No Copycat, Ewok Artist Says of Lucas

“Star Wars” creator George Lucas, the defendant in a $128-million plagiarism suit, once scrapped a spaceship design because he thought it resembled one on a television show, one of his artists testified.

Lucas is the target of a lawsuit filed in the federal court of Canada by Calgary writer-producer Dean Preston, who alleges Lucas’ 1983 film “Return of the Jedi” features Ewok characters from an earlier Preston script called “Space Pets.”

Preston is suing Lucas, Lucas Films Ltd. and 20th Century Fox Canada Ltd., alleging copyright infringement and breach of implied contract.

Preston said Lucas stole the concept and name for the Ewoks--bear-like, child-sized tree dwellers--from a script he sent to Lucas in 1978.

Joe Johnston told the court he helped design the Ewoks while working as an illustrator and story board artist for Lucas in 1980. He said Lucas, without using the term Ewok, wanted a creature that was small, furry and a “good guy.”

On the stand, Johnston recalled a decision Lucas made about character Han Solo’s ship, the Millennium Falcon. The ship was designed and built, but he relegated it a secondary role and designed a new one when he decided it was too similar to one on a British science fiction series called “Space 1999”.