Star Wars Weekends

Better late then never I’ve decided it is time to weigh in on the celebrity lay out for this year’s Star Wars Weekends.   This 30 year anniversary of the Empire Strikes Back is being well served this year and the inclusion of Star Wars the Clone Wars appears to be complete.  Each of the past two years they have worked the Clone Wars in and this year it feels as though it is an equal partner to the films.  For better or for worse this is a natural progression and serves the greater purpose of sharing Star Wars with several generations.  Jeremey Bulloch (Boba Fett- Empire Strikes back, Return of the Jedi and pilot of Tantive IV in Revenge of the Sith)  has been a regular during the years and loves meeting with the fans.  He is a very logical choice as Host for the 4 weekends.  The lovely Ashley Eckstein (voice of Ashoka from Star Wars the Clone Wars)  will again been the hostess and primary representative for the cartoon series.  Enough about this though and on to Weekend 1.

Weekend 1 will be referred to by all as the FETT Weekend.  Temuera Morrison portrayed Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones and has the unique distinction of also portraying EVERY clone Trooper in that movie as well as in Revenge of the Sith. Jango was the template for all of the clones, so in the cafeteria scene of Episode II, you see a lot of Morrison… in one shot.  Morrison gave the character of Jango Fett a very determined presence and immediately made the Bounty Hunter father of Boba a force to be reckoned with.   Beyond the movies, Morrison’s voice has been used for a number of the popular Star Wars video games  including Battlefronts, Battlefronts II, Bounty Hunter (I loved Bounty Hunter!) and Empire at War.  His is a face you children will recognize and his voice is unmistakable.   Morrison was unable to attend last year due to the tragic death of his sister.  The Star Wars family is happy to welcome him back this year as he is a great guest for this first weekend.

Daniel Logan, young Boba Fett from Attack of the Clones  returns to SWW.  I’ve quietly been hoping and waiting to see if he gets a shot at joining the cast of the new Live Action television series.  It would be a great link for the show if they could bring in someone from the films and that would seem logical to me if you are going to include Boba Fett as a character.  –Hey, I’m allowed to dream a little here.

Dee Bradley Baker is the voice for Captain Rex from the Clone Wars Animated series.  He will be involved in the Behind the Force Discussion with Ahsley Eckstein and should be a fun guest for fans of the series.  You would not believe the amount of voice work he has done which I assure you will make this worth while. (Google him and you’ll see what I mean)  Meeting the voices in person is a cool way of opening up to the process of production.  This is one of the reason I love SWW at the Studios, because it fits so well with the original intent of the park.  –Anyway, I do think Captain Rex will be a hit with the children and that his “clone” affiliation rounds out Fett weekend rather nicely.

Weekend 2 brings back Matthew Wood who’s work for Lucas as a supervising sound editor should be enough to make him an interesting meet, let alone his work on all three prequels, Voicing General Grievous for Revenge of the Sith and providing multiple voices for the Clone Wars Animated Series.  This is a guest who covers just about everything save the original three movies.  If you are interested in meet and greets, it is hard to go wrong here.

Lorne Peterson, an ILM model-maker has worked on everything from Star Wars to Pirates of the Caribbean.  Disney fans should love that crossover.  If you aren’t sure whether meeting a model maker is what you want take into account that he was also mentioned as an uncredited actor in Star Wars as a Massassi Base rebel scout.  His knowledge of the making of all the Star Wars movies is enough to make him one of the more interesting guests to want to hear from this year.

The representation from the Animated series for Weekend #2 is Tom Kane, the voice of the narrator from the series as well as that of Jedi Master Yoda as well as a few others.  Again, the voice actors can be a lot of fun simply because you never know where you’ve heard them before.  Kane has done a lot of game and cartoon work over the years, so you never know what you might hear when you meet him.  In the end, those who attend will see that weekend 2 is also strong with the Force.

Weekend #3 is highlighted by the return of Billy Dee Williams.  I’ve not met Lando, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity.  It’s been expressed more than once that he wasn’t the smoothest of guests during a visit he made years back, but I’m confident that some of that is overblown.  Williams continues to do a lot of television work  and is another great addition for the 30 year anniversary of Empire.

One of my favorite past guests is Ray Park, the actor who played Darth Maul in Episode 1. We don’t always get a chance to meet with a real Sith so this is always a plus for me. With his arrival we can speculate that he will once again run the additional program –A trip to the Maul.  In short this is a martial arts demonstration that he does with the children.  He takes a large group onstage with him and they go through several motions.  This above anything else is well worth your time and is enjoyable for everyone.  Recently Ray has worked on such projects as Fan Boys, G.I. Joe and the television series HEROES.  If you have not had the opportunity you will not find a more sincere member of the Star Wars Community.  He is very kind to everyone he meets and is well worth the effort.

Then as if Weekend 3 doesn’t have enough going on, enter Dave Filoni, the Supervising Director for Star Wars the Clone Wars animated series.  Dave will talk about everything Clone Wars and should share some insight into the next season.  Everything that is new about Star Wars and bringing another generation into the fold is a part of this mans creativity.  This weekend has it all!

With that we come to Weekend 4.  Ray Park will make a second appearance here and there should be the continuation of the Trip to the Maul.  It will be great to hear more about his experiences but also on what lies ahead for this Sith.  Is he going to appear in future episodes of Heroes?  What are the projects RAM and Jinn that his is rumored to be a part of? 

Peter Mayhew better known in the movies as Chewbacca returns this year.  Parents, if you want to see your child next to a true gentle giant, then here is your opportunity.  Mayhew is one of the few cast members to be involved in the original films and also with one of the prequels.  No doubt any Star Wars fan wants an opportunity to meet the most famous first mate of all time.

Last but not least is James Arnold Taylor, voice actor for the Star Wars the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Taylor is a master of many voices and is a lot of fun to see during the Behind the Force program.  He changes it up from show to show to give you a different glimpse into what characters he has done in the past on different projects.  Again, everyone loves Obi-Wan and this is a great opportunity to speak with the man charged with keeping this iconic figure true to the one we love on the screen.

All in all not a bad bit of scheduling done by the producers of Star Wars Weekends.  Each weekend has more than enough possibilities be you a fan of the movies, the cartoons or both.  Not mentioned yet are any authors, but that remains a strong possibility.  Now which is most worth your time?  For me I’m looking forward to weekend 1 because it is a great way to set the tone for the entire event… that and simply being the first one so I don’t have to wait for it.   The all Fett Weekend is a pretty good way to go, but it is hard not to look at weekend 3 and feel like that is really going to be special.  You can’t go wrong with any of the weekends, but for me, 1 and 3 are really big.  In my opinion, in the end 3 may be the best.  I am interested in hearing what you think, so post up!