Bantha Canyon (real name Desolation Canyon in Death Valley National Park) is where the Tusken Raiders mount their Banthas on Tatooine in A New Hope. The scenes immediately after this where Luke gets attacked by the Sand People were filmed in Tunisia at Star Wars Canyon.

The original Bantha was an elephant draped in fur with fake horns and is one of the few creatures that Lucas didn't replace with CGI at some point in the last twenty years.

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The impressive short film Grounded by Kevin Margo was also filmed at Death Valley. Here's hoping the guy gets a sci-fi picture deal soon...

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Although most of it was filmed overseas, some key shots of Star Wars were filmed in Death Valley. Not surprisingly, the filming locations were intended to represent Luke's home planet, Tatooine. When Return of the Jedi was made, the crew returned to the famous national park. A self-guided walking tour (with pictures!) can be found at this site.

A more complete list of the many films shot at Death Valley can be found on the nps.gov website.

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