Admiral Ackbar performer Timothy M. Rose
Costume and puppet
Ackbar's appearance in the film was created using a combination of either a half-body puppet or a full-body costume, depending on the camera angle required for the shot. The puppet and mask were created by the "Monster Shop" of Industrial Light & Magic, the motion picture visual effects company founded by Lucas. In close-up scenes of Ackbar that required dialogue, puppeteer Timothy M. Rose sat inside the chest of the character and operated the head like a traditional hand puppet from below. Rose moved the mouth using his hand, while Mike Quinn operated the eyes via cables. The jumpsuit of that version of the costume was cut off at the waist, and each sleeves included additional access points where a puppeteer could insert his or her arm to control Ackbar's hands.For wider shots that showed Ackbar's full body, Rose wore the mask and costume while Quinn operated the mouth via remote. Though most other Rebel officers in the Return of the Jedi briefing room scene wore earth tones, Rodis-Jamero felt Ackbar's costume should be more crisp and distinctive: "He was an admiral. He was more military. His costume looks hard." Costume designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers helped create the Ackbar costume, for which Rose wore a beanbag-like piece around his belly to create Ackbar's distinctive silhouette. Rose wore a white nylon jumpsuit over it, which had a pattern loosely based on ski jumpsuits used in costuming other background characters, as well as yellow striping down the side of the legs. The artificial fabric used on the jumpsuit made a distinct scratching sound whenever the actor walked, which Rodgers said was a nuisance for the film's sound crew.Over the jumpsuit, Rose wore a vest made of white felt, along with a white plastic utility belt, a rank badge on the left side of his chest, and a large collar to accommodate the unique profile of Ackbar's head. The white boots Ackbar wears in the film are the same design as those worn by Imperial stormtroopers. A white helmet with an elongated back to accommodate Ackbar's large oval-shaped head was featured in original character sketches and was created for Ackbar. However, it created too many complications with the operation of the puppet head, so it was worn by another Mon Calamari character instead. Edwina Pellikka, a textile artist who handled the breakdown and aging of costumes in the film, said she was unhappy with the final result of Ackbar's costume. She later reflected that the all-white costume could have used more aging, saying: "I had to airbrush it, which was done very fast and it does look kind of like it's outlined. Not enough was done with that.Portrayals
Timothy Rose
Timothy Rose had been a puppeteer working on several projects for The Jim Henson Company (including The Dark Crystal), when Jim Henson directed him and others from the company to work on Return of the Jedi. He was not originally hired to portray Admiral Ackbar, but instead to help build and operate the Sy Snootles puppet for the Max Rebo Band, which performs at the palace of the alien crime lord Jabba the Hutt. While backstage at the workshop where several alien puppets were stored, Rose saw Ackbar's sculpt on a display stand and asked Phil Tippett if he could play the part. Tippett told him it was a background character, and Rose did not know Ackbar would play a major supporting role in the film. He only asked to portray him because he liked the look of the character, and said he was "thinking he was going to be in the third row in a new cantina sequence or something". Rose was not required to audition for the part of Ackbar before being given the role.Rose returned to portray Ackbar in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Each day he was provided with pages from the script only for the specific scenes that were being shot, so he knew little about the final role Ackbar would play in the films until shooting took place. Rose was frustrated by the amount of secrecy on the set, which he felt prevented him and the other actors from having everything they needed to do their jobs as well as possible. Many of Ackbar's scenes were cut from the first film, which Rose said was a disappointment to him "after waiting 30 years to reprise Ackbar". After the character's scenes in The Last Jedi were complete, the crew took footage of Rose in the Ackbar's costume saying "It's a wrap", a reference to the character's death and his famous "It's a trap" line. That shot was featured in behind-the-scenes footage shown at the 2017 D23 Expo. Although intended as a joke, Rose found the gesture offensive and said he was "in tears in the suit".
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