Max Rebo/Legends

Max Rebo, born Siiruulian Phantele, was a male Ortolan who was known as a popular musician and head member of the Max Rebo Band. He was a skinny Ortolan, the youngest of five children.
==Biography==
The male Ortolan named Siiruulian Phantele was born on his species's homeworld of Orto. As he was the smallest of five younglings, his mother feared that he would waste away. As a consequence, Phantele spent his younger years in the pursuit of food. Eventually, he ended up working in a flanth house, where he played for his dinner every night.
One day, Phantele was discovered by Evar Orbus, a crowd-pleasing Letaki wailer who was on the lookout for a young talented yet exploitable entertainer. Orbus approached Phantele, promising him that he would never need to go hungry again, provided that he signed his musical services over. Phantele's constant pursuit of food told him that this was an opportunity not to be missed. Phantele signed himself over to Orbus, and on the recommendation of his new manager, changed his name to Max Rebo. Shortly after, the Max Rebo Band was formed. Rebo played the red ball organ.
At some point during the Clone Wars, Rebo attended a VIP gala held by Bezz Drexx on Coruscant. He found the reception boring, however, and he spent time off to the side of the crowd, with his hands in the pockets of his tuxedo.
In 3 ABY, Evar Orbus was killed by Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes, because the band came to Tatooine to take their job at the Mos Eisley Cantina. This was when Sy Snootles encouraged Rebo to take lead of the musical group. Snootles, however, discreetly controlled the band herself, letting naïve Rebo take the credit as frontman. She did this in order to avoid becoming the target of those that the band might—and most likely would—potentially anger.
Snootles' plan had terrible repercussions for the band however, when Rebo signed the entire band over to Jabba Desilijic Tiure with a lifelong contract including an unlimited supply of food.
The band was confined to performing in Jabba's Palace, until Jabba died at the hands of Leia Organa and the Rebels. After Jabba was killed, he went on tour with Sy since his other band member Droopy left to find his brothers in the desert. After Sy set off on her own, Rebo set out on his own solo career, and after many tours, joined the Rebel Alliance to entertain soldiers.
He eventually left the music industry, and opened his own chain of restaurants: Max's Flangth House. He became quite rich, and finally settled on Coruscant.
==Behind the scenes==
Max Rebo was created for Richard Marquand's 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and first appeared in the film's novelization, released earlier in the same year.Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi In the movie, he was portrayed by Simon Williamson, who also puppeteered Nien Nunb and a Mon Calamari, in addition to playing several Gamorrean guards. In his role as Rebo, Williamson wore a costume from the waist up that was constructed by Industrial Light & Magic.From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga The costume was very tight-fitting, and has prompted Williamson to count himself lucky for not being claustrophobic. Unable to see, he was issued instructions via an earphone while wearing the costume. Two additional puppeteers helped to control the character's head and limbs.
While the visual evidence from the finished film is inconclusive, production sketches and the construction of the costume itself indicate that the limbs Max uses to play the keyboard are feet rather than hands. Max was intended to be perched on a cushion at the same height as the organ's keys, and using his sole two limbs to play the keys. Due to the way the suit was operated, with Williamson's arms performing inside the legs, the positioning of the costumes' hips contorted to Williamson's shoulders, distorting the costumes' design and the intended effect. Because of this, the 1983 Kenner toy took the interpretation that Max was sitting or standing inside an enclosure of his organ with the lower part of his body obscured by the instrument, and depicted him with a roughly humanoid body construction, with two arms and two legs. Subsequently, the 1989 West End Games sourcebook Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races continued this depiction, influencing future appearances of the Ortolan species in the Expanded Universe. Despite this error being rectified in canon, several Expanded Universe interpretations of Ortolan physiology have still made their way into various pieces of media.
Since Return of the Jedi release, Rebo has appeared in various works of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. He and fellow band members Sy Snootles and Droopy McCool were featured in the short story And the Band Played On: The Band's Tale, included in 1996's anthology Tales from Jabba's Palace, which told of how their band came to be in Jabba's service and established them as rivals of Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes, the band seen in the Mos Eisley Cantina in the original Star Wars film. Who's Who in the Max Rebo Band, an article published in the sixty-seventh issue of Star Wars Insider in 2003, was the first source to mention Rebo's real name of Siiruulian Phantele. The director's commentary on the DVD release of Star Wars: Clone Wars revealed that Rebo is present among a group of Ortolans seen in the twenty-second episode of the series.Star Wars: Clone Wars DVD
As Rebo resembles a Cerulean elephant, it is noteworthy that "Phantele" becomes "Elephant" when the syllables are swapped, and that "Siiruulian" resembles the word "Cerulean". However, no official source has confirmed that Who's Who author Rich Handley intended this parallel. The first Star Wars special of the American cartoon Robot Chicken poked fun at Rebo's resemblance to an elephant, presenting every song title of the Max Rebo band as asserting that Rebo is not an elephant.Robot Chicken: Star Wars
A blue-skinned elephant creature named "Hooter" appears and plays a keyboard in Michael Jackson's short film Captain EO. Many fans have speculated that Rebo inspired the creature's design, and although the speculation is not confirmed, it is noteworthy that Star Wars creator George Lucas served as the executive producer of the film.
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
*
*Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III
* 
==Sources==
===Non-canon sources===
*Return of the Ewok
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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===Ambiguously-canon appearances===
*"Lapti Nek": The Music Video from Jabba's Palace
Category:Coruscanti
Category:Desilijic servants
Category:Entertainers
Category:Individuals with he/him pronouns
Category:Males
Category:Max Rebo Band members
Category:New Republic individuals
Category:Ortolans