Star Wars Celebration 2017 is taking place in Orlando, Florida as this article goes live. We are getting news left and right about the Star Wars Universe and we have the latest in construction of Star Wars Land. UPDATED With The Last Jedi trailer! Let’s jump into the Sarlacc pit.
| First Look At The Last Jedi |
At Thursday’s Star Wars 40th Anniversary panel, we caught our first glimpse of The Last Jedi in a Tribute to Carrie Fisher. Here is Carrie with Director Rian Johnson on set.
UPDATED: Here is The Last Jedi trailer that was premiered at Celebration.
| Celebration Live Streams |
The live panels at Star Wars Celebration are amazingly fun to watch. And StarWars.com does a great job bringing the big hall panels as well as interviews in between to everyone who couldn’t make it to Celebration (ahem). You can watch throughout the weekend at the Star Wars You Tube Channel here.
Can’t watch live? As the panels wrap up, they are being posted to you tube as well. Here’s the fantastic 40th Anniversary panel with George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford along with many other members of the Star Wars Cast and Crew.
What this video doesn’t contain, but should be online at some point, is the surprise concert. After the Carrie Fisher tribute, a curtain opened at one side of the stage unveiling a full orchestra led by John Williams himself. The crowd reaction rivaled any stadium rock concert.
| Tribute To Carrie Fisher |
At the end of the 40th Anniversary panel, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy and Billie Lourd (Carrie Fisher’s daughter and Star Wars co-star) gave a touching tribute to Carrie Fisher.
| Forces Of Destiny |
Lucasfilm is launching a campaign centered on female heroes in the Star Wars Universe with toys, clothes, books and a series of animated shorts airing on Disney’s YouTube channel in July. The promotion is reminiscent of the Disney Princesses campaign that’s been going on for years.
The campaign will feature Princess Leia, Padme Amidala, Rey, Jyn Erso, Sabine Wren, Ahsoka Tano, Hera Syndulla and Maz Kanata with all of the original actors doing the voices in the animated shorts.
“One of the opportunities here was to tell the stories in between the larger moments and imagine some of the ways our characters have crossed. It’s all part of the larger swath of storytelling.” – Carrie Beck, Lucasfilm Story Group
Forces of Destiny toys will be available this summer with prices ranging from $19.99 to $24.99.
| Force For Change Contest |
Star Wars: Force For Change has teamed up with Omaze to launch Star Wars “Past, Present, and Future” — a new fundraising campaign to benefit UNICEF and Starlight Children’s Foundation — in honor of the saga’s landmark anniversary.
The initiative kicks off today, April 11, and runs for four weeks until May 11; fans who enter at Omaze.com/StarWars will have the chance to win a different prize each week, such as the chance to appear in the upcoming untitled Han Solo movie, tickets to the world premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, or an overnight stay at Skywalker Ranch. Additionally, at the end of the campaign, one randomly selected grand prizewinner will be awarded all three Force-filled experiences.
Starlight Children’s Foundation is joining Star Wars: Force For Change as the initiative’s newest charity beneficiary in 2017. Through a $1 million grant, Star Wars: Force for Change supports the foundation’s core programs which are designed to bring comfort and joy and comfort to hospitalized kids through Starlight’s network of more than 700 children’s hospitals, clinics, camps and other partners across the US. Star Wars: Force for Change and fan donations through this campaign will also provide new Starlight programs, like fun, comfortable Star Wars-themed Starlight Brave Gowns, to tens of thousands of hospitalized children across the country.
The prizes are themed to honor all eras of the saga, as follows:
Past – Stay at Skywalker Inn, tour of the archives and the Ranch, and a screening of Star Wars: A New Hope
Present – Join the cast and attend the Star Wars: The Last Jedi premiere and exclusive after party
Future – Visit the set, meet the directors, and have the chance to appear in the untitled Han Solo movie
Grand Prize – One winner will receive the Past, Present, AND Future prizes!
More information at the Omaze site here.
| Star Wars Land Construction |
The perimeter of Star Wars Land is a busy place as construction readies the Rivers Of America and Disneyland Railroad for their much-anticipated return this summer.
The tunnel/bridge that will be one of three entrances to Star Wars Land from Critter Country is formed and concrete is being poured.
The rest of the new berm and waterfall are in various stages of getting rockwork and paint detailing.
At the Big Thunder Mountain Trail, some of the fences have been removed, a sign that we can expect the path between Fantasyland and Frontierland to return this summer as well.
And if you look just below the bridge, you can see through the tunnel into Star Wars Land…at least for now.
Out in the main construction area, there’s a ton of activity. The Millennium Falcon attraction is moving along, but not quite vertical enough to get a good look.
And there’s this building, which is likely a backstage facility.
At the Battle Escape show building, the framing around the walkers is slowly expanding outward.
And there is some interesting steelwork going into the structure.
In another part of that building, the round structure that has been growing upward is getting some pillars and what looks like the framework for another story.
And at the end of the Battle Escape, new footings and what looks like the beginning of walls are taking shape.
That’s it for this week’s update. If you want to catch up on how far the construction has come so far, you can check out the archives of Star Wars Land News here.
| As Always… |
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