Ree - Yees / Legends Ree - Yees was a male Gran criminal from Kinyen who suffered from a recessive genetic mutation , uncommon among Gran , which caused his hands to be deformed . Biography . Ree - Yees enjoyed visiting other planets via Star Tours , and often brought his custom three eyed camera to take pictures , despite flash photography not being allowed . Ree - Yees was convicted of murder on Kinyen , and was in hiding on Tatooine as a member of Jabba Desilijic Tiure ' s court . He was an alcoholic , and was often seen associating with Tessek . Ree - Yees was assigned the task of taking care of Jabba ' s pet frog - dog , Bubo . The distrustful Jabba had a short - range bomb implanted in him . When Jabba said a certain phrase , the bomb would explode , killing Ree - Yees and any one next to him . This bomb could be used to kill an assassin , or if Ree - Yees himself was planning to kill Jabba ( as he was ) . Ree - Yees and Tessek were conspiring to plant a bomb on the " Khetanna " in order to assassinate Jabba . Prefect Eugene Talmont , who was in on this scheme , promised to clear Ree - Yees ' s criminal record , which would allow him to return to Kinyen . Ree - Yees then had Imperial surgeons place a small panel under Bubo ' s flesh , which the Gran operative could use to order in components for a thermal detonator ( hidden inside shipments of goatgrass ) which he and Tessek planned to use to destroy Jabba ' s sail barge . However , when the last and most vital component , the detonator , went missing , the plan seemed to be doomed . Bubo , angry at his mistreatment at the hands of Ree - Yees , had eaten it , thus ensuring Tessek ' s plot would fail . Tessek , however , planted another thermal detonator on the barge . Ree - Yees didn ' t let his disappointment stop him making a few bets with his companions when the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker was thrown to the rancor ' s pit after he had enraged Jabba . Much to everyone ' s surprise , Skywalker killed the beast . Ree - Yees was at Carkoon onboard Jabba ' s sail barge when Skywalker , Han Solo , and Chewbacca were to be fed to the sarlacc . When Princess Leia Organa was strangling Jabba , the Hutt triggered the hypnotic trigger to make Ree - Yees grab Leia and self - destruct . However , Jabba died before he could complete the sequence . Ree - Yees was killed during the sail barge ' s explosion shortly afterwards . Behind the scenes . Ree - Yees ' s name is a play on the words " three eyes . " In the " Return of the Jedi Creature History with Pablo Hidalgo " blog entry at StarWars . com , writer Tim Veekhoven revealed that creature performer Tim Rose " remembered that Ree - Yees was originally meant to be the Admiral of the Rebel Fleet , but that George Lucas himself appointed Ackbar . " Several behind - the - scenes creature shop photos show multiple manufactured heads for the Ree Yees character , perhaps attesting to his earlier status as a more major character . According to IMBD . com , in " Return of the Jedi " , Ree Yees was performed by Richard Bonehill , Paul Springer , and Mike Quinn ( animatronic performer . ) In " " , historian Voren Na ' al mentions speaking with Ree - Yees some time after the Battle of Endor , suggesting he actually survived the destruction of Jabba ' s Sail Barge , contradicting most other sources . In " " and " " , any Gran enemy is referred to as Ree - Yees ( as well as also possessing his oversized hands ) . In " " and " " , the Gran were appropriately named but still had oversized hands . In the games , thermal detonators were their primary weapon , though they were also adept at melee combat . A Ree - Yees action figure was released by Kenner in 1983 , and another Ree - Yees came out in 1998 as part of the Power of the Force 2 line . Ree - Yees can be seen in the onboard safety video for Disney ' s original " Star Tours " ride , breaking the rules by smoking and using flash photography . Ree - Yees was also included in a Star Tours Boarding Party action figure set with the camera seen in the video ; the packaging confirms his identity . Since the events of " Star Tours " take place after the Battle of Endor , this may present a contradiction with " Tales from Jabba ' s Palace " and the former " StarWars . com " Databank , both of which confirm that Ree - Yees died in the explosion of Jabba ' s sail barge ( as seen in ) . However , it ' s possible the in - universe safety video could have been filmed prior to the events of the ride .