As the old saying goes, all good things come to those who wait.
Star Wars Celebration, taking place in Anaheim, California, is the much-delayed successor to the previous event that saw a global audience gather in Chicago – way back in 2019.
It wasn’t intended to be so. This Celebration should have taken place in 2020 – allowing fans of the saga to collectively hug 1980’s Empire Strikes Back on its 40th anniversary. A certain pandemic put pay to that.
So, here we are, three years after the show that promoted the Rise of Skywalker and new kid on the block, The Mandalorian, and following some often emotional inter-continental reunions, it feels like we’ve never been away.
This is my fourth Celebration event, the first being London in 2016. Back then I was reporting on behalf of two regional newspapers – the Shropshire Star and Express & Star, based in Wolverhampton. Having been a lifelong fan of the saga, I approached my editor with the idea of covering the event and he was only too happy to facilitate.
I’d got to know Mark Newbold and some of his fellow fans/content providers and following the sort of exile that would make Luke Skywalker look like an amateur, I was back in the mix. I had a new circle of friends. A shared passion had thrown us together. An eclectic mix of predominantly ‘40 somethings’ who had never quite grown up – and were all the better for it.
By the end of my first dalliance with ‘Celebration’ (or as my good buddy Carl Bayliss calls it, ‘Queue Fest’), I had been invited to join the fan group.
The crew, who for the most part would go on to form Fantha Tracks in the October of 2017, next attended Celebration over in Orlando earlier that year.
Anyone who is familiar with Celebrations of old will recall the time prior to lotteries. Yes, these can seem unfair often, but we’ve all suffered the disappointment of queues in the past.
Back in 2017, I joined a late evening queue with the aptly named Paul McQue. Decked out in his native Scottish kilt and waistcoat combo – albeit with a BB-8 twist – we joined hundreds, no, thousands, of fans. It was the line for tickets into what we thought was going to be the stage for the 40th Anniversary panel. This promised to be something transformative. A lifechanging experience.
Imagine the disappointment, having stayed awake for more than 24 hours, only to be presented with a wristband to see events unfold on the big screen rather than in the actual room, just a few metres away. Gutted. I was absolutely gutted. As was Paul. We clapped along unenthusiastically as cast member after cast member was brought out and a surprise appearance from John Williams was the icing on the cake. Billie Lourd’s tribute to her mother, Carrie Fisher, was still emotionally charged, but not quite being there hurt.
In 2019, the lotteries were introduced for Celebration Chicago. I was fortunate enough to do rather well. I was in the room for The Rise of Skywalker – “Roll it again”, but even better, for The Mandalorian.
And now, here we are three years later. I had the golden ticket – well, wristband – that gave access to the first panel of the event – all about Lucasfilm projects. Star Wars of course, but there was much more than that.
If you haven’t read Brian Cameron’s piece on the panel, it is a must.
There is nothing quite like breathing the same air, being in that room, with your heroes.
So, when Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen were brough out by Kathleen Kennedy to talk about the Disney Plus series Obi-Wan Kenobi, I was in Heaven. The surprises kept coming, as well as further cast members of that series, we were treated to a joyous cast of Andor, including charismatic lead Diego Lunar. The panel giveaway is a promotional poster from the upcoming show.
Then, in a diversion from a galaxy far away, out stepped Ron Howard to introduce the cast of Willow and a teaser of the new show. It was great to see Warwick there as an actor rather than host. The series looks fab.
Back to Star Wars, a new show was introduced. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. This will be fronted by Jude Law and a bunch of kids. I have to say it was given the least round of applause, but time will tell.
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni were on hand to not only tease season three of The Mandalorian, but also that they had organised a large collection of set pieces and miniatures for attendees of Celebration to go along and enjoy.
Fans hear the #ObiWanKenobi theme for the very first time with a live orchestra performance conducted by composer John Williams pic.twitter.com/CyOvCjHPlF
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 26, 2022
So, having missed two opportunities to be in the room with John Williams – that fated attempt in Orlando and a cancelled London concert – I finally got to see the great composer and conductor. The 90-year-old was brought out to present a live rendition of his theme to Obi-Wan Kenobi. It was a memorable experience. This man is a modern day Mozart or Beethoven.
John went on to introduce something that wasn’t Star Wars, but that we would all know and enjoy – the theme to Indiana Jones.
And then out stepped Indy himself – Harrison Ford. The adoration of Mr Williams from Harrison was obvious as he sounded choked up while praising the man who has scored our lives.
It really was a very special panel. Something that I had often been not quite in time for, or just slightly out of reach. This time the stars aligned.
A big thank you to my dear American friend Kev Schwoebel for being with me to share the experience. You sir are a legend. I’d not seen Kev since Chicago. Doing these Celebration gatherings is much more than the Star Wars shenanigans. It’s about reconnecting with old friends. Three years is a long time to be away from Celebration. The pandemic has kept us away from dear friends too, and that is even more difficult to handle.
But, all good things come to those who wait.
[lasso box=”B09HCRKWXC” ref=”amzn-funko-pop-deluxe-star-wars-duel-of-the-fates-obi-wan-kenobi-amazon-exclusive-figure-2-of-3″ id=”169276″ link_id=”41949″]
