Day 1083: Oh How I Love Han

WARNING! SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS ARE BELOW!

I can't wait for the day when I don't have to put giant spoiler warnings at the top of posts anymore...but really, you need to see the film before you find out what happens (although I'm sure that by now you either have to still be on interest hiatus or really good at avoiding them if you haven't seen the film yet).

Regardless, with the loss of a certain smuggler, it feels like I should do a brief celebration of my favorite Star Wars character. I'll certainly miss him, as I'm sure we all will, but I can also see, from a storytelling perspective, the benefits to his death. Wow that sounds terrible.

To remind you just how much I love Han Solo though, here's a quick graphic I made a while back:

As you can see, Han Solo is really my favorite character and is sort of more important than absolutely everything else. Did I happen to pick a character on OUAT that embodies every bit of the spirit that is Han Solo, yes, but that doesn't mean Han means any less. 

Of course, Harrison Ford is the king of priceless expressions, especially in Return of the Jedi, so I went back and found a picture from two years ago with a few of my favorites: 

You also can't deny that he had literally the best line in any movie ever: 

Honestly, I'm not even totally sure why Han Solo ended up as number one in so many of our hearts. He's just the space smuggler we all wanted to survive and end up happy. We wanted his relationship with Leia to work out (and it sounds like, to a point, it did). We wanted him to always fly the Falcon, preferably with the hyperdrive working, and hopefully someday beat his record of the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. How he became our favorite, I'm not sure we'll ever really know. 

But one this is for sure, he IS our favorite, and now that he's gone we'll just have to remember him for all the wonderful moments he WAS there. Like the continuously hilarious lines in Episode VII, my favorite probably being the trash compactor line. It doesn't get much better than that. 

So farewell Han, our good friend and favorite smuggler of all time. You'll certainly be missed. 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on December 22).

Day 1066: For the First Time in...Two Years?

It's sort of a shame when you're really into something one year, and by the same time the next year it's fallen out of favor. I suppose that's simply the way of life, of course, because as time goes on your interests change, especially due to the influence of those around you. When I left high school, Star Wars was pretty much my entire life, and by the time I made it to college, I was surrounded by people more interested in Once Upon A Time than Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. So I went along with it, and the more I got into OUAT, the more Star Wars fell out of favor, and suddenly I woke up and realized I hadn't even watched the films in a couple of years.

I used to watch The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi almost daily. Since I had both the VHS and DVD copies (and later BluRay as well), it was easy to watch them over and over again. In fact, I got so used to them playing in the background, I just let them go while I was doing homework. They were my background noise that, over time, made it easier to do homework (especially Empire, because I'd work during the Luke parts and watch during the Han parts). I had almost every line memorized, and even my cat came to like the films and would join me whenever they were on.

So with the new film coming out this Christmas, I knew that I had to do something. While I still know the films incredibly well, I needed a refresher. Like so many of my fellow Star Wars fans, I set out to watch the entire trilogy before heading to the theater to see the new film, and somehow, I managed to accomplish this task. I watched all six films before going to see The Force Awakens.

I did, however, watch them in an incredibly strange order. Because I prefer the original trilogy (and I've seen the entire saga so many times before), I decided to start with Episode I to see the more chronological version of the series, and I managed to watch I and II in the same night. I was working on a music analysis project and a paper at the same time, which meant I was probably more focused on Carnival of the Animals than I was Star Wars, but I still watched them!

Then, when I returned home for a weekend, my brother and his friends decided to watch Episode IV, which led to a really late, midnight watch of V that same night (I unfortunately fell asleep part way through and JUST MISSED the carbonate scene. I woke up at "is he alive Calrissian?" and I was oh so angry), but I still counted it. I've seen that one more than any of the others anyways. Then a couple of days later I ended up going back to watch Episode III because my brother didn't want to watch on that night because he had work to get done (he ended up watching the end anyways). And finally, the night before heading to see The Force Awakens we finished up with Episode VI. So by the end I watched it in the order of I, II, IV, V, III, VI. Strange, I know.

But now, somehow, Star Wars has infiltrated my life once again, and I find myself more excited about Han Solo and Chewbacca than most other things. It's sort of nice, going back to such familiar territory so I can celebrate the release of a new film with my fellow Star Wars fans, and don't even get me started about how excited I am to attend Season of the Force at Hollywood Studios in a few weeks!

In summary...Star Wars is awesome.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 25).

Day 785: Introductions

After catching up on blog posts from pretty much the entire month of February, it occurs to me that I really didn't have a problem trying to come up with post topics for the days I've had to make up. Whether this is because Disney has just played a key roll in my life lately or because February is the shortest month of the year, I don't really know. However, I do know that this last day I had to make up was kind of difficult to come up with a topic for.

And then I realized that the topic has been staring me in the face for the past half week.

This past Friday, my roommate Ashley and I finally got around to step one of introducing one of our other roommates, Hannah, to Star Wars. Like so many others, she's never seen the entire series (I actually have several friends who have never seen all of Star Wars, and while on some level I feel like this is a crime, I also didn't see it until just a few years ago so....). Of course, we took it upon ourselves to introduce her to the wonderful galaxy that is the series.

It's funny because Ashley and I like totally different episodes when it comes to Star Wars. If you've been around since 2013, you already know that my all time favorite Star Wars film is Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back. I just can't get past all of the Han Solo in that episode, and now, talking about it, I really want to watch it, but I don't have time for that. I have plenty of other work to get done tonight! Ashley, however, prefers Episodes 6 and 3, so it's going to be interesting as we move forward and we both sit, watching Hannah eagerly to see her reactions to our favorite portions of each film.

I am happy to report, however, that Hannah did indeed enjoy the first episode (aka the fourth episode: A New Hope), and she was super tired while watching it too, so this is a major accomplishment, at least in our books. Plus, introducing Hannah to Star Wars obviously gives us an excuse to sit and watch Star Wars, and with our busy college schedules, that's something we're all definitely willing to do.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on February 25).

Day 145: Jedi turns 30!

Today is the day that most Star Wars fans have been waiting for for quite a while. That's right! It's the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi. If you're anything like me, this is a big deal, because it's one of my favorites in the series. It's second, right behind Empire. Plus, it's also the 36th birthday of the original Star Wars film, a New Hope, so it's a pretty big day.

What does this mean? Time to watch Star Wars! Too bad I don't have time to watch it!

If I was able to watch it though, these would be my favorite moments:

Anyone know what happens right after this? I do!

"How we doin'?" ... "Same as always" ... "That bad huh?"

You see, this Han/Luke quote is one that my friends and I do once and a while, but will be doing more in the future. Everytime I come back to the band room after this year, this is how we'll great one another. Makes sense, huh? Ok...maybe not.

This:

Tell me that you don't laugh at that face...or at least smile a little bit. I mean...come on. Priceless Harrison Ford right there. 

And then there's these moments. The first always reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean, but obviously since Jedi is 30 now, this one happened first. And the second always makes me think that Han is just super angry at Luke for interrupting his moment with Leia. Makes me laugh every time.

But this part is by far my favorite of the entire movie. I think it really sums up how their relationship has changed. There's like the moment when he starts to walk away, which is what he would have done before, but then he comes back, and that's how it's changed. Meanwhile, Leia goes from very withdrawn to this position of needing someone else, something we never really see with her before.

And there's always this great expression...the number one priceless Harrison Ford expression.

And this is just absolutely adorable. I flail everytime I see it. I probably shouldn't, but I do anyway.

Those are my favorite parts of Return of the Jedi. You may notice a theme...but you already know that Han is my favorite character, so it shouldn't have been hard to figure out anyway.

I'll skip Disney history for today because I think it's obvious what it will be anyway...that in 1983, Return of the Jedi premiered!

Have a magical day!

Day 86: Star Wars Weekends Update

Now, I generally just write about how Disney relates to my everyday life, but once and a while I can't help but get into some of the news. So I figure that I'll actually do a short article on something that really caught my eye this week...Star Wars Weekends.

I've never actually been to the celebration, since I have never in my life been to Florida in the spring (I have only gone once in the summer...not counting this upcoming summer...only around Christmas otherwise), so it's pretty hard to attend something when I'm stuck here in Wisconsin. But I do love to watch and hear updates from the event...my favorite always being the Hyperspace Hoopla...but who doesn't love that? I think Last Tour to Endor was my favorite though...which is kind of sad because I really didn't go on the old Star Tours (I went on once) and now I really regret it. (The point here is...if you haven't seen Star Wars yet...go watch...now).

Anyway, back to the news. Brand new merchandise for this year's weekends has been released, and I couldn't hold my excitement about a few of them (even if I won't get my hands on any of the following items).

First up, the thermal detonator "Hot Potato" game. I think it's obvious why I would want this...because it's just something that I would totally own and would play with a few times, but mostly it would sit on my shelf. I'd honestly probably keep the box. Also, Return of the Jedi is my second favorite Star Wars film (Can anyone guess my favorite?), so having something like this would just be awesome.

Next we have a wide selection of things, but there are two in particular that I would love to have. First, the name badge, because who wouldn't want one of those? Second, and probably more-so, the Han in Carbonate. I have a very small collection of Vinylmation, as you can see in the picture below, since I generally only indulge in one each trip. I'm pretty picky about which ones I get, which is also obvious since only one of them was bought from a regular collection (I was extremely lucky to get Buzz), and this Han Solo would totally be a great addition to my collection (which will probably end up going to college with me since they are so small). But, it is limited edition, as is pretty much everything that has to do with Star Wars and Disney at the moment...but there's always articles out there to entertain...Harrison Ford is doing a great job of stepping around the questions that the moment...which I probably find more amusing than annoying.

My Vinylmation collection...Buzz, a Polar Bear (Animal Kingdom Collection), Statue of Liberty (from the New York Disney Store) and my newest addition, Minnie Princess Leia.

If you'd like to see the complete listing of the merchandise, click here for the link to the Disney Parks Blog official announcement. Also, I highly suggest going here to vote for the This is Madness: the Star Wars Character Tournament. I'm rooting for Han Solo all the way!

Here's today's Disney History: 1999: Disneyland announces it has acquired a new locomotive, Disneyland Railroad engine No. 5 that will be dedicated under the name "Ward Kimball" in Ward's honor. 

Have a magical day, and may the force be with you...always!

Day 84: Long Weekends

This upcoming weekend is a long one for me, as we have three days off (Thursday, Friday and Monday) for our "Spring Break." Honestly it's kind of annoying to not have an entire week (I could fill the entire time up with work that I could be doing), but at least it's something.

I figured that since it's almost spring break again, I'd share what I did last year. Since I had a lot I wanted to accomplish then, I started a spring break mission log. It worked pretty well, and there's a couple of Disney themed examples of what I spent my week doing.

First, I really wanted to learn how to do Princess Leia's Rebel Assault Hairstyle from Return of the Jedi...you know, the one on Endor...like in this scene...

It worked out pretty well, considering my hair was probably two inches too short. It's plenty long now though, and I've gotten it pretty down packed. But, my first attempt really helped me figure it out. Of course, I never complained about having to watch Jedi a few extra times.

Second I decided I would learn how to create lightsaber effect on pictures. It seemed like a pretty fun and cool thing to do, and it really didn't take that long for me to master. Granted I probably wouldn't remember how to do it now, but it was still something that was a lot of fun to learn...and I could figure it out again.

Of course, that's not all I did over break, as I had plenty else going on, but I do plan on doing another spring break mission log this year. Posting the pictures to Facebook, and this year, to my blog, was always exciting and really got me excited about finishing the tasks that I needed to complete.

Here's today's Disney History: 1954: Disney is awarded 4 Oscars at the 1953 Academy Awards. The Short Subjects, Cartoon category is won by Disney's Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom. Disney's True-Life Adventure Bear Country wins an Oscar for Short Subjects. The Disney/RKO The Alaskan Eskimo is awarded for Documentary, Short Subject and the True-Life Adventure The Living Desert wins for Documentary, Feature. It is the first time one individual has one 4 Oscars in a single year.

Have a magical day!

Day 62: Toy Show

Today, being the first Sunday in March, meant a full day of work for me. It happens every year, since it's the Toy Show! My dad owns a farm equipment dealership, but we also sell a pretty good selection of farm toys, meaning that we travel to a toy show to help promote the business and, of course, sell the toys. We only go to one every year, since we really don't have time for anything else, but it's always fun.

This year was awesome, especially considering what I bought at the show. Each year there's a wide selection of what you can find, but there's almost always some Star Wars stuff, and that's certainly what I found! There was also an Indiana Jones banner, but I didn't buy that. It was either all of this or just that! "This" includes a Han Solo action figure and three reproduction posters with metal backs. They're not big, but they're perfect for hanging on my wall, which seems to be pretty much full and out of space!

Here's today's Disney History: 1995: The Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye attraction officially opens in Disneyland's Adventureland. In attendance for the attraction's debut is filmmaker George Lucas, Michael Eisner, and actors Dan Aykroyd and Carrie Fisher. Based on the Indiana Jones films, guests are taken on an adventure in military transport vehicles through a lost temple with Indiana Jones. It is one of the first Disney attractions that has a different experience each time guests ride.

Now, I normally don't comment on the history, but this time I have to. I find it quite amusing that the two actors in attendance had nothing to do with Indiana Jones, especially Dan. Carrie Fisher was probably still there from the Star Tours celebration a few days earlier, and she had previously worked with both Lucas and the star of Indy, Harrison Ford, but Dan didn't have either reason. Strange if you ask me. Strange but amusing. I'd also like to point out that Indy is my personal favorite attraction at Disneyland. I can't wait to head back and go on it again someday!

Have a magical day!