I have admit I have not read any of the Star Wars books, so I am not very familiar with the Canon parts of Star Wars. So when the Cartoon Network’s Clone Wars shorts came out, I was thrilled by a (to me) totally new character! Sure, she was kinda evil, but she had style, panache and she kicked butt!
Anakin was only 9 when he won the Boonta Eve Classic. Plucky, smart, precocious, and already VERY confident. He is the only character we get to watch grow up on screen in the series, and doing so (knowing how his fate), is the single best part of the Prequel trilogy. Especially watching the movies again, while seeing my own kids growing up, Anakin’s arc takes on a very different emotion – bitter-sweet and terrifying all at once.
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Richard Bonehill who portrayed Nien Nunb in Return of the Jedi passed away last week. Even though he did not have much screen time, together with the puppeteer skills of Mike Quinn, and the voice of Kipsang Rotich, Bonehill created a character that was very distinctive and, will be an engrained in our Star Wars consciousness for a long time to come.
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Every time I watch the 3 prequels, I marvel at the amazing costumes made for Padmé. Totally impractical, (but so are stormtrooper helmets), restricting, heavy, but gorgeous, splendiferous and plentiful! The red gown from the Phantom Menace is probably the most iconic. Concept artist Iain McCaig and costume designer Trisha Biggar deserve a lot of credit for making something so dramatic.
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I have now written, and then deleted 5 different versions of this post. All of them came out sounding bitter and angry over the Special Edition of the Star Wars trilogy – and the lack of an original version available. They say, if you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all. So I will only say this:
Han. Shot. First.
P.S. Since I am done on the subject, I will leave you with some other artists showing their frustration creatively. Here are some of my faves:
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Admiral Ackbar is one of my favorite Star Wars characters. (…and I promise, it has absolutely nothing to do with that fact that I do really enjoy a nice plate of deep-fried calamari…). Visually, he is a very well-designed character. The puppeteer Timothy M. Rose, the designers and crew did a fantastic job making him come to life. These days, we have gotten so accustomed to CGI, that seeing puppets (when done well), gives me new-found respect for the art form. I am starting to think that maybe CGI is not necessarily the best way to create visual effect. Maybe it is becoming too much of a go-to, or a crutch? Maybe it has become… a trap!
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May the Fourth be with You Party 