By Brian Johnson
Staff writer

Chewbacca, like all the creatures in the "Star Wars" universe, was spawned from the mind of George Lucas in a galaxy far, far away. But the 7-foot-tall Wookie's most prominent feature, his hair, was created much closer to home.

In fact all the Wookie hair in the much-hyped new "Star Wars" installment, "Revenge of the Sith," was made in a manufacturing space inconspicuously tucked among the mills in Lawrence.

National Fiber Technology is a small company with only four full-time employees working in its enormous factory space at 300 Canal St. But its reach extends to Hollywood and beyond as the company manufactures hair for just about any furry character to cross a movie screen, theme park, theater stage, or sports arena.

"Anything with long hair that jumps out, scaring you," said co-owner Fred Fehrmann, describing his creations.

Fehrmann, 44, and wife, Kim Clark, are former Disney "imagineers" who bought the company four years ago from John Moot and Alan Thoday. The two had been customers of Moot and Thoday when they worked at Disney.

Today, the company boasts a long list of high-profile projects, including "The Grinch" and "The Cat in the Hat," among others.

But few clients have the cachet of a major Hollywood player like Chewbacca, the fierce but good-natured sidekick of Han Solo.

Fehrmann said the original Chewbacca from Lucas' first "Star Wars" film was not made by National Fiber. Instead, the Wookie was hand tied, meaning someone took tiny lace fibers and hand-threaded them into thousands of holes. It's a grueling process that Fehrmann said takes hours upon hours to complete.

But with National Fiber, the process is easier because the company manufactures the hair as fur fabric with the hair already adhered. The fabric, which looks similar to a large rug, is then sent to costume designers who shape it into a creature form.

"We matched the original colors (from the first 'Star Wars')," said Fehrmann, who pointed out viewers might notice a few changes in the look of the Wookie.

"Chewie is thinner in this movie," Fehrmann said.

He attributed some of the change in appearance to plot lines -- for instance the original "Star Wars" is set years after "Revenge of the Sith" -- and some to the fact that the new Chewbacca costume is made to form-fit Peter Mahew, the actor playing Chewbacca.

Fehrmann and Clark said they were both originally contacted by Lucasfilm in the fall of 2002 and were contracted in the winter of 2003 to make Chewbacca and the rest of the Wookies for the new movie.

In all, National Fiber made six different types of Wookie hair, mostly browns, grays, olives and blacks. Some of the hair still hangs on racks throughout the factory, labeled by number, like "Wookie #1," and "Wookie #2."

While the Wookie order was not the company's biggest, in total 1,000 square feet of Wookie hair was produced. Fehrmann said Lucasfilm was very particular about colors.

"We discussed colors for over a year," said Fehrmann. "Lucasfilm is the best organized group. They're an empire unto themselves."

Actual production of the Wookie hair took about five months in the winter and spring of 2003, made by National Fiber's fleet of antique fiber making machines and then shipped to Lucasfilm in Australia, where the costumes were assembled.

The company is very sensitive about the machinery used to create the fur. While it has no proprietary rights on the machines, most are so old that they have become one of a kind. Some of the machines have been in this same facility for more than a century.

National Fiber has its roots in wig making. The factory is actually the old wig-making company Rei Meredith Co., and Fehrmann and Clark couldn't produce their furs without the antiquated knitting machines, most of which resemble something out of an HG Wells novel.

Fehrmann says another company would have an awfully hard time trying to wrest market share away from National Fiber, simply because the machinery is so hard to duplicate. As for maintenance, Fehrmann taught himself to fix the machines.

"All the men that engineered this machinery are dead. The facilities that they were made in are all gone," Fehrmann said. "We got a good run on this until we die."

So, how do Clark and Fehrmann feel about having a role, albeit small, in one of cinema's most storied franchises?

"I was completely captivated by 'Star Wars,'" said Fehrmann, who admitted he only saw half of the original film in the theater because his father had a very strict curfew.

"Kim and I just have a complete fascination with the magic of theater. ... We still get a charge out of it."

BREAKOUT

By the numbers

r 6: Types of Wookie hair made by National Fiber Technology

r 5 months: Amount of time it took to make all the Wookie hair

r 70 to 80 square feet: Average amount of hair used to make a Wookie

r 1,000 square feet: Total amount of Wookie hair made by National Fiber for "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith"

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