REMEMBERING "THE TUNES" VADER ADVERT...

Stephen Calcutt as Vader in the classic nineties advert for TUNES cough lozenges.

One of the best STAR WARS related commercials I've seen on British television was from the late nineties when the cough sweet manufacturer TUNES, deciding that Darth Vader needed some throat lozenges, brilliantly recreated the Motti strangling scenes from the original STAR WARS (right down to the sets and costumed extras), though with a more friendly advice giving Imperial officer going just a little bit too far...

Here's the advert: Star Wars Tunes Advert - YouTube

A terrific recreation of the DEATH STAR briefing room set.

British Classic STAR WARS TRILOGY stand-in/background actor Stephen Calcutt (doubling on set for Peter Mayhew and Dave Prowse) played Vader in the commercial and was very proud of his work in the costume. He recalled to AFICIONADO contributor Ian Trussler a few months back, during a UK convention, that he got paid more money for that one advert than he ever got working on all the original three films combined!

For more on this commercial and some of Vader's greatest film and non-film moments in multi-media, check out the picture/info packed feature here: DARTH VADER LIVES!!

Another Imperial bites the dust!

CLASSIC IMAGE: FAMILY CONFLICT...

Now more experienced and better able to handle himself with a lightsaber, the last of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker, holds firm against the might of his father, Darth Vader, within the Emperor's Throne Room, in this terrific image from RETURN OF THE JEDI.

CLASSIC IMAGE: UNFORGETTABLE VILLAINY

Wearing, in my opinion, the best costume and helmet, from the original STAR WARS, the menacing, lightsaber holding dark vision that is Darth Vader (presumably inhabited by US Don Post employee/ Vader stand-in Kermit Eller?) poses for a promotional image for the LUCASFILM/FOX publicity machine, sometime during 1977-1978.

AFICIONADO REVIEW: ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS III

Time to Par-ty! Vader and Palpatine go Disco crazy in ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS III. Images: REVOLVER ENTERTAINMENT/ADULT SWIM

ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS III

Available on UK DVD from REVOLVER ENTERTAINMENT

Reviewed by Scott Weller

“Y’know, looking back, it all make sense. Dream big. Live big. Love big. Fall to your death down a fucking giant hole!”

Emperor Palpatine

It may be their last venture into the realms of STAR WARS comedy via the ADULT SWIM universe, but Seth Green and Breckin Meyer’s third and final ROBOT CHICKEN dedicated to the iconic characters, environments and classic scenes from all six STAR WARS movies goes out with an hilariously extravagant and overwhelmingly funny bang, well worth the wait in seeing, and may rank amongst their finest work a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

In fact, it was pretty wizard! And had more belly laughs than last year’s FAMILY GUY JEDI parody-so its one up there for Mister Green. I think!

ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS III brilliantly highlights the rise and fall of Emperor Palpatine!

Once again, there’s lots of brilliantly observed new spins on classic scenes, mostly around RETURN OF THE JEDI and the life and career path of old hemorrhoid head Emperor Palpatine (once more brilliantly voiced with neurotic, paranoid, quirky and greedy observation by FAMILY GUY’s Seth MacFarlane) – additionally, the Prequels seem even more ripe than ever for mining comedy gold and brilliant what if? moments for humour that we’ve all been longing to see. Rib-tickling highlights include a whole new look at EPISODE II’s courtly love relationship between Padme and Anakin, as the former shows off her pole dancing skills to the latter, all the while declaring her reasons why they shouldn’t become an item! Anthony Daniels back in Threepio voice mode testing his communication skills in Spanish class, Prune Face finally getting the mega star action hero quality time he deserves, Yarel Poof questioning the prophecy and skills of his fellow Jedi Council members, and his ultimate fate during ORDER 66, what really happened to Owen and Beru Lars at their Tatooine homestead, the JEDI Finale celebration gets a whole new spin, the one armed Wampa trying to get some gas for his car at an intergalactic stopover, just as Luke shows up!, and, capping it off, there’s an alternate version of the skiff battle the way Boba Fett would have liked it to have ended, linked to a reason why Tauntauns have long memories…

Threepio gets a Spanish lesson!

Toilet trouble for Darth Vader on Death Star II!

Plus, running alongside the Emperor’s story-arc, there’s the obligatory classic Vader scenes (notably a laugh out loud moment when the Dark Lord gets used to his suit against the musical backdrop of the classic MEGO Records Disco funk version of the STAR WARS theme!), old fish-face himself, Admiral Ackbar, and the final adventures of Gary the Stormtrooper (where things get a bit too gruesome regarding an Ewok!).

Oh, and though the original programme already had unintentional comedy unwittingly built into it, the 1978 HOLIDAY SPECIAL gets a short but superb look-in, too…

Boba Fett gets his revenge on Han Solo!

As well as the aforementioned Daniels, other WARS veterans returning include CLONE WARS Tom Kane who always gives good Yoda and FAMILY GUY/AMERICAN DAD’s Dee Bradley Baker. Plus Billy Dee Williams and Ahmed Best, all clearly having a blast with their respective roles…

Life's a bitch when you're a disabled Wampa!

Outside of the main production which is funny enough, there’s a whole host of other enjoyable bonus material on the DVD including several fun audio commentaries, multiple behind the scenes animatics, informatic Chicken Nuggets, deleted scenes, trailers, a truncated look at the 2010 CELEBRATION V convention panel for the episode, Skywalker Ranch premiere footage, and, the icing of the cake, a sequence showing a playful George Lucas with the ROBOT CHICKEN writers in conference, in which, in a great scene, he throws one of the team out for bringing up the name of his non-created Mara Jade from the Expanded Universe! Classic stuff!

Prune Face almost steals the show!

IG-88's brother brings down the house party-literally!

Even without the expansive extras, ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS III is a tremendous achievement, one you can watch and re-watch and never get bored with. A special note of thanks must also be said not just to the writers and artists but to the incredible work undertaken, I’m sure in rapid time and limited budgets, by the set designers, puppet and costume makers, whose devoted recreations of the STAR WARS movie universe have been nothing short of superb, and surely helped the programmes in their attention to detail and realism to make it even more gag-tastic.

Now, about that STAR WARS: DETOURS...

AFICIONADO RATING: First rate laughs that continue to be both a wonderful homage and celebration to the STAR WARS saga, by a group of enthusiastic celebrity fans that clearly love and enjoy the source material as much as we do. A well deserved 5 out of 5.

Get it from AMAZON here: Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode 3 Adult Swim DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV Or why not the entire Trilogy box-set, here: Robot Chicken Star Wars Episodes 1-3 Box Set Adult Swim DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

CLASSIC IMAGE: CHAMBER OF HELL!

In a dark and smokey medical chamber of horrors buried deep within the hidden realms of Coruscant, the damaged, deformed and brutalised body of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, is worked on by a group of droid surgeons and technicians, to be re-imagined as an evil new form of artificial life support systems and heavy metal armour of the blackest, bleakest kind. A rampaging, hate fuelled force for evil will soon emerge, in this classic image from EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH...

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: THE KILLING BLOW!

As the re-emerged Anakin Skywalker saves his son from the Dark Force energy blasts of Emperor Palpatine, his former Master's energy bolts surround and bombard the once Dark Lord of the Sith servant-with one particular blast hitting a fateful spot, reaching into Vader's helmet and destroying a fragment of his brain...

Despite many STAR WARS fans thinking that the animated bolts hitting Vader's head and exo-skeleton were an addition put on during the SPECIAL EDITIONS re-vamps they were actually on the original 1983 version of RETURN OF THE JEDI all along, but subtly animated in quick as a flash moments- so as not to disturb younger audiences- which you have to pause your VCRs/DVDs to fully see (intriguingly the X-ray image shows a metal neck and shoulders making Vader even more cybernetic than would be seen in EPISODE III in 2005). The bolts were a last minute inclusion to the film asked of ILM's animators by George Lucas during the final stages of its 1983 post-production. A clever and original decision from the Saga's creator.

With thanks to Chris Baker for the image.

For more on the making of JEDI, check out our special issue here: BACK ISSUE PDF CATALOG

"STAR WARS IN CONCERT" WITH JOHN WILLIAMS!

The menace of Vader looms large at the Hollywood Bowl. Images: Curtis Reynolds.

Good friend to AFICIONADO Curtis Reynolds sent me these great pics from Saturday's STAR WARS IN CONCERT event at the world famous Hollywood Bowl. A great time was had by all but no one expected the much welcome appearance at the end of the concert by the saga's legendary composer John Williams (who was in the audience enjoying the show) who made an apparance on stage, introduced by Anthony Daniels, and conducted the orchestra with an encore performance of THE IMPERIAL MARCH. To say the in-departure audience rushed back to their seats to hear it would be an understatement!

What a magical evening!

UPDATE: 6/6/2010: THEFORCE.NET have footage of Williams at the concert here:TheForce.Net - Latest News - John Williams Conducts SW In Concert

Williams enjoys his special appearance.

And gets a terrific response from the fans.

Lightsabers proudly held high in the audience!

The light show continues...

CLASSIC ART: WHEN VILLAINS MEET!

Here's another great piece of Hildebrandt brothers art from SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE- a classic scene where the mighty Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, meets his new rival in the hunt for Luke Skywalker: the reptilian Prince Xizor of the galaxy spanning criminal empire, BLACK SUN.

AFICIONADO STAR WARS MYSTERY: CAPTURING THE MAN IN BLACK!

Here's some intriguing pictures of a US (?) photo shot taken of Darth Vader, the true Dark Lord of the Sith. I think its from at least 1977/78 (presumably thats Kermit Eller in the costume) - note the huge size of the Vader mask: it has to be from A NEW HOPE time.

If anyone knows what the shoot was for, if there's any more images in the set, and where and when it first appeared, please get in touch...

FLASHBACK: CELEBRATING THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF "STAR WARS"

John Alvin's spirited poster leads the Tenth Anniversary celebration charge for STAR WARS.

With the apparently imminent news from REED of their CELEBRATION VI convention, presumably planned for 2012 (the Thirty Fifth anniversary of the original STAR WARS, the Tenth for EPISODE II and the Fifth of THE CLONE WARS), there will soon be lots for fans to celebrate and for costume fans to get into their best Stormtrooper and Jedi outfits for!

Until then, however, I thought it might be nice to go back in time and do a mini flashback to 1987 and the very first major anniversary event of any kind linked to STAR WARS: the Tenth Anniversary. The period of STAR WARS inactivity between the end of RETURN OF THE JEDI in 1983 and the re-invigorated interest in the saga with Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy books in 1991 may have been a long one, but this bright spark of joy was the first signpost for a great many ambitious things to come.

As well as interview footage from the time, enclosed are some nice images and info on merchandise and events linked to that great and memorable year which was well celebrated by STAR WARS fans in the US.

Enjoy the CBS FOX VHS tape release celebration trailer: YouTube - Star Wars: The First Ten Years 1977-1987 Trailer

A Tenth Anniversary feature on US TV: YouTube - Star Wars Feature - Today Show 1987

Surely the highlight of the year had to be the massive STARLOG magazine organised convention-A Tenth Anniversary Tribute to STAR WARS and George Lucas- which took place in Los Angeles during the weekend of 24th May 1987, and saw participation not only from many of the films luminary behind the scenes talent and cast, but also had a very rare appearance from Lucas himself, who talked at length to the 9,000 plus fans crammed into the auditorium about the saga-past, present and future- and answered questions from the audience. Darth Vader returned, voiced by James Earl Jones, and he would also prior introduce Lucas's appearance on stage (check out this brilliant clip:  YouTube - REAL Darth Vader Standup Intro To George Lucas).

The much missed UK magazine STARBURST magazine had several reporters covering this historic and much beloved event. Check out this PDF for more information:STAR WARS 10TH ANNIV

If anyone out there has any further specific memories of the event, or has additional pics/info, please share them with us. And, beyond the US, if anyone else celebrated the Tenth Anniversary in their own countries please get in touch and tell us about it -we'd love to hear from you...

The lovely limited edition FIRST TEN YEARS poster.

The distinctive Vader cover for the then new OMNIBUS edition of the movie adaptations.

The limited edition BLACKTHORNE PUBLISHING three part STAR WARS 3-D comic, with a story written by comics legend Len Wein, and inside art drawn by Patrick Zircher.

Limited edition badge pin utilizing character drawings first done for JEDI in 1983

STARLOG magazine celebrated the saga in style with a fantastic special issue, packed with rare photos, artwork and behind the scenes info and quotes.

They also produced this lovely brochure for a special celebration convention that year which saw guests from the films and behind the scenes mix with the fans for a memorable event.

A look inside the brochure which contained may personal tributes from STAR WARS cast and crew members, as well as rare photos and then previously unpublished B/W artwork from EMPIRE's Vader/Luke duel by Ralph McQuarrie.

A selection of guests who attended the event, including George Lucas and Irvin Kershner, Peter Mayhew, Gary Kurtz and Charles Lippincott, Anthony Daniels signing for the fans and Ralph McQuarrie.

Back in his Threepio costume, Anthony Daniels (with Artoo), and George Lucas toast and unveil the enormous Tenth Anniversary card signed by the fans for the event. Image: Dan Madsen

When Great Makers meet! STAR TREK creator Gene Roddenberry makes a surprise appearance on stage and congratulates Lucas on the creation of the STAR WARS universe. Image: Dan Madsen

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: BALANCE TO THE FORCE!

Here's a few great effects reference storyboards (presumably from Joe Johnston, though David Carson and Nilo Rodis-Jamero also worked in that area for the film), circa December 1982, that we weren't able to incorporate for space reasons in our MAKING OF RETURN OF THE JEDI issue of a few years back, showing some of the previously filmed classic scenes of Luke's conflict against Darth Vader when he discovers the truth about his daughter and uses the knowledge against his son, plus the all-time classic emotional moment where Vader, back to the good side as Anakin Skywalker (of which we're all now cheering him on), throws the Emperor down the shaft (referred to in the boards as "The Pit of Death"!).

Classic material, and we look forward to seeing more storyboard goodies and incredibly rare and unseen pre and post production art of all kinds when J.W. Rinzler's MAKING OF book comes out in 2013.

Meanwhile, in the long two year wait for the official book, head over to our back issues area and find out how to get out pretty exhaustive, and reader acclaimed, MAKING OF RETURN OF THE JEDI issue: BACK ISSUE PDF CATALOG

CLASSIC IMAGE: CARBON CONFLICT!

Within the smoke filled, heat fuelled scenario of the Bespin Carbon Freezing Chamber set at London's ELSTREE Studios, here's a terrific shot from EMPIRE of Mark Hamill showing his exhaustive sword fighting/training skills in action (Note the un-rotoscoped carbon rods attached to the lightsabers) against Darth Vader (presumably played by Bob Anderson, though Dave Prowse did do a small part of the epic action sequence), in what many fans still regard as the ultimate STAR WARS lightsaber duel of choreography and dramatic impetus.

CLASSIC IMAGE: IMPERIAL TAKE-OVER!

Now aboard the captured Blockade Runner, the ever threatening Darth Vader (Dave Prowse) cannot control his anger at Captain Antilles (Peter Geddis) for his stubborn refusal to co-operate regarding the location of the stolen Death Star data tapes, in this classic image from the opening scenes of STAR WARS.

AHSOKA'S FATE?

The excellent artist Adriano Ticiano has sent us another splendid piece of work-this time a dark and disturbing image of what may possibly be Ahsoka Tano's future at the end of THE CLONE WARS animated series. I say possible, because only George Lucas and Dave Filoni really know what's going to happen with this popular character, who has become an inspiration to younger STAR WARS fans across the globe.

I personally don't want them to chicken out on what will happen with Ahsoka. When the series comes to its eventual conclusion, hopefully long past Season Five, she has to confront her former Master, Anakin Skywalker, now as Darth Vader.

SETH'S UNIVERSE: THE RETURN OF "STAR WARS: ROBOT CHICKEN"!

Vader goes 1978 MECO in STAR WARS: ROBOT CHICKEN EPISODE 3. Image: ADULT SWIM.

Good news for UK Fans: Seth Green's latest STAR WARS: ROBOT CHICKEN, EPISODE 3, has a DVD only release date of July 2nd from REVOLVER ENTERTAINMENT. Let the laughter return to a galaxy far, far away...

Brilliant clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx8bZLwRyJo

"How come no one says "Wizard!" anymore?!"

MONSTER AUCTION!

My good buddy Chris Baker recently got in touch with me on an event from last year that I wasn't previously aware of, and which I thought I'd pass the info and photos on. Here's what he said:

“These (attached) images are from a PIH Hollywood Auction Catalog I found online yesterday. The Auction actually happened back on December 17 & 18th of 2010, from the Saban Theatre in Beverley Hills. Phil Tippett added several pieces from his personal collection, These are the 'SW' ones from his lot

 

... wish I had a few extra hundred thousand just sitting around (lol)

    

(the images-click to blow up for more detail and caption info- are numbered in the order they were presented in the catalogue)”

Thanks for the info, Chris.