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There's more to Star Wars' most famous bar than just the iconic music.
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00:00Hand shot first.
00:02Right, okay, now that we've got that out of the way, let's take a little trip down to that cantina
00:06where everybody knows your name.
00:08There's a lot to be said about this place, more than just the lovely tunes of Figre and Dan and
00:12the modal nodes.
00:13With that in mind, I'm Sean Ferrick for WhatCultureStarWars and here are 10 secrets of the Mos Eisley Cantina you
00:20need to know.
00:2110. It has a name.
00:22The canon tie-in book Star Wars Complete Locations by Simon Beecroft, Kerry Dougherty, Jason Fry, James Luceno and Kristen
00:30Lund reveal that the cantina was actually named Chalman's Spaceport Cantina by the time that Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan
00:37Kenobi came to meet Han Solo.
00:39It was one of the more popular, if not dangerous, locales in Mos Eisley.
00:43It was a popular spot for smugglers and bounty hunters to pick up new jobs and for a time, the
00:47bounty hunter guild operated some of their campaigns while using the place as a front.
00:51For a long time, Chalman's was a known spot for those in the employ of Jabba the Hutt.
00:56Greedo may have been the most recognizable and unlucky employee of Jabba's to take a drink there but he was
01:01far from the only one.
01:02In the fourth episode of Star Wars The Clone Wars Sphere of Influence, several of his associates were involved in
01:08a firefight while they used the bar for a hostage negotiation.
01:11While may not have been the smartest move when dealing with the Pantoran's Supreme Chairman and the daughter they'd taken.
01:18These bounty halters may have been mean, yet the Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who had been sent to reclaim the
01:23Chairman's daughter, was not that impressed.
01:269. It once served as an illegal spice den.
01:29In between the Clone Wars and the end of the Galactic Republic, the cantina was owned and operated by the
01:34Vritchon Brothers.
01:35Once again, thanks to the fantastic tie-in canon reference book Star Wars Complete Locations.
01:40These Renat siblings were illegal spice runners who turned the bar into an illegal spice den.
01:45This was similar to an opium den of Earth's history.
01:48The spice of the Star Wars universe was said to have been heavily influenced by the spice melange from Frank
01:54Herbert's Dune.
01:55Spice was mostly mined in the slave mines on Kessel where Wookiee slaves were worked to death.
02:00It could also be found in other worlds in the galaxy, including Naboo.
02:03In fact, the assassination attempt against Senator Amidala's life was initially credited to disgruntled spice miners before it was revealed
02:11to have been ordered by the separatists.
02:13Spice, particularly Sansana Spice, was so addictive that those who were hooked would allegedly sell their own mothers just to
02:19get another hit.
02:20As is the case with any drug, too much could kill the user.
02:23Perhaps this is the reason why after they sold the bar, the Vritchon Brothers vanished lest they be held responsible
02:29for the slew of bodies that were buried in the basement of the bar.
02:338. It could hold 102 patrons and had 12 drinks on tap.
02:37Although the cantina seemed small enough from the outside, it could hold up to 102 patrons at any one time.
02:42As it was basking under the heat of Tatooine's twin sons, it was a welcome respite for travellers, traders and
02:47smugglers who were trying to relax in Mos Eisley, even if there were probably safer prisons out there.
02:52Much of these details came from the reference book, Star Wars Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, by Adam Bray,
02:57Carrie Dougherty, Cole Horton and Michael Koch.
03:00The two main bartenders were Wuer, a human who worked the day shift, and Ach Mena, the female night shift
03:06manager.
03:07The building was made of sandstone and it was designed in an oval shape with the bar in the middle.
03:11There was the option of 12 different drinks on tap, all coming in 16 oz glasses.
03:16These included Blue Milk, Tatooine Sunset, Jawa Juice, Yatuni Bosca, Tatooine Junko, Hutts Delight and others.
03:24While almost all of these sound frankly stomach-churning, the bar did a roaring trade day and night.
03:30One of the most immediately recognisable traits of the bar was a Bith Clue Hornband to the modal nodes, who
03:35performed daily to the delight of many and to the chigrin of the rest.
03:397. Chalmun was a Wookiee.
03:42The Adventures of Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight by Tony de Terlesi was a children's picture book that actually serves as
03:48the first appearance of the cantina's owner.
03:50Chalmun was a Wookiee who had a history of trying to swindle people on the street, saving up enough to
03:55buy the cantina from the Richon brothers.
03:57When he took ownership of the Chalmun spaceport cantina, he largely decided to go straight, though that didn't prevent some
04:04shaky dealings from going on in the bar.
04:06Added to that, he wasn't exactly an angel himself.
04:09Once he arrived on Tatooine, he quickly set up shop at the cantina located right beside the local junkyard and
04:14very close to the closest port.
04:16The brothers he bought the bar from disappeared, with many suspecting it was due to their fear of reprisal when
04:22Chalmun discovered all of the bodies downstairs.
04:24The bar appeared to be a strictly non-violent location, though Chalmun was ready to turn the other cheek once
04:30money crossed his hands.
04:31He knew that his bartenders rented out the underground caverns, which was fine by him as long as he got
04:37a cut of the pie.
04:38In many ways, Chalmun was quite different from the rest of his race, as he preferred to wear clothing.
04:42He did, however, keep the bowcasters that a certain other Wookiee would make famous.
04:476. It has a strange history with droids.
04:50When Obi-Wan and Luke entered Chalmun's while looking for Han Solo, one of the house rules of the bar
04:55was,
04:55Leave your droids outside, you don't want Woor on your case.
04:59Woor was the daytime barman.
05:00He was a human male who had lost his parents to battle droids during the Clone Wars.
05:05Because of this, he installed droid detectors in the doors of the cantina, forcing them to remain outside.
05:10He did, however, have great respect for the Jedi, who saved him from a battalion of these droids years earlier.
05:15Shuk Wendig wrote We Don't Serve Their Kind Here, a short story that features Woor.
05:20This story appeared in the 2017 Del Rey Anthology from A Certain Point of View.
05:25This expands on the character and thus the cantina's backstory too.
05:29However, after the battles of Endor, in around 9 after the Battle of Yavin, the no droids policy was abolished.
05:34This meant that when Din Djarin came to Chalmun's looking for work, he was greeted not by a scowling human
05:40face behind the bar,
05:41but by the expressionless robotic eyes of the droid EV-99.
05:44What happened to Woor remains a bit of a mystery, as he was not present to see the Mandalorian arrive
05:49in the Gunslinger,
05:50the fifth episode of the Disney Plus series.
05:52Whether he was killed in the intervening years or simply moved on is unknown.
05:55The bar certainly became a friendlier place for droids once he left.
05:585. Asajj Ventress joined the bounty hunters here.
06:02One of the galaxy's most formidable warriors held a very important meeting in Chalmun's cantina.
06:07Asajj Ventress had once been trained in the Jedi Arts before she lost her master.
06:11She then succumbed to Count Dooku and the dark side of the Force, beginning years of training as a Sith
06:16apprentice.
06:17She grew so powerful so quickly that Darth Sidious ordered her execution, which Dooku reluctantly complied with in a display
06:23of loyalty.
06:24After the Battle of Dathomir, in which she almost defeated General Grievous, but then suffered the loss of her people,
06:29the Nightsisters,
06:30she was alone in the galaxy again, eventually finding her way to Tatooine, as so many of the down and
06:35outs tended to do.
06:36In the Season 4 episode Bounty of Star Wars The Clone Wars, she quickly made her way to Mos Eisley
06:42and to Chalmun's.
06:43While attempting to drown her sorrows at the bar, a bounty hunter named Oked foolishly tried to bother her.
06:48She casually impaled him on her lightsaber and kept drinking.
06:51This led to her recruitment, to the group that he'd been a member of, bringing her under the wing of
06:56a certain hunter wearing Mandalorian armor, Boba Fett.
07:01Boba Fett started his hunt for Solo here.
07:04Speaking of Boba Fett, the ruthless bounty hunter had visited this particular cantina many, many times.
07:10Seeing him at the bar was hardly a cause for concern until the day came when his hunt for Han
07:14Solo began.
07:14In Star Wars number 5, the fifth issue of Marvel Star Wars series by Jason Aaron and John Cassaday, his
07:20entry to Chalmun's was very much a cause for concern for all present.
07:24Before arriving at the bar, Fett had murdered four Rodians, a group of Jawas and a family of moisture farmers,
07:30all so he could find the name of Solo's young accomplice.
07:33His search brought him to Mos Eisley and to Chalmun's.
07:36He entered the bar and stood at the centre of attention, telling all of the patrons and staff that he
07:40would not leave until someone gave him the boy's name.
07:43One alien foolishly insulted Fett, claiming that the only boy present was Boba himself.
07:49A six armed, two metre tall alien stepped forward, Boba removed one of the six, breaking another three.
07:56The barman, Wooher, told Fett that no one knew the boy's name, only that he had arrived with Obi-Wan
08:01Kenobi sometime before.
08:03At that moment, a young man tried to bolt. Boba captured and interrogated him, getting the name of Luke Skywalker
08:09from the young man.
08:09Then he released him, only to shoot him in cold blood moments later.
08:14Three. It featured in an anti-drunk driving public service announcement.
08:18Back in 1979, Star Wars was one of the hottest properties on the planet. A New Hope had dominated the
08:23box office, winning fans of all ages.
08:24It set the other movie studios in Hollywood scrambling to come up with their own sci-fi franchises, like a
08:29certain Paramount Pictures.
08:31Yet, Star Wars quickly made the move to television.
08:34Although, it's not entirely what you're thinking. No, it's not the god-awful holiday special.
08:38In 1979, Chalman's Spaceport Cantina featured in a public service announcement about drinking while driving.
08:45In the ad, there are many customers dotted throughout the bar when a Tal's patron becomes inebriated.
08:49While the announcer describes the situation, a Doros patron offers to drive the Tal's patron home.
08:54Together, they fly off on a YT-1300 freighter.
08:57Considering the number of children that came to the franchise thanks to the action of the first film,
09:01this ad was able to reach more of the youth in America than ever before, and it was all set
09:05in Chalman's Spaceport Cantina.
09:072. The inside and the outside were nowhere near each other.
09:11Behind the scenes, it's hardly surprising that the exterior and the interior shots of Chalman's Spaceport Cantina were filmed at
09:17completely different locations.
09:18The exteriors were of course filmed in Ajim, Djerba, Tunisia.
09:23Ajim is a ferry port on the island of Djerba, so to get to the location a ferry was required.
09:28Most of the inhabitants either work in fishing or tourism, with the exterior of Chalman's Cantina still serving as a
09:34big tourist draw all these years later.
09:36There are also the remains of the Stormtrooper Checkpoint and the Falcon Blast Off Alley several streets away.
09:41The interior shots were done at Elstree Studios.
09:43Back in the 70s, Elstree boasted six large stages, one of which was commissioned ahead of filming on the Empire
09:49Strikes Back.
09:50In the years that have passed however, much of the original building was torn down and replaced with a supermarket.
09:54This meant that while most of the original trilogy was filmed there, much of the prequel trilogy wasn't, with only
10:00some pick up shots being completed.
10:021. It continued to host bounty hunters after the guild left.
10:06After the fall of the Empire in both the Battle of Endor and the Battle of Jakku, the New Republic
10:10sprang up, quickly trying to consolidate its strength, or at least its appearance of strength, by ceasing any and all
10:15contract with bounty hunters.
10:17This was bad news for Din Djarin, who had travelled to Mos Eisley in an attempt to get hired by
10:22the guild in the fifth chapter of the Mandalorian called the Gunslinger.
10:26The droid bartender, EV99, told him that there was no chance he would find guild work at Chalman's due to
10:32their struggle to exist.
10:33However, that didn't mean there were no hunters left in the bar.
10:36Toro Calican, an aspiring bounty hunter himself, engaged the services of the Mandalorian while in Chalman's, explaining that he was
10:43hunting the assassin, Fennec Shand.
10:45With her capture, he hoped to get into the guild himself.
10:48Djarin agreed to help him, proving that even without the guild's help, he was still able to find a job
10:52in Chalman's little cantina.
10:53And that's everything for our list today, and if you reckon we missed anything that absolutely must be known, please
10:59drop it into the comments below.
11:00Please don't forget to like, share and subscribe, and remember that you can catch us over on Twitter at WhatCultureSW.
11:06You can catch myself at SeanFerrick on Twitter as well.
11:09Remember, look after yourselves, treat yourselves and everybody else with a little bit of kindness, and may the force be
11:14with you.
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