Cool Stuff: Paintings Of Kids Pretending To Be 'Star Wars' Characters

With all the hype, merchandising, and insanity, it's sometimes easy to forget why we all loved the Star Wars universe in the first place. Star Wars was all about fun. Excitement. Action. Romance. These films were our wildest dreams played out on screen and to watch them was to pretend we were these characters. That's also the reason the licensed toys became so popular. When the films were released, you couldn't watch the movie instantly whenever you wanted, so the toys helped us relive that experience.

Without the toys, though, you could just always just "play Star Wars." All it took was your imagination and a few household props. That purity and wonder is the subject of artist Craig Davison's series of painting which show kids pretending to be their favorite Star Wars characters. They're beautiful at capturing the essence of the franchise, something that often gets forgotten. Hopefully, these inspire J.J. Abrams with his new film.

For more of Craig Davison's work, go to his official site. Thanks to 22 Words for the heads up.

Davison's doesn't limit this idea to just Star Wars though. On his site, you'll see it extended to all kinds of popular films and images. It's such a simple, perfect way to capture childhood wonder. Do you agree?