Star Wars Bits: Star Wars Squadrons, The Star Wars Archives, Liam Neeson Praises The Phantom Menace, Babu Frik, And More!
In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
Star Wars: Squadrons CG short "Hunted" Ushers in New Era of Star Wars StorytellingStar Wars Squadrons arrives October 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and VR, promising to bring classic Star Wars dogfights to new interactive heights. Industrial Light & Magic legend John Knoll and his team collaborated with Electronic Arts and Motive Studios to craft a thrilling CG short, "Hunted," which you can check out below!
StarWars.com sat down with Knoll and the director, EA's Neel Upadhye, to talk about the short. Here's a preview:
"I think we've always been powerful believers in the intersection of media," says Waugh. "More than ever, there's a sort of porous ecosystem where different media types enhance each other when we're constructing them holistically. And I truly think that's one of the strengths of the Star Wars franchise these days. You can experience storytelling in limitless ways, and it all connects, and it all resonates. There's a moment in this short where an event happens that will be referred to in the game. And I think that sort of enchants the game. If you've seen these things collectively, the aggregate effect will be that much more powerful."
The Star Wars Archives 1977–1983 Gets Re-Release
Author and editor Paul Duncan recently announced that his amazing book The Star Wars Archives 1977–1983 would be receiving a re-release from Taschen in November.
Duncan has said this version will feature a smaller page size and be in portrait, not landscape layout. It's also an abridged version, which means fewer words and images overall. This shorter version will put more focus on the George Lucas interviews Duncan conducted, detailing the creation of the original trilogy. Here's the official description:
Star Wars exploded onto our cinema screens in 1977, and the world has not been the same since. In this book, George Lucas guides us through the original trilogy like never before, recounting the inspirations, experiences, and stories that created a modern monomyth. Complete with script pages, concept art, storyboards, on-set photography, and more.
For more details, check out our own Ben Pearson's coverage of the news. You can pre-order the book now for $25 from Taschen.
Liam Neeson Praises The Phantom Menace
In a recent interview with Andy Cohen on SiriusXM's Radio Andy, the Irish actor talked about his experience with Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and his fondness for the movie.
"I like the film. I proud of it and proud to have been a part of it. [...] I got to be a Jedi. I got to play with those wonderful lightsabers and stuff. It was terrific, Andy, it really was."
Neeson went on to talk about his castmate Ahmed Best who received so much backlash from his performance as Jar Jar Binks that he contemplated suicide. About Best, Neeson said:
"He came into a lot of criticism, I mean to the point where it really hurt his career. And I have to say when I was making that film [...] he was probably one of the funniest guys and talented guys I have ever worked with."
Listen to the full clip below!
Babu Frik Is Now a Talking Plush Toy
Lucasfilm and Mattel are releasing a plush toy of Babu Frik that Target will exclusively be shipping out and stocking on shelves soon. The new talking plush is sculpted to capture the essence of the character and features six voice clips from the film, including his delightful and very formal introduction — "Hello, I Babu Frik."
StarWars.com has an interview with Alexander Lathrop, senior product designer at Mattel, about bringing this adorable toy to life. Mattel's Babu Frik is available for pre-order exclusively at Target now.
Star Wars Podcast Round-UpBlast Points Podcast is celebrating Ewok Month with a look at Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. They also have a trailer freak-out episode about The Mandalorian Season 2.
The trailer for The Mandalorian Season 2 is finally here and we are pretty darn excited by all the wildness going down in this little ditty. The Graffiti Planet, Space Boats, fishing Quarrens in overalls, X-Wings, fighting Gamorreans, and so much more. Join us as we go shot by shot and break it all down in that special super freakout style. So grab your buddy and celebrate the love with BLAST POINTS! Listen here.
Talking Bay 94 has an interview with Rena Owen, who played Taun We in Attack of the Clones.
Star Wars fans will know Ms. Owen best as the Kaminoan Taun We in Attack of the Clones, but she has done so much (including a return in Revenge of the Sith as Senator Nee Alavar). From humble beginnings growing up in New Zealand, to first working with Temuera Morrison on Once Were Warriors, we went through so much of her incredible career (whether The Orville or Siren, and beyond). And, listen on to find out what role she was initially cast to play in Episode 2! Listen here.
Skytalkers has an episode about "hopepunk" as well as interviews with Ian Doescher to discuss Shakespeare and Star Wars with the release of The Merry Rise of Skywalker and E. Anne Convery, author of the Nightsisters story "Bug" in The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark.
"The opposite of grimdark is hopepunk." – Alexandra Rowland in 2017.
Caitlin and Charlotte explore just why we need HOPEPUNK now more than ever in Star Wars storytelling. On this episode: What is hopepunk? Is Star Wars inherently hopepunk? What stories have the potential to be more hopepunk than others and why is this a type of story we revere? All this and more on Skytalkers. Listen here.
The Resistance Broadcast is the official Star Wars podcast of StarWarsNewsNet.com and their recent episodes include their creative picks for their dream Star Wars movie as well as the latest details on The Mandalorian Season 2.
On this episode, we dive into the latest details on The Mandalorian Season 2 including the fact that Pedro Pascal is in the suit more this time around. We also get into the hysteria surrounding Rey's parentage after Daisy Ridley recently revealed a tie to Kenobi was once a likely option. And speaking of Kenobi, we touch on Ewan McGregor's recent update on the upcoming Obi-Wan Disney Plus series.
We close things out by featuring your tweets in #ResistanceTransmissions. The Resistance base is open to all, so spread the word about our Star Wars podcast and join us! Make sure to subscribe free to the show on your preferred platform! Listen here.
The Imperial Senate Podcast discusses the latest Star Wars news, including The Mandalorian Season 2, John Boyega's British GQ interview, and more.
On Rogue Podron, the crew takes a deep-dive on Alexander Freed's Shadow Fall: An Alphabet Squadron Novel.
TIME FOR SOME FEELINGS! We begin our journey through the second Alphabet Squadron book, discussion chapters 1-3 of Shadow Fall by Alexander Freed. Good thing we have a torture droid to help us process our feelings. Listen here.
On Bespin's Other Bits (BOB The Podcast) – Star Wars scooper Bespin Bulletin discusses whatever he feels like with co-host Isaac Pevy. Topics include Star Wars, video games, and pop culture in general.
In this week's typically all over the place conversation, Bespin and Isaac talk about Mando pics, Daisy Ridley's latest interview, the Dune trailer, Mulan, The Avengers game, XBOX Series S pricing, and more! Listen here.
Star Wars YouTube Round-Up
From Theme Park Stop explores the original Star Wars Land we didn't get with their latest video, The UnBuilt History of Galaxy's Edge:
After purchasing Lucasfilm in 2012, Disney tasked Imagineers with designing new Star Wars attractions for their theme parks. In 2015 Disney announced they would be building two massive lands based on the franchise, one at Disneyland and the other in Walt Disney World. Eventually named Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the lands we got in 2019 were completely different from what was first designed during those early years—And they weren't even exactly what was originally announced.
As previously mentioned, the official Star Wars YouTube channel finally released the first trailer for The Mandalorian Season 2! Our own Ethan Anderton wrote a huge breakdown of the trailer so check it out!
And here's Alex and Mollie Damon at Star Wars Explained to break it down!
Looking for even more discussion about The Mandalorian and what's to come? Noah Outlaw and Corey Van Dyke at Kessel Run Transmissions have you covered.
StarWarsNewsNet.com's John Hoey, James Baney, and Lacey Gilleran also give their thoughts on the new trailer!
And finally, here's a pug (owned by fans Jason Kauzlarich and Alyssa Vidales) cosplaying as "Bantha Saying Where" from The Mandalorian Season 2 trailer.
Good boi pic.twitter.com/2x75soc65w
— Jason Kauzlarich (@JasonKauz) September 16, 2020
And that's it for this edition of Star Wars Bits! If you have something cool from the Star Wars Universe that should be included in this column, just reach out on Twitter!