Creating Star Wars' Blue Milk Was More Complicated Than You Might Think
"Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope" is a film of contrasts. On the one hand, it's a high fantasy tale about noble knights and swashbuckling pirates in an eternal battle against the forces of evil led by a cackling space wizard. On the other, it takes place in a universe where a young, naive, and annoying farm boy complains about being stuck working on his family's farm instead of being able to go out for a fun night on the town with his friends.
Indeed, the movie is full of small details that make Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) home life feel like a warped reflection of everyday life for so many people who've watched the film over time. Perhaps nothing captures this better than Luke's blue milk, which he pours into a glass as he argues with his Uncle Owen (Phil Brown) and Aunt Beru (Shelagh Fraser) about his never-ending list of responsibilities on the family farm.
It's a small, throwaway moment that rings true to any audience member who recalls having argued with their parents over a bowl of cereal (be they still a kid or not). However, in a piece published to commemorate the movie's 40th anniversary in 2017 on StarWars.com, set designer Roger Christian revealed this seemingly simple detail wound up providing an "agonizing" logistical hurdle for the film's production team to overcome.
Creating blue milk that didn't curdle in the Tunisian heat was the ultimate special effect
It turns out that bringing a glass of milk out to the middle of the Tunisian desert is easier said than done. Not only that, but it seems keeping the milk both blue and edible was just as complicated as bringing any of the film's epic space battles to life. As Christian explained:
"I had a lot of time agonizing over blue milk because there wasn't much that I could find. I knew we were gonna be in Tunisia, milk would be difficult to get, and also it would be hot. So, I had to have something they could drink, because I knew they were going to be drinking it. I eventually found what's called cochineal. It was a food coloring that was more like the [food coloring] for blueberry. So, I found that and, eventually, mixing that, I got it. Because everything I did, it would curdle and look terrible. I eventually found a way of mixing it that I could give it to the props [department], because I knew I would dress the set and leave for the next one. The props had to handle that. So, that worked."
In order to ensure the blue milk didn't make any of the film's cast members sick, Christian used long-life milk, which doesn't need to be refrigerated. Unfortunately, as Hamill recalled in a 2018 interview with Radio Times, it was absolutely horrible to drink. To quote the actor directly:
"Well, the original blue milk was what they call long life milk, which you get at camping stores because you don't have to refrigerate it. So, it has additives — they put blue food coloring in it — and it was really ghastly. Oily and sweet and yuck! Triggered your gag reflex. But I said, 'Look, if they gave me blue milk, you bet I'm going to drink it on camera, because what other chance am I going to get?' So, there's an indication that I'm an underrated actor: I gulped it and acted like I liked it without vomiting."
Blue milk has lived on in other Star Wars projects
Thankfully, Hammill's dedication to his craft resulted in an endearing cinematic moment. Not only that, but the blue milk itself lives on this day and has become a popular Easter egg featured in a variety of other "Star Wars" projects.
Perhaps most memorably, Hamill harkened back to that famous scene in "Episode VIII — The Last Jedi," this time subbing out blue milk for green milk straight from the udder of a relaxed beast on the cliffs of Ahch-To. Luckily for the actor, the movie's crew was able to use the magic of modern CGI to turn regular coconut milk green in post-production, no gagging required! Similarly, in "Andor," the Imperial fascist Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) has his own kitchen table argument with his mother Eedy (Kathryn Hunter) over a bowl of blue milk and cereal, itself both a nod to "A New Hope" and a clever way of using set design to create a parallel between the heroic Luke and the sniveling Syril.
Elsewhere, in the real world, you can have a taste of both blue and green milk at Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland, where the non-dairy coconut blended beverages are served chilled and iced for anyone making the excursion out to Black Spire Outpost. So, while it might sound ridiculous to agonize over something as silly as a glass of blue milk, Christian's dedication to overcoming this logistical hurdle has paid off in spades for the larger "Star Wars" property. Only time will tell what other wild colors of milk we'll see next.