A closer look

It is incredibly poetic that the galaxy's most beloved and sophisticated astromech droid is essentially half machine, half screaming infant. Sound editor Ben Burtt struggled to give the trash-can-shaped robot an emotional core. He eventually decided to mix his own voice making baby cooing noises with the harsh, mechanical beeps of an ARP 2600 synthesizer. The result is a sound so universally recognizable that nobody questions why a space computer sounds like a toddler.