The Styrous® Viewfinder: Star Wars ~ The Empire Strikes Back 3D mirror box with Darth Vader & Yoda

October 18, 2015

Star Wars ~ The Empire Strikes Back 3D mirror box with Darth Vader & Yoda

The Empire Strikes Back cube
photo by Styrous®

The character of Yoda was introduced in the second of the Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back, and was portrayed by puppeteer, Frank Oz. He trains Luke Skywalker to fight against the evil Galactic Empire. The The Empire Strikes Back cube featured both Darth Vader and Yoda.

Yoda (Frank Oz)

movie still

Frank Oz provided Yoda's voice in each film and used his skills as a puppeteer in the original trilogy and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. For Episodes V and I, in some walking scenes, Deep Roy and Warwick Davis incarnated Yoda as well, though were uncredited. While Frank Oz served as the primary performer, he was assisted by a multitude of other puppeteers, including: Kathryn Mullen (Ep. V), Mike Quinn (Ep. VI), David Barclay (Ep. V-VI), Don Austen (Ep. I), David Greenaway (Ep. I & VI), Wendy Froud (Ep. V), and Kathy Smee (Ep. I). For the radio dramatizations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Yoda was voiced by John Lithgow, while Tom Kane voiced him in the Clone Wars animated series, several video games, and the series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

The Empire Strikes Back cube
Darth Vader side
photo by Styrous®

The Empire Strikes Back cube
Yoda side
photo by Styrous®

The cube special effect was achieved by putting a mirror between the heads of Darth Vader and Yoda. The head of each was cut in half laterally on the median plane with the mirror between.