Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
The latest – maybe last? – batch of item reveals for the Celebration Anaheim store are here, and now they include the first bit of The Force Awakens swag. (A portion of the proceeds will go to UNICEF as a part of Force for Change.) There’s also a nifty Rebels crew jacket, some messenger bags, and a few other curiosities.
Just in the nick of time, we have the Celebration announcement we knew was coming: The con will be streamed live on StarWars.com. Beginning with the J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy’s panel, they promise “30-plus hours of live streamed content.”
Here are a few of the things they’ll be showing:
…Discussions with actors Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, Ian McDiarmid, and several other performers associated with the Star Wars saga. Additionally, StarWars.com and Verizon will be live streaming the Star Wars Fan Film Awards; the Smuggler’s Bounty radio drama; EA’s new Battlefront videogame; and several other exclusive Celebration events that might otherwise be missed by members from Star Wars’ global fan community.
StarWars.com will also have live interviews with celebrity guests in a “Star Wars Cantina set.” It all begins at at 10:00 a.m. PST, Thursday, April 16.
There are a few unofficial events you might want to add to your schedule: The Podcast Listener Meet-Up Thursday evening, hosted by our friends at Full of Sith, and #AhsokaLives Day on Friday, when Ahsoka-decked fans will meet for a group photo at 3 p.m. by the convention center’s fountain. And don’t forget to wear your tackiest gear on Saturday to honor Aaron Allston.
Con tips
Amy Ratcliffe has a nice overview of tips at StarWars.com, and she covers at lot of Anaheim-specific stuff that we’re not quite up to yet. Another good overview is the visual guide from Parks and Cons, including a walk around the convention center from Monday afternoon.
On that note, many of our own convention tips have been updated for Celebration Anaheim, most extensively lines and the autograph hall. Our most popular tips include photographing fans in costume, avoiding con crud, basic human decency 101 and a quick guide to Q&As.
Where to find us
Follow @clubjade and @jamesjawa for live updates during the con, but there are a few places we’re sure to be:
→ James is one of the masterminds behind the Bounty Hunt. This probably isn’t the place to catch him for a chat, but if you want a spot there’ll be some limited registration on-site at the Marriott next to the convention center. He’ll also be on the panels From a Certain Point of View, and Building a Thriving Local Fan Club on Sunday.
→ I’ll be on Friday’s Star Wars Journalism panel, and I also hope to make the Podcast Listener meetup.
→ There will be other Jaders around… Maybe you’ll see them.
→ Yes, we have buttons! I’ll have the logo and #beardwatch buttons on me at all times, but I’ll only take Yub Yub Commander out on Saturday – so try and make the Tribute to Aaron Allston. We only have a limited supply of Yub Yub and #beardwatch, plus a few remaining SPF 66 ones from last Celebration.
There’s almost always been only one formal track at Celebration, the one for collectors, but the truth is there are usually several informal tracks, and I’ve collected a few on different subjects here. This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list by any means, but if you’re still confused the schedule, consider these suggestions for Anaheim.
Continue reading “Celebration Anaheim: A quick and dirty guide to panels”
A convention is a great place for taking photos: there’s plenty of cool things worth turning into con memories — celebrity sightings, cool displays, and plenty of people in costumes. At a Star Wars convention, expect most of the costumers to be your fellow fans, so here’s some important etiquette for taking pictures of or with folks in costume:
The basic rule: A person in a costume is still a person. Acknowledge them and treat them with respect. Here’s how: Continue reading “Convention tips: How to photograph fans in costume”
It’s the final Friday before Celebration, and the news is flowing.
First up, we have a look at what will be in the official Celebration store. Today we got the second batch, and I guess it’s just as well I forgot to blog the first part the other day, right? (Though at least I remembered the apparel.) My personal highlights are above, but there’s lots for everyone. And yes, the Death Star soccer ball from last Celebration Europe IS BACK!
We also have the details of how queuing up for Thursday’s big J.J. Abrams/Kathleen Kennedy panel will work. The indoor queue will open up at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, with wristbands being handed out at 6:00 am Thursday… Wristbands for all the rooms, not just the Celebration Stage. So even if you don’t mind a simulcast, plan to get up early.
And finally, the floor plan, in PDF form or see the gallery below.
Princess Leia #1 was March’s best-selling comic. Not best-selling Star Wars comic, not best-selling Marvel comic, best-selling comic of the month. Star Wars #3 and Princess Leia #2 also made the top 5, with Darth Vader #3 in the top 10.
4-Day passes for Celebration Anaheim are almost sold out. Previous Celebrations (both IV and VI, I believe) have topped out at 35K attendees, and to my knowledge none of them sold out.
The U.S. can now get the Star Wars films in digital formats, and while Han doesn’t shoot first, there is one noticeable change… A new Lucasfilm fanfare replaces the 20th Century Fox one on all the movies save A New Hope. (Which, as we all know, Fox has distribution rights to in perpetuity.) Is this what we can expect on The Force Awakens? Almost certainly.
Unaired arc of The Clone Wars screening at Celebration. Four episodes featuring clonetroopers Echo and Captain Rex will be shown Friday in Anaheim, followed by a Q&A with Dave Filoni, Dee Bradley Baker and writers Brent Friedman and Matt Michnovetz