Recap of Disney & Star Tours II Presentation
From 3 PM-4 PM ET today, Disney had the floor at Star Wars Celebration V’s Behind-the-Scenes stage, where they used the opportunity to give us more details on Star Tours II, Last Tour to Endor, and more! Here’s the rundown of what happened at the presentation:
Live Updates from Star Wars Celebration V Disney Presentation:
2:59 PM ET – “Jason Surrell set to arrive soon. Diego Parras just walked into the room. The room is nearly filled already.” – Adam Roth
3:00 PM ET – “Lights dimmed. Music silenced. Room filled. I think we’re starting!” – Adam Roth
3:02 PM ET – “We are talking about Star Tours today…” Jason Surrell is here.
3:04 PM ET – “George Lucas has been a Disney fan forver. The home of his attractions could only be Disney.”
3:06 PM ET – “Tony Baxter and other imagineers ate lunch at the vineyard with Ron Miller, Walt’s daughter and George Lucas.” Talking about the creation of the original Star Tours of course.
3:07 PM ET – Original concept sketchs on screen. High pitched Eisner parody just happened! Star Tours was slowly fast tracked by Wells and Eisner along with Captain EO due to impressive concept art.
3:09 PM ET – Original concept art shows Vader in opposite screen in the Starspeeder. Odd to see.
3:11 PM ET – “George was passionate about the moment where things go wrong. That’s why Rex is so important.”
3:12 PM ET – Just referenced ice comet cut in the film. Supposedly “seamless”…..
3:14 PM ET – Surrell just did a Captain Rex scream impression. Epic. Switch to Indy. Lots of applause.
3:15 PM ET – Indiana Jones Adventure concept art on screen. Beautiful.
3:16 PM ET – “To be in the movie, the ride does what no other ride in the world does.”
3:18 PM ET – The majority of the audience has chimed in that they will be at the “Last Tour to Endor”.
3:19 PM ET – Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) just walked onto the stage to offer an original perspective on Star Tours!!! *jaw dropped*
3:22 PM ET – Daniels talks about the making of his animatronic.
3:24 PM ET – Just reference his mo-cap programming for the queue animatronic where his animatronic looked at him when it was completed.
3:29 PM ET – “Does C3PO speak French?” “I suppose so… Three thousands forms of communication.” Then he does his queue spiel in French!
3:31 PM ET – Why has Star Tours endured? Daniels says “It combines the wonders of screen excitement but it involves the audience.” He says Body Wars makes him nauseous!
3:35 PM ET – “I never realized the story was in the wrong order.” In regards to the canon of Star Tours. Anthony Daniels will be at the Last Tour to Endor!!!
3:39 PM ET – Daniels is involved in the stunt show and the sendoff show for Star Tours on Saturday.
3:41 PM ET – Here come details for the mashup show! 3 shows of the mashup with some famous cameos of faces and voices.
3:42 PM ET – Anyone that has seen what is in store for the fireworks show has had many emotions evoke because of the soundtrack. New super-sized Hyperspace Hoopla coming on Saturday.
3:44 PM ET – “This event will never happen again.” We’ve heard this before…
3:45 PM ET – Star Tours II is a game changer according to Surrell.
3:46 PM ET – The ride is in fact a prequel. This was a strategic decision so that we could take you to more destinations than ever before.
3:47 PM ET – “Adventures” is not a typo in the ride title. Time for audience questions.
3:49 PM ET – My question to Surrell: “Would there be any throwbacks to the old ride in the new one?” His response: “It’s too early to say!”
3:50 PM ET – Whose idea was the “remove before flight tag on Rex?” It was either George, Tom or Tony.”
3:51 PM ET – Will Paul Rubens return to Star Tours 2? “Its too early to say!”
3:53 PM ET – Any hope for an Indiana Jones Adventure in Florida? “Because of the similar Dinosaur experience *cue the audience booing* that isn’t likely to happen.”
3:55 PM ET – Last question: Will John Williams be attending Last Tour to Endor? No.
3:56 PM ET – Daniels wants to know about the future!
4:00 PM ET – They just showed us an incredible teaser for Star Tours II. I got footage of it from the front row so that will be up tonight. Looks like we’ll be heading to Bespin, Endor, and Alderaan. Stay tuned!!!
Pictures, video, and more coming later today. Thank you for joining us for our live coverage.