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Anaheim Comic Con
April 16-18th, 2010
REPORT:
Wizard World's
Anaheim Comic Convention came and went. I only had a day to cover
this event, but lucky Star Wars was on the agenda. The event
planners pulled in a number of actors and special effects people as
guests and had planned an ESB 30th anniversary Q&A
panel. The Fan booths by the So Cal 501st Legion, LA
Jedi, and Saber Guild were on hand to talk about costuming. Many of
the local vendors like Frank & Son's Collectibles were present ready
to sell their wares to the attendees. After touring the convention
floor for a few hours, we headed up to the rooms to attend the Futurama
& Star Wars Q&A panels.
After the panels it was more exploring of the convention floor.
Kotobukiya was the only major Star Wars Licensee on site. The
Lightsaber chopsticks seemed to be selling well. They have not
released any new information on ARTFX or ARTFX+, but they have a
teaser in the promotional pamphlet. A sketch of a Boba Fett and
Darth Vader figures from the EPV can be seen, plus two silhouette's
of the next era of figures from Koto.
Sandtroopers.com
and thejawa.com congratulates Dean Mitchell, who played
Senator
Cellheim Anujo on EP3, just received his SAG credentials. We spent
a few minutes reviewing unpublished pictures taken on the set of the
films the Star Wars movies. They ranged from candid shots of snowtroopers to prop setup to gear of for the days shooting. If you
ever see Dean, be sure to say "Hi" and hope to that you have time to
hear his stories. You can see more of his work on his
website.
We spoke with
Dave Barclay, the 2nd chief puppeteer for Yoda and the 1st
puppeteer for Jabba. We had the fortune to have him reminisce his
days on the set of ESB as nineteen year old working with Frank Oz
and Jim Henson. Dave had thought that hen Frank Oz was need
elsewhere, that Jim would be the man to puppeteer Yoda. But Frank
said this kid can run the show. He was puppeteer on Dark Crystal
& Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He has more recent work like Lost in
Space, Where the Wild Things Are, and Cats & Dogs 2 which will
premiere July 30th. You can see more of his work on
his website.
Other artists
from the Star Wars franchise were Billy Dee Williams -
Lando
Calrissian,
Bonnie
Piesse -
Beru Whitesun
& Joe Viskocil - a visual effects artist from episodes 4 & 5. Viskocil runs the Viskocil Effects company. On hand he had pictures
of his
miniature pyrotechnics: miniature and optical effects
work on the Star Wars movies.
Aside from the movie actors, a few of the voice actors from the
Clone Wars series were on hand to sign autographs with fans. Tom
Kane - Yoda, Jennifer Hale - Aayla Secura and Riyo Chuchi, and
Catherine Taber - Padmé Amidala. Due to time constraints we were
not able to interview the actors. Asking voice actors to be guest
for Wizard World Anaheim Comic Con was a nice touch, since these
medium affects more fans than one would initially think.
L.A. Jedi and Saber Guild were on hand demonstrating the art of
wielding weapon of a more civilized time. Plenty Jedi Masters and Sith
Lords
were present to ready to take each other on. L.A. Jedi meets
regularly at Rose Bowl to dodge and parry to help hone in their
skills to be a master at saber techniques.
The Southern California Garrison of the 501st Legion was
present to patrol the convention under Vader’s instructions. They
had three of the Stormtrooper helmets on display for the 501st
TK Project for the Make a Wish Foundation. Kids were allowed to
fire Nerf guns at Stormtroopers for fun. The Dark Lord of the Sith
himself, Darth Vader, was being interviewed by a TV news crew.
Wizard World's
Anaheim Comic Convention was a way to spend the day to reminisce
about Star Wars and other fan/cult franchises. The guest list cover
multiple genre and media forms. The panels they had lined up also
covers a wide area of topics. This was taste of SDCC, not to
mention the Anaheim Convention Center is actually larger that San
Diego's venue. Was this a trial run to see if fans and the
facilities would work as a new home for SDCC? For those that are
not familiar with the area hotel, restaurants, and Disneyland are
all within walking distance from the conventions center. It is
plausible to move SDCC to Anaheim, but we won't know more until the
contracts are set in stone for after 2012.
PHOTO GALLERIES
Costumes
Fan Booths
Floor
Guest and Panels
PANEL REPORTS
Star Wars Q&A
Futurama Q&A
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