Star Wars Celebration V Strikes Back in Orlando, FL

It comes as no surprise that a geek at my age (don’t ask) would be intimately involved with the sci-fi fantasy world known as Star Wars. It defined a (my) generation of geeks. And it seems to be doing a pretty good job of imbuing each and every generation that has followed it with at least a smidgen of the Force. Nowhere was that more evident than last week at the Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, Florida!

Ever since the original Celebration in Denver, Colorado in 1999, the Star Wars Celebrations have been a must-see/do/experience event regardless of whatever else is going on in my life. Denver was small but great, even though the constant rain did give me pneumonia (it was my first multi-day convention ever). Going to Indianapolis for Celebration II and III was great fun, especially since my Pennsylvania friends came along for the trip (they brought their kids, which made it even more fun). Los Angeles for Celebration IV was right in my back yard, so I slept in my bed each night (I also won the highly coveted Obi-Wan bust sculpted by Lawrence Noble, just to make my experience the best yet!). For Celebration V, the devoted thousands were sent to the air conditioned comfort of the Orange County Convention Center, the core planet in Orlando’s massive tourism galaxy, during the hottest time of the year (I know because I used to live there – central Florida, not the convention center).

Here’s a rundown of the crazy insane Star Wars-centric things fans got to see/do/experience at the 5th official Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida:

• What’s a Star Wars Celebration without exclusive collectibles? From t-shirts to action figures to posters to prop replicas and everything in between, you couldn’t leave the show without snatching up a few items that were not available anywhere else (unless you count eBay immediately afterward).
• An endless array of custom artwork was available, some for sale and some just on display, created on paper, in styrofoam, on skateboards, and even permanently on the skin.
• If there was one toy that lends itself to both creativity and collecting, almost as much as Hasbro‘s action figures, it’s Lego. Fans from around the world created elaborate dioramas of nearly every world in the Star Wars galaxy and beyond, encouraging kids of all ages to contribute to expanding the Lego galaxy through a mural that was constructed over the first few days for charity.
• Throw a few of those action figures and a few dozen AT-ATs, wampas, tauntauns, snowspeeders, and lots of custom carved styrofoam sheets and you get a humongous diorama depicting the battle of Hoth.
• Costumes? You bet. If anyone knows how to create their own take on the Star Wars galaxy in fabric and an endless array of other materials, it’s Star Wars fans. You know you’re at a Star Wars convention when seeing 3 dozen stormtroopers walk by doesn’t faze you one bit.
• Just when I thought I’d seen every ship scale replica, like the X-Wing, landspeeder, or snowspeeder, along comes a bunch of Belgian fans, who ship over a massive TIE Interceptor at was built to scale. And while not built to scale, the AT-AT in the lobby was certainly an irresistible photo opportunity for anyone who happened to walk by.
• Some people might think the “average” obsessive Star Wars fan should be committed. Some fans couldn’t have agreed more. While not legally binding, couples of every age and orientation (including woman and droid… Bonnie) signed up to be married by Darth Vader, Darth Maul, chief geek Steve Sansweet, and even the Elvis trooper.
• Upstairs, G4 sponsored the 21 and over Ice Bar, accented with cool lighting and even cooler ice sculptures of a wampa and Luke on his tauntaun, where fans could sip adult beverages away from the kids and crowds below.
• The Ralph McQuarrie gallery featured dozens of original works, some only recently discovered in his home, that showed the evolution of the Star Wars galaxy from the man who designed the look and feel of it all along with George Lucas. There were even rare pieces from Raiders of the Lost Ark and the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special!
• The family friendly fan favorite Jedi Training Academy was back for another year, because who doesn’t think seeing little kids dressed as Jedi, swinging lightsabers at Darth Vader and force-pushing stormtroopers isn’t the cutest thing in the world?
• The Maker, George Lucas himself was in attendance and thousands of people lined up more than 12 hours in advance outside the convention center overnight in hopes of sharing the room with him for the Main Event, where the Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart asked him a series of fan-composed questions picked by Stewart himself. Getting a sneak peek at the cut original opening scene from Return of the Jedi that will be included on the Blu-Ray edition next year wasn’t a half bad bonus either! Oh yeah, let’s not forget that Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher showed up to hang out as well.
• What could top a day that started with George Lucas, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia? Well, a trip to a galaxy far, far away isn’t a bad start. Thousands of fans were shuttled to Disney’s Hollywood Studios park to take the Last Tour to Endor, where they held the official ceremony that would shut down the Star Tours ride for a few months to make way for the all new Star Tours ride to debut next year in both US Disney parks.
• Along with the exclusive park access and the chance to ride Star Tours one last time, fans had the opportunity to witness a one time only modification to the Indiana Jones stunt show, called Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom! Under the guise of two fans directing an Indiana Jones and Star Wars fan film mashup, the usual Indiana Jones stunt show pit Indy against Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and a small army of stormtroopers. With guest appearances by stars Seth Green, Anthony Daniels, Jamie King, Ashley Eckstein, and more, it was truly a once in a lifetime event (now available for viewing on Youtube).
• The night finished off with a Star Wars Weekends favorite – the Hyperspace Hoopla dance off and the astonishingly moving (for diehard fans anyway) Symphony in the Stars fireworks display set to the music and dialogue from all 6 movies.
• I finished off the week right by catching the sneak peek at Star Wars: the Clone Wars season 3. The creators dished about the making of the series, how it’s evolved in 3 seasons, answered questions (sort of) from fans, and teased us with snippets of things to come, including a somewhat familiar looking character many will come to know as Savage Opress (George Lucas may have spilled a little info about the origins of this character, but I won’t spoil that here…).

In the end, it was yet again another amazing Star Wars Celebration event, done in a way only Lucasfilm could do it! A big thanks to Mary Franklin and the whole gang that put this together! I’m eager to see what Star Wars Celebration VI has in store for us in 2013, when we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi!