R2-D2is one of the most famous droids inStar Wars, but his name has a much less famous origin story. R2-D2, or as he’s affectionately known, Artoo Detoo, was a droid who proved himself extremely helpful throughout the entire Skywalker saga ofStar Warsmovies. He served some of themost powerful Jedi inStar Wars, and he witnessed some of the most important events in the entireStar Warstimeline. Artoo is an extremely high-profile droid, but there are still some parts of his character that remain much less known.
Though Artoo has appeared in most of theStar Warsmovies, there are still quite a few pieces oftrivia and facts about R2-D2that aren’t immediately apparent. One of those facts is the origin of his name, which is a seemingly random combination of letters and numbers. While it would be easy to assume that George Lucas, the original creator ofStar Wars, picked Artoo’s name at random, the droid’s moniker actually has a much older origin. In fact, Lucas got his inspiration for the astromech years before he madeStar Wars, while he was working on a different film.
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George Lucas Noted R2-D2’s Name On The Set Of American Graffiti
According toLIFE: George Lucas and the Making of Star Wars, George Lucas actually got the inspiration for Artoo’s name from a completely different film:American Graffiti.
“The process also gave [Lucas] a future character name: Sound editor Walter Murch referred to one of the film’s elements, “reel 2, dialogue 2,” as “R2-D2.” Lucas liked how R2-D2 sounded and made note of it.”
George Lucas only directed two feature-length films aside fromStar Wars, one beingAmerican Graffiti, and the other beingTHX 1138. Both of the films he worked on beforeStar Warsclearly impacted his space opera, and even the characters within it. R2-D2’s name is proof of that, but it’s also proof of another truth aboutStar Wars: some of the franchise’s best names come from truly random sources.
Star Wars' Best Names Come From The Most Random Places
Like R2-D2, many otherStar Warscharacters got their names from unusual places. One of the best examples is Salacious B. Crumb, the Kowakian monkey-lizard featured in Jabba’s Palace inReturn of the Jedi.Salacious Crumb’s name originatedfrom visual effects artist Phil Tippett slurring the word “shoelaces” during a night of drinking.Other characters, too, have unusual origins for their names: Chewbacca’s name is derived from the Russian word for dog, “sobaka.“Other characters seem to have names that were more humorous in nature, such asSolo: A Star Wars Story’s Therm Scissorpunch or the drug dealer Elan Sleazebaggano.
The unusual character names ofStar Warshighlight something that makes the franchise truly special: it’s willing to inspiration from any source to make itself better. George Lucas famously combined elements of several different genres to make the originalStar Warsinto a sort of melting-pot of his favorite films. Likewise, the names of the galaxy far, far away take inspiration from everything from linguistics to Lucas' previous work to make them sound unique. It’s because of that willingness to look at unlikely sources that it’s almost guaranteed thatR2-D2won’t be the lastStar Warscharacter with an interesting origin story.
R2-D2
Many view R2-D2 as the true hero of Star Wars, because this redoubtable droid has played a key role in many galactic events. Artoo served as Anakin Skywalker’s Astromech droid during the Clone Wars, and was taken in by the Organa family on Alderaan after the Empire was established. He proved himself a tremendous ally for the Rebel Alliance, and he was the one who found his way to Luke Skywalker with the Death Star plans. Artoo remains active even in the sequel era.
