Dave Filoni will debut the first two episodes of Star Wars Rebels season 3 at Celebration Europe, StarWars.com announced today.
Tickets for 2017’s Celebration Orlando now on sale
Tickets for next year’s Celebration Orlando (April 13-16) went on sale today at noon Pacific, 3 p.m. Eastern. A standard 4-Day Adult pass is $150, while the VIP is going for $700. Here’s a direct link to the ‘virtual queue,’ because waiting in line is a long Star Wars tradition that needs to go virtual!
Remember that while regular tickets for the forthcoming Celebration Europe have sold out more quickly than usual, we’re still not quite at SDCC levels yet. The server is having some issues (of course) but if you wait a day or so (or even a few weeks) chances are there will still be plenty.
This will be the eighth domestic Celebration, and the third at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center. 2015’s Celebration Anaheim saw a record 60K fans attend.
Meanwhile, Celebration Europe has annouced their podcast stage lineup.
Video: Unboxing Star Wars: Little Golden Books & Concept Art Show at Gnomon
Happy 39th birthday, Star Wars! To celebrate, we’ve got a new episode of Unboxing Star Wars! Yowie the skunk, Baby Jawa, and I review some of the latest crop of Star Wars Little Golden Books: I Am a Droid, I Am a Pilot, and I Am a Jedi, as well as I give my recap on the James Clyne and Iain McCaig presentation and The Force Awakens concept art exhibition at Gnomon in Hollywood. For more info on the presentations by Art Director James Clyne and Concept Artist Iain McCaig, check out my article on starwars.com: Designing The Force Awakens. Also, check out photos from the concept art exhibition and the artists’ presentation. Plus random fun with Ponda Baba, and then some Baby Jawa fun time!
Quick reviews
→ I Am a Droid – Thumbs up! Written by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Chris Kennett, this Little Golden Book focuses on different aspects and roles of droids in Star Wars. My favorite of the bunch, though possibly could have done without a page showing a droid being tortured.
→ I Am a Jedi – Just OK. This Little Golden Book by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Ron Cohee talks about the basics of what a Jedi is and what a Jedi can do, and a little about the Force and the Sith. Nothing from The Force Awakens, but it does reveal the identity of Darth Vader, just in case you want to save that revelation for later in your child’s life.
→ I Am a Pilot – Just OK. By Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Alan Batson, this Little Golden Book showcases a bunch of different pilot characteristics in Star Wars and some of the more famous pilots. Sadly, none of the pilots in the book are women.
→ Episode VII: The Art of James Clyne & Iain McCaig at Gnomon Gallery, Hollywood – Go see it if you’re in the area! There’s almost fifty pieces on display, pretty evenly split between Clyne and McCaig. I *think* all of the displayed artwork can be found in The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but here’s a chance to see it in a larger format. The exhibition runs until July 20, 2016.
Get more info on Wear Star Wars Every Day or make a donation at GoFundMe or sign up to make a per-day pledge.
Note: No Aqualish were harmed in the filming of this program.
Celebration Europe adds Carrie Fisher, Amy Ratcliffe
Celebration Europe has added Carrie Fisher as a spotlight guest, and reporter/podcaster Amy Ratcliffe as host of the Behind-the-Scenes Stage. She joins returning stage hosts Warwick Davis and David Collins.
Kathleen Kennedy, Rogue One’s Gareth Edwards and ‘special guests’ to headline Celebration Europe
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards will present a special panel at Celebration Europe along with “special guests.”
The Friday event could be similar to The Force Awakens reveal at last year’s Celebration Anaheim, which featured several stars (John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, among others) as well as a second teaser trailer.
Celebration going back to Orlando for 2017
Star Wars Celebration is returning to Orlando a third time for 2017 – this time in April, thankfully. Celebration Orlando will be held April 13-16 at the Orange County Convention Center, with tickets going on sale May 25 at noon.
The two previous Orlando Celebrations, in 2010 and 2012, were held in August, when Florida is at its most insufferable.
Video: Unboxing Star Wars: Bloodline, C-3PO comic & Jello!
Happy Star Wars Day! We’ve got a special episode of Unboxing Star Wars for May the 4th! First, Baby Jawa, Yowie and I check out the fun at “The Dome Awakens”, the Star Wars Day celebration at the downtown San Diego Public Library held on May 1, 2016. Then it’s time to review the recent C-3PO one shot comic by James Robinson and Tony Harris, and get excited for the new Star Wars novel, Bloodline, by Claudia Gray. We finish up with the results of our first try at making Star Wars Jell-o Jigglers, and then some Baby Jawa fun time!
Quick reviews
→ C-3PO #1 – A fun (and long-awaited) tale that does indeed explain the origins of Threepio’s red arm. Read this comic then watch the LEGO Star Wars short “The Resistance Rises: Poe to the Rescue” for an interesting crossover of canon and LEGO Star Wars.
→ Bloodline – Strongly recommend! I had high expectations for this novel because of Gray’s first Star Wars novel, Lost Stars, and she surpassed them. I really enjoyed this tale – it’s a top-notch story with some great characters, and Gray nails Leia’s character.
→ Star Wars JELL-O Jigglers Mold Set – Comes with two 6-character mold trays and 4 boxes of Jello! All the characters look great, except Yoda, who is in some sort of action pose which doesn’t quite work right. Be sure to use the special mold instructions on the big box instead of the regular Jiggler instructions on the inside boxes of gelatin.
Get more info on Wear Star Wars Every Day or make a donation at GoFundMe or sign up to make a per-day pledge.
Note: Del Rey provided a copy of Star Wars: Bloodline for review.
Video: Unboxing Star Wars: Rebels finale ‘Twilight of the Apprentice’, Character Encyclopedia
We’ve got a new episode of Unboxing Star Wars! Yowie and I hit the road for the Star Wars Rebels finale screening at Walt Disney Studios and we review ‘Twilight of the Apprentice’. I also check out Star Wars Character Encyclopedia Updated and Expanded by Pablo Hidalgo and Simon Beecroft, from DK. Plus I give a quick review of the first issue of the Poe Dameron comic, while Baby Jawa plays with a new R2-D2 toy and we check out some of the new Star Wars stuff we’ve picked up. And at the end, some Baby Jawa fun time!
Quick reviews
→ Star Wars Character Encyclopedia Updated and Expanded – Great for everone! Have fun learning tidbits about more than 200 characters and creatures from all the Star Wars films! (and watch for my interview with author Pablo Hidalgo on starwars.com early next week)
→ ‘Twilight of the Apprentice’ – Big thumbs up! When Rebels has a season finale, they pull out all the stops and unload a whole boatload of awesome. (Also, if you haven’t seen it already, I have the entire Q&A from the screening available to watch.)
→ Poe Dameron #1 – A promising start! I think I’m more interested in who Lor San Tekka is than about Poe on his tail but we’ll see where it goes. Plus BB-8!
Get more info on Wear Star Wars Every Day or make a donation at GoFundMe or sign up to make a per-day pledge.
Note: DK provided a copy of Star Wars Character Encyclopedia Updated and Expanded for review.
Disney’s D23 Expo set for July 2017
Disney has announced dates for their next D23 Expo as July 14-16 in Anaheim, California. While the con has always been positioned as the company’s own alternative to San Diego Comic Con, these dates put D23 awfully close to when SDCC traditionally falls. The last D23 was held in mid-August, while Star Wars was the only Disney property to have a major Hall H panel at that year’s SDCC.
Although D23 was fairly light on the Star Wars movie news in 2015, it was where they revealed our first look at the so-called ‘Star Wars Land.’
2017 is also expected to be the next domestic Star Wars Celebration, but that will likely be held in either the spring or fall. We’ll probably find out at the closing ceremonies this year’s Celebration Europe.
Disneyland 60 special gives us more concept art of upcoming Star Wars Lands
The preview of the so-called Star Wars Lands during ABC’s Disneyland 60 special last night was a tad underwhelming, but it did produce a few more pieces of concept art and some scattered details. (A cantina and an upscale dinner club!) There’s a pretty low-res video of the presentation(via) and a better look at some of the art thanks to The Hollywood Reporter.
UPDATE: A yet-better look at the official Disney Parks blog.
Still no timeframe, but most Disneyland/Disney World experts seem to expect the openings are at least 4 years away.