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BB-8 (or Beebee-Ate) is a droid character in the Star Wars franchise, appearing in both the 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens and 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi films. Spherical with a free-moving domed head, BB-8 is portrayed by both a rod puppet and a remote-controlled robotic unit.
Conception
Idea and design
Scanlan told Entertainment Weekly in November 2015 that the robot's design came from an original sketch by Abrams, saying "It was a very simple sketch, beautiful in its simplicity of a ball with this little dome on top." Of BB-8's design "with differently shaped panels on each side to help the viewer’s eye track movement", Scanlan said "If you had parallel patterns that ran around the circumference, they would be less informative as to the direction BB-8 was traveling than a slightly more chaotic pattern."
Abrams also named the robot, telling Entertainment Weekly in August 2015, "I named him BB-8 because it was almost onomatopoeia. It was sort of how he looked to me, with the 8, obviously, and then the two B's." The name was conceived early on in the film's production and was one of the few to remain unchanged.
Constraints and realization
In August 2013, The Force Awakens cinematographer Daniel Mindel and Episode VIII director Rian Johnson each stated that The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams would use little computer-generated imagery (CGI) and more practical, traditional special effects in order to recreate the visual realism and authenticity of the original Star Wars film. To that end, the droid BB-8 was a physical prop developed by Disney Research, created by special effects artist Neal Scanlan and operated live on set with the actors. Seven BB-8 puppets were constructed for filming. The most prominent was a rod puppet, controlled by puppeteers Dave Chapman and Brian Herring. In addition, there were several radio controlled units and some static prop versions. A fully functioning, self-contained robotic unit was not practical for shooting, so most of the "walking" scenes were achieved by the puppet, with rods removed in post production. Later a self standing remote controlled unit was constructed and used at promotional events.
Description
BB-8 is a spherical robot with a free-moving domed head. It is white, with orange and silver accents and a black optical lens on its headpiece. BB-8 also possesses multiple panels containing various tools or ports. Scanlan said of the robot's personality, "We always imagined BB-8 as being quite manipulative. I think he knows he’s cute. He knows that he can win people over. And he uses that, like children do, to get his own way. In this film, he has a very important mission that he has to accomplish and so he uses his personality, his coyness, and all of those things." Of BB-8's gender he said, "I'm still not sure, dare I say, whether BB-8 is male or female ... BB-8 was female in our eyes. And then he or she became male. And that's all part of the evolution, not only visually, but in the way they move, how they hold themselves."
Calling the robot a "Swiss Army Knife that shouldn’t be trusted", he noted that while each of the BB-8's panels has a specific purpose, like a port or tool, not all of them have been absolutely defined to leave options for future films.
In the films
The voice of BB-8 was supplied by comedians Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz, both credited as "BB-8 vocal consultants" in the film. The voice was created by Abrams manipulating their voices through a talkbox attached to an iPad running a sound effects app.
The Force Awakens (2015)
BB-8 was first seen in the 88-second The Force Awakens teaser trailer released by Lucasfilm on November 28, 2014. Its name was revealed by Entertainment Weekly in a Lucasfilm-designed Topps-style trading card mockup in December 2014.
In the film, the robot is the astromech droid of the Resistance X-wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Poe entrusts it with a map that must be delivered to the Resistance headquarters in order to determine the whereabouts of Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. While Poe is captured and interrogated by the sinister First Order commander Kylo Ren, BB-8 flees across the desert of the planet Jakku and finds sanctuary with the plucky scavenger Rey. Eventually Rey, the renegade stormtrooper Finn, Han Solo, and Chewbacca bring BB-8 to Resistance leader Leia Organa, and ultimately reunite him with Poe.
The Last Jedi (2017)
In The Last Jedi, BB-8 fixes Poe's X-wing weapons system by smashing his head into it. In Canto Bight, a drunken gambler repeatedly inserts coins into a slot in BB-8, thinking he is a slot machine. The droid later subdues several guards, allowing Finn and Rose to escape imprisonment. BB-8 then uses the coins to subdue a fourth guard. Later, he operates an AT-ST in order to rescue Finn and Rose after they are captured by the First Order.