Saun Dann, sometimes called Sohn Dann, was a cheerful Human male who made a living as a trader on Kashyyyk, the homeworld of the Wookiee species. Some people also knew him as Trader Dann. He was also secretly a member of the Rebel Alliance, and he maintained his own network of contacts. During the Life Day holiday in 1 ABY, the Galactic Empire blockaded Kashyyyk and imposed martial law on the planet. An Imperial guard then entered Dann's shop and took a groomer without paying, which annoyed the trader. Dann then went to the home of his Wookiee friend Chewbacca, who had not yet returned for the holiday, causing his family to worry.
After Dann calmed the Wookiees' worries and presented them with Life Day gifts, he assured Princess Leia Organa of the Alliance—speaking to them through a wallscreen—that the family would be safe. However, an Imperial search team entered the home looking for connections to the Rebels. Dann nervously tried to stop the Imperials from finding out that Chewbacca, a famous Alliance hero, lived there, but the search party's Commander ordered him to leave. Dann came back later and discovered that Chewbacca, who had recently arrived, had taken out a stormtrooper who had been left to guard the home. The trader then used the family's wallscreen to convince a suspicious Imperial officer that the trooper had abandoned his post.
On another Life Day, sometime between 0 BBY and 3 ABY, Dann celebrated by ordering two cases of candy for children in need. When the delivery was late, he hired a spacer to find it. The spacer discovered that the candy had been stolen and eaten by the stormtrooper TK-555. Dann decided to find a replacement gift for the children. He ordered candy again for needy children the next Life Day, but the same thing happened, and the spacer brought the trader more bad news.
Saun Dann, also known as Sohn Dann, was a Human male trader who conducted business on Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld. By 1 ABY, he had become a member of the Rebel Alliance, a secret organization fighting the Galactic Civil War against the Galactic Empire. Dann operated a shop that the Empire called "Trading post Wookiee Planet C," and he was a close friend of the family of the Wookiee Chewbacca, an Alliance hero. Dann once mentioned having a brother and a nephew who was in the Imperial Military.
In the middle of 1 ABY, Chewbacca and his Human companion Han Solo were traveling to Kashyyyk to celebrate the Wookiee holiday of Life Day. However, the Empire blockaded the planet and declared martial law to find Rebel activity. An Imperial guard entered Dann's shop during the blockade, indicating he was off-duty. Dann tried to sell him a pocket-sized aquarium, but the guard, who hated fish, refused. Dann then offered him a groomer but had to answer a call on his wallscreen. Mallatobuck, Chewbacca's wife, appeared on the screen, and Dann used code to tell the worried Wookiee that Chewbacca and Solo were on their way home. The trader then returned to his customer, who took the groomer without paying after Dann praised its qualities.
Dann went to Chewbacca's treetop home in the city of Rwookrrorro with Life Day gifts for the family, but he had to get past an Imperial patrol first. After arriving, he reassured the sad Wookiees that Chewbacca would also get through the patrol and gave out his gifts: a music box for Mallatobuck, a mini-transmitter and an instruction cassette for Chewbacca's son, Lumpawarrump, and a new proton pack for the mind evaporator that belonged to Chewbacca's father, Attichitcuk. When Attichitcuk sat in the mind evaporator's chair, Dann secretly gave him an erotic cassette that allowed the Wookiee to interact with Mermeia, a holographic fantasy woman. While Attichitcuk enjoyed some time with her, Dann was called to the home's wallscreen by Mallatobuck, who was talking to Princess Leia Organa of the Alliance. The trader identified himself as a Rebel agent and promised the Princess that he would take care of Chewbacca's family until the Wookiee patriarch arrived home.
The sound of a starship flying overhead excited the Wookiees, but when they opened the door, they found two Imperial stormtroopers pointing blaster rifles at them. The troopers, along with a technician and an Imperial commander, entered the home to search for Rebel connections. Dann offered to be a translator and made up a story about Chewbacca's absence, but the Commander just wanted to see his identification. Dann then helped stop a fight between Mallatobuck and the technician after Lumpawarrump bit the technician's fingers. The Commander then told Dann to leave the home. The trader delayed his departure by showing the technician a performance by a holographic seven-piece Human band in the music box. It took blaster rifles pointed at him by the stormtroopers to finally make him leave.
Later that day, Dann returned to the home and found Chewbacca pointing a bowcaster at him, expecting more Imperials. The search party had left earlier but had left the stormtrooper B4711 to guard the home. Chewbacca and Solo had sent B4711 falling to the forest floor upon their arrival. Dann's presence calmed Chewbacca down, but an Imperial officer appeared on the wallscreen, issuing an alert for B4711 to answer his comlink. Dann put his identification into the wallscreen and contacted the officer, telling him that the stormtrooper had stolen some food and run into the forest. His lie was accepted, and Dann left the home after wishing the relieved Wookiees a happy Life Day.
Sometime between 0 BBY and 3 ABY, before another Life Day, Dann ordered two cases of candy from the city of Keren on Naboo. He wanted to give it to poor children in one of three cities: Doaba Guerfel on Corellia, Dearic on Talus, or Wayfar on Tatooine. While waiting for the delivery, he visited the public Life Day trees in all three cities.
At one of the city's trees, Dann became worried about the late delivery and asked a passing spacer for help, as he had heard the spacer was good at solving problems. The spacer agreed to look for the missing candy and was sent by Dann to talk to the Shipping Master of Keren's Kwilaan Starport. The spacer's investigation led to Mos Espa on Tatooine and a confrontation with the stormtrooper TK-555, who had stolen and eaten the candy. When the spacer returned to Dann and told him what happened, the upset trader decided to find a replacement gift for the children. He thanked the spacer and stayed at the Life Day tree for some time, selling special holiday items.
The next Life Day, Dann ordered more candy for the children of one of the three cities, but it went missing again. After visiting all three Life Day trees, he was greeted by the spacer in front of one of them and asked for help again. The spacer was hesitant, suspecting the same thing had happened to the candy, but agreed and went to Keren's Kwilaan Starport. When the spacer returned and confirmed that TK-555 had eaten the candy again, Dann thanked the spacer and gave them one of two prizes: a Decorative Fruitcake or decorative varactyl egg nog. While deciding on a replacement gift, Dann stayed at the Life Day tree to sell his goods.
Saun Dann was a cheerful person who ordered candy for children in need during Life Day. He became worried when the delivery was late and hired a spacer to find it. When he learned that the candy had been stolen, he made replacement gifts from his own supplies. As a shop owner, Dann tried to please his customers and quickly agreed with their preferences while trying to make a sale. When an Imperial guard took a groomer without paying, Dann let it happen but complained about the unfairness. Although he seemed to cooperate with Imperials, the trader was secretly a member of the Rebel Alliance with his own network of contacts. Dann had light skin, gray hair, and brown eyes, and he sometimes wore spectacles. He could speak Galactic Basic Standard and understand Shyriiwook. In 1 ABY, he had a large belly and poor hygiene. He knew about these traits and claimed to have been thinner when he was younger.
Dann was very close to the Wookiees of Chewbacca's family. He went through an Imperial patrol to bring them Life Day gifts, including virtual pornography for Attichitcuk, which he secretly gave to the elderly Wookiee. When Dann entered the home and found Chewbacca pointing a bowcaster at him, he just smiled and joked about feeling welcome. While the Imperial search party was in the home, Dann used many delaying tactics to prevent them from finding out that the famous Rebel Chewbacca lived there. Although he was nervous and often stammered, Dann was a quick thinker. He tried to sell products to the Imperials, offered to cook them food, and distracted them with holographic entertainment, which he made a show of turning on. Despite being dismissed by the Imperial Commander, Dann refused to leave until blaster rifles were aimed at him.
The character Saun Dann was created for the 1978 The Star Wars Holiday Special, a television variety show spin-off of the 1977 original Star Wars film. While creating the special, writer George Lucas wanted a story told entirely by Wookiees, but executive producers Dwight Hemion and Gary Smith were hesitant because the Wookiees did not speak English. The idea of a character serving as the connection between the Wookiees and the English-speaking world was then developed. In early story treatments of the special, the character, known only as "the Trader," arrives at Chewbacca's home and gives him a video book to give to Lumpy as a surprise gift for an annual galactic festival hosted by the Wookiee planet that year. Although "folksy and kind," the Trader is not interested in the festival because it bans commercialism and he does not have a family to spend it with. He then declines an invitation to have dinner with Chewbacca's family, preferring not to get personally involved with his customers.
The Trader then takes his starship to Tatooine to spend the holiday drinking with his friends. Upon landing, he discovers that Lumpy, fascinated by the trader's video book and unaware that he is receiving one himself, has stowed away aboard. He brings the young Wookiee to the Mos Eisley Cantina and starts drinking heavily while Lumpy explores. However, Chewbacca contacts him on a wallscreen and he agrees to send the child back to the Wookiee planet aboard the Starship Musica, which is already headed there for the festival. Chewbacca safely lands the ship after Imperial sabotage. Back on the Wookiee planet, the Trader congratulates Chewbacca on giving the galaxy the greatest gift: his own talent, courage, and determination.
The trader character, eventually named Saun Dann, was played by Art Carney, who was famous for his portrayal of Ed Norton, a New York City sewer worker, on the 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners. Alex Newborn, a Star Wars author, has compared Saun Dann to Norton, and Frank DiGiacomo of Vanity Fair magazine described him as doing an "Ed Norton in space routine." In fact, the Holiday Special's script at one point calls for Carney to do his "Norton schtick." Lev Mailer, who played the Imperial guard who enters Dann's shop, described his scene with Carney as an example of the classic "The Bully and The Idiot" comedy duo routine, with Carney playing the idiot to his bully. Having grown up watching The Honeymooners, Mailer was honored to work with Carney and be the straight man to his jokes.
The fourth draft of the Holiday Special's script describes Dann, one of thirty trading agents on the planet, as a kind, older pharmacist at the corner drug store, whose clothing is a bit frayed and who "seems to be in a state of perpetual frazzle." When Dann gives Attichitcuk the Mermeia cassette, he is likened to a dirty old man who is acting "as if he is giving (Attichitcuk) the most X-rated piece of literature in the galaxy." Several of Dann's lines from the script's fourth draft were not used in the final cut of the Holiday Special, including a scene where he offers Wookiee-ookiees to the Imperials who invade Chewbacca's home. When Dann leaves the home in the final version of the Holiday Special, Chewbacca's family appears to travel through space and time on their way to Kashyyyk's Tree of Life. This scene was explained in the script by Dann turning on an environmental transporter, but this idea was not used. The French dub of the Holiday Special has Dann comparing Wookiee food to French cuisine, referencing real-world culture.
Dann's role in the Holiday Special was also used as an idea during the development of the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back for the character of Lando Calrissian, who was at one point conceived as a gambler who ran a general store on a Wookiee planet. Dann himself has been mentioned in several Star Wars reference books, but his only other appearance in canon has been in the online massively multiplayer online roleplaying game Star Wars Galaxies. He was added to the game as a non-playable character during its 2008 Life Day events, which allowed players to complete a quest for him. Dann could be found at the Life Day trees in three different locations, and he claimed to have ordered Life Day candy for the children of the city where the player spoke to him.
After completing the quest, the player could choose to tell Dann that a stormtrooper had eaten the candy, but this choice did not affect the quest's outcome, which offered no reward. Dann was added to the game again during its 2009 Life Day events, where players could complete the same quest regardless of whether they had done so the previous year. The quest played out almost identically, except that Dann offered a reward: either a fruit cake or varactyl egg nog. Galaxies was shut down in December 2011, and the Life Day events were re-added to the game in the weeks before the closure. His name, Sohn Dann, is also a cheat code for the 2008 video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, used to unlock all costumes in the game.
Saun Dann's name has been spelled inconsistently for years. The Holiday Special's script uses "Saun Dann," but at one point calls him "Saundan." The latter spelling appears again in the seventy-fifth issue of Star Wars Insider (2004), while both Galaxies and the 106th issue of Insider (2008) use "Saun Dann." A third spelling, "Sohn Dann," is used by both 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia and Lando Calrissian's Databank entry on StarWars.com. Because both "Saun Dann" and "Sohn Dann" are used frequently and recently, this article treats both spellings as canonical but prefers "Saun Dann" due to its use in the Holiday Special's script.