At one point when the prospects for the movie's release seemed bleakest, the idea came up that perhaps the effects could be removed from the movie and recycled into a TV show.
C-3PO was originally scripted as a "used car salesman" type, and designed after the robot from Metropolis (1926).
After the sets were constructed, Lucas went through them and had every single one of them "dirtied up". The R2-D2s were all rolled in the dirt, nicked with a saw, and kicked around a bit.
The Millennium Falcon was originally modeled after a hamburger with an olive next to it.
According to the exhibit at the Smithsonian, the sound of a TIE fighter is created by combining the squeal of a young elephant with the sound of a car driving by on a rain-slicked highway.
The Chewbacca suit retained a bad smell for the duration of filming after the trash-compactor scene.
Cardboard cutouts are used for some of the background starfighters in the Rebel hanger bay.
Most of the crowd watching the heroes receive their medallions are cardboard cutouts.
The model used for the rebel blockade runner (the first ship seen in the first scene of the film) has a tiny Star Wars movie poster. It isn't visible on screen, though.
Peter Cushing found the boots that came with his costume extremely uncomfortable to wear because they were too small for his feet. Thus he only wore them in the few shots in which Tarkin's feet could be seen. In all other shots, Cushing wore a pair of fuzzy slippers.
A small pair of metal dice can be seen hanging in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon as Chewbacca makes preparations to depart from Mos Eisley. They don't appear in subsequent scenes.
The name Wookiee came about as a result of an accident. When San Francisco DJ Terry McGovern was doing voice-over work on THX 1138 (1970) for George Lucas, he made a blunder and exclaimed, "I think I ran over a wookiee back there." Lucas, confused, asked what he meant by the term. McGovern admitted that he didn't know and added that he simply made it up. Lucas never forgot the cute word and used it years later in Star Wars.
Derived from (among other things) a Japanese movie called Kakushi toride no san akunin (1958). Obi-Wan Kenobi was modeled after a Samurai warrior, and C-3PO and R2-D2 are derived from a couple of petty crooks he conscripted to help rescue a princess.
Chewbacca's "voice" is a combination of several animals including bears, badgers, walrus and camels.
Wierd Laws
Alabama
It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle.
Dominoes may not be played on Sunday.
It is illegal to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.
California
Sunshine is guaranteed to the masses.
Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship.
Bathhouses are against the law. [Get the full text of this law.]
It is a misdemeanor to shoot at any kind of game from a moving vehicle, unless the target is a whale.
Women may not drive in a house coat.
Florida
Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.
A special law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing.
If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.
It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit.
Kansas
Prohibits shooting rabbits from a motorboat.
Louisiana
It is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.
Indiana
It is illegal for a liquor store to sell cold soft drinks.
Liquor stores may not sell milk.
Michigan
You may not swear in front of women and children in the state of Michigan.
Nebraska
It is illegal for bar owners to sell beer unless they are simultaneously brewing a kettle of soup.
New York
A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. This old law specifically prohibits men from turning around on any city street and looking "at a woman in that way." A second conviction for a crime of this magnitude calls for the violating male to be forced to wear a "pair of horse-blinders" wherever and whenever he goes outside for a stroll.
It is against the law to throw a ball at someone's head for fun.
A license must be purchased before hanging clothes on a clothesline.
The penalty for jumping off a building is death.
North Dakota
Beer and pretzels can't be served at the same time in any bar or restaurant.
It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on.
Ohio
It is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday.
It is illegal to get a fish drunk.
Pennsylvania
A person is not eligible to become Governor if he/she has participated in a duel.
Texas
It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing.
It is illegal to drive without windshield wipers. You don't need a windshield, but you must have the wipers.
It is illegal for one to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel.
It is illegal to milk another person's cow.
A recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed.
The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home.
Wisconsin
You must manually flush all urinals in a building.
Butter substitutes are not allowed to be served in state prisons.
