Ewoks are some of the most well-known creatures to come out of the Star Wars universe and George Lucas used some interesting inspiration when it came to their development. The species first made their Star Wars debut in the third installment of the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi. Since then, they've starred in two Star Wars TV movies, an animated series, and several books.
An Ewok is a fur-covered biped native to the forest moon of Endor. The species was shown to be skilled in hunting and gathering while living in huts in a tree village. They may be short but they are also very strong when it comes to combat or protecting their species from outsiders. Ewoks relied on primitive technology such as weapons and gliders when faced with a conflict with enemies. The most well-known Ewok was Wicket W. Warrick, one of the allies of the Rebel Alliance who assisted in defeating the Galactic Empire in Return of the Jedi. Wicket rallied his fellow Ewoks to attack the Imperial forces.
Lucas always intended to have a primitive species help take down the Empire during the third act in Return of the Jedi. During his early development of the film, the Star Wars creator considered using the Wookiee home planet as the setting of the ground battle. Wookiees, however, were too technologically advanced as seen with Chewbacca's intelligence. Lucas then switched the syllables in "Wookiee" to create a new species, but he also took other factors from the outside world in their creation.
What Inspired George Lucas To Create Ewoks In Star Wars
Most Star Wars fans would agree that Ewoks possess adorable features that closely resemble teddy bears. Stuffed animals weren't the inspiration when creating the species, however, since Lucas modeled them after one of his dogs. With the help of make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, Lucas developed the Ewok from an image of the Griffon Bruxellois, a toy dog breed. The facial structure, big eyes, and short ears of Ewoks closely match that of the dog breed. Despite the physical inspiration, the Ewok went through a lot of changes before Lucas settled on a final design.
As for the behavior of the Ewoks in Star Wars, Lucas took inspiration from Viet Cong guerrillas. He took note of the guerillas when they fought American soldiers during the Vietnam War and mirrored their actions with Ewoks and their attack on the Empire. Ewoks had guerrilla warfare techniques in Return of the Jedi with fighting styles relying on spears, knives, battering rams, and catapults. Aside from their name being derived from "Wookiee," Lucas credited the Native American tribe, Miwok, as an influence in their creation. The Miwok tribe called the Redwood forest their home and it just so happened to be the site for filming the Endor scenes.