Recently, when we wrote about the Tusken Raiders and Mark Hamill, we included how the bantha in A New Hope was actually an elephant. Mardji was the famed female Asian elephant disguised as a bantha. This extraordinary elephant helped complete the first movie and offers us five interesting facts, including her matriarchal role.
1. Mardji Was From California
Before becoming part of Tusken Raider culture, Mardji the Asian elephant lived at Marine World Africa USA in Redwood City, California. She was transported to the filming location in Death Valley and outfitted with the bantha costume composed of fur and a horned headpiece.
As a fan noted here, this was Mardji’s first trip outside the animal park, and she took advantage of it by “playing in a creek between her scenes.” Mardji was originally born in Thailand and had roles in the television shows Daktari and The Pet Set. Another discussion adds how Mardji was age 22 when A New Hope was filmed and weighed over 8,500 lbs.
George Lucas had to get permission from the National Park Service to transport Mardji out to the desert. He came to “love” this elephant and visited her in Redwood City after filming concluded.
2. Mardji Was a Model for AT-ATs
Several fans and articles have recognized that Mardji also provided a basis for how the AT-AT Walker moved in The Empire Strikes Back. This backstory article is one of the reads that includes the fact that Mardji’s gait provided a reference for the assaulting Imperial walkers on Hoth.
Special effects artist Dennis Muren is credited with filming Mardji’s movement to get “the walking motion of the AT-ATs down perfect[ly].” Mardji’s walk, combined with other influences like walking machines in War of the Worlds, was used to mold these Imperial transport weapons.
A National Public Radio adaptation of the second movie had dialogue that stated how the AT-ATs “look like animals.” That was a fitting description, given Mardji’s influence on them.
3. Mardji’s Trainer Was a Tusken Raider
Elephant trainer Alan Fernandes worked with Mardji during filming and hopped on her back to play a Tusken Raider. Fernandes was selected by Lucas to accompany Mardji from Marine World to Death Valley, keep her safe, and attend to her needs. “Covered in burlap, in 100 plus degree weather,” he also found “his way into Star Wars lore as a Bantha Rider.”
Bob Spiker was a second trainer who assisted Mardji and also played a Tusken Raider. As Fernandes commented, “There were just two riders, or trainers, on the Bantha,” or Mardji, those being Spiker and him. Not only did they get to work with an outstanding elephant, but they also played unique characters in the original movie.
4. Mardji the Martriach Elephant
In the above interview, Fernandes also spoke about how Mardji was “a Matriarch Elephant” who was “very patient, peaceful, kind and loving.” For those not familiar, the Matriarch is the leader in elephant society, “the oldest and wisest female in the herd” who serves as a protector, leader, and teacher all at once.
Fernandes attested to Mardji’s matriarchal role by indicating that when an elephant calf was under her care, “she would feed the little one first.” She also would “wrap her trunk” around Fernandes to let the calf know he was not a threat. In the end, the two of them “worked well together.”
5. Mardji Had a Special Costume
According to behind-the-scenes information for banthas, the base for Mardji’s costume was “a howdah, or elephant saddle, with added palm fronds to create the shaggy coat of a bantha.” Six crew members were needed to make the entire costume, which included “a special head mask” created from chicken wire and coated with foam to provide the right shape.
Moreover, horse hair was used for the hairs coming down from the bantha’s mouth, and ventilation tubing served as “the base for the curving horns.” The tail was composed of wood and required some effort for Mardji to adjust to it.
Mardji was also trained to roll her trunk up to keep it hidden, but it sometimes came out. In this rare footage, we can see Mardji pop her trunk out a few times, adding a touch of elephant to her bantha character.