


Or so I thought.”ĭaniels finished the scene-and the film-without giving the shot another thought. I eventually rose again, dripping but without incident. “The oil permeated the inner spaces between me and the costume legs as I chatted with my new master, Luke Skywalker. That was achieved with two electric kettles hidden behind me.”īut this oil had an unintended consequence. Not as much as was indicated by the steam. The crew had been kind enough to warm it. “I stood on a platform that gently lowered me into the green liquid. “It really was oil,” Daniels tells Mental Floss. Declaring both theories “nonsense,” Daniels was gracious enough to illuminate this sizable mystery.Īccording to Daniels, the phallic mishap happened on set in London’s Elstree Studios while shooting the scene in which Threepio was to be lowered into his oil bath.

Mental Floss reached out to Daniels, who is currently finishing his autobiography, I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story, which is due for release on November 5. Neither explanation, however, appears to be the true story. Whatever the real explanation is, the ‘mischievous airbrush artist’ scenario simply doesn’t fit.”Īn alternative explanation by Gary Gerani, who oversaw the selection of images for Topps at that time, indicated that the Pfizer version of C-3PO was the result of prop masters fooling around on set for their own amusement. They are not retouched in any way, yet still contain the same image.

The original contact sheets from the photo shoot attest to this. The current theory is that the instant the photo was snapped, a piece fell off the Threepio costume, and just happened to line up in such a way as to suggest a bawdy image.
ANOMALY 2 STEAM TRADING CARDS ARCHIVE
The untouched archive photo shows the image just as it appears on the card. “… appears that the extra appendage is not the work of an artist, but rather a trick of timing and light. According to the Lucasfilm-endorsed explanation, a piece of the costume became loose at the precise moment the photo was taken, lending the character the appearance of mechanical arousal:
