George Lucas is one of the filmmakers who revolutionized the Hollywood film industry with his Star Wars franchise. At a 45th anniversary screening of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back on the opening night of the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival, the director officially revealed the reason why Master Yoda speaks to the other way around.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back celebrates its 45th anniversary
While Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith celebrates its 20th anniversary and cinemas are showing the film this weekend to celebrate this opus of the prequel, the episode The Empire Strikes Back celebrates its 45th anniversary this year. It was in this feature film released in 1980 that the public first discovered the famous Jedi Master Yoda living in exile on the planet of Dagobah. when he sees Yoda because he's not the type of Jedi he expected. In addition to his abilities in the Force and his handling of the lightsaber, Master Yoda stands out for his way of speaking. As you know, he speaks backwards. But then, why does the character speak like this?
Yoda's way of speaking, a choice of George Lucas
While some thought that it was because Yoda had certainly developed a kind of madness while remaining alone on Dagobah, this is not the case. Indeed, George Lucas made this choice of speech, so particular and cult, for a practical reason. As he just explained during a recent anniversary screening of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas wanted the audience to really concentrate on what Yoda was saying:
Because if you speak normal English, people don't listen much. But if he has an accent, or if you really have trouble... understand what he's saying, they focus on what he's saying.
Adding that Yoda was "kind of the philosopher of the film", George Lucas had to find "a way to get people to really listen to me, especially 12-year-olds."
And George Lucas's idea worked, as the Jedi Master's dialogue still resonates in the minds of Star Wars fans today. By the way, if you want to know more about the character, we suggest you discover 8 facts you didn't know about Yoda.
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