What we know about his character

May 24, 1999
From the Official Souvenir Magazine.

Banished from the underwater city of Otoh Gunga mostly for his bumbling ways, Jar Jar is befriend by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan during the invasion of Naboo. He accompanies them to their adventures, eventually returning home to fight along side his fellow amphibious Gungans.

February 20, 1999
This Bio came from the back packaging of the episode 1 action figures. Along with the bios are Commtech chip lines that the figures say to one another. Only time will tell if the bios and the lines are real. These were posted on SirSteve's Star War Guide.

"A creature from the underwater depths of the planet of Naboo, Jar Jar Brinks must convince this fellow Gungans to take up arms against the greedy federation in a battle to preserve their planet."
Commtech: "Mesa called Ja Ja Brinks." ; "Gungans no liken outsiders." ; and "Woah, yousa guys bombad!"
Interacts with Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi

Update February 14, 1999
In the February 1999 issue of Vanity Fair, Lucasfilms has confirmed the name Jar-Jar Brinks. Jar Jar is a CG character; Lucas is using the same method he did to make Jaba in A New Hope Special Edition. From what I also hear he will play a comical and serious role in Episode 1, just like Yoda in Empire Strikes Back. The Force Net posted this anonymous source on Jar Jar that seems to explain about the character.

ANONYMOUS SOURCE - 7/9/98 - A lot of people are expressing concern that Jar Jar may be too "cute" and comical. But believe us, what you've heard so far is only the tip of the iceberg on him. Never fear, though Jar Jar IS going to be very funny, all word we hear is that he is very cool looking. In fact, though he does bumble around and screws up, he does have at least one very dramatic scene that has an big impact on Anakin and your perceptions of events in the original trilogy. Jar Jar's comedy will make the scene hit home a lot more when you see it.

"[My favorite character in Episode I is] an amazing new character, portrayed by Ahmed Best, which will eventually require computer animation and post-production work. Ahmed's one of those guys who seizes a character and embodies it. He's given the character an attitude. What happens is that Ahmed comes in, and we rehearse the scene with him. We'll do it four or five takes until the actors feel incredibly comfortable. Then, once we have that take, we will shoot a blank plate without him there. After we have done six, seven, takes all together with the rehearsals and everything else, the actors are pretty comfortable because Ahmed gives so much to that. He's off camera, so he's giving the lines. They know where they're supposed to be looking; they know know they're interacting with him. Then we use that as the plate that we'll then animate."
"He's a wonderful sidekick. He's discovered by Liam Neeson's character, and he becomes a part of the Jedi entourage. There is a whole movement of him throughout the course of the film that is very interesting."
"[He plays] a seriously major role [in the story]. He'll be in the film for an hour."

"How can I describe Jar Jar? He's a Gungan, a race of aliens that lives in an underwater city on Naboo. He's red with a big long nose, huge feet and hands, tall, lanky and stupid, very lizard like. He bumbles around, always making mistakes which in the end turn out to save the day. He's also the thing that's going to make this film more like Jedi than Empire (more kids film than adult)."

"Jar Jar is allegedly a central character who looks like a lizard. He's quite funky, and befriends OB1 in a swamp on another planet under circumstances still unknown. This swamp sequence was filmed [in late August] at Whippendell Woods near Leavesden. There was, however, no swamp in the woods. The "Imperial Droid" believes it will be put in later! Shock!! During this swamp sequence, OB1 discovers a submerged temple which looks like an Indian woman's face. I.e. the temple is shaped like a person. He then escapes with the others from something that I honestly don't know the circumstances of."

About Ahmed Best