HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (2022)

When you want to get a great seasonal fright party together, don't forget these great intergalactic rogues from the legendary Mos Eisley Cantina - then staying at Rick Baker's place during 1977 - to spice things up!

STAR WARS AFICIONADO wishes all worldwide readers a very ghoulish HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: FILMING THE POD RACE ASSEMBLAGE

A freak on location storm may have temporarily damaged the colourful and diverse pod racers shipped over from the UK, but the specially built props were quickly back up and running for filming in the desert of Tunisia, in material shot by George Lucas, whilst his old friend Roger Christian (formerly an Oscar winning set director on A New Hope, later a film director in his own right) came out to head the film's second unit material.

Roger Christian handles the camera.

A duo of aliens add to the background technicians.

Danny Wagner on location rehearsal as the pod racer Mawhonic.

Mawhonic as ready for filming.

The various pods as assembled prior to filming.

Lucas watches as Anakin's all-important Pod is put into position

The flag attenders parade in front of the Pods. Note that the puppet Threepio was added to the group in post production.

Wald (Warwick Davis) and the numerous background pod race aliens gather for a posed image.

Wald, Kitster and Artoo prepare to watch Anakin in competition.

https://www.starwars.com/news/start-your-engines-star-wars-podracing-drivers-part-1

'STAR WARS' AT 40: BACK TO THE CANTINA!

Another one of the finest STAR WARS posters ever produced, as the Hildebrandt Brothers take us back into the atmospheric delights of the creature-packed Mos Eisley Cantina- nostalgically, I first remember seeing this image used in the UK/US STAR WARS souvenir magazine of 1977/78, whose faded pages and ripped corners are a fine testament as to how much I enjoyed reading it from cover to cover, both then and now.

BEHIND THE SCENES: IN WITH THE CANTINA CROWD!

On the small Cantina set recreation within a downtown Los Angeles studio, involving extra filming for the now classic scene, and using additional various masks created by Rick Baker and his friends, Producer Gary Kurtz takes some reference publicity images of a sitting down bar alien (known on set as "Louie", and later called a Devaronian in the Expanded Universe), as effects/make-up technician Jon Berg holds onto the head and neck of a removed "Hammerhead" (Ithorian) mask, in this great 1977 behind the scenes shot for the original STAR WARS.

Where possible, the added creatures for the insert sequences made the most of existing Halloween horror masks prior created by Rick Baker (notably the Devaronian), as well as some additional new creations made within a tight budget carefully controlled by Kurtz. Baker was, however, disappointed with the ultimate editorial choices made by Lucas when seeing the final Cantina sequence put together in 1977, primarily because several of the new masks didn't make it to screen.

CLASSIC IMAGE: SALUTING THE NINE BY '79!

Image: via the KENNER TOYS TWITTER page.

Their original line up of twelve characters may have been pretty darn late in arriving in toy stores (and I remember being disappointed at the time that there was no original Governor Tarkin figure!), but KENNER US and PALITOY UK's second line-up of nine STAR WARS action figures, featuring some of the more unusual and intriguing background aliens and droid characters from the first movie, certainly arrived with impeccable timing when the need for new STAR WARS products had, nay demanded, to be satiated during the long wait for the eventual STAR WARS II (as it was then being known). The Boba Fett figurine (a mysterious and weapons packed bounty hunter no less, to soon challenge our heroes!) and green Greedo (shot first by Han- now and forever more!) proved particularly welcome in my household afternoon playtimes!

Kenner Toys (@KennerToys) | Twitter
List of Kenner Star Wars action figures - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This Nerd's Star Wars Toy Collection Is Worth $150,000 - All Day

THE CLONE WARS: OUTER RIM SLAUGHTER!

The formidable Savage Opress, now allied with his brother Maul, begin their rein of terror in the Outer Rim, killing anyone, or any Jedi, that stands in their way- as seen during the opening scene events of the Season Five episode Revival.

CLASSIC IMAGE: FIND THAT CHANGELING!

Young Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker surveys the seedy and disreputable denizens of the Coruscant sportsbar in his search for the mysterious changeling assassin, in a memorable scene from EPISODE II.

THE CLONE WARS SEASON FOUR - AFICIONADO's TOP FIVE EPISODES. NUMBER THREE: 'THE BOX'

Cad Bane, Embo and a group of other distinguished Bounty Hunters have to survive the harsh environs of The Box, from THE CLONES WARS Season Four, out now on UK Blu-ray and DVD.

Our countdown to AFICIONADO's personal top five favourite episodes of THE CLONE WARS Season Four continues- co-inciding with its exclusive release on Blu-ray and DVD this week (full to the brim with special features, too!). Reaching position number three, there were plenty of episodes near the hallowed top spot to consider, including Darth Maul season finale Revenge and Zygerian action fest Escape from Kadavo, but it was the exciting and diverse alien-packed adventure, the third part of the Obi-Wan-in-disguise plot, that won the day: clever, exciting and a fast paced visual triumph, it has to be The Box.

And here's five further reasons why it made the grade...

1. The Box. A triumph of simple design (in fact, very Borg-like from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, if not a spaceship) and apparently not easy for the animators to realise, Count Dooku's huge structure/lethal killing jar will truly sort out the men from the boys, or rather the Bounty Hunters from the wannabes: its immense, multi-layered, death efficient vault areas containing the most diabolically lethal traps and weapons, all of which had to be carefully planned/choreographed and staged behind the scenes by Dave Filoni and director Kyle Dunlevy. A true place of nightmares and a real test of courage, ingenuity and luck, of which only the most resourceful and skilled will escape to make Count Dooku's lethal assault force against Supreme Chancellor Palpatine on Naboo.

2. The Bounty Hunters. We had six of 'em on the bridge of the Star Destroyer Executor in EMPIRE, and we had the likable posse that joined forces with Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka to fight against Hondo Ohnaka's mercenary hordes in THE CLONE WARS episode Bounty Hunters, but The Box had to have the most of their kind yet assembled in any STAR WARS adventure, 13 no less, all weird and wonderfully realised, from the classic Cad Bane and the equally cool hatted fan favourite Embo (who also got a bit more to say this time around), to the finally made it to the screen Ron Cobb creation of the octopus-like Parwan, plus some Classic Trilogy Hammerheads and a Snaggletooth. Along with the episode's clever production designs, the creatures talents and abilities were well thought out and they came across as a fine team working together against the dangerous scenarios playing out around them. It's a shame that so many of them have to be killed off by episode's end.

3. Cad Bane. That hatted killer for hire from Duros has some great scenes in this episode. Newly escaped from prison life on Coruscant with the aide of snidey Moralo Eval and a disguised Obi-Wan Kenobi, his place in the pantheon of great STAR WARS villains is well and truly assured, not just in this episode but the ones that bookend this particular four-part storyline, proving cruel, cunning and full of surprises. I loved the moment in The Box where he killed one of the Hammerhead bounty hunters in order to finally get his beloved old hat back!

4. Obi-Wan undercover. Filoni and the gang, alongside vocal star James Arnold Taylor, get to flex their dramatic muscles considerably and provide some new surprises to viewers with this four-part adventure, as, to stop the imminent attack on Palpatine, Kenobi effectively gets himself "killed" in order to become a new man, bounty hunter Rako Hardeen, so as to infiltrate Count Doou's plan. As the escaped prisoner, alongside other jailbirds Moralo Eval and Cad Bane, he looks totally different thanks to his new bald head, voice synthesizer and huge tattoo markings, but Kenobi's inherent good heart as a Jedi and his incredible powers in the Force show through and come in very handy as he makes his way into Count Dooku's final squad. Though on the bad side, such skills and abilities conjure up subtle warnings to the Sith Lord as his plans near completion.

5. The Ralph McQuarrie influence. Obi-Wan gets to wear some cool bounty hunter gear, most notably a helmet that's a fine tribute to the legacy of the late, great artist and his early designs for a STAR WARS II super soldier Stormtrooper/ Boba Fett. Such choice creative revisitation decisions from the show's modern behind the scenes team ramp-up THE CLONE WARS respectability with fans/critics even more.

Get hold of THE CLONE WARS Season Four on Blu-ray and DVD here:

Star Wars Clone Wars - Season 4 Blu-ray Region Free: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV
Star Wars Clone Wars - Season 4 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

'STAR WARS' AT 35: CANTINA CLASSIC

Here's the terrific art by Bill Selby that long time STAR WARS fans will remember of the Cantina Band and its diverse audience-a terrific poster released in 1978 by Factors Etc. Inc. Note Ponda Baba with his original sucker cup arm!

The blogsite Morbhead has a fun interview with the artist, who talks about the behind the scenes history of the art commission. Well worth checking out: Artist Bill Selby's Star Wars Cantina Poster

STAR WARS AT 35: CREATURE FEATURE...

He may have only done a few creature conceptual drawings for the alien Cantina creatures seen in the original STAR WARS, but this memorable alien from acclaimed artist Ron Cobb-best known for his spaceship/technological design work on equally classic films like Ridley Scott's ALIEN and BLADERUNNER- always stuck in my mind as one of those great if only aliens that I would have loved to have seen made into movie magic reality propping up the bar alongside his originally named Hammerhead and High Tundra monsters, but just couldn't have been achieved practically in 1976/77 through budget, special effects and costume design limitations of the period. Thankfully, none of these pesky problems exist in the world of STAR WARS animation, especially as THE CLONE WARS likes to revisit concepts old and new for its series, so it was terrific and nostalgic to finally see one of these species-a Parwan bounty hunter-appearing in all its spindly tentacled glory, and taking on Anakin Skyalker no less!, in the recent, excellent episodes The Box and Crisis on Naboo.

A Parwan creature, now seen in THE CLONE WARS.

Some more of Ron Cobb's 1976/77 creature creations, including a Durosian and Hammerhead/Ithorian.