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!
Can you believe it was twenty years ago today that Star Tours opened in Anaheim, CA’s Disneyland theme park? We could scarcely believe it ourselves!
Since this is THE place for Star Tours information on the internet, we’ve decided to go all out with loads of brand-new exclusive content, a bold new graphic look, and the same careful research you’ve come to expect from our expert contributors!
Webmaster Kris is hard at work on a new 20th Anniversary layout for this website. Researcher Brian Curran is poring through a plethora of photographs, and our own Star Tours-obsessed Alex Newborn is giving our readers unprecedented access to the materials in his extensive collection.
In the coming days, you can expect new articles on the opening ceremonies of Star Tours, new transcripts from 1987, exclusive interviews with fans who were actually there on Opening Day, tons of new pictures, celebrity greetings, and MORE!
Check back soon and check back often, because just like the opening of the ride itself, we realized we’ve got too much material for you to take in all in one day. Disneyland had a sneak preview on the 8th, a 60-hour non-stop party, and cast premieres which lasted until the 16th, so keep visiting swstartours.net all this week for more, more, more Star Tours than ever before!
Many news sources are reporting that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg share plans to shoot the fourth “Indiana Jones” movie in 2007.
“Director George Lucas said Friday filming for the much-anticipated “Indiana Jones” movie will begin next year and he promised it will be “the best one yet.”
Lucas said he and director Steven Spielberg recently finalized the script, which stars Harrison Ford, who appeared in the three earlier flicks.
“It’s going to be fantastic. It’s going to be the best one yet,” the 62-year-old filmmaker said during an interview at the Beverly Wilshire hotel where he took a break from his duties as grand marshal for the Rose Parade.
Exact film locations have not been decided yet, but Lucas said part of the movie will be shot in Los Angeles.
The fourth chapter of the “Indiana Jones” saga, which will hit theaters in May 2008, has been in development for over a decade with several screenwriters taking a crack at the script, but it only recently gained momentum.
While Lucas kept mum about the plot, he promised the latest action flick will be a “character piece” that will include “very interesting mysteries.”
“I think it’s going to be really cool,” Lucas said.
At the inaugural Rome Film Festival in October, the 64-year-old Ford said he was excited to team up with Lucas and Spielberg again for the fourth “Indiana Jones” installment. Ford said he was “fit to continue” to play the title role despite his age.
Ford played Indiana Jones in 1981′s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” 1984′s “Temple of Doom” and 1989′s “The Last Crusade.”
Lucas praised Ford for breathing life into his character.
“Mostly it’s the charm of Harrison that makes it work,” he said.”
Source: AP
More info at Hollywoodreporter.com and Lucasfilms official site StarWars.com
This December 8th saw the installation of a new ‘Build Your Own Lightsaber‘ kiosk at the Once Upon a Toy Store in Orlando Florida’s Downtown Disney.
Hasbro toys has also recently installed attractions such as ‘Build Your Own Potato Head‘ and ‘Create Your Own My Little Pony Playset‘ in Disney , so a similar attraction using the parts from the recent Hasbro ‘Ultimate Lightsaber‘ toy was a natural.
For $20, park guests can construct a saber patterned after any Star Wars character– there’s even an exclusive purple blade for a Mace Windu saber– or they can make one of their own design, even an elaborate double-bladed design at no extra charge. The price also includes batteries and an exclusive Jedi or Sith pin.
For more information and pictures, please visit the Official Site
A very cool 20th Anniversary Star Tours Pin has been spotted on eBay. This Disneyland Exclusive is a Limited Edition of 1000!
How many of us can claim to have ridden ALL FOUR of the Star Tours rides? No, I don’t mean riding each individual simulator at the park closest to you… I mean riding in EACH of the four parks that host the ride (Anaheim, Tokyo, Orlando, and Paris)! Well, recently, seven dedicated Australian Disney buffs accomplished just that– and a little bit more– in just over one month!
According to an AP report filed by Sylvia Hui, the seven members of the Down Under Disneyana fan club spent $4,661 to travel the globe in 32 days, visiting every Disney theme park and riding every ride. In addition to timing their visits to take advantage of off-season periods for smaller crowds, and round-the-world airline prices, organizer Wayne Godfrey timed the trip so they would not only be in the newest park (Hong Kong) for its one-year anniversary on September 12th, but also in the oldest park (Anaheim) for the final day of its fiftieth Anniversary celebrations on September 30th.
The club members were most excited about visiting the Paris park, as none of them had ever been to the one in France. Hong Kong is the closest to Australia, and some members had visited the two American parks an average of eight times. But they pointed out that ALL the parks are so far away from Australia, they “can’t go every week”. At best they can average one trip per year… so this year they went all-out.
And best of all, now they’ve gotten to hear Captain REX wish them “welcome aboard” in English, Japanese, AND French!
Disneyland California has sent out an interesting Casting Call, calling out for people who want to be a Disney Jedi! We have the full casting call for you to read! Is this your dream job, or are you just wondering what all the fuss is about? Then read on!
[P.S. Don't you love the fact that the auditions take place in a studio named after Carrie Fisher's mother?]
Want to be a Disney Jedi? [casting call] – Jedi Training Academy – Open Call
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Category: Theme Park
Format: Live
Union Status: AGVA
Rate: AGVA Featured/Principal rateAudition Dates
Thursday, 8/31, 10:00 amAudition Location
Debbie Reynolds Studios
6514 Lankershim Blvd.
N. Hollywood CA 91606
Synopsis
Disney Entertainment Productions is seeking actors for Jedi Training Academy, an all new interactive experience performed outdoors in Disneyland® Park. Actors will portray a Jedi Master, who with the help of his young Jedi “trainees”, battles a real live Star Wars™ villain!Audition Note
Sign-in will begin at 9:30 am. Sides will be provided. Dress appropriately for a possible movement evaluation. Bring a current headshot and resume. Performers must be at least 18 years of age to audition.Roles
submit JEDI MASTER / Featured / Male / All Ethnicities / 18-45
Male, 5’8″+. Athletic build, good physical shape, moves well, sword work a plus. Strong actor with comedic timing and improv skills. Ability to interact and connect with young guests.No submissions necessary, please attend Open Call.
From a recent Al Lutz (www.miceage.com) article:
“Where the real action will be for the boys in the family is over at Tomorrowland Terrace, where the Jedi Training Academy will be located. Notice how we didn’t say “Club Buzz.” Finally, mercifully, they’ve given up on the silly Club Buzz name no one ever really used and will be returning to the old Tomorrowland Terrace name instead.
The facility is set for a remodel and the garish Buzz Lightyear color scheme and decor will be replaced. (Currently there’s a holdup with the very touchy George Lucas organization over these plans, but they still should meet the October deadline.)
The Jedi Training Academy is the testosterone-laden version of the Princess Fantasy Faire, with little boys given the opportunity to train with an official Jedi on the fine art of lightsaber fights and generally brave behavior against an evil enemy. The highlight for this event is when the Tomorrowland Terrace stage (gosh, that’s nice to say, isn’t it?) rises up out of the ground and Darth Vader and Darth Maul both emerge from a cloud of fog to test the mettle of the newly trained Jedi’s. You can imagine who will win every single battle, and sales of plastic lightsabers will certainly soar. Imagine the thrills (and walloped ankles) thousands of visitors will then experience as the little Jedi darlings get set loose to roam Disneyland with lightsabers in hand, as parents ignore their rambunctious, if not just plain hooligan-like behavior.
Both of these concepts are already in use out at Walt Disney World, and Disneyland is simply late to the party. But they’ll be wrapped up in slick marketing jargon and launched as part of the Year of a Million Dreams. Will it drive new attendance this fall? Probably not, although the Annual Passholders with young children will likely go crazy over it and both locations will meet their sales targets.”
I recently made a fun discovery while surfing the web… in one scene of the 1990 TV special “The Muppets at Walt Disney World”, Beauregard the janitor (played by Dave Goelz) and Miss Piggy (Frank Oz) ride several attractions, including Star Tours. So, in a weird way, Yoda was riding Star Tours!
If you’re a fan of Disney and the Muppets and Star Wars like I am– and like Kris is– you can understand why I was excited to discover this clip. I was very happy to find the special, broken into five segments, posted on a popular upload site, even though the picture ans sound quality were somewhat lacking.
This was the last project which Jim Henson finished before his death in 1990. In fact, he passed away less than two weeks after it originally aired. (Although his scenes for Muppet*Vision 3-D were already filmed, he did not live to see that production finished.)
Charles Grodin, the villain from the motion picture The Great Muppet Caper, guest-stars here as a bumbling Magic Kingdom security guard. At one point, he must enlist the Seven Dwarves to help him find the Muppet gang, who have inadvertently crashed the gates without paying.
The show is a little slow to get started, and dry in places. But it really coalesces nicely in the climax, when Kermit ‘volunteers’ at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. So that’s where they got the idea for the Adventure Kermit action figure!
Henson is hilarious as Kermit, assuring the viewers that he does not believe violence is a solution to conflict, even as he blasts the Nazis. (He then of course asks if they are all right, and the stunt men all stand up and wave that they’re okay.)
Best of all, at the end, the original Kermit interacts with an animated Mickey Mouse, voiced by Wayne Allwine. Talk about an iconic image.
© 2012 EndorExpress