George Lucas Explains the Reason Behind Yoda's Backward Speech

      It's finally been revealed: George Lucas has explained why Yoda speaks in reverse.

      Yoda, the frail Jedi master who mentors Luke Skywalker on the Force in 1980’s Star Wars: Episode IV — The Empire Strikes Back, shares a wealth of memorable wisdom, including his iconic line to Luke (Mark Hamill): “When 900 years old, you reach, look as good you will not.”

      Despite the passage of time, The Empire Strikes Back remains impressive, and Lucas revisited the film at a 45th anniversary screening during the opening night of the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival.

      During the first 20 minutes of the interview, Lucas reminisced about his early career and the lessons he learned. Then, interviewer Ben Mankiewicz humorously remarked that he needed to ask a straightforward question about The Empire, or risk losing his job.

      He took his chance: “Why does Yoda talk backwards?”

      “Well, I will tell you,” Lucas responded, sharing a lesson on engaging an audience’s attention.

      “Yoda had a very unique manner of speaking because — and this was intentional — if you were speaking regular English… people don’t listen that much. But if he has an accent, or if it’s hard to understand what he’s saying, they really focus on his words,” Lucas explained.

      “And he was essentially the philosopher of the movie. He discussed many deep topics in lengthy scenes where I had to find a way to get people to actually pay attention — especially 12-year-olds,” Lucas added. Mankiewicz query: “So you were worried that if he spoke normally, it would be dull and kids wouldn't listen?”

      “That’s right,” Lucas confirmed.

      “So your idea was to just rearrange some words.”

      “You’re hired,” Lucas joked.

      Along with clarifying Yoda's speech pattern, Lucas shared some general screenwriting advice he learned from his longtime friend and collaborator, Francis Ford Coppola, who directed The Godfather and co-founded the film company American Zoetrope with Lucas in 1969.

      “He said, ‘Look, the first draft is going to be terrible. You’ll feel like committing suicide. The second draft will also be bad. But the secret to writing a good script is to keep rewriting, rewriting, rewriting. Don’t settle for something you think is good enough, because nothing is good enough,” Lucas recalled.

      You can watch the TCM Classic Film Festival interview with George Lucas here:

      Yoda vs. Lando

      The Empire Strikes Back introduced three new characters: Yoda, Lando Calrissian, and the briefly seen Emperor. Despite Mankiewicz’s attempt, Lucas wouldn’t say whether he prefers Lando or Yoda.

      Yoda, however, has been embraced by audiences like few other characters in pop culture. When Disney+’s The Mandalorian introduced another member of Yoda's species — Baby Yoda, or Grogu — merchandising soared as fans of all ages fell for the adorable, egg-eating, powerful, young Jedi, even though he doesn’t speak, either backwards or forwards.

      He will be one of the stars of Disney’s upcoming Star Wars film, The Mandalorian and Grogu, set for release in 2026.

      George Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney in 2012 for just over $4 billion, relinquishing control of a universe he created in 1977 with the surprising success of the original Star Wars. When it released its first sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas retroactively named the original film Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.

      Lucas later produced three prequels, starting with 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, while Disney created three sequels to the original trilogy, beginning with Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens in 2017.

      The year 2025 has already proven to be remarkable for Star Wars nostalgia, with the British Film Institute announcing earlier this month that its Film on Film Festival in June will feature a screening of an original print of the 1977 Star Wars that hasn’t been seen in decades.

      Main image: Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and Yoda, voiced by Frank Oz, in a promotional still for The Empire Strikes Back. Lucasfilm.