they filmed most of the return of the jedi endor scenes at smith river, california.
where did they film most of the return of the jedi endor scenes?
smith river, california
Na
Na
hosted by carrie fisher and billy dee williams, the special includes an interview with "star wars" creator george lucas who elaborates on the evolution of the ewoks, sy snootles (or "miss snooty" as carrie fisher calls her) and jabba the hutt, which required six people to operate. it also includes location footage from the redwood forests of northern california (where the endor scenes were filmed, buttercup valley in the yuma desert in arizona, where the sequence aboard jabba's sailbarge was shot, and various scenes on the soundstages at elstree studios near london where the interiors of jabba's palace were filmed. over 60 alien creatures were created for "return of the jedi" which were operated by a variety of techniques old and new. footage from earlier films illustrated the various methods used, including using actors in costumes (as in "creature from the black lagoon" and "godzilla"), stop motion miniatures (as seen in "the beast from 20,000 fathoms" and "king kong"), and large scale mechanicals (as seen in "them!"). some of the creatures (such as yoda and the rancor) were mainly puppeteered but also contained animatronic devices that could be controlled remotely. the documentary also includes scenes from more recent "creature" films from the era such as "", "the dark crystal" (along with a brief interview with its director jim henson), and "dragonslayer" (which pioneered the use of "go-motion" techniques in which a miniature creature and the camera are simultaneously computer controlled).
classic creatures: return of the jedi