Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the new This Week In Star Wars.
Let me take a second to pat myself on the back for somehow getting out last week's column while running from country to country on a crazy series of international adventures. Pat-pat-pat. Good job, me. I've finally returned home and after spending about 18 of my first 30-something hours back sleeping like a log, I'm back on the clock and ready to hit up this week's installment of our regular series chronicling important dates in Star Wars history.
Last week gave us a pretty decent sized column, but sadly this week is pretty light. Well, sadly for all of you, but happily for me because that means my jet lag won't rear its ugly head before I'm done with this sucker.
July 27th, 1940 - Gary Douglas Kurtz born. As producer on Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Gary Kurtz not only witnessed history he helped shape it. From the fan perspective, Kurtz was the crucial check to George Lucas' power. He has been celebrated as the man that would actually tell Lucas no. Whether that is true or not is up to debate, but you can't deny that two of the best movies of the series were made under his watch.
According to what I've read, Lucas puts a lot of the blame of Empire's out of control production on Kurtz's shoulders. Could be the friction caused by not getting his way completely or it could be that Kurtz was in over his head. I guess the only people that know for sure are Kurtz, Lucas and their immediate production team on the first couple movies.
What I do know is that Kurtz helped bring me many films that shaped the geek I am today, from his Star Wars work to American Grafitti, The Dark Crystal and Return to Oz. Thanks for everything you've done and continue to do, Mr. Kurtz. Happy birthday!
July 31, 1978 – Ralph McQuarrie completes “Dawn Greeting.” This isn't one of McQuarrie's most famous production art pieces, but I love it. The colors and the composition are top notch, but my eye is always drawn to the early design for Lando (and that's certainly not Lobot to his right). Very disco looking in this iteration. This one never fails to put a smile on my face.
July 27th, 2010 - Star Tours at Disneyland closes. Yep, the original Star Tours closed on this date in 2010 after 23 years of being one of the primo attractions at the park. I have very fond memories of riding this one as a young man. Captain Rex taking us along on the Death Star run was one of my first experiences with a Motion Simulator style ride and being a giant Star Wars nerd there was nothing better on those early trips to Disneyland as a young man (except for The Haunted Mansion, which is the best theme park attraction of all time, of course).
I love the revamped Star Tours – The Adventure Continues at the Disney Parks, even though those bastards still haven't picked me to be the Rebel Spy despite me having ridden it easily 50 times over the last few years and while I dig that the new experience gives you a different ride every time thanks to the random nature of all the different stops you can make along the way, I do miss Captain Rex and the thrill of feeling like you're making the Death Star run.
How great would it be if they remastered the original, or at least a part of it, and threw it into the mix? It'd blow people's minds if suddenly they were at the Death Star and re-living the original a little bit, no? I know I'd be crazy excited, but then again I'm a nostalgia monster, so...
Speaking of, here's a groovy trip down memory lane...
Next week has some killer Star Wars moments, including the first legal paperwork filed with the words “Star” and “Wars” put next to each other. See ya' back for that!
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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