‘Star Wars’ Animation Roundup: August 31, 2014

ComicBook.com Interviewed Dave Filoni and Simon Kinberg

ComicBook.com interviewed executive producers Dave Filoni and Simon Kinberg at San Diego Comic-Con. Filoni talked about the target audience for Star Wars Rebels, the Inquisitor’s lightsaber, the music composed by Kevin Kiner, and whether Rebels fulfills expectations. Kinberg answered a handful of questions about bringing certain elements to life in Star Wars Rebels, the Lucasfilm Story Group, tying the series to the original films, cameos from classic characters, and pleasing the fans.

Simon Kinberg also spoke to Big Shiny Robot in a recent interview.

Dave Filoni and Star Wars Rebels Action Figures

Dave teased the fans with a brand new picture of himself holding various Star Wars Rebels action figures. Though there’s a significant lack of female action figures in his hands, I am looking forward to purchasing a few of my own once they start appearing on the shelves.

The StarWars.com 10: Best Fights

The “StarWars.com 10” video feature continues as the editorial staff behind StarWars.com gathered together to determine the galaxy’s best fights. From Anakin vs. Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith to Darth Vader vs. Obi-Wan in A New Hope, the staff counts down and ranks their favorite fights. This video only includes content from the films, but if Star Wars: The Clone Wars had been involved, I’m pretty sure the Maul vs. Pre Vizsla and Maul/Savage Opress vs. Darth Sidious fights from season five would have overpowered anything we saw in the films.

Man At Arms: Reforged Series Builds a Star Wars Lightsaber Katana

Kerry Stagmer and Matt Stagmer of Baltimore Knife & Sword forge incredible pieces of weaponry with a team of blacksmiths and craftsman. Every other Monday this summer, the team have been taking favorite characters and items and mashing them together to make brand new hybrid weapons. Earlier this August, we witnessed a mash-up between a Star Wars lightsaber and a katana. The result is positively stunning! In a way, it reminds me of Pre Vizsla’s Darksaber.

Carbonite Han Solo Cosplay

A child at a St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies baseball game at Citizens Bank Park showed up to Star Wars Night in a Carbonite Han Solo costume. Although the kid doesn’t look entertained by the game, they definitely made quite the impression with the clever getup. (via csnphilly.com)

Preliminary DVD/Blu-ray covers for Season Six of The Clone Wars

Germany now has preliminary DVD and Blu-ray covers for season six of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The season is scheduled to be released on November 20, 2014. Though there is no official word about a DVD and Blu-ray in the US and Canada, we could see a similar release date. (via Jedi-Bibliothek)

Random House Adds Foreword and First 50 Pages

Del Rey Books added the Star Wars: A New Dawn foreword written by Dave Filoni and the first 50 pages to the AtRandom.com page to promote the release of the new novel. The foreword briefly explains the new age of Star Wars storytelling and how Filoni and the other executive producers collaborated with John Jackson Miller to connect the story to Star Wars Rebels. Random House also released the first 71 pages of A New Dawn earlier this August.

Interviews with John Jackson Miller

In order to prepare for the release of his new novel, Star Wars: A New Dawn, John Jackson Miller has appeared on a few podcasts recently, including:

• Rebels Report
• Coffee With Kenobi
• Roqoo Depot
• Far Far Away Radio

WATCH Disney XD Sneak Preview of Star Wars Rebels

WATCH Disney XD recently released a 4-minute clip of Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion. In the preview, Kanan and the crew embark on a mission to rescue enslaved Wookiees. Also, here’s a small gallery of screen captures from TWG’s Facebook page.

Actor Greg Ellis Confirms Star Wars Rebels Role

Actor Greg Ellis, best known for his portrayal of Michael Amador in 24 and Lieutenant Groves in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, confirmed his involvement in Star Wars Rebels. Though labeled as Baron Ruhdor on IMDb, he is believed to be the TIE fighter pilot in the “Entanglement” short with Zeb Orrelios.

Jen Richards a.k.a. Mockingnerd Completes Her Sabine Cosplay

Marine life artist and fangirl Jen Richards completed her Sabine Wren cosplay just in time for Dragon Con 2014. Here’s her final product and make sure to check out her progress along the way:

• Worbla pieces
• Helmet
• More progress
• Spray-painted
• Left-shoulder pad
• Armor
• Painting helmet
• More progress
• Testing costume

LEGO Ghost and Phantom Videos

Earlier last week, I happened to be browsing through the LEGO site when I found two videos highlighting The Ghost and The Phantom LEGO ships in action. YouTube user dreamnailz recently uploaded the videos.

UK LEGO Star Wars Rebels Advertisements

Twitter user Keith shared two UK LEGO Star Wars Rebels advertisements. It is important to note that the LEGO figures appear to be similar to the main characters from the series, but also have striking dissimilarities. For example, Hera has yellow skin and there’s an unknown character believed to be Kanan, though Kanan has darker skin and a goatee.

Speaking of LEGO, if you’re in the Westchester area (New York), you may want to check out the LEGO Star Wars Day event on September 20-21, 2014.

Two Artists Working on Star Wars Projects

Two artists have tweeted about working on two separate Star Wars projects. Illustrator Dan Veesenmeyer wrote, “Been devouring loads of #StarWarsRebels video clips & reference today for my assignment. Fallen in love with the color pallet & design.” A few days later, he tweeted a drawing of two LEGO stormtroopers with the hashtag #StarWarsRebels.

Joe Corroney, on the other hand, has been working on art that features Darth Vader and Tarkin “for a new #StarWars project #Lucasfilm #Disney.”

Star Wars Rebels Character Guide

Rebels Report found a character guide for the main characters and villains of the series. According to Pete Morrison, “It is the same information released in the character introductory videos in written form.” To read through the guide, click here.

Star Wars Rebels in San Francisco Film Society 2014

Justin LaSalata of Jedi News recently reported that Star Wars Rebels will be included in the programming list for this year’s San Francisco Film Society. To be held on October 23 at the Letterman Digital Arts Center, the special event is described as the following, “Kicking off the seventh season of this collaborative educational series, this program will highlight the work of the Lucasfilm Animation division and their new animated series Star Wars Rebels, with a behind-the-scenes interactive multimedia presentation for Bay Area middle and high school students presented by executive producer Dave Filoni.”

Click here for more information.

Create Your Own Star Wars/Star Wars Rebels Item

The Disney Store allows its customers to purchase customized items, from mugs to t-shirts. You’re able to choose from several Star Wars characters, including Leia Organa and Padmé Amidala. Additionally, you can choose Star Wars Rebels characters, like Sabine Wren and Hera Syndulla. If you’re unable to find items that have your favorite characters, this is a great place to start and customize your own. (via Rebels Report)

Season Two of Star Wars Rebels?

According to Rebel Transmission, “In the latest episode of @RebelForceRadio they mention that from what they’ve heard, season 2 of #StarWarsRebels is already a done deal.” Whether that’s true or not, I personally believe fans should tune in and watch the episodes live as well as watch them through legal means. Additionally, it’s important that both girls and boys purchase the merchandise (despite the lack of merchandise targeted at women) because history shows that ratings and toy sales are key for cartoon shows to survive in today’s industry.

To listen to the latest episode of RebelForce Radio, click here.

Star Wars Insider #153

The next issue of Star Wars Insider will focus on the villains of Star Wars Rebels, while #152 focused on the heroes. Issue 153 will contain an article on artist Amy Beth Christenson and an interview with Dave Filoni. (via Rebels Report)

As Star Wars Rebels continues we meet the show’s deadliest bad guys! Agent Kallus, the Inquisitor and, of course, the Imperial stormtoopers take center stage as we uncover their sinister plans! Will the rebellion be crushed before they’ve even begun? We’ll also be looking at concept artist Amy Beth Christenson’s amazing contribution to the show. For the more literary minded, we look at 10 legendary ladies from Star Wars fiction and have an all-new, exclusive story set in the universe!

Officially on Twitter: Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Freddie Prinze, Jr., the voice of Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars Rebels, officially joined Twitter on August 29, and the Star Wars community welcomed him with open arms.

It's official, our favorite "cowboy Jedi" is on twitter! Welcome to the jungle, @RealFPJr ! #StarWarsRebels

—
Tracy Cannobbio (@Tcann13) August 29, 2014

.@RealFPJr Time out. Is this really you?? Prove it!

—
Tiya Sircar (@tiyasircar) August 29, 2014

Normally wouldn't do this but the man himself has now joined twitter... @RealFPJr He'll have a million followers in no time

—
Taylor Gray (@_Taylor_Gray_) August 29, 2014

@RealFPJr No. Way. For real!??? Xo #Hera

—
Vanessa Marshall (@vanmarshall) August 29, 2014

@RealFPJr Freddy!! You drank the Twit coolade!! Welcome bro! Prepare to be seriously digitally loved. Wait. That didn't sound right...

—
Steve Blum (@blumspew) August 30, 2014

And my favorite tweet so far:

#StarWarsRebels has come to earth to kick ace and chew bubblegum ... And we're allllll out of bubblegum #piper4ever #scifinerd

—
FPJ (@RealFPJr) August 30, 2014

Podcasts to Download:

• “Now, This Is Podcasting!” Episode 46
• The Cantina Cast Interviews Making Star Wars‘ Amanda Ward
• Star Wars Bookworms and Mark Newbold in “What Makes a Rebel?”
• Podcast 66: Episode 4 with Making Star Wars’ Jason Ward
• Tosche Station’s recording of Dragon Con’s Tropes in Star Wars (as well as their other recordings)

Other Links to Visit:

• The Ronto Roundup: Star Wars Celebs Get Iced, New Rebels Clip, Filoni Interview and MORE! by Daniel Berry | Dork Side of the Force
• George Lucas to Be Honored by Engineering Society by Carolyn Giardina | The Hollywood Reporter
• Why Star Wars Rebels Will Be Better than The Clone Wars by Pete Morrison | The Star Wars Report
• EXCLUSIVE: Geek and fashion cultures collide at the Her Universe fashion show by Aaron Sagers | blastr