Star Wars Celebration VI: A few Saturday highlights - Panels, celebrities and the show floor

Star Wars Celebration six runs Thursday through Sunday, but Saturday is usually the busiest day. Here are just a few highlights:

One of the most interesting panels was “Behind the Scenes of the Cantina”, which was shot primarily in Britain. Later, additional aliens were created and filmed in the U.S. Including the band, seen above.

Left to right in this panel are Jon Berg (from the U.S. crew), Nick Maley (from the British crew) and Cantina researchers Tom Spina and Pablo Hidalgo.

Each character in the bar had mug shots like these taken on the set. These pictures are helpful when reshooting is necessary. The photos are reference so that make up can be exactly recreated. Later these mug shots became the reference for action figures and more, as the characters received official names and back stories. (Note: production images seen here are copyright 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm.)

A continuity error is when this character loses an arm, the arm on the floor has fingers.

Movies and TV often reuse props. Here’s some of the productions that have used this space suit, seen on the Cantina character at left.

This vest is a Planet of the Apes vest. As seen in the “Star Wars Holiday Special” Cantina scene, here. These same vests are also on characters in the original Cantina scene.

Detail of the paint on this character — painted like a turtle shell.

A production set still, showing that the character performer is behind and disguised as a Jawa.

This Cantina character’s eyes glow thanks to an unseen flashlight in the back of the head!

Another interesting panel featured NASA employees. They talked about how Star Wars influenced their careers, and how, for example, it was science fiction until just last week that lasers fire at targets on other planets. (The new Mars rover, Curiosity, fired a laser at a rock so that we can learn of the rock’s chemical composition.)

Seen here left to right are Holly Griffith, Dennis Bonilla, Travis Fitzgerald, and Michelle Fitzgerald. Travis has a super cool job. He flies the Space Station – meaning he is in charge of the team that sends periodic commands for the ISS to reposition itself and remain properly oriented in orbit.

For the largest presentations guests queued up in a fourth-floor ballroom, before entering the the 2,643 seat Chapin Theater.

When the ballroom queue filled, guests lined up in a standby queue seen here.

Inside the Chapin Theater.

Crew members talking about the making of the upcoming “Star Wars Detours” parody show. Many of the people who create the “Robot Chicken” parody show help make Star Wars Detours. Seth Green, at far right, is wearing a Harry Potter tie.

George Lucas made a surprise appearance as the presentation ended. More of George Lucas and Star Wars Detours is in our article here.

Carrie Fisher was interviewed in the Chapin Theater that evening.

She hoped her dog, Gary, would come on stage and keep her company. However, Gary had stage fright and went quickly backstage.

Carrie was interviewed by James Arnold Taylor, a wonderful voice actor that we have interviewed at past Star Wars Weekends.

Carrie said she was hired to be Princess Leia in part because of her sass. The interview showed some of Carrie Fisher’s comedy at Saturday Night Live, and an American Film Institute roast of George Lucas. These are clips that she hadn’t seen in years.

The interview ended asking if she’d like to stage a photo op so that every photo taken there wasn’t of just them seated on the sofas. She quickly came up with this comedy.

There aren’t too many nights at the Convention Center where all floors are flooded with guests.

Some other lobby scenes. Normally the Convention Center is filled with business people.

Everywhere you looked, people were taking advantage of the photo opportunities.

The vendor area of the convention is like being in an ultimate toy store.

Cute chairs.

Above and below, two of the most unusual items of the official merchandise.

At this vender you could have your face rendered in 3D on one of many types of fantasy characters.

This is similar to the 3D rendering recently introduced for Disney Princesses and on a Han Solo figure at Star Wars Weekends and the Disney booth at Celebration VI.. (See our article about the Disney Princess dolls here.)

Another look at the really cool fan cars.