Huge artist, illustrator Ralph McQuarrie has worked extensively on the creation of the visual universe of the saga of George Lucas, including the character of Emperor Palpatine.
If the general public is completely unaware of who Ralph McQuarrie is, the eyes of fans of the Star Wars saga, on the contrary, light up. If Darth Vader has no recognized father in the saga, we can however attribute the paternity of the character (at least his unforgettable aspect) to this immense artist, who died in March 2012 at the age of 82.
Major artist, at work in aeronautics (he had started at Boeing), advertising, literature and cinema therefore, the American illustrator had largely worked on the creation of the visual universe of the saga of George Lucas , of which we revealed here a very small overview of his creations.
Like his colleague Syd Mead, another legendary designer who created the entire visual universe of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Ralph McQuarrie’s influence was colossal, especially in the world of video games where many artistic directors fed on his creations, as in the saga Space Opera Mass Effect For example.
A different emperor in each scene!
Return of the Jedi finally physically introduced the oh so iconic character of the saga, Emperor Palpatine, after a brief appearance in hologram form in The Empire Strikes Back.
Although in this version, it was a woman! Since the edits of george lucas on her film in 2004, the actress was erased from the film in favor of Ian McDiarmid, interpreter of Palpatine since Return of the Jedi.
Beyond the actor’s memorable line-up, Ralph McQuarrie had a much more elaborate idea about this character and his appearance. He had to change his appearance at each of his scenes!
Lucasfilm Ltd.
“My concept for the Emperor was a character that was more of a spirit than a reality. A spirit so advanced that he kind of came in the form of drawings. You never really saw him.
And I did a lot of sketches showing this emperor, who sometimes showed up with the beautiful pink lips of a young woman, and then there was this beastly dog-like creature, growling and growling at you, with those hideous eyes and shining looking at you…”
We obviously imagine that it would have been technically very complicated to have so many appearance changes in the film, especially in anticipation of the final confrontation. But, at the end of the day, actor Ian McDiarmid’s performance is just as frightening, if not more effective!