| Watto | |
|---|---|
| Star Wars character | |
 Watto as he appears inStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. | |
| First appearance | The Phantom Menace (1999) |
| Created by | George Lucas |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Toydarian |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Junk store proprietor |
| Homeworld | Toydaria |
Watto is a fictional character in theStar Wars franchise, featured in the filmsThe Phantom Menace andAttack of the Clones. He iscomputer-generated and is voiced byvoice actorAndy Secombe. He is a mean-tempered, greedyToydarian, and owner of a second-hand goods store in Mos Espa on the planetTatooine. Among Watto's belongings are theslavesShmi Skywalker and her son,Anakin. He acquires them after winning apodracing bet with Gardulla the Hutt, and he puts them both to work in his store. Anakin demonstrates an incredible aptitude for equipment repair, and Watto decides to profit from it by having the boy fix various broken equipment in the store. He eventually loses Anakin in a podracing bet withQui-Gon Jinn when he bets on a competitor,Sebulba, who is defeated by Anakin.
George Lucas was specific with theconcept art team about what features he envisioned for Watto. Design directorDoug Chiang described the character's design as "this conglomeration of odd things that really didn't fit, but that in the end gave him a very unique and powerful personality".[1] Lucas dismissed concepts including a pudgy parrot byTerryl Whitlatch (though Whitlatch recalls one of her designs influencing the direction for the character)[2] and a four-armed beast with a cigar by Iain Craig.[1] Chiang repurposed the head from one of his earlyNeimoidian designs, featuring a hooked trunk and crooked teeth,[3] and addedhummingbird wings, meeting Lucas's approval. Additionally, Chiang gave Watto a vest and a tool belt, only asking for webbed feet and pants. Modeling supervisor Geoff Campell was skeptical of having a chubby alien with wings, so it was imagined that the Toydarians are filled with gas, with the wings propelling them instead of supporting their weight. Animation supervisorRob Coleman realized that the alien's teeth would need some modification, as the craggy teeth made lip-syncing difficult. To solve the problem, Coleman broke off one of Watto's incisors, giving him a "corner-of-the-mouth" vernacular. His expressions were based on video footage of voice actorAndy Secombe, photographs of Coleman imitating the character, and modeler Steve Alpin saying Watto's lines to a mirror.[1]Alec Guinness performing asFagin inOliver Twist was used as an influence in the character's demeanor.[4] The sound of his wings flapping is a looped recording of sound designerBen Burtt opening and closing anumbrella.
Watto first appears inStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the first title chronologically in theStar Wars series. He has both an ability for haggling and a resistance to the "Jedi mind trick", a technique used to persuade people. He is both a junk dealer and slave owner on the planetTatooine, possessing bothShmi Skywalker and her sonAnakin. When challenged to a bet for Anakin's freedom byQui-Gon Jinn along with what he needs to repair his damaged ship, Watto agrees due to him refusing to take Republic change. After Anakin beatsSebulba (whom Watto bets on), a competing racer that he challenged throughout the race he participated in, he was let go. However, Watto (who believes Qui-Gon scammed him) at first considers calling off the bet, but gives in when Qui-Gon threatens to tell the Hutts of his double-crossing. Watto makes a final appearance in the sequelEpisode II – Attack of the Clones, which takes place 10 years afterThe Phantom Menace. The now-adult Anakin returns to Tatooine to find his mother. Searching Mos Espa, he finds Watto sitting outside the shop at a small stall. They reunite on somewhat amicable terms and Watto tells Anakin that he sold Shmi some years ago to a moisture farmer namedCliegg Lars, who freed and married her. Watto then takes Anakin andPadmé to look through his records to find her.
Watto makes multiple further appearances in theStar Wars Expanded Universe; one such appearance details his time on his home planet before he came to Tatooine during a war. It also tells how he sustained his broken tusk and disabled leg. He later learns his business savvy from theJawas, native to the planet Tatooine. In thenon-canonicalStar Wars comic bookStar Wars: Visionaries, Watto is shown to have been killed byDarth Maul (whose appearance here predates the canonical revelation of his survival of the events ofThe Phantom Menace) during Maul's process of tracking down his nemesisObi-Wan Kenobi, to gain vengeance for his defeat during the Battle of Naboo.
His son Blatto makes an appearance in the non-canonical television specialPhineas and Ferb: Star Wars.
There has been an uncommon amount of Watto merchandise made over the years since 1999. In 2019, the WattoFunko Pop was first realized at the 2019 Galactic Con as an Exclusive. Watto has also been produced as aLego figure and featured in theLegoStar Wars video games, in addition to numerous other appearances in the form of collectibles and other merchandising.
Editors forIGN ranked Watto 78th in their list of Top 100Star Wars characters. They wrote that he was "one of the most confusing scientific anomalies" due to "the idea that a creature so potbellied is able to stay afloat for so long". They added that he was "no prince" for his unscrupulous deals.[5]In the bookThe Holy Family and Its Legacy, author Albrecht Koschorke discusses the presence of "The Holy Family" inThe Phantom Menace, stating that while there was no "solicitous guardian watching over the mother and the holy child," Watto acts in a similar position as a "man who possessespatriarchal powers without being the father."[6]
It has been suggested that the character is offensive because of his perceived similarities to astereotypical Jew, having a large hooked nose, beady eyes, unkempt facial hair, speaking in a gravelly voice, and being portrayed as greedy and covetous.J. Hoberman ofThe Village Voice called him "the most blatant ethnic stereotype" due to his hooked nose.[7] Bruce Gottlieb ofSlate magazine criticized him as well, comparing his character to theantisemitic notion that the Jewish race is "behind the slave trade".[8]Patricia J. Williams ofThe Nation stated that Watto was also described as astereotype of Arabs, but that he was "more comprehensively anti-Semitic—both anti-Arab and anti-Jew."[9] She added that Watto reminded her of an "anti-Semitic caricature published inVienna at the turn of the 20th century."[6]
Jane Prettyman ofAmerican Review noted that after leaving the theater, she heard two young boys describe him as "that weird little Jew guy with wings". Prettyman described his depiction as "not at all subtle", and said that "it can be counted on to flush out already-formed Jew-haters among young audiences and give them permission to continue their hatred out loud."[10]
Others have disagreed with this interpretation.[11] Andrew Howe states that Watto's "nose seems less a cultural referent to Shylock or Fagin than to an elephant's trunk".[12] Others have described Watto's accent as Italian, and not Jewish.[13][14] Andy Secombe himself, who provided the voice of Watto, when asked about the similarities between the character and Fagin, stated that Watto is not Jewish, and the accent he used for voicing the character is Italian. He also citedMichael Ripper's performance inHammer films as inspiration.[15][16]
Crazy Watto is a two-minute-longfan film that made its debut on theInternet in 2000. The film is aspoof of used car dealads shown ontelevision,[17] featuring Watto. He offers up for sale familiar objects such as anX-wing.[18] The film played at the2005 Cannes Film Festival,[19] and is a popular fan film at manyscience fiction conventions. The film was originally hosted byTheForce.Net,[20] but is now part ofThe Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards onAtomFilms.
ActorGriffin Newman portrays a version of the character as the co-host onThe George Lucas Talk Show, where he is the cantankerous, somewhat prankish sidekick toConnor Ratliff’sGeorge Lucas. Newman has performed the character onstage and over numerous streaming performances, often clad in a tight blue spandex costume.[citation needed]
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