Star Wars. Everyone knows it. It’s arguably the most famous franchise of all time. For the past 45 years, George Lucas’ creation has inspired millions and millions of people to buy tickets, toys, books and whatever else is marketed with a Darth Vader sticker slapped on. I am absolutely no exception to this, and there is no better example of my passion (or one could say addiction) for the franchise than my trip to Star Wars Celebration 2022.
First off, some context. Hi! I’m Alex, I’m the executive editor here at the Clarion, and I have loved Star Wars for nearly my entire life. “Return of the Jedi” is one of my favorite movies period (the Ewoks are amazing I will die on this hill) and pretty much always has been, I’m pretty sure a Star Wars book was one of the first things I’ve ever read, and I have played more Star Wars games than I can count. So, when it came time for Star Wars Celebration 2020 in Anaheim, needless to say I was ready. Then a little something called COVID-19 hit.
Fast-forward about two years and then it actually finally happened, Star Wars Celebration 2022. And I had the time of my life.
When I first stepped inside the gigantic Anaheim convention center, I was amazed. All of these giant halls were filmed to the brim with fans cosplaying as their favorite characters, vendor shops filled with every piece of Star Wars merchandise you can think of, and an overall feeling of love and passion for Star Wars.
I spent most of my first day at the Star Wars Live Stage, where a lot of interviews would be conducted. outside of the big panels (most of which I did not get in to) this was the place to be. That first day I saw a ton of famous Star Wars figures, like Ewan McGregor, Diego Luna and Dave Filoni. It was so crazy to see some of the people behind my childhood live on stage.
While I did not go to many panels the first few days, I made up for that the rest of the trip. I went to panels dedicated to Star Wars in the Disney Parks, a new animated show called Path of the Jedi, just Star Tours by itself and several others. However, I would like to focus on one panel specifically.
I went to panel titled Doug Chiang: Designing The Mandalorian. This panel, hosted by the titular Doug Chiang, was a fascinating look at what goes into the production of a Star Wars film or TV show. Doug Chiang is Star wars royalty, he has been designing the series for over 20 years, and worked directly with George Lucas for five of them.
In this panel, he takes guests throughout his career and goes into great detail about the history behind many of the famous ships, worlds and characters as seen in “The Mandalorian.” Chiang goes into great detail about the design process of many things, and shows us concept sketches for pretty much all of them. He talked about how Baby Yoda was incredibly hard to get right, how he was revised many times before becoming how we see him on the show. As someone who has always been interested in the behind-the-scenes of pretty much anything, this panel was amazing for me, I was ecstatic.
My first ever Star Wars Celebration will be something I will never forget, and it gave me so many wonderful memories. It also gave me Covid-19, which wasn’t so wonderful. Yet, as I am writing this article in my room, quarantine myself from others, I can’t help but reflect on my trip with joyous delight. The same delight I get when I watch the movies set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Alex Cutler
Executive Editor/Intern