He based Chewbacca on his Alaskan Malamute dog, Indiana (whom he would later use as namesake for his character Indiana Jones), who often acted as the director's "co-pilot" by sitting in the passenger seat of his car.
Han baserade Chewbacca på sin hund Indiana, som var av rasen Alaskan Malamute, (som han senare skulle använda som namne för hans nästa hjälte Indiana Jones), som oftast agerade som regissörens "co-pilot" genom att sitta på passagerarsätet i hans bil.