We have news on the end of Hyperspace Mountain, Celebration panels, the wrap of filming for Space Panda as well as a healthy dose of Star Wars Land news. Buckle up, folks! We’re going down the rabbit hole with this one!
New Star Wars Land Concept Art
The Disney Parks Blog surprised us this week the announcement that a new piece of concept art would be on display in Disneyland. From the blog:
“Disneyland park guests can get a glimpse of this exciting and immersive experience. A new image has been unveiled on the fence along Big Thunder Trail in Frontierland – one of the entry points to this never-before-seen planet in the Star Wars galaxy – revealing more about what guests will find in this all-new land.”
Technically, it IS more. Here’s what it looks like in the park:
Keep reading for more on what’s on the other side of that wall…
Winter Is Coming To The Season Of The Force?
The Season Of The Force has lasted nine months. That’s THREE seasons! The banners and signage remain…but may soon disappear. Halloween Time at Disneyland was announced this week, along with the return of Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. That event and the end of the 60th Anniversary Celebration are the likely time for Tomorrowland to shed much of its Season of the Force decor.
Star Tours reverted to the randomized scenes in May. And it looks likes the end is near for the most popular ride in the park. However, with it only taking a day or two to switch the attraction between Ghost Galaxy and Hyperspace Mountain overlays, perhaps we’ll see it return.
While an official end date has not been announced for the Hyperspace Mountain overlay, September 9 is the beginning of Halloween Time at Disneyland. And with it, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy will open. Haunted Mansion will go down on Monday, August 22 for it’s seasonal overlay. Is it possible Hyperspace Mountain may be gone by Labor Day? Stay Tuned!
Star Wars Celebration Live Stream Highlights
It’s finally here! This year’s event in London is being broadcast live on StarWars.com. Expect a lot of exciting news: the new Rogue One trailer, meeting the new Han Solo and hopefully a peak or two at Episode 8 (Easy, I didn’t say Pikachu…put your phone down). The panels are amazingly entertaining. And just a fair warning: Carrie Fisher’s panel may not be appropriate for all family members. Here are the highlights and local times of the panels:
Friday, July 15:
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – 11:00 a.m. EDT / 8:00 a.m. PDT
Saturday, July 16:
- Star Wars Rebels Season 3 – 11:00 a.m. EDT / 8:00 a.m. PDT
- MEET ILMxLAB: The Future of Immersive Entertainment – 1:00 p.m. EDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT
- The Minds Behind EA’s Star Wars Games – 2:00 p.m. EDT / 11:00 a.m. PDT
Sunday, July 17
- Carrie Fisher: The Princess Diaries – 6:00 a.m. EDT / 3:00 a.m. PD
- Lucasfilm: The Art of Storytelling – 7:00 a.m. EDT / 4:00 a.m. PDT
- Future Filmmakers Discussion & Closing Ceremony – 11:00 a.m. EDT / 8:00 a.m. PDT
Future Filmmakers will feature the directors of Rogue One, Episode 8 and the Han Solo movie. This could be the juiciest part of the whole event. You can find the full schedule here.
Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Panel
On Saturday, the panel for the Disney XD show, Star Wars Rebels is expected to screen the first two episodes of Season 3. A clip was teased on this week’s Star Wars Show that showed an older and more groomed Ezra starting to show some Jedi swagger. You can see the clip here:
Rumor has it that a piece of news we could hear at this panel (and may even see in the screening) is the appearance of Grand Admiral Thrawn!
A Little Background…
Ok…so, Grand Admiral Thrawn was a villain in a series of books published in the 90’s that contributed to the Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU) which was basically anything outside of the original six Star Wars Movies and the Clone Wars television show. This included, books, comics and games. Thrawn basically ran the Empire after Darth Vader and The Emperor died.
And…
What makes this even more interesting is that when Disney bought Lucasfilm and then began planning the revival of Star Wars, a committee was formed to guide and oversee the entire Star Wars Universe. This is the Lucasfilm Story Group, charged with maintaining a single cohesive continuity among all the stories and characters. The first proclamation from the Lucasfilm Story Group was to brand those stories as “Star Wars Legends”. From that point on, all of the new comics and books are considered canon.
While it was announced recently that Forest Whitaker’s character in Rogue One is Saw Gerrera from the Clone Wars series, Thrawn would be the first character resurrected from the Legends.
Still with me?
Space Bear Wraps
Many major films work under a different title while filming. It makes things easier logistically and keeps the public’s attention diverted. Everyone in the neighborhood would show up if the word got out that “Star Wars Episode 8” was filming. But no one cares if “Space Bear” is going on down the street.
Space Bear…I mean, Star Wars Episode VIII finished filming this week. The wrap party was held this week at the Natural History Museum in London.
Director Rian Johnson will be at Star Wars Celebration on Sunday as part of the Future Filmmakers Panel. Hopefully he has some footage of Space Bear to share.
Live Star Wars Fireworks
On July 18, the Disney Parks Blog will live stream “Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular” fireworks show from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The show begins at 9:20 ET.
Star Wars Land Construction
So far, it doesn’t look much like the concept art. But they’ve still got a while to polish it up.
First up…a new fence is being erected along Disneyland Drive and replacing the tram entrance to the backstage. Removing the tram gate will likely be the prelude to replacing the backstage driveway that currently goes through the middle of the construction site.
In the north end of SWL, trucks are steadily taking out the excess dirt.
Across the middle, the forms are coming down off the first section of wall.
From the exit of Big Thunder Mountain, where the new concept art hangs, cranes are busy placing the forms for new walls.
Behind Big Thunder Mountain, another section of wall is getting its rebar prepared for pouring.
From the Hungry Bear Restaurant, we can see the new turn around Tom Sawyer’s taking shape.
Outside of the Hungry Bear Restaurant, we get a wider perspective of the new riverbed.
And finally, the last debris is cleared out where the new backstage driveway will be paved.
That’s it for this week’s news. May the Force be with you!