Rapotwanalantonee, better known as Rappertunie, was a Shawda Ubb male from the planet Manpha who played the Growdi Harmonique in the Max Rebo Band. He had a thirst for travel, but ended up in a lifetime gig with the rest of the band when they became the house band of the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure at his palace on the desert world Tatooine. Rapotwanalantonee would spend entire days sitting motionless to try and keep his skin cool in the palace's dry climate and plotted his escape while playing for the Hutt.
In 4 ABY, Rapotwanalantonee and the rest of the band were playing the song "Jedi Rocks" at the palace when Jabba interrupted by feeding the enslaved dancer Oola to his pet rancor, Pateesa. The band then witnessed the arrival of the disguised Princess Leia Organa, who would kill Jabba the next day. Upon learning of Jabba's death, Rappertunie fled from the palace.
Rapotwanalantonee played for Jabba Desilijic Tiure.
Rapotwanalantonee, whom everyone called Rappertunie as it was slightly more manageable, was a Shawda Ubb male instrumentalist born on the swampy planet Manpha. He used his musical talent to pay his way around the galaxy and played the Growdi Harmonique in the Max Rebo Band, a 12-member band led by the Ortolan Maximilian Rebo that was made up of veteran banders local to the desert planet Tatooine. Rapotwanalantonee was not a core member of the band, but was brought in to supplement them along with fellow band members Joh Yowza, Barquin D'an, and Doda Bodonawieedo, as well as drummers, backup singers, and dancers when Rebo booked a high profile gig.
The band played regularly for the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, who was a big fan, and they often performed at his Tatooine palace or townhouse in the city of Mos Eisley. They became Jabba's house band, a lifetime gig that Rebo happily agreed to that only paid in freed meals, much to the outrage of his bandmates. Rapotwanalantonee was at one point interviewed by Tac-Com and provided an eyewitness description of the interior of the palace, which ended up among the Alliance to Restore the Republic's reports on Jabba.
Rapotwanalantonee played the Growdi Harmonique in the Max Rebo Band.
Rapotwanalantonee and the rest of the band were playing for Jabba on board the Hutt's sail barge, the Khetanna, when Jabba's majordomo, Bib Fortuna, contacted the bounty hunter Boba Fett to request an update on Fett's delivery to Jabba of the smuggler Han Solo, who had been captured and frozen in carbonite in 3 ABY. Fett later successfully delivered Solo, after which the smuggler's allies began planning his rescue. As part of this, Princess Leia Organa, requested Rapotwanalantonee's interview on the palace from Alliance Intelligence.
The frozen smuggler was hung on the wall in Jabba's throne room at the palace when Rapotwanalantonee and the band performed there in 4 ABY. The band played a relatively slow tune while the enslaved dancers Oola and Yarna d'al' Gargan performed in front of Jabba, and when they finished the song, Rapotwanalantonee bowed his head to the audience.
Rapotwanalantonee played at the perfomance were the dancer Oola (right) perished.
Jabba demanded that Oola perform her dance again, but thinking that the Hutt was talking to the band, Yowza counted the musicians down into starting another song. Rapotwanalantonee began playing, but not the song that Yowza had in mind, and so after Yowza shouted at the Shawda Ubb, the band began to play the song "Jedi Rocks." Oola and Gargan continued dancing for the Hutt, but when Jabba tried to pull Oola closer she resisted. As punishment for this humiliation, the crime lord dropped the dancer through a trap door, causing her to scream and interrupt the band, who stopped playing. Oola then fell into a pit below the throne room, where she was devoured by Jabba's pet rancor, Pateesa, as much of the Hutt's court watched and cheered.
Once Oola was dead, the room's attention was drawn to the entryway by the sound of blaster fire. As the band remained silent, Organa entered, disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, with the Wookiee Chewbacca in tow. Organa then negotiated with Jabba over the bounty on Chewbacca's head, producing an active thermal detonator to threaten him into raising the price. At the sight of the explosive, most members of the court cowered, but Jabba merely laughed and agreed to a partial increase. With the situation resolved, Rapotwanalantonee and the rest of the band began playing again as Chewbacca was dragged away.
The next day, Jabba and much of his court, including Rebo, traveled to the Great Pit of Carkoon on board the Khetanna in order to execute Chewbacca, a freed Solo, and their newly arrived ally, Luke Skywalker. Rappertunie flat out refused to get on the barge, and so was not present when Organa and her allies killed Jabba and much of his court above the pit. Upon receiving word of the Hutt's death, the Shawda Ubb fled from the palace.
Rapotwanalantonee was a green-skinned and green-eyed Shawda Ubb with a small chubby head who stood 30 centimeters (12 inches) tall. His small size made him feel quite vulnerable, but like other Shawda Ubb, Rapotwanalantonee could spit a paralyzing poison, and he would do so at anyone who threatened him. He always had a thirst for travel, but ended up trapped at Jabba's Palace, where the hot dry climate did not suit him at all, with the amphibian finding the desert heat nearly unbearable. As such, he would spend entire days perched motionless on his Growdi seat trying to keep his naturally moist skin cool, and when playing would sit at the rear of the stage while plotting his escape.
During the production of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, Rappertunie was nicknamed "Jedi Rapper" by the filmmakers. He was realized as a puppet which was then digitally composited into new and existing footage for the Special Edition release of the film.
Mark Siegel was lead sculptor on the Rappertunie puppet with Danny Wagner and also sculpting and and moulding it. The puppet was part foam latex and part latex and polyfill. Wagner then painted the puppet green while discussing how dark a shade it should be with art director . Wagner was also one of several puppeteers that operated the puppet with different people controlling the hands, eyes, and arms. The musical sequence for Jedi Rocks starring Rappertunie was shot on the Industrial Light & Magic campus.
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