video designed.
The video starts with the original 1977 deleted scene in the top right corner and then proceeds counter-clockwise. It shows the 1997 special edition's CGI version, an upgraded version from 2004, and concludes with a fan-edit that presents Jabba communicating through a hologram.
The hologram solution certainly would have worked back in 1977 considering that Princess Leia Organa had used the same thing to call on Obi-Wan Kenobi through R2-D2. Although it wouldn't be as "clean" as the version in the video, it would have worked for audiences back in the 70s. In addition to that, it would have amped up the anticipation for Jabba's debut in all his sluggish magnificence in Return of the Jedi.
Although Jabba has been killed off in the Star Wars Universe, the Hutt almost made his return in a cancelled film. It was previously confirmed by Guillermo del Toro that he was called in to work on a movie about Jabba the Hutt. However, the project was ultimately scrapped by Lucasfilm and Disney.
