Chewbacca was inspired by George Lucas' dog

No, George Lucas’s dog was not 7 feet tall and capable of communicating with the captain of the Millenium Falcon, but that doesn’t mean that he was not the inspiration for Chewbacca. George Lucas - the man famous for creating and directing the original Star Wars trilogy - had a pet Alaskan Mamalute, a huge and hairy dog breed that became the basis for Chewbacca. Lucas said that the dog, Indiana, would regularly join him in the front passenger seat of his car and act like a co-pilot, which is where he got the idea for Chewbacca being Han’s co-pilot.