Grrl Still Kickin'

Sometimes a girl just has to follow her heart no matter where it may lead. After suffering through too many broken hearts thanks to dating boys who never quite appreciated my geek girl ways, I made a vow never to give my heart to anyone ever again who rolled their eyes when I attempted a Wookiee roar. I guess you could say I was looking for love in Alderaan places.

There's nothing wrong with humans. I just find them to be a bit boring. They rarely have a screwdriver handy when you need it. They never seem interested in listening about your day. They always get lost on trips. They refuse to go out dancing. They hate relaying complicated messages to your friends. They're so insecure with who they are; they never know what they want or how to express their true feelings.

R2-D2 puts all you human boys to shame. He's got a built-in GPS (so says Uncle George) so he never gets lost. Plus you should see Artoo's dance moves! And yes, he's got more gadgets and charm than James Bond himself.
I've always had a secret crush on Artoo ever since I first saw him in A New Hope. Granted, I was just a kid then. What did I know about astromech love? But I kept a special place in my heart for him, fully knowing I may never meet him face to dome. It wasn't until many years later when I landed a job as Lucasfilm that I took my chance and made the first move.



We first officially met and hung out when he was dressed as Mr. T to meet Conan O'Brien on his visit to ILM. Not a lot of people realize this (unless you speak droid), but Artoo has a wicked sense of humor. Of course, I'm a sucker for robot puns so we were smitten from the start.

Our busy schedules made it almost impossible to have that first date we kept promising each other. It also didn't help that C-3PO was always getting in the way of a love connection. So I waited patiently to make my move which came in the form of Star Wars Celebration V.

I signed us up for speed dating so we could at least have a few quick moments together. I learned that we have a lot in common. We both enjoy nachos and burgers. We both stopped smoking ages ago. We both hate getting sick. And we love to hang out at the skate park.



Thanks to speed dating I learned new things about my short, shiny and charming Artoo. He loves long strolls on the beach (it reminds him of Tatooine), oil baths by candle light, beeping along to Kraftwerk songs, drinking his favorite cocktail the Flameout and when C-3PO isn't looking he has an extension that gives him rabbit ears.


Before I knew it, speed dating was over and I asked him if he wanted to get cocktails at the G4 Hoth Ice Bar. He agreed and we happily rolled over to the bar. Two drinks in, Artoo popped the question if I'd make him the luckiest droid in the galaxy and be his wife! Of course, I'm not too fluent in astromech, so I hope he wasn't just asking for another drink.




Friday the 13, August 2010, was a good day for a droid wedding! He met me over at the Star Wars Celebration V Commitment Chapel where my flower droid R2-KT, my Maid of Honor Adrianne Curry and Artoo's Best Man Darth Vader were waiting. Luckily, C-3PO got his wires crossed and didn't make it in time to protest. (whew)

Lucasfilm Director of Fan Relations Steve Sansweet gave me away, and before I knew it Darth Maul was reading our vows:



"Do you, Bonnie Burton, promise to take unnatural pride in your relationship in times of full battery charges, as well as times of loose wires and astromech malfunctions?"

"I do!"

"Do you, R2-D2, promise to always think dark thoughts even as you cherish and respect her, love and embrace her in times of Death Star implosions and in times of Echo Base destructions?"

"*BEEP BEEP*"

Artoo gave me a lovely ring, and I gave him a shiny, new restraining bolt to signify our love. Even though Elvis Trooper tried to stop the wedding by yelling "It's a trap!" our Best Man Darth Vader Force-choked him into submission. Thanks Ani!

As I gazed into Artoo's radar eye, I knew this romance would last. With a kiss we sealed the deal and rolled down the isle to thunderous applause and the exit song "Mr. Roboto" by Styx.



Even though Artoo's colorful past as a ladies' droid may have scared off some former girlfriends, I'm in for the long haul. I'm a modern kind of girl. We have an Open Source Marriage, meaning he can be with other droids, and I can still flirt with Sith Lords, bounty hunters, Jedi, and Time Lords.

I realize marrying a droid won't be accepted by everyone, especially the Galactic Senate and most of Arizona, but I know deep in my heart I made the right choice.

I found the droid I was looking for; then I married him.

A shot-by-shot, low-budget fan remake of the latest "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" trailer has all the scenes we've been drooling over, but with a lot more charm.

Watch the video and read more in my latest article on CNET.

Singing Wookiees wearing Snuggies? Harvey Korman cooking in drag? Jefferson Starship hologram jam band?

Read why I think the infamous TV special is so bad it’s great in my CNET article here.

Even Darth Vader would be impressed with this homemade suburban Death Star that measures two stories. Just don’t let those Skywalker neighbors near it.

Read more in my latest article on CNET here!

It’s just an innocent marble… What could possibly go wrong?

Breakfast is the most important part of the day, and the Death Star is the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. So it makes since that the two should join Forces to create the coolest waffles in the galaxy.

Read more in my first article for Geek & Sundry​!

By Bonnie Burton

To celebrate the holiday season, here’s a handy guide on how to make festive Santa (and elf) hats for your favorite action figures, statues and toys... oh yeah, and taxidermy!

What You Need:

1. Red and Green felt
2. Red and Green construction paper
3. Red and Green ribbon
4. Cotton
5. Craft glue
6. Needle and thread
7. Paperclips
8. Stapler
9. Scissors
10. Tape
11. Adult-sized Santa hat

Instructions:



1. Cut small circles of different sizes (to fit various heads of your toys/statues/taxidermy) from construction paper. These will serves as your guides to cut circles out of your felt, ribbon, fabric and other materials.



2. Take one of the circles and roll into a cone shape. Paperclip the edges together in case you need to reshape the fabric before you glue or sew.



3. Place the cone hat on top of different toys to see which one it fits. If you need to resize it, take off the paperclip and roll the cone again until you get the size you want.



4. Once you have the cone hat the size you want, use craft glue along the edges you want to seal. Keep the paper clip on so it can stay in position as it dries. If you want a fancier hat (especially if you’re using felt) sew the edges together instead of using craft glue.



5. To make the trim and ball for the hat, roll the cotton into little puffy balls and strips.



6. Next, glue the strips along the bottom and put a tiny cotton ball on top. Use your real Santa hat as a guide. Or just wear the hat as you make little ones.



7. Good job, you’ve just made your first Santa hat! Happy Holidays!

By Bonnie Burton

Why bother with the beaches of Maui or strolling through the alleys of Venice when you could be on your way to a leisurely vacation on the Moon of Endor? With the latest comforts of modern technology, a galaxy far, far away is not so far after all. Simply pack your bags and head to Disneyland, Disney-MGM Studios, Disneyland Paris or Tokyo Disneyland, where you can then hop aboard the StarSpeeder 3000 for an adventure you won’t soon forget. Welcome to Star Tours.

In California, at the entrance to Disneyland’s Tomorrowland Spaceport, familiar old Star Wars friends C-3PO and R2-D2 welcome Star Tourists in a sleek, futuristic maintenance hangar as they wait for their turn to board the 40-passenger StarSpeeder 3000. As R2-D2 works diligently to repair a battle-scarred StarSpeeder, and other droids go about their business, guests hear a sales pitch for the latest intergalactic travel packages to not only Endor, but also Hoth. A speaker announces, “An addition of non-stop service to Hoth will begin soon. Ski caverns and the famed Echo Base of the Rebellion Forces. All on Hoth, the galaxy’s greatest ice planet.”

The drone of droid banter can be heard as guests turn the corner to the Droidnostic Center. Unaware that his comlink is still on, one of the G2 droids - who should be repairing a navigator - casually mentions that he would never get into a StarSpeeder 3000. The high-tech “nuts-and-bolts” factory is complete with girders, work lights, conveyor belt and liquid crystal wall displays.

Before long the guests enter the loading concourse and face the doors of the StarSpeeder and are asked to sit, stow their carry-on luggage under their seats and fasten their seat belts.

The action in Star Tours is virtually out-of-control from the moment the flight’s rookie pilot RX-24, or “Rex” for short, takes his seat. This is Rex’s first flight, and it soon becomes glaringly apparent that on Flight ST-45, passengers will experience a haphazard adventure filled with a dangerous jaunt through an asteroid field, a head-on battle with a massive Imperial Star Destroyer and other detours that involve dodging laser blasts and endless brushes with disaster. Just when passengers have a time to catch their breath, the StarSpeeder dives into the trenches of the Death Star to make that fateful hole-in-one.

Once the StarSpeeder is safely away from the action, it touches down, skidding into the landing bay. As guests leave the ship, C-3PO -- oblivious of the harrowing experience -- cheerfully says his goodbye, “We do hope you enjoyed your tour to Endor, and will come back soon…”



Bringing the Star Wars mythology to Disney parks was no small feat. Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) and Lucasfilm discussed bringing a Star Wars attraction to the Disney parks for about six years before Star Tours opened.

The Tomorrowland attraction that would evolve into Star Tours began in early 1985, when George Lucas and key Disney managers met to discuss the possibility of collaborating on a new attraction at Disneyland. Soon, ideas were flying between the Lucasfilm headquarters in Marin County and WDI in Glendale, Calif.

VP of Walt Disney Imagineering Tony Baxter was a WDI concept designer during the initial talks between Lucasfilm and Disney, and also functioned as George Lucas’ co-director on Star Tours.

“George Lucas had captured the popular myth for the generation that grew up in the late ‘70s into the mid-‘80s, of Star Wars and Indiana Jones,” Baxter explains. “And Disneyland had always been the repository of whatever was guiding America with the strongest force. He understood the kind of mythology that touches people’s hearts, much like Walt Disney has done for generations of children. So, we went to management and said, ‘What do you think about developing a deal with George Lucas?’ and they supported us.

“When we first talked with George about doing Star Tours, I think he realized he wasn’t ready yet to do the prequels and that this was a very strong way to keep the Star Wars myth open and alive for the time that was going to elapse before he got serious about doing the next series of movies,” Baxter adds.

Lucas, who the media often nicknamed the "new Walt Disney," has been a fan of Disneyland since he first visited the theme park as a child with his family when it opened in 1955.

“I’ve always had an interest in doing something at the Park. I’ve enjoyed my visits to Disneyland,” Lucas said when the Star Tours attraction first opened at Disneyland in 1987. “The prospect of introducing the Star Wars characters at Disneyland just fascinated me.”

The first collaboration between Disney and George Lucas was the 3-D space-fantasy featurette Captain EO starring Michael Jackson, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. At the same time, Lucas also began working with a team from Industrial Light & Magic, as well as Baxter and various Disney Imagineers, on the new Star Wars attraction. The new Star Wars attraction would combine new ride technology with specially shot film footage.


“Star Tours evolved from the first presentation we gave to George of a possible ride that was a little more complicated than our average attraction -- you could go every which way and choose the direction,” Baxter recalls. “George said, ‘Well that's great, but what can we do to get something going right now?’ So we looked around and found this fantastic device that was being used at the Air Force and the government to simulate
excursions into space. We thought it was a natural fit. We combined the space of fantasy that George had created with real world technology, and we ended up with an attraction that would give the general public a brand new experience.”

Making sure that the excitement of Star Wars more than just a visual and aural experience also proved appealing to Lucas. Star Tours would provide the first opportunity for Star Wars fans to actually experience such thrilling physical sensations as rocketing into hyperspace and blasting into a battle between Imperial TIE fighters and Rebel X-wings.

Star Tours was conceived as the first motion-based application where guests were put into a simulator in a theme park. Up until that time, simulators had been used solely by the airline industry to train pilots, and by the government to train Air Force pilots. (WDI explored the use of flight simulators as early as the 1970s, when it initially researched various technologies for Epcot in Florida.

“When CEO Michael Eisner and former Disney President Frank Wells came over to Disney, the first thing they saw was our proposal for Star Tours and they loved it,” Baxter says. “They put it into production right away and we cemented the relationship that not only developed Star Tours, but also the Indiana Jones rides, as the technology allowed us to do that.”

In 1985, Baxter and WDI show producer Tom Fitzgerald joined Lucas and a small group of Industrial Light & Magic designers at a story session at ILM’s Northern California headquarters.

“George had an interesting idea,” says Baxter. “There’s a public preconception that a Disney attraction is completely safe – because it’s true. But George thought it might be a nice twist to interject an element of ‘danger.’ He came up with the idea for the opening fiasco – the hitches are contrary to what one expects from a Disney attraction. You think you’re going to Endor, but the real tour turns out to be something quite different!

“Tony and I spent the following night holed up in our Sausalito hotel room pinning file cards on the wall to indicate story elements, special effects, and simulator motions,” Fitzgerald adds. “We were envisioning Star Tours not just as a film experience, but as a fantasy-adventure synchronized film, with simulated motion and terrific special effects.” By the next morning, they had the first draft of a concept for Star Tours.

“We were determined to combine a strong story line with a thrill ride, a hard thing to pull off,” Fitzgerald continues. “We also wanted to introduce at least one new character.”


Lucas came up with the idea of a pilot, who turned out to be Rex, the rookie pilot. Rex began as a “cosmic bus driver,” a counterpart, perhaps, to the wisecracking Jungle Cruise guides at Disneyland.

“We had to be selective when it came to deciding what fast curves to throw people,” Baxter says. “The attraction’s speed makes it a showcase of impressions rather than details. You don’t fly by the ice crystal in Star Tours; you go through it. You don’t have a nice smooth landing; you crash. As it turns out, you enjoy a story and a thrill ride, all contrary to the usual Disney experience.”

All of the original ideas behind the film would have taken 20 minutes, but it was up to Baxter and Fitzgerald to boil the adventure down to a swift 4 _ minutes.

“George had a catalytic effect on the project all along the way,” Baxter continues. “He was perceptive about our creative strengths, and helped us to reverse the tried and true by giving people what they don’t expect. It worked.”

By the end of the summer, all had agreed on the concept to be developed for the Tomorrowland attraction. Star Tours would feature scenic tours of the universe aboard the StarSpeeder 3000, operated by the first intergalactic tour “bus” company. R2-D2 and C-3PO would be part of the package, having resigned from military service to find new lives as Star Tours recruiters.

Lucas continued to work closely with the Disney Imagineers at the Glendale-based facility, proving instrumental as development of the attraction progressed. Industrial Light & Magic, under the direction of Dave Carson, went to work on the film, which resulted in the longest special effects sequence in film history. Skywalker Sound (then known as Sprocket Systems) undertook the soundtrack with Sound Designer Gary Summers at the helm.

Meanwhile, Imagineers took over the design and production of the Star Tours robotic factory, the StarSpeeder 3000, and the high-tech Audio-Animatronic droids that populate the enterprise.

Baxter and Fitzgerald travelled to the Lucasfilm Archives to uncover actual props used in the Star Wars trilogy. R2-D2, C-3PO, Chewbacca, and even pieces of the Death Star were sent to Walt Disney Imagineering to be refurbished and incorporated into Star Tours.

Disney’s Glendale facility buzzed with the sounds of people building the StarSpeeder 3000 as well as new animatronic droids and a couple of familiar ones as well.
Dave Feiten, former Disney Audio-Animatronics Programmer for Star Tours, was one of those hard at work to make the droids seem lifelike for the attraction.

“C-3PO was probably the longest-running animated figure we've ever done,” Feiten says. “Compared to a pirate, which is about 90 feet of animation, or Mr. Lincoln which is 40 feet, C-3PO is actually 900 feet of animation, with 22 moves inside of him.”

Anthony Daniels flew in from England to demonstrate C-3PO’s distinctive motions and to record his dialogue on the soundtrack. Daniels says he was dumbfounded at the realistic motions of C-3PO in Audio-Animatronic form. While other Audio-Animatronic characters at Disney duplicate living beings, this adaptation of C-3PO made him seem more real, even for a droid.

“Anthony Daniels posed for the programming on C-3PO, which gives the attraction a very authentic feeling,” Baxter says. “When you walk in there and hear those sounds and see these characters, it keeps the feelings towards the films vital and fresh.”

One of the StarSpeeders was mocked up for testing, full-size and operational, inside a metal building in the Imagineering parking lot. After ILM delivered a film animatic, showing the proposed action for each scene in a simple computer graphic format, WDI programmers went to work.

Watching the film on a video monitor, they used joysticks to synchronize the movements of the simulator motion base with the point-of-view actions on screen. This meant that if the onboard movie suggested the StarSpeeder was taking a sharp turn, the entire simulator would be tipped on its side. Speeding up towards the Death Star meant tipping the simulator backwards. And any sudden stops had the simulator tipping forward, making all passengers ever aware of their safety belts.

Many swaying movements were later eliminated by programers so that the motion sickness associated with roller coasters would be missing from the Star Tours attraction without sacrificing any of the excitement.

In June 1986, a group of 2,000 Disney employees and their families previewed a rough version of Star Tours.

“The response was phenomenal, “ says Fitzgerald. “It gave everyone involved the necessary blast-off toward opening day.”

Star Tours brought Tomorrowland well into the 21st century. “When Disneyland opened in 1955, Walt Disney set Tomorrowland in the near future – in 1986 to be exact,” Baxter explains. “The ‘futuristic’ technology portrayed in the original Tomorrowland was really current technology, available at the time. In Star Tours, we were looking at a techno-fantasy, a vision of technology that isn’t available today, and won’t be for perhaps another century.”

With a combination of new simulator ride technology and the popular mythos of Star Wars, it was no surprise that Star Tours became an instant hit with Disneyland visitors.

The Star Tours attraction at Disneyland (which remained open 48 hours straight after its premiere on opening day) was a huge hit with both Star Wars fanatics and people who wanted to see a revolutionary ride at Disneyland.

“We were open 48 hours because, in a way, we were opening up another Star Wars movie that was playing on only one theater in the world – at Disneyland,” Baxter recalls.

The Star Tours project not only made dreams of visiting the Star Wars galaxy into a reality for fans, but it also had a profound affect on the WDI team as well.

“What I dreamed of having with Walt Disney, I guess I got some of that with George because we talked a lot about the things he created,” Baxter confesses. “In Walt’s case, he was long gone and we often had to discuss in terms of, ‘Would Walt want to have his characters used in a certain way?’ So it was a unique to have such extraordinary characters and to be able to talk with the creator himself about how they might appear in a new form. That was a unique experience I have not had since.”

Today Star Tours is not only thriving as one of the most popular attractions at Disneyland, but also at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland.

“Fans come to the attractions with these expectations from the theater and I think we live up to that,” Baxter says. “We actually allow our guests for a few minutes to have an out-of-control adventure, and we survive. It’s all about survival; people go on roller coasters and all of these experiences because they want to test the limits in a safe way and feel better about themselves at the end in that they actually survived some perilous adventure.”

###

words: Bonnie Burton

March 2012 marked the sad passing of conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie. The legendary conceptual artist not only inspired filmmaker George Lucas making Star Wars possible, but also other future directors, actors, screenwriters and more, not to mention millions of fans worldwide. I asked some of my favorite celebrity Star Wars fans what McQuarrie meant to them, as well as gathered the best celebs tweets that celebrated this one-of-a-kind artist.

Read more about Ralph McQuarrie and his work on RalphMcQuarrie.com.

_____________________________________

Star Wars Prequels Producer Rick McCallum writes:
Ralph was the very first person I went to when we started prep on The Phantom Menace. When Ralph came to visit at the Ranch, he told me he just didn’t feel strong enough to take charge of the picture, but I felt sure I could convince him to change his mind. George and I were willing to work in any way that would make it possible for him to be part of the creation of the new trilogy. We had a great few days going over everything and finally when he told me he simply couldn’t take on the challenge because of his health, we took him into our conference room.

I showed him artwork from young artists from schools and visual effects companies throughout the world. We must have had at least 35 seriously talented artists work positioned throughout this big room. He walked around in total silence for nearly three hours, meticulously looking at everyone’s work and then he gathered Eric Tiemens, Ryan Church and Doug Chaing’s work and put them all together — then he sat down and looked at their work for what seemed like another hour and then suddenly he pointed at Doug Chaing’s samples and he exclaimed with urgency and a huge smile, “Yes, he’s the one!” And that’s how we hired Doug to become the Concept Designer on Episode I. And on Episode II and III, Ryan and Eric became the concept designers!

Ralph was a constant source of inspiration. We always had his art work hanging all over the art departments in the hallways and offices in London, Sydney and at Skywalker Ranch. There was never a single moment that I can remember not seeing someone looking, staring, or studying the beautiful and stirring images that Ralph created.

He was kind and decent — a consummate gentleman with a unique and beautiful perspective on our own world and those beyond. He will be sorely missed from our hearts but never ever forgotten.



The Clone Wars Supervising Director Dave Filoni writes:
Ralph set the standard for design in cinema. An entire generation of artists was inspired by his work. We all wanted to be Ralph. We wanted that job — designing starships and Stormtroopers, Jedi and Sith.

Every day on The Clone Wars we aspire to be like Ralph, to capture the magic that he gave all of us as kids. One of our most memorable days at Lucasfilm Animation was when Ralph came to visit, and we screened episodes for him. We wanted to show Ralph that his “look,” his vision for design, was alive and well on our show, and that we had respectfully studied his craft to make our Star Wars universe much like his.

We still use Ralph’s designs as inspiration, many of which have never appeared on screen before. Rakko Hardeen’s helmet was one of Ralph’s early Boba Fett helmet designs. There are countless examples of his influence on our show every week.

My wife asked me what Ralph meant to me, and I think I can sum it up in a way that many of my fellow artists feel. Without Ralph McQuarrie, I would not have the job I have today. I never would have considered it. I would not be half the artist I am, without his influence on my childhood. Thanks for everything Ralph. You will be missed, but you will live on in that galaxy far, far away.”



“To the world beyond the galaxy far, far away, Ralph McQuarrie was perhaps an unsung hero of the Star Wars universe but to the fans he was the intelligent design behind so many wonderful worlds. He was a visionary and an artist of the deepest imagination. Our universe is poorer without him.” – Simon Pegg, actor

Sad news. It sounds almost too cliche, but what he did with his bare hands and his tools of paint brushes and pencils not only influenced a young filmmaker in George Lucas, but an entire generation future filmmakers born after ‘77. It cannot and should not be underestimated.” – Colin Hanks, actor

“Thank you, Ralph, for creating a universe of adventure that has held a steadfast section of my brain from the first time my dad took me to see Star Wars, all the way through to today. You are a genius and a hero. The world is a lot less cool without you in it. May the force be with you.” – Mark Hoppus, Blink-182 singer/bassist

“The first images of Star Wars that I ever saw, were the pre-production paintings of Ralph McQuarrie. His artwork imagined a serious, mysterious, vast and completely new vision of a science fiction universe. Very much at odds with the too often silly, campy, or cold visions I was accustomed to seeing. In short, they blew my 12-year-old mind wide open.” – Hal Hickel, Animation Director Rango

“Star Wars would definitely not be what it is artistically and visually without the influence of Ralph McQuarrie. His magic and legacy will live on, just like the Star Wars saga and many of the other special films that have been blessed with his talents. He will be missed.” – Matt Lanter, actor The Clone Wars, 90210

“Ralph McQuarrie made science fiction feel like a reality we could live in. I will always cherish my Art of Star Wars books because they are filled with his brilliant illustrations. He will be missed.” – mc chris, rapper



“I was lucky enough to see Ralph’s concept art in the flesh within the archives of Skywalker Ranch. I was stunned by how vivid and luminous the images were. It was as if they were back lit with LED’s. Like a frame of Ralph’s imagination had been captured through alchemical means and preserved for the reverence and study of his disciples. For me, Ralph’s visions defined what SF should look like.” – Jesse Alexander, TV writer/producer

“Without a doubt, Ralph McQuarrie was a landmark definition of how we visually associate most sci-fi today. Star Wars alone would not have looked half as original, mind-blowing, or have even existed without his limitless imagination and creativity shaping the most important aspects of the original trilogy. He set precedence, changed the game and will be sorely missed.” – Joe Trohman, Fall Out Boy guitarist

“A truly gifted spark of creativity has just winked out of existence, which makes me sad… but at the same time, Ralph McQuarrie is a reminder to all visual artists, that we can shape amazing worlds and characters, with nothing but our minds and a little imagination. His work is an absolute testament to that.” – Ben Templesmith, comic book artist/writer

“A few years ago, I had the honor of touring the Lucasfilm archives. The highlight of that trip was seeing Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept art. To personally view these seminal works was as life-affirming an experience for me as seeing Picasso’s “Guernica’ or the Mona Lisa. McQuarrie’s images were the visual fountainhead of a story that ignited my imagination at a very young age and put me on the course to become a professional in television and film. Both his influence in our popular culture, and my gratitude for his work are beyond measure.” – Javi Grillo-Marxuach, TV writer/producer

“Ralph was the greatest. My favorite artist, plain and simple. As a child, it was Ralph’s wondrous images in Bantha Tracks that kept me going in the years between Star Wars films. Through his breathtaking paintings I discovered the craft behind the magic on screen. It was world building, universe building, life-changing art that forever altered the direction of my life. Star Wars made me fall in love with movies. But Ralph made me fall in love with film-making. He will be sorely missed but respected forever.” – Kyle Newman, director of Fanboys

“Ralph’s art was awe inspiring, and gave a lot of people joy and collectables. The most I can say is thank you SO much, and the most I can offer with a heavy heart are my condolences.” – Adrianne Curry, supermodel & reality TV star

“I had no idea that the creation of imaginative films started with art until my parents took my sister and I to see Ralph’s work in a huge Art of Star Wars retrospective in San Francisco when I was about 8. Before that I guess I had just assumed that Darth Vader himself was an actor, or that the Rancor really was a one of a kind beast that was trapped and forced to roar when the cameras rolled. When seeing McQuarrie’s early renditions of the characters displayed next to the costumes and props, which were next to a print of the actual film scene, I questioned why an artist would draw something different than what it was ’supposed’ to look like. My dad explained that it was the other way around, and that someone first had to IMAGINE all these things that we see on screen. Then I re-walked through the whole gallery and became obsessed with all of the original concepts and immediately said, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to imagine things. I want to imagine everything.’” – Alex Pardee, artist

Review of my book from Kirkus Reviews.

THE STAR WARS CRAFT BOOK
Author: Burton, Bonnie

Review Date: March 1, 2011
Publisher:Del Rey/LucasBooks
Pages: 208
Price ( Paperback ): $24.00
Publication Date: March 29, 2011
ISBN ( Paperback ): 978-0-345-51116-4
Category: Nonfiction
Classification: Popular Culture

A career crafter shares the unfettered joys of Chewbacca Sock Puppets and Jabba the Hutt body pillows.

Burton, creative editor and blogger for Lucasfilm's immensely popular Star Wars website, applies imagination and accessibility to creations that are "fun, not frustrating." The author makes good use of commonly available supplies found in the kitchen (dry pasta, wooden spoons), the closet (old T-shirts and socks) and the recycling bin (newspapers, bottles). She gives new life to broken toys and Halloween masks, transforming them into adorable and often practical Star Wars artwork. The book is artfully arranged into sections of varying skill levels. Some best suited for interactive role-play, such as the Yoda Felt Doll, while others incorporate holiday themes, or make for creative pet toys and home decor.

Burton's simple ideas have the potential to become functional masterworks like tote bags, pillows and blankets fashioned out of new or used Star Wars T-shirts, a Space Slug Draft Blocker made from tube socks, even an Ewok Flower Vase. Those with a flair for handiwork will delight in a section on nature-inspired projects using pebbles and moss to create "Dagobath Carnivorous" plant habitats or a milk-carton Wookiee Bird House.

Burton saves the most challenging mission for the final pages where, in 19 quick steps, readers can create a gruesomely monstrous Mounted Acklay Head. Easy-to-follow directions, patterns and an inclusive index of basic materials all contribute to the appeal of these unique crafts, including photographs of Star Wars fans alongside their own imaginative constructions.

Whimsical, straightforward fun for die-hard buffs of any age.