Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 20th Anniversary Panel Recap
In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, long time Star Wars alum and everyone’s favorite Ewok, Warwick Davis, takes fans on a nostalgic journey back to 1999. In the panel, Davis speaks with several special guests including concept artist Doug Chiang, Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks), and the Emperor himself, Ian McDiarmid to name a few. Read on for a summary of the panel that we covered in a series of live tweets during the event.
The 20th anniversary of #ThePhantomMenace is about to kick off at #StarWarsCelebration so follow our live tweets – it’ll be so wizard! pic.twitter.com/PSmoH4IcrE
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
Doug Chiang, Matthew Wood, John Knoll and Jean Bolte are welcomed onstage by host Warwick Davis. The consensus of the panelists is how overwhelming George Lucas’ vision was at the time #ThePhantomMenace
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
Jean working on one of the first 3D paint programs to put finishing touches on Sebulba (the first program was created for Jurassic Park with the help of Dennis Muren) #ThePhantomMenace pic.twitter.com/Z8SylUeOhz
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
“Forget everything about what I thought Star Wars was” said Lucas to Doug Chiang on the designs for the prequels. They wanted to approach this like a period film – if the OT was the 70’s, the PT would be the 20’s #ThePhantomMenace
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
Matthew Wood’s favorite sound from the prequel is Sebulba’s pod racer (achieved by capturing the noise of a Ferrari with a hole punched through it) #ThePhantomMenace
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
“I’m the only pilot you see get killed” jokes John Knoll of his cameo in #ThePhantomMenace “It was a short shot, they didn’t want any confusion that someone important got shot.” pic.twitter.com/C1LCc8kqwB
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
“You’re kind of skinny and creepy” said the casting director to Matthew Wood, who cameoed as the young majordomo Bib Fortuna in #ThePhantomMenace pic.twitter.com/RxFeJY7KtH
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
“The lessons I learned from George influenced everything I do now” says Doug Chiang of how working on #ThePhantomMenace has found its way into the DNA of his current projects: The Mandalorian, Galaxy’s Edge and The Rise of Skywalker
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
The master and apprentice have taken the stage: Ray Park and Ian McDiarmid are here! #ThePhantomMenace pic.twitter.com/pPcCgRkYoC
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
“I just happened to be in the area so I dropped in for a laugh” teases Ian McDiarmid of his shocking appearance at the Episode IX panel pic.twitter.com/HauOPRSkwB
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
McDiarmid tells the story of Liam Neeson flipping through the script trying to figure out who was playing Darth Sidious. Finally, at the premiere, he came up to Ian flabbergasted: “it was you, ya bastard!” #ThePhantomMenace
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
“I was listening to Prodigy at the time. Firestarter was my theme for Maul at the time” says Ray Park of how he prepared for the infamous scene of Maul igniting his double sided lightsaber #ThePhantomMenace pic.twitter.com/foY73tZQIX
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
Ray Park, on the far right, has an uncredited cameo as a Theed Palace guard in #ThePhantomMenace pic.twitter.com/QiCGzIGyxT
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
Ahmed Best gets a loud standing ovation and a repeated cheer of “AH-MED” as he takes the stage #ThePhantomMenace pic.twitter.com/FPXp4O22q1
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
The original #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/7pF7925glW
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
A personal video message from George Lucas who calls #ThePhantomMenace one of his favorites and reinforces that Jar-Jar is his favorite character pic.twitter.com/8mZGXOFlsy
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet) April 15, 2019
You can watch the full panel below:
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
