Yetis

Yetis, also known as abominable snowmen, are mythological creatures said to hail from the Himalayas around the areas of Tibet. They are characterized as large, bipedal arthropods with vaguely ape-like or even Cro-Magnon features whose bodies are covered with thick, course white hair. They are usually found in tribal communities in the Himalayan Mountains near Tibet. The Western counterpart to the Yeti is the North American Bigfoot or Sasquatch. They have been dramatized in numerous speculative fiction venues over the years and have been known to appear in various films, TV programs and comic books.

In film
The first appearance of a Yeti in film was the 1954 W. Lee Wilder movie The Snow Creature. In the film, an American expedition to the Himalayas encounter a family of Yetis and manages to capture one, whereupon they bring it back to the United States for study. A watered down version of the Abominable Snowman was featured in the 1956 movie Man Beast. Yetis were also featured in the 1957 Hammer Film Productions feature The Abominable Snowman. Although Yetis were the provincial antagonists of the feature, they only received minimal screen time and only appeared at the very end of the film. In the 1977 film Snowbeast, an Abominable Snowman was featured attacking a Colorado ski resort. Like many of its predecessors, this version of a Yeti received very little screen time and its ascetic value was hampered due to a low budget and cheap costume design.

Like most physically imposing monsters, Yetis eventually received the Hollywood computer generated image treatment as seen in the 2008 adventure film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. In the film, Yetis played a significant role, but were not cast in the role of villainous monsters. In fact, they were benevolent creatures who aided the protagonists against the efforts of evil Chinese mummy Emperor Han.

A more family friendly version of Yetis can be found in the 2018 animated feature Smallfoot. The film focuses on a family of Yetis who regal each other with stories of strange inexplicable beings called humans - beings with very little body hair, perfect white teeth and minty-fresh breath. Truly terrifying.

An alien version of a Yeti is featured in the sci-fi franchise Star Wars. Referred to as a Wampa, these creatures were very similar to traditional Yetis, but possessed curved, downsweeping horns that grew from the sides of their heads. A Wampa appeared in the film Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where it attacked and captured Luke Skywalker. Luke used his lightsaber to escape, but the noise alerted the Wampa who charged after him. Luke swung his saber, severing the creature's arm, then made his escape out into the bleak, snowy landscape. Additional material from the novelization as well as several Star Wars reference guides established that Luke's allies in the Rebel Alliance had captured several of these creatures and contained them within a cell at their headquarters on the ice planet Hoth.

Appearances of Yetis

 * Abominable Snowman, The
 * Smallfoot
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back