A few years back, George Lucas was accused of stealing from a Canadian writer the name and concept of the “Ewoks” that appeared in his 1983 film, “Return of the Jedi.” In a Canadian court dealing with the $129-million copyright infringement case, Lucas testified that the dogs were conceived, in part, with his family dog in mind.
Lucas said that he’d come up with the name, “Ewok” by reversing the syllables of the character he called, “Wookie,” and rhyming it with the northern California Indian tribe known as the Miwok (pronounced: me-walk). Furthermore, and according to NYC Brussels Griffon, Griffs really were the inspiration for the Ewoks because George Lucas had owned Brussels Griffons for years, having had about five at one time. If anyone else can validate this with an additional source, we’d love to hear from you.
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