CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
In 1978, when the Star Wars Holiday Special aired, there was a 10 minute animated segment featuring the main SW characters, and introducing Boba Fett. As I may have mentioned before, it was the best part of the whole thing.
This short cartoon was produced by a Canadian company named Nelvana, who were subsequentally commissioned to produce animation for the Droids and Ewoks cartoon series in 1985. Best of all, Anthony Daniels returned to voice C-3PO, as only he can.
I remember where I was when I first saw Droids: In the living room. This isn't particularly outstanding in itself as it was being broadcast on television. But I remember the house we were living in at the time. The curtains were drawn, and I was anticipating the return of Star Wars (we didn't have a video back then, and the only exposure I got to actual SW was when it was shown on TV). I knew it was an animated series and I knew that C-3PO and R2-D2 were in it, and that was all (look, we didn't have the internet in 1985. You had to rely on listings in the Radio Times and innacurate word-of-mouth). By 1985, Return of the Jedi was only two years out of the gate, but I'd drifted away from SW a little. Not so much 'no new content', as 'no prospect of new content'. As of RotJ, the saga was over. The bad guys were dead, and the good guys' work was done. What more was there to tell? Although I'd read some of the Marvel comics, I didn't find them nearly as inspiring as the movies.
So, Schofield/Parkin/Crane (delete as applicable) did his thing and Droids began. I didn't really get it.
• Artoo and Threepio. Check. • Desert planet. Check. • Distinguishable bad-guy. Check. • ...light slapstick? Check. • ...some dude using a lightsaber who isn't a Jedi, let alone Luke? Check. • Where are the other characters I know? Pass. • Why isn't this as cool as Ulysses 31? Pass. • Come to think of it, why isn't this as cool as Star Wars? Pass.
I watched the rest of the series as it aired, but my heart wasn't really in it. There was something too lighthearted about it for it so be Star Wars.
So how come a discerning kid who wasn't that interested, became an even more discerning adult (I use that term loosely), who's borderline-obsessed with it?
Well, I think the important thing to remember is; Droids isn't a Star Wars cartoon. It's a cartoon set in the Star Wars universe. That may sound like semantics, but I assure you, it's a massive difference.
I'm now at the age where I love old-school cartoons (Transformers, Thundercats, Masters of the Universe, Ulysses 31, Space Sentinels), but mainly out of a sense of nostalgia. When you watch them as an adult, they're pretty much rubbish, yet cool at the same time. Once you get over the awkward-bar, they're great fun. The same applies to Droids. Once you accept it for what it is, it's not only on-par with other animations of the time, it's also got the background of Star Wars to give it a little more body.
Now generally speaking, Droids doesn't get a great deal of credit these days, due to the 'childish' nature of the show. It's set "15 years prior to A New Hope", which is the time when R2-D2 and C-3PO were ostensibly in the care of Captain Antilles on the Tantive IV. Since the Prequel Trilogy's completion, we know this is still possible, but it means that the droids were lost to him at one point, only to find their way back (this is the GFFA, bigger coincidences have happened). Even so, a lot of SW fans don't place the Droids adventures as canon, as the exaggerated events in the cartoon often couldn't have happened in 'real space', and for many people there's just not the SW-connection (as on the checklist above).
But not only did Droids feature a sizeable number of cameo appearances by Original Trilogy characters, it also paved the way for references we'd see in the Prequel Trilogy (largely thanks to sound-guru Ben Burtt having written some of the episodes, and the same man's influence on the PT).
Droids contains direct references to Boba Fett, IG-88, the Max Rebo Band and Stormtroopers. While Vader isn't named, the Empire and the Emperor are.
What's more notable is the number of ideas that occurred in Droids that would be used later in the Prequel Trilogy, and the Expanded Universe.
• In A Race To The Finish, our heroes take part in The Boonta Race, which was later morphed into The Boonta Eve Podrace for TPM.
• In The Roon Games, the droids take part in an Olympic-type sporting event, commentated upon by a pair of aliens who bear a striking similarity to the twin commentators of TPM's podrace.
• In The Lost Prince, we see a burly four-armed diner owner, a forerunner of Dexter Jettster from AotC.
There was also a whole slew of merchandising for Droids at the time. Whereas many cartoons were created purely as a vehicle for selling toys (*ahem*, Transformers), it's fair to say that the figures, books, videos etc of Droids existed because of the marketing legacy of Star Wars. It's still a fairly cynical ploy, of course, but less than most.
The Droids series continued in comic-book form via Dark Horse, and a DVD was released in 2004 featuring two of the four story 'cycles'. 14 episodes were made, but only 13 have ever seen the home video market.
For those who accuse Lucasfilm of being cash-hungry marketers; can you tell me where my deluxe Droids box set is, please? Featuring the original SWHS cartoon, retrospective featurettes on the making-of, Steve Sansweet on merchandising, and commentaries from Ben Burtt and Anthony Daniels on the episodes?
...you can't? Oh, maybe that's because there hasn't been one yet.
Hmmmf. I should be working for Lucasfilm, me.
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Photos and videos appearing in this blog post are for informational and reference purposes only, and no ownership of copyright is claimed or implied by me. The intellectual and physical copyright of such material belongs to its creators and owners.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
A few weeks ago, I was chatting to my friend Melissa in the pub, and the conversation moved on to the old 'six degrees of separation' game and its most common form, with the actor Kevin Bacon being the end-leap.
Since Melissa already has a celebrity-'in' as she met Stephen Fry last year, we thought we'd try and link her to Kevin Bacon. I'd said that it's nowhere near as difficult as people make out, and in many cases, it's actually harder to do it in six connections than it is in less. Now although she has one of those fancy 'new' telephones with the internets on it, the fact remains that we were drinking in a pub and it's not the ideal environment to do research, so I couldn't really illustrate this.
I'll be honest, I forgot about it for a bit, but I've done it now. Normally I'd hyperlink all of the actors, actresses and movies below; but due to the quantity involved, you can look them up yourselves if you don't believe me. The IMDB will tell you everything you need to know.
What you will need: A little patience and the IMDB. That's it.
Six degrees of separation:
• Melissa met Stephen Fry last year in Oxford. • Stephen Fry starred as the voice of the Cheshire Cat in 'Alice in Wonderland', along with Johnny Depp. • Johnny Depp was in 'The Tourist' with Angelina Jolie. • Angelina Jolie was in 2004's 'Taking Lives', with Kiefer Sutherland. • Kiefer Sutherland starred in 'The Lost Boys', with Jason Patrick. • Jason Patrick was in the 1996 film 'Sleepers' with Kevin Bacon.
Actually, six is way too easy. Let's do it in five...
• Melissa met Stephen Fry last year in Oxford. • Stephen Fry made an appearance in 2007's 'St. Trinians', alongside Rupert Everett. • Rupert Everett voiced Prince Charming in the Shrek films, also starring Cameron Diaz. • Cameron Diaz was in 1995's 'The Last Supper', alongside Bill Paxton. • Bill Paxton starred in 'Apollo 13' with Kevin Bacon.
What's that? One example of each set of links is ridiculous and proves nothing? You'd like me to do four different connections in four steps?
• Melissa met Stephen Fry last year in Oxford. • Stephen Fry performed for a long time with his comedy partner Hugh Laurie. • Hugh Laurie appeared in the 2008 movie 'Street Kings', with Forest Whitaker. • Forest Whitaker was in the 2007 movie 'The Air I Breathe' with Kevin Bacon.
or...
• Melissa met Stephen Fry last year in Oxford. • Stephen Fry played various roles in Blackadder, alongside Rowan Atkinson. • Rowan Atkinson had a part in 'Love, Actually', as did January Jones. • January Jones stars in 'X-Men: First Class', alongside Kevin Bacon.
or...
• Melissa met Stephen Fry last year in Oxford. • Stephen Fry was in 'Blackadder', which was partly written by Richard Curtis. • Richard Curtis was also the writer of 'Notting Hill', starring Julia Roberts. • Julia Roberts appeared in 1990's 'Flatliners', with Kevin Bacon.
or...
• Melissa met Stephen Fry last year in Oxford. • Stephen Fry provided voice-work for 'Alice in Wonderland', as did Crispin Glover. • Recycled footage of Crispin Glover was used in 'Back To the Future II', which also starred Elizabeth Shue. • Elizabeth Shue starred in 2000's 'Hollowman' with Kevin Bacon.
I know what you're thinking. Three connections in three steps would be ridiculous, wouldn't it?
• Melissa met Stephen Fry last year in Oxford. • Stephen Fry was the voice of the book in 2005's 'Hitchhikers' adaptation, starring Sam Rockwell. • Sam Rockwell played in 2008's 'Frost/Nixon', as did Kevin Bacon.
or...
• Melissa met Stephen Fry last year in Oxford. • Stephen Fry was in 2010's 'Alice in Wonderland', which also starred Michael Sheen. • Michael Sheen was in 2008's 'Frost/Nixon', alongside Kevin Bacon.
or...
• Melissa met Stephen Fry last year in Oxford. • Stephen Fry provided voice-work for the game 'Fable III', as did Nicholas Hoult. • Nicholas Hoult plays Beast in 'X-Men: First Class', alongside Kevin Bacon.
...And that, Melissa, is as far as I got. To connect you in two steps would require a direct link between Fry and Bacon. And other than the obvious puns about breakfast, I can't find any, sorry.
Maybe you should commission a sitcom starring them both, in which they play mis-matched flatmates? Actually, that'd probably work if we can get Sean Bean on board too...
Fry, Bacon and Bean starts on BBC3 this Autumn...
Anyway, Melissa; you're very, very welcome.
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
...Or Midichlorians to you and me. Yes, the M word. Between 1977 and 1999, The Force was a mysterious thing, almost religious in its ambiguity, unable to be explained in the physical universe. We knew little-to nothing about the Jedi Order, the lineage of the Skywalker family, or how/why The Force manifested itself in some people and not in others.
The door was opened a little with The Phantom Menace in '99. We saw the Jedi Council, a monastic organisation in that they have a dedicated place of study/meditation and a policy of non-attachment. The knock-on effect of this policy means that, generally speaking, the Jedi don't marry or populate. The most obvious exception to this, of course, is Anakin Skywalker, who did both of those things. It almost goes without saying that Anakin didn't go down the 'usual' path, but it at least proves (as if we didn't know already) that when Force-sensitive beings have children, there's a strong chance that they too will share the same connection (bear in mind, Luke Skywalker had a talent, but his sister Leia's powers were far weaker).
So, if they're not having children, where do baby Jedi* come from? Well, you've got to figure they've been 'chosen' by The Force, which brings us back to the mystical aspect. As if The Force is a higher, collective consciousness, able to reach into the physical realm to try and maintain the order of the galaxy. There's certainly an element of that suggestion throughout the films, which only increases in the prequel trilogy, with mention of 'the will of The Force', 'the living Force' and 'the unifying Force'. So, when the Jedi arrive at the house of a non-Force-sensitive couple, to test their child and determine suitability for a life at The Temple, how do they go about it? How do they measure the potential of the infant (or adult for that matter)? Do they sit around for a couple of years and wait for the little one to start moving cups about? Think of it another way, when you take your son or daughter to Clarks' for their first pair of shoes, does the assistant look at their feet for a minute and say "Oh, that looks like a size 2 to me. Yep, size 2."? Of course they don't, they use measuring equipment.
That's where Midichlorians come in.
On Tatooine, Qui-Gon Jinn meets a boy that he can sense in The Force as being potentially powerful. But depending on the sensitivity of the tester, surely this power will be interpreted as different each time? Qui-Gon takes a sample of Anakin's blood and runs a test, discovering that he has a high Midichlorian-count. The higher the count, the more potential the subject has for training in The Force. Every living organism has some Midichlorians, but a certain level is needed for Force-sensitivity. Anakin Skywalker has loads of Midichlorians, and this was determined in under a minute of screen-time.
People didn't like Midichlorians. People thought that Midichlorians robbed The Force of it's mystical nature. I've even heard it said that pre-1999, the films had suggested that anyone could become a Jedi by skill and training alone, and that Midichlorians changed the game so that 'you have to be born with it to be able to join the club'. After all, the Original Trilogy doesn't suggest otherwise. Mind you, going from the OT, in order to be a Force-user, maybe you had to have at least one red-headed parent. The films don't suggest otherwise there, either. Along with other (if anything, more justifyable) aspects, Midichlorians have been viewed as part of the downhill-slide of Star Wars.
Now, thinking 'in-universe', do you really believe that in a society such as the one depicted in the GFFA, where all manner of intelligent alien life-forms, plasma-beam weapons, and faster-than-light travel are commonplace, that not one person has brought up at the Friday-meeting: "You know the Jedi? You know how they can do things that the rest of us can't? And you know how we can't explain that yet? Do you think there must be something different somewhere in them? Even if it's just at a cellular-level? If you don't mind, I'm going to spend the next week analysing the blood samples of Jedi and non-Jedi."
It stands to reason that if there is a difference, society would have found it. After all, the Jedi have been a presence in the GFFA for at least 4,000 years (that's when the earliest expanded-universe material is set). Think what humans have achieved in a couple of hundred years. Think what we've learned. Think what we'll know in 3,800 years if we make it that far. If there was a group of people who could bend spoons with their minds, it wouldn't take us long (even now) to determine if there was something different in their biological make-up.
So that explains the presence of Midichlorians, but what about the implication? Well, read above. It makes no difference to your personal interpretation of The Force at all. It's like saying the mystery of aeroplanes has been ruined because someone's explained to you what type of fuel is in the tank. The reason that Jedi exist in the first place, the reason that some are more powerful than others, the way that Jedi are born to non-Jedi parents, becoming one with The Force, the netherworld that Qui-Gon discovers and that Obi-Wan, Yoda and somehow Anakin learn to transcend to... none of those things are explained by the presence of Midichlorians.
Naysayers: Your mystery is intact, nothing has changed. If anything, the implication that Darth Sidious' master Darth Plagueis had manipulated The Force to impregnate Shmi Skywalker? That should be setting your alarm-bells ringing...
*I'm only going to say this once. The plural of Jedi is Jedi. Like sheep, fish, deer, etc. It pisses me off no end when people say "Jedis". Not once in seven films is the plural referred to in this way. *seethes*
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Photos and videos appearing in this blog post are for informational and reference purposes only, and no ownership of copyright is claimed or implied by me. The intellectual and physical copyright of such material belongs to its creators and owners.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Rose Byrne and January Jones? Marvel, you're spoiling me! Go on, then.
Matthew (Kick Ass, Layer Cake) Vaughn is at the helm for the fifth X-Men movie, and as usual, it's on the grittier side of comic book adaptations. The movie opens with a very faithful reshoot of the beginning of 2000's X-Men, set in a Nazi concentration camp as a young Erik Lehnsherr is separated from his parents, kickstarting his super-powers. After that, we quickly skip through the formative years of Erik and his future-partner/nemesis Charles Xavier, and on to a fairly lengthy series of introductions to the rest of the cast.
Speaking of the cast, once you get past the fact that Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy neither look, sound nor act like Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, they do an excellent job in their portrayals, as does almost* everyone else on-screen.
The Good: With the exceptions of what's listed below, everything about this film falls into the good category. Great acting, great script, effects, score, camera work. They've even addressed a couple of continuity spikes rather nicely, and if I'm not very much mistaken, Rebecca Romijn (Mystique from the first three X-Men movies) has a fleeting cameo appearance, although she doesn't seem to be credited for it. Speaking of cameos, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine makes a brief appearance during the recruiting sequence, and his three-word scene made me guffaw out loud. Maybe cover the young ones' ears, though? First time I've heard that in a 12A cert movie.
The Bad: * I'm not feeling the love for the very young Xavier and Mystique, played by Laurence Belcher and Morgan Lily, respectively. They're not awful, but child acting is rarely on-par, and X-Men: First Class is no exception. Young Magneto is spot-on, but his storyline has a little more drama than Xavier, so he has more to work with. Also worth mentioning, although not necessarily bad, Charles Xavier seems to turn into Austin Powers when he chats up women (and he does chat them up).
The Ugly: Continuity issues, I'm afraid. I won't go into them here, but after I've watched the film again in a few days, I'll do a second-pass review all about them.
All in all: Excellent work all round. Considering it's the fifth movie in the franchise, it's also an excellent place to start for those who haven't seen any (perhaps arguably better that way, anyway?). If you like your heroes to be a bit philosophical, and have a sense of humour without being silly, this movie is for you.
No cameo by Stan Lee in this one, and no bonus-scene after the credits. I'll take the second one if it means having the first ;)
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
