EndorExpress

I don’t know if you’re familiar with the movie… Star Wars?

–Dan Aykroyd as Irwin Mainway in 1977 SNL skit

Today is May 25th, 2007… and that means it’s exactly thirty years to the day since a little movie called Star Wars exploded into the national consciousness.

George Lucas was still working on foreign language dubs of the film for international release when he ventured out for dinner, only to see lines forming around the block. He was surprised to learn those folks were queueing up to see *his* movie!

All of us here at SWST wish George and Star Wars a happy anniversary! Here’s to 30 more!

Of course, Star Tours celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this year… so how are fans commemorating that milestone as well? One fan named Mark Patton is paying tribute to the thrill ride at the party for the film that inspired it!

Some of our staff is currently working Celebration IV in Los Angeles, joining with millions of other Star Wars fans from around the world to mark the three-decade milestone of George Lucas’ little ‘space opera’.

Our own Paul Hruby reports in from the diorama room at C4, where his Ultimate Group Project display is getting lots of attention. Near the UGP is a sight that Star Tours fans, especially those from California, should easily recognize.

It’s a miniature Star Tours diorama, complete with Threepio’s control platform, a custom-built Star Speeder 3000, and even a group of People Mover trams (instantly identifying this as the Anaheim starport of the past).

According to a conversation I had last month with diorama-maker extraordinaire Frank D’iorio (aka Niubniub), the Star Tours diorama is the masterpiece of his friend Mark Patton.

For more pics of this fantastic miniature re-creation, check out our cIV coverage in the Special Feature Archive!

Miceage.com’s Kevin Yee wrote a interesting article proposing Disney Parks do more with the Star Wars Franchise.

http://www.miceage.com/kevinyee/ky051707a.htm

They may not play weddings, but next month Fiery Figrin D’an and four other members of the jizz-wailing all-Bith cantina band– aka the Modal Nodes– will be ‘playing’ Star Wars Weekends! And best of all, you can take them home to play for you!

Just announced at starwars.com, this year for Star Wars Weekends, Hasbro is bringing back the Cantina Band!
The figures are the same sculpt which was originally offered as a Fan Club Exclusive ten years ago, and which returned last year for a Wal-Mart exclusive five*-pack tin set. And it should be noted that all five action figures are the identical sculpt, since all seven* costumes in the film were identical too.

But this time the Modal Node figures will be offered on single cards rather than mailer boxes or group cards. The only way to distinguish them will be by careful observation of which musical instrument accessory the package contains.

Notice that we’ve added exclusive text to our versions of the images of the five figures, so you can know at a glance which Node is which. As an added enticement for collectors who just bought these figures last year, the Star Wars Weekends release will include a lights-and-sound base for each figure which plays a snippet of the memorable Cantina Band song (aka Mad About Me.)

According to a slide presentation at Celebration IV in Los Angeles, the bases for all five figures are identical, but will interlock to make one big stage.

The cardbacks will resemble the current Thirtieth Anniversary design, but will be generic for all five figures rather than identity-specific like the 12″ versions that Hasbro produced in the late 90′s. The front of the card will say simply “Cantina Band Member” with a sticker on the blister reading ‘Star Wars Weekends 2007′.

The obverse of the card will call them ‘The Modal Nodes’ with a blurb summarizing the six* members of the band, as first identified in the Kathy Tyers short story “We Don’t Do Weddings” from the anthology book Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina:

“Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes entertain the customers in the Mos Eisley cantina with lively music. They play without pause over the sounds of blaster fire, which is heard all too often in this seedy hotspot. The band includes frontman Figrin D’an on kloo horn and gasan string drum, Doikk Na’ts on the Dorenian Beshniquel, Ickabel G’ont and Tedn Dahai on fanfars, Tech Mo’r on the Ommni Box, and Nalan Cheel on the bandfill. Whatever trouble erupts in the cantina, the Modal Nodes keep on spinning their tunes for the crowd.”

Notice that the text on the cardback misspells the proper noun ‘fanfars’ as ‘fanfares’… a spell-check auto-correct, perhaps?

*So, is it five members, six, or seven? There are seven costumes in the film,
six characters in the short story, and traditionally five action figures, since
some play identical instruments. Choose whichever number works best for your wallet… the suggested retail price on these figures is $14.95 each. The SKU # is 87537.
If you want an accurate short-story group of six, you’ll need two of the figure who includes the Fanfar– one for Ickabel, and one for Tedn. But if you want a film-accurate seven-member group, you can buy any two extra figures since the sixth and seventh instruments seen in the film (and the Holiday Special) have never been sculpted by Hasbro.

And just in case you’re wondering what Cantina Band Members have to do with Star Tours, don’t forget these images from the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Star Tours back in January 1987!

Boy I’d love to see the SWW figures come with THESE instruments!

By the way, Hasbro, please don’t call Doikk’s Fizzz a Dorenian Beshniquel, unless you’re a symphonic ridgebrow. This is jizz.

January of 2007 was a time of celebration for Star Tours fans, as their favorite thrill ride turned twenty years old… yet it was also a sad month, because Epcot closed the doors on our ‘sister attraction’, Body Wars, just two years shy of its own 20th.

As a tribute, staff researcher Alex Newborn has updated our Body Wars page with a new overview of the ride’s troubled history, as well as a more accurate and more complete transcript. Big thanks to Patrick Hurd for providing him the audio and Mouseketeer Alison for the photos. Read the complete transcript here in our special features archive.

“Time to start planning for Star Wars Weekends! Starting in June, fans get to meet an impressive lineup of special guests attending four weekends of Star Wars fun at the Disney-MGM Studios in Florida. From June 1 to June 24, 2007, fans of all ages will converge to celebrate the heroes, villains, creatures and droids of the saga. In addition to Star Wars costumed characters, fun activities, and the Star Tours theme park ride, celebrity guests will be in attendance for meet-and-greet sessions, star conversations, and a classic Hollywood-style motorcade.”

Visit starwars.com for more, including a look at the guests of SWW’07!

Disney Insider offers an interview with Warwick Davis in their new article on Star Wars Weekends! Follow this link to check it out.

Thomas Wheeler took the time to write up a report and send us a great photo of this forgotten part of Disneyland History. Look in our special features section for the full report.

Daniel Wallace, known from various Star Wars books, is no newcomer to Star Tours. He has written quite a bit of official backstories about Star Tours droids! He also send his greetings to our favorite attraction. Check out the brand new Celebrity Greetings archive in the Special Features menu to read what he, and other celebs have to say about Star Tours!

Another feature has been posted in the 20th Anniversary Section. Check the special features on the right for more!

One of our researchers, Alex Newborn, has posted a brand new article with a retrospective of the Interplanetary Launch Premiere Party’s sneak preview skit — a short sketch performed at Disneyland which marked the very first meeting between Disney characters and Star Wars characters! Check our special 20th Anniversary feature page on the right to read it!