Editing Jar Jar Binks (section)

===Character reassessment===
{{quote box|width = 33%|quote=I actually felt terrible that Ahmed Best suffered so much. I remember when he came out to [ILM headquarters] Kerner and I met him, showed him around, and I said, "We're really interested in having your interpretation of this character. You're going to bring a lot to this, the personality is something that we have not experienced that yet. And that's going to be your part in it."

And he was this kid in his twenties, who did that beautiful Stomp, that show that he was involved in, which we all got to see. George let us see a special [performance] of that -- yeah, that was during a company meeting. There was a big theater up there in San Rafael, and the company meeting turned out to be a little bit of conversation and then we got to see Stomp. Ahmed was in that thing, and I was just like, "This is so cool!" It was just wonderful.

So here he was, this kid I think had hoped that this was going to be something that transformed his life in a really great way. Who wouldn't think that? It's an opportunity to work on a ''Star Wars'' movie.|source=—Digital model designer Jean Bolte remembers meeting actor Ahmed Best.<ref name="Brooks">{{cite web |last=Brooks |first=Dan |title="All Films Are Personal": An Oral History of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace |url=https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history |access-date=October 1, 2023 |website=StarWars.com}}</ref>}}

Since the release of the movie [[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace|''The Phantom Menace'']], many people who have worked on the ''Star Wars'' films and viewers have defended Jar Jar Binks.<ref name="starwars.com">{{cite web |last=Brooks |first=Dan |title="All Films Are Personal": An Oral History of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace |url=https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history |access-date=October 20, 2023 |website=StarWars.com}}</ref>

Filmmaker and creator George Lucas defended the character Jar Jar Binks by clarifying that the ''Star Wars'' films were made for 12-year-old children. He has said from the beginning in early interviews for ''[[Star Wars (film)|A New Hope]]'' that the series was intended for children.<ref name="starwars.com"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Dretzka |first=Gary |date=May 13, 2002 |title=Lucas strikes back / 'Star Wars' creator defends Jar Jar and... |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/lucas-strikes-back-star-wars-creator-defends-2837554.php |access-date=October 20, 2023 |website=SFGATE}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=February 21, 2024 |title=From the Archives: George Lucas Tells the STAR WARS Origin Story |url=https://www.afi.com/news/from-the-archives-george-lucas-tells-the-star-wars-origin-story/ |access-date=February 22, 2024 |website=American Film Institute}}</ref>

In an interview with [[IGN]] during the premiere of ''[[Star Wars: The Force Awakens|The Force Awakens]]'', Yoda's performer [[Frank Oz]] stated that Jar Jar Binks is his favorite character: "I love Jar Jar Binks. I swear to god I do... When I saw that script I thought he was a fantastic character and I don't know what the heck happened… I thought he was fantastic; he was hysterical. He reminded me of [[Abbott and Costello]]."<ref>{{cite web |author1=Brent McKnight |date=December 17, 2015 |title=What Frank Oz Really Thinks Of Jar Jar Binks |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/What-Frank-Oz-Really-Thinks-Jar-Jar-Binks-100697.html |access-date=October 20, 2023 |website=CINEMABLEND}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Frank Oz Defends Jar Jar Binks | date=December 17, 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXh47Z_iYlU |access-date=October 20, 2023}}</ref>

Actor [[Liam Neeson]] praised Ahmed Best for his portrayal of Jar Jar Binks: "I know a lot of fans and critics didn't like it. Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks, received a lot of criticism, to the point where it really hurt his career. And I have to say that when he was making that movie, with Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks and with Ewan McGregor as young Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was probably one of the funniest and most talented guys I've ever worked with. I remember calling... my old ex-agent... and saying, 'Listen, I think I just worked with the new [[Eddie Murphy]].' And I still believe it."<ref>{{cite web |last=Scott |first=Ryan |date=September 14, 2020 |title=Liam Neeson Praises Jar Jar Binks Actor While Defending The Phantom Menace |url=https://movieweb.com/jar-jar-binks-ahmed-best-liam-neeson-praise/ |access-date=October 20, 2023 |website=MovieWeb}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Parker |first=Ryan |date=September 14, 2020 |title=Liam Neeson Explains Why He's "Proud" of 'The Phantom Menace' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/liam-neeson-says-hes-proud-of-the-phantom-menace-4059922/ |access-date=October 20, 2023 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>

During the 20th anniversary of ''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace|The Phantom Menace]]'' film, many members of the prequel production team have defended the character and appreciated the public's acceptance at the [[Star Wars Celebration]] panel. Visual effects supervisor [[John Knoll]] reflected: "Well, I think it's good to see [his newfound popularity], because I think George took a lot of the criticism pretty harshly. It was kind of painful for me to see how cruel people were about it and how personally George took it. I think the movies didn't deserve as much hate as they received. It hurt me to see how much George took those things." He also said, "I thought [the Star Wars Celebration panel] was great, especially the warm reaction there was to Ahmed. I know he took all the vicious comments people had about Jar Jar very hard. That's not his fault, he didn't write that character. He's an actor who did a really good job and worked hard to get it right. Seeing the really warm reaction of the crowd made me feel... It was moving.".<ref name="starwars.com"/>
Animation director [[Rob Coleman]] said that twenty years later he still has younger people coming up to him and telling him that Jar Jar is their favorite character.<ref name="starwars.com"/>
Digital model designer Jean Bolte cited Jar Jar Binks as one of her favorite characters to work with alongside Sebulba and Yoda, saying, "Going to Star Wars Celebration and seeing and hearing the fans so interested in which one was our contribution… It really completely changed my point of view about being privileged to have had anything to do with these films.".<ref name="starwars.com"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Star Wars: The Phantom Menace cast and crew reunited ahead of 20th anniversary |url=https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/star-wars-the-phantom-menace-cast-reunite-for-20th-anniversary/ |access-date=October 20, 2023 |website=CNET}}</ref><ref name="youtube.com">{{citation |title=Star Wars: Phantom Menace 20th Anniversary Celebration Live Panel | date=April 15, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhBGb8J9vsI |access-date=October 20, 2023}}</ref>

In an interview with [[Europa Press]] during the premiere of ''[[Rogue One|Rogue One: A Star Wars Story]]'', a journalist asked actress [[Felicity Jones]] who she would like to receive a gift from if she were in the ''Star Wars'' galaxy at Christmas time and she responded: "I think she would be very interested to receive a gift from Jar Jar Binks or C-3P0."<ref>{{cite web |agency=Europa Press |date=December 14, 2016 |title=ENTREVISTA {{!}} Felicity Jones: "Rogue One es una historia sobre personajes imperfectos y vulnerables" |url=https://www.europapress.es/cultura/cine-00128/noticia-entrevista-felicity-jones-rogue-one-historia-personajes-imperfectos-vulnerables-20161214183105.html |access-date=October 20, 2023 |website=www.europapress.es}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Entrevista con Felicity Jones por 'Rogue One' | date=December 14, 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbQt6Zv0mgY |access-date=October 20, 2023}}</ref>

Ahmed Best was moved by people's appreciation for Jar Jar Binks: "It was definitely the kids. I had to start looking at Jar Jar through their eyes, and that's what made me smile again. Now those kids, they are between 20 and 30 years old. They have a different perspective on ''The Phantom Menace''. ''The Phantom Menace'', for them, is their ''Star Wars''. ''[Episodes] IV'', ''V'' and ''VI'', that's their parents' ''Star Wars'', and ''VII'', ''VIII'' and ''IX'', that's their children's ''Star Wars''. But the prequels, that's theirs, and they defend the prequels. So I see the same thing. I see the resurgence of ''The Phantom Menace''." He then talked about his experience of going to Star Wars Celebration: "To be very honest, I was very afraid to go to Celebration. Every time I'm in a ''Star Wars'' setting, I spend most of my time defending our work and defending Jar Jar. And I just don't want to do that anymore. So I was very reluctant to come to Celebration because of that, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't the case at all. I just felt nothing but love and respect and admiration for the work we did. I couldn't have been more proud and I couldn't have been happier. I wish George was there because I think we're at a time right now where we have to stand in that work. We have to say, "We did it," and step into that in a very proud way, because it stands the test of time."<ref name="starwars.com"/><ref name="youtube.com"/>