Thanks to Glen Garnett for his help.
Star Wars celebration 2017 has arrived in Orlando Florida intend to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the legendary franchise. The festivities kicked off with a star-studded panel that celebrated the 40th anniversary the franchise and had array of stars from George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Kathleen Kennedy, and stars from the series on hand. A surprise arrival by Harrison Ford brought the capacity crowd to its feet for sustained ovation as the cinematic legends recollected on how they all got started with the franchise.
A very touching and memorable tribute to the late Carrie Fisher punctuated by John Williams himself conducting an emotional performance of Leia’s Theme punctuated the highly emotional and moving panel.
Numerous panels occurred throughout the first day the show as many fans enjoyed meeting one another, shopping in the dealer room, and eagerly anticipating what was to come.
Day two of the show kicked off in grand style with the eagerly awaited panel for The Last Jedi. Director Rian Johnson was on hand with Kathleen Kennedy as well as John Boyega, Mark Hamill, and Daisy Ridley with a special appearance from BB 8. Josh Gad hosted the panel which also introduced Kelly Marie Tran who will be playing a new character named Rose who is said to have the largest part of any of the new characters.
The panel wrapped with a reveal for the new poster for the film as well as an update that everyone in attendance would be getting a copy of the poster. They jokingly try to in the panel there but then of course realized fans were expecting the premiere of the trailer for the film and were not disappointed when it aired to a thunderous response from the crowd which prompted a second showing to the delighted fans.
Mark Hamill gave a very moving tribute to Carrie Fisher and numerous panels continued throughout the day looking at multiple topics from future books, comics, and other things related to the Star Wars universe.
Day three saw Dave Filoni in the cast of Star Wars Rebels take a mainstage to reveal the news that the upcoming fourth season would be the final season for the show as well is revealing the first look trailer for the upcoming season. I remember how two years ago I was in Anaheim covering the season two preview trailer in doing a cast interview for the show so it is bittersweet for me to know that it is ending but at least I take solace in that the show is going out strong and on its own terms.
One most anticipated events of the day was the reveal of the full trailer for EA Star Wars Battlefront II. The new game will be out in time for the holidays and looks to address some of the things that fans had been asking for in the original game. There will be a solo play campaign as well as the ability to play with characters and settings throughout the cinematic universe rather than being locked to the classic trilogy era as you were in the first film. The introduction of a new character and the promise of a campaign that was done from the perspective of the Empire following its defeat at Endor was met with great applause.
The other highlight of the day was the cause play competition which constantly impresses with the creativity and talents of the various fans in attendance. A guest who bedazzled his Stoprmtrooper uniform took the top prize as the Crystal Trooper but others prizes were awarded in various categories before the grand winner was announced.
The final day was punctuated by Mark Hamill doing a final panel and the closing ceremonies. Many fans took a final run through the dealer area to make final purchases before heading home.
The next Star Wars Celebration is due in 2019 and based on this strong and impressive showing, you can bet fans are already making plans for the next one.
