Chewbacca Enters The Clone Wars

The Force is with the famous Wookiee as he heads to the small screen appearing in the finale of the Cartoon Network hit

Everybody's favorite fuzzball is getting a cartoon makeover.

Chewbacca, Han Solo's Wookiee sidekick in the original Star Wars trilogy, is set to guest star, in animated form at least, in the two-part season finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, set to air April 1 on the Cartoon Network.

And the best part? The actor who played him in real life is helping out.

Peter Mayhew and his seven-foot, three-inch frame has been advising Lucasfilm animators at their studios in Marin County, Calif., on how to properly translate Chewie into the digital realm. To that end, he not only assisted the production on how the Big Guy walks, but also how he talks by providing some of his own growling noises for the Wookiee.

"You can't have Chewbacca without Peter being involved. His movements and his mannerisms make that character," supervising director Dave Filoni told Entertainment Weekly.

They'd better get it right, 'cause we'd hate to see their arms ripped out.

The episode, titled "Wookiee Hunt," takes place during the Clone Wars, which means, of course, that the cartoon Chewbacca will be younger than he was when he, Han and Luke rescued Princess Leia in the original 1977 film.

After all these years, Chewie, you're lookin' better with age.