“(Han) Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca flee blindly into hyperspace from an Imperial fleet and end up crashing onto an unfamiliar planet. Solo is attacked and killed by a primitive group of Humans, and 126 years later, his skeleton is discovered by Indiana Jones. (Writer Haden) Blackman intentionally inserted references to both film franchises into the story, hoping to appeal to a wide range of fans. ”

“When Blackman was crafting Into the Great Unknown’s plot, he recalled stories about Peter Mayhew in his Chewbacca costume potentially being mistaken for Bigfoot while filming Return of the Jedi, and used them as his starting point.”

“Chewbacca is flying with Solo as the Falcon lands on the unfamiliar planet, and kills all of the attacking Humans with his bowcaster and with brute strength, although he is too late to save Solo from dying. After Solo passes away, Chewbacca begins roaming the nearby forest and is referred to as “Sasquatch” by the natives. He is still present 126 years later, watching over the Falcon.”

Now, that’s not only a nice little connection between Chewie and Bigfoot, but also very awesomely ties both of Lucasfilm’s huge cinematic franchises neatly together…albeit in a way that doesn’t reflect ether movie series’ continuity.

Note: Children’s hit Cartoon series about Paddington Bear also had an episode featuring the Yeti which helped familiarize the concept even more.

There are obvious connections between a “Wookiee”, not to be confused with the hit Jersey Shore cast member, and mysterious hairy hominids but such connections are not the basis for creation. Correlation in this case, does not equal causation but coincidence or artistic creativity inspired by legends stretching beyond the twentieth century. As long as there have been campfire stories there have been accounts of creatures like Bigfoot, and as such Mr. Lucas merely utilized existing traits to paint an alternate universe where these creatures are not hidden, but at times can be called upon to participate actively in combat.