Davis told the publication about his costume specifically and the feature it had that gave him a possible advantage over the other actors playing Ewoks. He explained:
“I happened to get quite a good-looking Ewok costume, just by luck again. He’s got a little white belly and a little white on the middle of his face, you know, and he’s got a nicely proportioned look to him. Second, I was able to get my own tongue through between the teeth in the head. These heads were inanimate; there was no movement. So, luckily, I could get my tongue through, which actually gave the face a bit of life and there was a little bit of movement there.
“They were able to insert some little sounds of dialogue in those places as well, and it just helped to give that little extra bit of life to it all. Again, it was just by luck the way the head fitted me I could do that. I don’t know of any other Ewoks that were able to do that.”
Rewatching the scene where Wicket first meets Leia in the forest, I didn’t think I’d notice his tongue, but I did. It’s not something you’d pick up unless you were looking for it (which I guarantee you will be now), but it does give him more depth to his character. There is just a tiny bit more realism that added life to Wicket. Even after all the viewings I’ve had of “Return of the Jedi” over all these years, I didn’t realize how little actual movement there was in those costumes.
