Star Wars creator: Jar Jar Binks is my favourite

TO many fans of Star Wars, Jar Jar Binks is one of the least compelling characters to appear in the franchise.

But Star Wars creator George Lucas has said the foolish Gungan, introduced to provide comic relief in the 1999 movie The Phantom Menace, is his favourite character. He spoke at a 20th anniversary panel for the film.

The character may be polarising, but Binks was the first fully CGI character to appear in a live-action movie, with actor Ahmed Best, who had appeared in physical theatre hit show Stomp, portraying the character through motion capture and with his voice.

Lucas, 74, kicked off the panel by addressing attendees by video. After thanking the delegates, he said: ‘The Phantom Menace is one of my favourite movies and of course Jar Jar is my favourite character. Ahmed [Best], you did a fantastic job. It was very, very hard.’

He went on to praise visual effects wizards at Industrial Light and Magic, and visual effects supervisor John Knoll in particular.

Lucas, pictured, also thanked the fans of the movie. ‘The fans are always such a big part of these films and obviously those of you who are here are the fans of Episode 1 and I love each and every one of you,’ he said.

Actor Best received a standing ovation from the audience. Last year he revealed that he found the backlash aimed at the character gruelling.

In a social media post, he said: ‘20 years next year I faced a media backlash that still affects my career.

‘This was the place I almost ended my life. It’s still hard to talk about.’

The Phantom Menace movie was lashed by fans, but earned $1.02billion worldwide.