I was disappointed that Jar Jar didn't have any lines in this episode.
I think I only saw him on screen twice.

That was one of the best things about the movie IMO.

He did, but it seemed like a line dubbed in from TPM. It was just one.

Really, there was no place for him. I don't mind the character, but I didn't see a place for him. Maybe there could have been if the first half of the film was tightened up.

They still gave Ahmed Best a credit, though I don't recall Jar Jar contributing anything to Episode 3. Curious thing, though, that even though Jar Jar's screen time in Episode 3 is dramatically cut short from what we saw in Episode 1, his contribution to the moving of the storyline and plots of both movies are exactly the same.

I think this thread, like Jar Jar, needs to die a quick death.

Jar Jar should crossover to rap music and do a collaboration with the 2 Live Crew on a remake of "Me So Horny" - "Meesa Horny". LOL.

I was glad he didn't have anything to do with it. Though they should have added some closure to some degree.

I woudln't have minded Bail Organa saying "hey Jar Jar lets see what's goin on at the Jedi temple" and when they get there, oops a stray blaster shot hits Jar Jar right in the head.

I think it's pretty safe to assume that Lucas had grander plans for the character, but backed off after audience reaction from Episode I. His role is very, very small in Episode II (they even briefly flirted with the idea of making his speech more 'normal' in that film, but decided against it). In Episode III, he's on screen for all of about 10 seconds.

After Episode I, I figured we'd see Anakin have a growing friendship with the guy and then kill him in Episode III after turning to the Dark Side. But, that definitely wouldn't work now -- Lucas would want people to be 'shocked' by this, but you know that the theater would errupt in applause.

Actually, I think Lucas doesn't give a crap what the fans think, for the most part, and would have done damn well what he wanted to with Jar Jar had Ahmed Best not been hit by that car.

Of course, I think it was a disgruntled fan who hit Best.

I'm not so sure about that. I believe Lucas likes the fans to believe that he is his own man but he listens. Look at how he changed some of the most unpopular SE modifications back to the original (or closer anyway) for the latest DVDs. He also re-did the CGI on Jaba. I'd be willing to bet he did those things primarily due to fan reaction.

It doesn't make sense that he would make JarJar such a major character in Menace and then reduce him to almost nothing in the next two. If that was intended from the beginning then he didn't have things thought through very well which I doubt.

I think he is influenced somewhat by fan reaction, yes, like when he took N Synch or the Backstreet Boys or whoever the hell they were out of Episode 2, but Jar Jar was intended to be more of a main player, like you pointed out. I suspect it has less to do with fan reaction and more to the fact that Ahmed Best couldn't play the character nearly as much after his accident.

all Best really needed to do was the voice. CG would take care of the rest

Glad I'm not the only one who did the "Meesa sad!" thing.

Accident? What happened to Ahmed Best? Only thing Google reveals is an internet april fools joke.

They were never in it to begin with, and Lucas laughed at the notion during a post-AOTC interview. That rumor got started becayse N'Sync was working on a video at ILM and they had already been on record as saying they were huge Star Wars fans. But they were never in Episode II.

Maybe it was just a joke then. Was it the accident involving a car that you read about? I just heard about it word of mouth.

Regardless of why Jar Jar wasn't involved in the the later movies makes me happy, what was Lucas thinking when he created him?