Star Wars: The Sequim Connection

Published 1:49 pm Wednesday, December 9, 2015

The lore is strong with this tale.

It’s been buzzing for many years and it sounds to some that a few of Sequim’s creatures went on a journey not so long ago to a galaxy far, far away.

Former and current employees of the Olympic Game Farm say several animals’ sounds were recorded in Sequim and used in “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” and possibly later films, games and merchandise in the franchise.

As ticket presales continue to mount and the world anticipates the release of the next film in the franchise — “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” — some believe one Sequim creature may have played a role in saving the lives of some iconic heroes.

Barbara McInnes Edmondson, a 1979 Sequim High grad, was a tour guide at the time on the farm. She was a sophomore with curly hair and wearing overalls in the summer of 1977 when “Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope” was a big hit.

One day, she was asked by co-owner Catherine Beebe (husband was Lloyd Beebe) to lead a sound engineer around to listen to animals.

“He had a lot of gear on his back with a boom mic that went up and over his head,” McInnes Edmondson said.

“He told me they were gathering sound effects for the second movie.”

She didn’t recall distinctly the man’s appearance but he was calm in his demeanor as they went from animal to animal.

They recorded lions roaring, baby black bears sucking their paws, a tiger’s puff-puff-puff greeting, a leopard in heat and a river otter.

McInnes Edmondson said Emma the river otter may be the source of the most distinct sounds she heard after recently revisiting “Empire Strikes Back.”

“She was very friendly and well-trained,” she said.

“She had a galvanized tank like a bath tub to swim around in. We always carried little pieces of meat for her. She would beg for the piece of meat.”

That begging, McInnes Edmondson said, came out like a high-pitched humming.

Admittedly, McInnes Edmondson said she’s not a “Star Wars” fan, but she did go to see the first sequel in theaters when it came out in 1980.

“One of the first sounds that hit me was this otter,” she said.

Otters in space

McInnes Edmondson recently rewatched “The Empire Strikes Back” to listen carefully for the farm’s creatures. Emma still stood out clearly to her with its vocalizations used for the Tauntauns.

In the film, the creatures serve as transports for heroes Han Solo and Luke Skywalker to traverse the ice planet Hoth.

Skywalker becomes stranded in the cold through a series of events and Solo must save him.

Tauntauns are heard at multiple points, which includes engineered versions of the otter’s vocals, McInnes Edmondson said.

One Tauntaun even saves the lives of the heroes through a snow storm as Solo seeks refuge inside the beast leading to his quip, “I thought they smelled bad on the outside.”

McInnes Edmondson said the engineer liked Emma’s sounds more than any other animal they visited and they spent 20-30 minutes with her. That day, she spent about 90 minutes with the sound engineer at the end of the workday.

“The sound effects I heard were mostly her simply talking and begging, and a little bit of the odd sounds she made as she would gobble the meat while at the same time begging for more,” McInnes Edmondson said.

Emma’s voice stayed largely intact too as creatures can be any combination and/or modification of sounds.

“Her actual sound wasn’t really altered for the movie,” McInnes Edmondson said. “What I hear in these scenes was exactly what she sounded like.”

Former farm manager Bill Robb remembers hearing Emma on the silver screen, too.

“In the show, you couldn’t pick out the exact sounds because they distorted the sounds but the otter sound was distinctive,” he said.

Robb recalls two people coming though for the weekend to record sounds for “Star Wars,” that McInnes Edmondson mentioned including elk and wolves.

If other animals or sounds from Sequim were used, it cannot be confirmed at this time.

The Tauntaun has been featured in video games, novels, toys and TV shows.

Sound staff for “The Empire Strikes Back” could not be reached for comment for this story.

However, Randy Thom, credited as sound effects recordist for the film and an Academy Award-winning sound mixer/editor, wrote about the importance of sound in 1999 in his paper “Designing a Movie for Sound.”

In it, he wrote, “I think if you look closely at and listen to a dozen or so of the movies you consider to be great, you will realize how important a role sound plays in many if not most of them. It is even a little misleading to say ‘a role sound plays’ because in fact when a scene is really clicking, the visual and aural elements are working together so well that it is nearly impossible to distinguish them.”

Sequim at the movies

Sequim animals appearing on screen isn’t an oddity.

From the 1950s to 1972, the Olympic Game Farm, formerly Disney’s Wild Animal Ranch, served as a holding facility for the animal actors of Disney Studios, which now owns the rights to the “Star Wars” brand.

During that stint, Lloyd and Catherine Beebe led filming and operations of the animals for films like “Charlie the Lonesome Cougar,” “The Incredible Journey” and other Disney nature pictures. Lloyd would film the animals afar and on the farm.

Eventually Disney’s board of directors decided to go away from nature films, so the Beebes officially opened up the farm to the public in 1973. They continued to work with movie and TV companies like 20th Century Fox, MGM, United Artists, ad agencies and even Disney for films like “Mountain Family Robinson.”

Robert Beebe, president of the Olympic Game Farm, said he didn’t grow up in Sequim when special events happened like recording sounds for “Star Wars” and he didn’t learn about some of the historical moments until recently.

“My grandfather wasn’t one to boast,” he said. “So a lot of the stories that come across are little Easter eggs from older employees.”

Despite a shift in the film industry to use fewer live animals and more animatronics and computer graphics, Beebe said they continue to do work with TV, movies, commercials and video games.

State officials even recorded some cougar sounds on site for studies to deter deer and/or attract cougars to certain locations, he said.

Calls still come in for various screen work and the farm’s stories keep coming out, too.

James Beebe, vice president of the farm, said he’s been told a farm animal, possibly Emma, provided some of the sounds for the titular character in “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.”

But we’ll dial that story up possibly for its sequel or reboot.

For more information on the Olympic Game Farm, 1423 Ward Road, and its history, visit http://olygamefarm.com or call 683-4295.

Make light saber at library

To celebrate the upcoming release of the newest Star Wars movie, “The Force Awakens,” the Sequim Library hosts a free Star Wars Extravaganza on Saturday, Dec. 12. From 10-11:30 a.m., Sequim Middle School teacher Caleb Gentry presents a light saber construction workshop.

Recommended ages for this workshop are 8-14 years old and pre-registration is required.

To register, visit www.nols.org, call 683-1161 or send an e-mail to youth@nols.org. All light saber construction materials are provided.

From 12:30-2:30 p.m., there is a free screening of “The Empire Strikes Back,” with trivia and free snacks available. All ages are welcome to attend and no pre-registration is necessary.

Call 683-1161, e-mail to youth@nols.org or visit www.nols.org.