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S02E22: Right-Away Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future
14 Plays1 day ago
Happy (Real?) Star Wars Day! As we celebrate the 48th anniversary of Star Wars, let's sit back, grab some caf (with apologies to CWK), and reflect on the past, present, and future of our beloved story.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Short for a Stormtrooper'
00:00:01
Speaker
It's a great time to be a Star Wars fan. We're going to talk about it real quick. i'm you a little soft Aren't you a you a little short? Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?
00:00:13
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to Short for a Stormtrooper, a 15-minute Star Wars podcast. I am your host, Bob Gerard. I am recording this on May 26th, which is Memorial Day here in the United States.
Reflecting on Recent Star Wars Events
00:00:27
Speaker
It's a day that my company actually gives us off as a holiday, so... I thought, let's grab some coffee, let's sit down, and let's maybe reflect. Because you know what?
00:00:38
Speaker
The last few weeks in Star Wars-dom have been amazing. They've been fantastic. But they've also been a lot. So ah thought, let's just take a few minutes and sit back, kick back, kind of reflect on a few different things, and look forward to what is coming in Star Wars.
Celebrating Star Wars' 48th Anniversary
00:00:59
Speaker
Okay, so to start off, like I said, today is May the 26th. That means that yesterday was May 25th, which is the 48th anniversary of the release of Star Wars, as we called it back then.
00:01:15
Speaker
So, you know, there's a few of us hardcore fans that say that May the 25th is actually Star Wars Day, not May the 4th. I like to observe both because why not celebrate the story that we love as much as we possibly can?
00:01:31
Speaker
But it doesn't get a lot of attention in the press. So, that you know, it's kind of fun. It's a little more laid back. But it is the celebration of the 48th anniversary. It will be a big deal, I think, in a couple of years.
00:01:43
Speaker
So that'll be an exciting moment.
First Star Wars Experience in 1977
00:01:45
Speaker
My first viewing of Star Wars, I actually had to go back and kind of do the math and look at a calendar. I figured out it was on June the 3rd of 1977. I was in fourth grade.
00:01:58
Speaker
We had tried to go see it the weekend before, which was opening weekend. It opened on May the 25th, and that was a Wednesday. So we had tried to go see it that weekend,
00:02:09
Speaker
It was full. We couldn't get in. We went back the following Friday night. My mom, my brother, my sister and I, we all went. That was the day that changed my life forever. It really did.
00:02:22
Speaker
And i think those of you who have listened to this podcast know that that is the story. You know, I've kind of... come and gone. I've peaked in my fandom. My fandom has sometimes waned a little bit, but really it's a fundamental moment in my life. So it was very exciting and I'm happy to celebrate it.
Empire Strikes Back Memories
00:02:42
Speaker
But here's the other thing. This was a little bit more of a round anniversary. May the 21st was the 45th anniversary of the release of Empire Strikes Back.
00:02:53
Speaker
So for that one, I was in seventh grade and my friends and I, I don't think I've told this story before on this podcast, my friends and I had picked up the novelization, which was released, I think, about a week earlier.
00:03:09
Speaker
And we were avoiding reading it because we didn't want spoilers. But, you know, it was hard to resist. You're in seventh grade. People are kind of picking and choosing and, you know, poking around a little bit.
00:03:21
Speaker
Well, one of my friends, Paul, I think he just happened to turn a page towards the end of the book. And he discovered that Darth Vader revealed to Luke Skywalker that he was his father.
00:03:34
Speaker
So of course, Paul rushed to tell us this. He's like, Vader tells Luke he's his father. And we all thought that he was lying. But it wasn't until that day, May the 21st, in watching it that I went to see it with my oldest brother and my youngest older brother.
00:03:52
Speaker
and And we were driving on the way home and I said, yeah, Vader said that he was Luke's father, but he's not. And they're like, yeah, he was. Like, didn't you see? Like at the end, he was like, you know, dad, father, why didn't you tell me? and I was like, oh oh my gosh, it's true.
00:04:07
Speaker
So I came back and I told my friends. I can't believe I did that. But... Anyway, the last thing about Empire Strikes Back is this. I remember at the time not really liking it that much. I mean, i did. it was new Star Wars, but the cliffhanger ending, not knowing what was going to happen to Han, everything being so down and sad, the Empire had indeed struck back.
00:04:32
Speaker
It was a bit of a downer and we were just looking forward to Return of the Jedi, which was going to be three years. And we were like, we're going to be able to drive to Return of the Jedi, which we did. But, ah you know, now, of course, pretty much universal reaction that Empire Strikes Back was the best movie.
00:04:50
Speaker
Maybe not your favorite, but it was the highest quality of all nine movies. And that's where I place it as well.
The Success of 'Andor'
00:04:59
Speaker
This is actually a good segue to where I wanted to go next after reflecting on the far past. Let's reflect on the recent past and the current state of the Star Wars franchise.
00:05:11
Speaker
We have just finished Andor, which, friends, I have to tell you, I've mentioned this to a few different people. I know I have Star Wars bias. I know I also have recency bias, but I have, I said this on the last podcast, I have never been more emotionally involved in a story that I can remember in my entire life.
00:05:33
Speaker
And I have to say right now, i think the last five episodes of Andor might be my favorite filmed thing ever, my favorite movie ever.
00:05:46
Speaker
That might change again in a little bit, but right now, that's where I place it. I just thought it was amazing amazing. What I'm so excited about, not only the quality that we got from Tony Gilroy and the whole crew, amazing stuff, I'm also super excited at the reaction to it and the critical reception, the fan reception.
00:06:11
Speaker
It seems like word of mouth has spread. i just heard somebody, you so not verified, but I heard somebody on social media yesterday say that the viewership of not only Andor Season 2, but Andor Season 1 has been growing in the last few weeks.
00:06:28
Speaker
So that is so, so exciting for the health of the franchise. And we've just spent the last several weeks talking about
Re-release of Revenge of the Sith
00:06:36
Speaker
Andor. I'm sure we'll come back to it time and time again.
00:06:39
Speaker
I also wanna focus though on the Revenge of the Sith re-release. I happened at the end of April in celebration of the 20th anniversary of that film.
00:06:49
Speaker
That just ate up the box office. They had great numbers. A lot of people came back to see it live. I was one of them and it was a wonderful experience. It was great seeing Return of the Jedi, Revenge of the Sith revenge of the sith climbing back up the charts, and i think it it vaunted a couple places in the overall gross box office standings. you know i Yes, I do pay attention to that, but it doesn't really matter that much.
00:07:21
Speaker
I'm just happy that people went back to see it and liked it. And i sat in the theater, and it was one of the times I watched it, and I was like, yeah, this is really, really good. um I also kind of wish that we could get Hayden Christensen as his acting chops were revealed Ahsoka back in episode three.
00:07:41
Speaker
That's the last I'm going to say about that.
Star Wars in Video Games
00:07:44
Speaker
Another thing that Star Wars-dom is in really good shape in is with video games. So you may be aware that Fortnite has been doing a crossover with Star Wars.
00:07:56
Speaker
I don't play Fortnite, so I haven't seen it. There's been a little bit of a scandal in that they have an AI Darth Vader that you can interact with. People have been getting it to say funny, goofy things, but also a little bit of an issue with...
00:08:13
Speaker
You know is this the right thing to do to have such a clearly James Earl Jones voice doing the AI version of Darth Vader, even though his family signed off on it?
00:08:25
Speaker
There's a little bit of question on how this goes. So, yeah, I i don't feel really great about that. But it's cool that that is is taking off. The other thing is the Star Wars game Battlefront 2 has seen a huge resurgence in fans, in players in the last few weeks.
00:08:43
Speaker
So an old game, it's several years old, and people have come back to it and it really like jamming up the servers with people playing Battlefront 2. So people are really into Star Wars right now.
00:08:58
Speaker
So it will be interesting to see how Disney is able to carry this momentum forward.
Future Star Wars Projects
00:09:04
Speaker
We don't have any live action theme thing coming out for a while, not until May of next year when the Mandalorian and Grogu film comes out.
00:09:15
Speaker
I am really curious at how that's going to do because... Remember, Mandalorian was pretty universally acclaimed. It was a huge hit for Disney. It launched Disney+. plus ah you know Baby Yoda, Grogu, was definitely a cultural phenomenon. He had his moment, and that moment has definitely waned a little bit, but it'll be interesting to see.
00:09:40
Speaker
if kind of the general public dives back in. There were a lot of people who weren't quite as happy with Mandalorian season three as they were with Mandalorian season one and season two. I have to say that even though I still liked Mando season three, I kind of wish that they had ended it at season two because that was such a great ending with Grogu going off with Luke.
00:10:05
Speaker
It felt like the closure to the story and I kind of wish that they had just left it there. So it'll be interesting to see what goes on at that point. Also, for those of us who are are Disney fans, Disney Parks fans, ah when Mandalorian and Grogu is is released, I think that very same day, they are finally changing the Smuggler's Run ride at Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
00:10:32
Speaker
And now you're going to have a mission with Mandalorian and Grogu, and you're going to get to visit some new places and do some new things. So that will be very exciting. So it'll be great to see how Disney is able to keep that momentum going. I think we realized with Star Wars that...
00:10:49
Speaker
it's It's better not to keep your foot on the gas the whole time. That when you kind of cut back a little bit and withhold a little bit and it goes quiet for a little bit, that the demand slowly builds up.
00:11:06
Speaker
And then when you release something new, you get that peak. And... Hopefully they've recognized that and I think that they will. I have to say I'm very impressed with how Disney has handled the marketing of Andor season two.
00:11:19
Speaker
I think they've done a really good job with that and that's great.
Rumors of a New Star Wars Pinball Game
00:11:22
Speaker
One last thing about the future of the franchise, which is crossing into a relatively new passion that I have.
00:11:30
Speaker
I have always enjoyed playing pinball, but recently, a few months ago, I joined a pinball league here in Long Beach. So to everybody from Long Beach Pinball League who I have cajoled into listening to the podcast welcome we're glad you're here um there's a strong rumor that the next game coming out from stern pinball which right now is probably the number one powerhouse in producing new pinball machines is going to be a star wars table now they've done ah few different star wars tables they've got a
00:12:02
Speaker
kind of a general Star Wars original trilogy one. They have a Mandalorian one that's ah a modern, and they've you know they've had Star Wars pinball machines several times over the years. so But in terms of the newer modern machines, that's what we've got so far.
00:12:16
Speaker
It'll be interesting to see where that goes. What are they going to do with it? ah Some rumors that it's going to be about... Original trilogy some rumors that it's going to be Boba Fett some rumors that it's going to be Darth Vader themed We'll see where that goes, but I'm excited. We should hear about that probably in the next few weeks I'm thinking and then i will be at Pinball Expo in Chicago in October and I'm guessing that'll be my first chance to get my hands on it so It is just a great time to be a Star Wars fan. We are so excited and it'll be wonderful to, you know, even if it's not super hyped and we're not getting a lot of content out, it'll be great to reflect on what we have for the next two years.
00:13:00
Speaker
Well, the next year, Mandalorian and Grogu, two years from now, Star Wars Celebration, Star Wars Starfighter, and who knows what else. That'll be great.
Community Engagement and Future Guests
00:13:11
Speaker
Okay, that's really kind of the end of my reflection, but I do want to say this. We've got some great stuff coming up for this podcast.
00:13:19
Speaker
I've got a couple of amazing guests lined up, including the first ever guest that I've had who is currently making real Star Wars canonical content.
00:13:31
Speaker
So I'm not gonna tell you who that is right now. You're gonna have to tune in and see, but we're gonna be really excited to have this guest on. That will be great. Also, I just wanna encourage you, if you wanna stay engaged, please do join the Discord.
00:13:45
Speaker
ah There's only a few of us out there right now, but we like to drop things in there and it's a fun place to chat. So there's a link in the description. for this podcast, you can join us. Would love to have you.
00:13:56
Speaker
Meantime, please tell your friends, tell your family, tell them how much you like this podcast. You know, my goal is to retire from my day job in a couple of years, and I have a few ideas of what I'm going to do when I officially retire.
00:14:10
Speaker
But one of them is to continue being a semi-pro Star Wars fan. So the more I can grow this podcast, the more that dream can come true. I would appreciate your help. It's really uncomfortable for me to ask people for help on things.
00:14:22
Speaker
But I'm doing that right now. So please do that. Hit like, hit subscribe. Tell all your friends. May the force be with you. We'll see you soon. Bye-bye. Aren't you a little short for us?