So, here’s Day 3:
I couldn’t attend the big panel this morning. As much as I was interested to hear some insight about the villains of the sequel trilogy, I had appointments to keep.
By overwhelming internet consensus, I donned my X-Wing sweater and lightsaber skirt, and headed out to said appointments.
Ewan MacGregor is filming right now, so he has weird hair and a Colonel Mustard mustache and is also contractually obligated to try not to catch any diseases from the wretched hive of scum and villainy at Star Wars Celebration. We had to stay on opposite sides of Artoo, and he wasn’t allowed to do any handshakes or anything, and they kinda rushed us through. But it seemed like he was kinda disappointed by those rules. He was standing as close to Artoo as possible, and it was pretty clear that if he had his way we would have been allowed to stay there and chat at least a little bit. He’s such a cool dude.
After that, it was nearly time for a special meet and greet for VIP ticket holders, this time with Emily Swallow, the Armorer from The Mandalorian.
Most of the VIPs had amassed in the VIP lounge in anticipation of the photo op. Many of them are in one of the costuming groups—the 501st, the Rebel Legion, or the Mandalorian Mercs. To call them costuming groups seems like doing them a disservice; these people are amazing. You have to build a costume to strict standards to join the group, and the aesthetics are so authentic that, in later movies, Lucasfilm has simply enlisted the local 501st as extras instead going through the effort to make their costuming team do it. But beyond that, they are an incredibly giving group, raising money for charity and visiting hospitals in costume to cheer up the kids. They’re also a super friendly bunch, so waiting for Emily Swallow was a very relaxing, fun time.
As soon as I approached her, she screeched, “YOUR OUTFIT IS AMAZING!”
“Thanks!” I replied. “It’s all Ashley Eckstein’s brand.”
Emily nodded. “She’s a genius.”
(So, thanks for picking my outfit, friends. It was clearly the right call.)
Appointments now accomplished, I could now watch the rest of the panels I wanted to see today. I finished seeing the entire show floor while waiting for the panels to start (the exhibits this year are seriously lacking—there are probably only a tenth as many as I saw last year in California. You’ve got your Lego, your Funko, your Hasbro, your Heroes and Villains, a couple booksellers and a handful of collectible merchants, and that’s it. Ashley Eckstein’s brand, Her Universe, isn’t even represented this year.)
The first panel was for the Disney Parks.
Now, I love me some Disney, and there were a few fun cameos…
But by and large, this panel was an extended commercial for Galactic Starcruiser.
Since I’ve never been on the ship (and it’s unlikely I will be in the immediate future) it was kinda cool to see a little bit of what I’m in for if I eventually do it, but very little in this panel was exciting new breaking news. You could have at least shared the recipe for the Fuzzy Tauntaun, Disney.
There were a couple new pieces of information: Volume 2 of songs from Oga’s Cantina should be releasing any day now, and a playlist of the music sung on the Galactic Starcruiser by Gaya, the Twi’lek shipboard entertainment, will be dropping May the Fourth. But more importantly, Star Tours will be getting some new content in 2024—this time, “based on planets we haven’t even been introduced to yet.” Disney alluded to all the exciting new things they teased in the Friday panel.
Oh, and they did give us all poster-sized prints of Gaya’s concert tour poster, designed by the guy who used to do concert posters for The Who and the Rolling Stones.
My final panel of the day was “Cinematic Influences on Star Wars”, and it was just the kind of thing my nerdy little heart enjoys. The speaker pointed out that George Lucas drew inspiration for Star Wars from all kinds of classic films: Westerns, Samurai films, Hitchcock, Lord of the Rings, even hits like The Dam Busters, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and M*A*S*H, of all things.
This is not conjecture: Dave Filoni, who was trained in the ways of the film by Lucas himself, said Lucas basically spoke in film. “When you had an idea for a story,” Filoni said, “George would say, ‘let’s do “Rashomon”, or “Let’s do ‘Fistful of Dollars’.” He’d point them toward a film that told the kind of story they wanted to tell. And often, the imitation would be pretty blatant—to the point of following a scene shot-for-shot or even assimilating its exact dialogue. The speaker showed us some side-by-side comparisons, and the results were pretty stunning.
The speaker, Bryan Young, actually gave Jon Favreau a minor heart attack once. Back when the very first trailer for The Mandalorian was released to the press, when Grogu’s very existence was a well-kept secret, not to be revealed to anyone until the first episode aired, this speaker had watched just the trailer and identified several movies that the Mandalorian ‘borrowed’ from. (It’s a tradition they continue to this day, apparently.) He asked Favreau about influences and mentioned a couple Samurai films he’d seen hints of in the trailer—one, specifically, was “Lone Wolf and Cub” a film about a Samurai who adopts a small child. Keep in mind—Grogu had not appeared in the trailer, or even been alluded to, even once, and his existence was a complete secret.
Young has footage of Favreau’s eyes bulging out of his head at the mention of Lone Wolf and Cub, which is EXACTLY what they were emulating when they came up with The Mandalorian. He takes a couple moments to think of a response.
On my way back to the hotel, a nice couple from the 501st was walking back toward the train station. I’d chatted with them pretty extensively while we all waited for Emily Swallow earlier. They invited me to a 501st party at some place called the O2, where a bunch of A New Hope actors would be in attendance and signing autographs. They were really nice.
Come to think of it, I’ve met a bunch of really nice people. Yesterday, I sat and ate lunch with the only Rey cosplayer in all of Ireland. I’ve had great conversations with seatmates and line neighbors. Star Wars fans—the real ones, not the angry internet ones—are the absolute best.
And on that note, a nightcap:
Laura Writes 