UK: Star Wars: The Exhibition
Star Wars: The Exhibition was a traveling exhibit of props, models, and costumes from the six Star Wars movies. I'm sure it was no coincidence that it was in London around the same time as Celebration Europe, the first official Star Wars convention in Europe, was taking place.
The Exhibition featured a number of things that I hadn't seen at any other Star Wars museum exhibitions in the past. And while the Star Wars universe is so vast that no single exhibition can include everything you are hoping to see, I was pleased with the scope and variety of this one. I've heard fan speculation that, because parts of all of the Star Wars movies were shot in England, this exhibit might have had access to items which might be impractical to ship to the US. I don't know if this is the case, as I would have assumed that all of the stuff from the movies had been sent to Lucasfilm in California a long time ago.
The Exhibition was in County Hall, right next to the London Eye.
A London-Eye's-eye-view of County Hall. Once the seat of the local government, today County Hall houses the London Aquarium, and a variety of other attractions (and the Manga Cafe, too). Not visible here, during the run of Star Wars: The Exhibition, a dozen or so stormtrooper mannequins were lined up in front of County Hall.
A nerd pauses to take a picture at the entrance of the exhibit.
They had a life-size Naboo Starfighter, from Phantom Menace! I've never seen that before in person. It was one of the first things we saw when we entered the exhibit. That thing was so freaking cool. I wanted to jump the barrier and climb inside.
But I wasn't wearing the proper helmet.
Victoria is about to get her ass run over.
Move along. Move along.
The model of the T-16 Skyhopper that Luke was playing with at home.
He used to bullseye womp rats, they're not much bigger than two meters.
This is the puppet head of the wampa snow monster from Empire Strikes Back. Smaller than a human head, the puppet was open in back so you could see how it was made.
Model of a snowspeeder, from Empire Strikes Back. Judging from the helmet, I'd guess that's supposed to be Luke in the front.
Yoda. You seek Yoda. (Original trilogy.)
Han Solo, frozen in carbonite. Some people say he's getting old, but to me he looks the same as he did in Empire Strike Back.
One of the actual, life-size speeder bikes from Return of the Jedi.
In Return of the Jedi, the Rebel B-Wings were the only fighters for which the pilots never got an interior cockpit close-up. So we never got to see what a B-Wing pilot looks like. During the briefing scene, some red-clad pilots were visible, so there is some speculation among fans that these were B-Wing pilots. But in this model, we can see what a B-Wing pilot actually looks like. And since this model was actually used in the movie, this pilot can be considered the actual pilot from the film. Can't get anymore official than that!
This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship.
Most of the costumes on display had generic mannequins. But Darth Maul's was actually painted to look like Darth Maul.
The ASN-121 assassin droid used by Zam Wesell in Attack of the Clones, in her attempt to kill Senator Amidala. This thing delivered giant centipede creatures to her bedroom. Then Obi-Wan leapt through the window and hung from the droid as it flew through the city.
Wookiees! From Revenge of the Sith. The one on the right is Chewbacca. After they died, Lucasfilm had them stuffed and put on display.
The exhibit included several highly-detailed model buildings from the prequels.
A model of the starting gate for the podrace in Phantom Menace.
What is especially amusing about this model is, they had tiny, half-inch figures standing on the platform. I don't know where these figures came from, but you can clearly make out Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker in his black Return of the Jedi outfit, and Prince Xizor from "Shadows of the Empire."
I guess this means that Luke appeared in Phantom Menace, which makes five of the six films. And Xizor is no longer an Expanded-Universe-only character! And I think that's skiff-guard-disguise Lando, next to Chewie.
Here's a section of the stands at the starting line of the podrace. It's a pretty big model, and filled with audience members.
A close-up of the podrace audience. They are all Q-tips with colored tips. To simulate motion in the audience, a crew member hid underneath the stands and moved a hair dryer around under the q-tips.
The life-size cockpit of Sebulba's podracer, from Phantom Menace. Too bad they didn't have the massive engines there too. But after Sebulba's major crash at the end of the podrace, I guess we're lucky to even get the cockpit.
As much as the prequel movies are known for having a lot of computer-generated scenes in them, they still created a lot of stuff in real life, such as the podracers.
But the exhibit did include Anakin's life-size podracer, cockpit, engines, and all! That was pretty awesome.
Victoria is attempting to touch the engine, while I am holding up keys.
With Victoria, shopping is a part of every experience. For some reason, there was no gift shop in the building. The official Star Wars: The Exhibition gift shop was in this trailer, on the street by the exit.
Next time: Celebration!
For my other posts of the UK, click on "uk" up above, where it says "Tags."
Support your friends! Support the economy:
aimeekitty is having a Huge Garage Sale!
pixel_stitcher is selling the Feb 2009 issue of CosMode Magazine!
fatwetdog is selling her awesome Sanzo (Saiyuki) costume!
Amanda is selling this amazing jacket!
Don't forget to buy your tickets to the May 9 SoCal Spring Cosplay Gathering!
pegasusmaiden is selling cute hairclips!
The Exhibition featured a number of things that I hadn't seen at any other Star Wars museum exhibitions in the past. And while the Star Wars universe is so vast that no single exhibition can include everything you are hoping to see, I was pleased with the scope and variety of this one. I've heard fan speculation that, because parts of all of the Star Wars movies were shot in England, this exhibit might have had access to items which might be impractical to ship to the US. I don't know if this is the case, as I would have assumed that all of the stuff from the movies had been sent to Lucasfilm in California a long time ago.
The Exhibition was in County Hall, right next to the London Eye.
A London-Eye's-eye-view of County Hall. Once the seat of the local government, today County Hall houses the London Aquarium, and a variety of other attractions (and the Manga Cafe, too). Not visible here, during the run of Star Wars: The Exhibition, a dozen or so stormtrooper mannequins were lined up in front of County Hall.
A nerd pauses to take a picture at the entrance of the exhibit.
They had a life-size Naboo Starfighter, from Phantom Menace! I've never seen that before in person. It was one of the first things we saw when we entered the exhibit. That thing was so freaking cool. I wanted to jump the barrier and climb inside.
But I wasn't wearing the proper helmet.
Victoria is about to get her ass run over.
Move along. Move along.
The model of the T-16 Skyhopper that Luke was playing with at home.
He used to bullseye womp rats, they're not much bigger than two meters.
This is the puppet head of the wampa snow monster from Empire Strikes Back. Smaller than a human head, the puppet was open in back so you could see how it was made.
Model of a snowspeeder, from Empire Strikes Back. Judging from the helmet, I'd guess that's supposed to be Luke in the front.
Yoda. You seek Yoda. (Original trilogy.)
Han Solo, frozen in carbonite. Some people say he's getting old, but to me he looks the same as he did in Empire Strike Back.
One of the actual, life-size speeder bikes from Return of the Jedi.
In Return of the Jedi, the Rebel B-Wings were the only fighters for which the pilots never got an interior cockpit close-up. So we never got to see what a B-Wing pilot looks like. During the briefing scene, some red-clad pilots were visible, so there is some speculation among fans that these were B-Wing pilots. But in this model, we can see what a B-Wing pilot actually looks like. And since this model was actually used in the movie, this pilot can be considered the actual pilot from the film. Can't get anymore official than that!
This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship.
Most of the costumes on display had generic mannequins. But Darth Maul's was actually painted to look like Darth Maul.
The ASN-121 assassin droid used by Zam Wesell in Attack of the Clones, in her attempt to kill Senator Amidala. This thing delivered giant centipede creatures to her bedroom. Then Obi-Wan leapt through the window and hung from the droid as it flew through the city.
Wookiees! From Revenge of the Sith. The one on the right is Chewbacca. After they died, Lucasfilm had them stuffed and put on display.
The exhibit included several highly-detailed model buildings from the prequels.
A model of the starting gate for the podrace in Phantom Menace.
What is especially amusing about this model is, they had tiny, half-inch figures standing on the platform. I don't know where these figures came from, but you can clearly make out Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker in his black Return of the Jedi outfit, and Prince Xizor from "Shadows of the Empire."
I guess this means that Luke appeared in Phantom Menace, which makes five of the six films. And Xizor is no longer an Expanded-Universe-only character! And I think that's skiff-guard-disguise Lando, next to Chewie.
Here's a section of the stands at the starting line of the podrace. It's a pretty big model, and filled with audience members.
A close-up of the podrace audience. They are all Q-tips with colored tips. To simulate motion in the audience, a crew member hid underneath the stands and moved a hair dryer around under the q-tips.
The life-size cockpit of Sebulba's podracer, from Phantom Menace. Too bad they didn't have the massive engines there too. But after Sebulba's major crash at the end of the podrace, I guess we're lucky to even get the cockpit.
As much as the prequel movies are known for having a lot of computer-generated scenes in them, they still created a lot of stuff in real life, such as the podracers.
But the exhibit did include Anakin's life-size podracer, cockpit, engines, and all! That was pretty awesome.
Victoria is attempting to touch the engine, while I am holding up keys.
With Victoria, shopping is a part of every experience. For some reason, there was no gift shop in the building. The official Star Wars: The Exhibition gift shop was in this trailer, on the street by the exit.
Next time: Celebration!
For my other posts of the UK, click on "uk" up above, where it says "Tags."
Support your friends! Support the economy:
aimeekitty is having a Huge Garage Sale!
pixel_stitcher is selling the Feb 2009 issue of CosMode Magazine!
fatwetdog is selling her awesome Sanzo (Saiyuki) costume!
Amanda is selling this amazing jacket!
Don't forget to buy your tickets to the May 9 SoCal Spring Cosplay Gathering!
pegasusmaiden is selling cute hairclips!