Lucasfilm's Star Wars Celebration, TV Appearances, and "Resistance" Episode

Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2020

• 🗓️ Star Wars Celebration is scheduled for August 27th-30th at the Anaheim Convention Center, with single-day tickets still available for Thursday the 27th and Sunday the 30th.
• 🌃 A special hard-ticket event, Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Night, will take place on the opening night, August 27th, offering park access from 6 PM to 1 AM with immersive experiences, special decor, merchandise, food, and a fireworks spectacular.
• 🎟️ Tickets for Disneyland After Dark are priced at $109 for ages three and up, though not yet on sale, and are expected to be similar to previous Disneyland After Dark events.

Rise of the Resistance and Park Operations

• 🎢 The Disneyland After Dark event is seen as a potential solution for attendees wanting to experience Rise of the Resistance during Star Wars Celebration.
• ⚠️ However, the event details do not specify how guests will obtain boarding groups for the attraction, which opened on January 17th and had its boarding groups fill within 45 seconds on opening day.
• 🚶 Locals, particularly annual passholders, are reportedly leaving the park if they don't secure boarding groups for Rise of the Resistance, impacting parking structure usage and overall park operations.
• ⚙️ The Disney World version of Rise of the Resistance also experienced operational issues, including a late opening on Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.

Star Wars on Television and Film

• 📺 In September 1977, Star Wars characters appeared on NBC's "Richard Pryor Show" and ABC's "Donny & Marie" to promote "A New Hope" and keep the film in the public consciousness.
• 🎭 The "Donny & Marie" sketch featured main characters like C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader, with a sketch that was affectionate but not particularly humorous.
• 🎤 The "Richard Pryor Show" sketch offered a different take, set in an inner-city cantina with characters dressed in costumes that sometimes incorporated elements from "Planet of the Apes."
• 💡 These television appearances were a deliberate strategy by Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox to boost ticket sales, contributing to "A New Hope"'s extended theatrical run.
• 📺 The success of these sketches is cited as a contributing factor to the creation of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special on CBS.
• 🎬 Discussion also touched on the box office performance of "The Rise of Skywalker" compared to previous films and the leaked script breakdown for Colin Trevorrow's "Duel of the Fates."
• 📺 The Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney Plus was reportedly put on hold, though Disney formally denied rumors of Ewan McGregor walking away.
• 🌟 The trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7 was praised for its quality and its apparent concurrency with "Revenge of the Sith."
• 🚀 The latest episode of Star Wars Resistance, "Rebuilding the Resistance," was highlighted as one of the strongest episodes, effectively showing the stakes and sacrifices of the Resistance.
• 🎬 Taika Waititi's potential Star Wars movie development was discussed, with speculation about his availability due to other commitments.

Podcast and Community

• 🎙️ The hosts promote their podcasts, including "Coffee with Kenobi," "Disney Dish with Lentesto," and "Fine-Tuning with Drew Taylor."
• ⭐ Listeners are encouraged to rate and review "Looking at Lucasfilm" and "Coffee with Kenobi" on iTunes to help grow the audience.
• 💰 Support for the podcasts can also be provided through Bandcamp subscriptions.