Nilo Rodis-Jamero

Distinctive Ship for an "Outsider"

"Because Boba Fett is an 'outsider,' a bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader, the design of his ship had to be distinctive enough that it would not be confused with any of the Rebel ships or those of the Imperial fleet. The original concept of the Slave I was a half-spherelike body housing the main engine parts in a fuselage attached to the ship’s front. The body later evolved into the elliptical shape used in the film." – Nilo Rodis-Jamero

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

As noted in a 2010 article on StarWars.com by Pete Vilmur, "in a January 2005 interview with Giant Robot Magazine, Jamero identified the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park, California as the home of the Slave I radar dish."

Slave I is Based on a Radar Dish

"Joe Johnston showed me some of the ideas he had for Boba Fett, and I remember asking myself what his spaceship would look like. I remember seeing a radar dish and stopping to sketch it very quickly to see if I could get something out of it. The original design I had was round, but when you looked at it from the side, it became elliptical. For some reason, when I drew it, [George Lucas] thought it was elliptical, so that's what it became. When we were building the ship at ILM, somebody looked at street lamps and pointed out that they look like Boba's ship. So everyone began to think that was where I got the idea for the design." – Nilo Rodis-Jamero