The Millennium Falcon exhibition at the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre is now open, giving fans from the local area (anywhere within 1000 parsecs) the chance to view the history of the creation of the full-size Falcon built for The Empire Strikes Back way back in 1979.
An £8,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund has allowed locals to tell the story of how the fastest ship in the galaxy was built.
Work on the Millennium Falcon exhibition at the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre, which opens on Monday, has been going on for some time under the watchful eye of local Star Wars expert and enthusiast Mark Williams.
“George Lucas set a new standard in both storytelling and filmmaking with Star Wars and the story of the Millennium Falcon being built in Pembroke Dock was big news at the time. The whole world knew about it, then the story faded into legend.”
“The idea of a town in west Wales making a significant contribution to this incredible story by being the place where one of the most iconic star ships in science fiction history was built, creates a mixture of disbelief, awe and pride.”
In an exclusive interview for BBC Wales, the general manager of Lucasfilm, Lynwen Brennan, who is from Pembrokeshire, admitted she did not know about the link between her home county and Star Wars until 10 years ago
“It’s just so fabulous to find there is that common connection. I think that the force must be strong with Pembrokeshire! One of the things I love about this is it feels so very Star Wars, that there was this secret band of rebels, away in a warehouse in Pembroke Dock, and doing incredible work. There’s something that’s very authentic about that and the fact that the falcon was built in an authentic shipyard by these incredible craftspeople. I think that leads to why Star Wars has resonated and lasted so long because it feels real.
“There is such a level of detail in the scenery, the props, the ships, and because they are built by incredible craftspeople, that’s what comes over on screen. That’s why people are able to dive into this world and lose themselves in this world.”
[lasso box=”B08HW13SQ6″ id=”169356″ link_id=”41914″ ref=”amzn-lego-star-wars-imperial-tie-fighter-75300-building-toy-with-stormtrooper-and-pilot-minifigures-from-the-skywalker-saga-for-8-years”]
