Review: Star Wars Insider #221 Looks Back at the Visual Effects of ‘Return of the Jedi’
The latest issue of Star Wars: Insider hits shelves on September 26th (US, Canada) and October 26th (UK), and continues to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi by interviewing two ILM giants as they look back on the experience of concluding the Star Wars trilogy, as well as an exclusive short story set in the time of the film. The issue also goes behind-the-scenes with the production crew for Star Wars Celebration, recaps the High Republic Phase II and more.
Return of the Jedi: Dennis Muren and Ken Ralston interview
Insider sits down with two heroes of the film industry who worked on the ground-breaking visual effects for Star Wars and pushed the limit even further for the third installment. Dennis Muren and Ken Ralston recall the hectic time of being brought back to work on Star Wars again, while still completing their work on E.T. and Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn, respectively. The two talk about how working again on the third movie finally gave them the realisation that what they were doing was no longer a job, but a career.
Along with some great behind-the-scenes images and concept art for the wonderful creatures and scenes of Return of the Jedi, the interview (which will continue in the next issue) gives great insight into the production behind the movie. A key factor in the production was the relationship of George Lucas to the rest of the production crew. Both Muren and Ralston praise George for his involvement and camaraderie with all departments and how he balanced his singular vision for the movie with giving the VFX team authority and ownership of their own work.
One fact that jumped out to me was that George made a number of changes late in the production of Return of the Jedi, which posed challenges to the crew, who had to work long hours to reshoot scenes to get the movie completed on time. Reshoots are always reported on with such drama these days but back in ’83 it was just part of the job and the crew at ILM rose to the challenge. The interview will continue in issue 222.
Space Moms
Insider looks into the wide range of mothers and mother figures in the Star Wars galaxy. The feature covers well-known mothers from the Skywalker-Amidala-Organa lineage and other popular figures including Hera Syndulla. The issue looks at the range of support and care given by the different mother figures in Andor, while covering other characters from animation, the High Republic and the diverse maternal characters from the second season of Visions. Props to Insider for also including Beru Lars as Luke’s adoptive mother.
Behind-the-Scenes of Star Wars Celebration
Mickey Capoferri, the executive producer of the Celebration LIVE! stage talks about all the behind-the-scenes work that went into setting up the live stage at Celebration where fans could get up close to the stars and producers of Star Wars movies, series, games and more. He goes into the inspiration behind putting the stage in the middle of the crowd and the logistical challenges of pulling it off, especially with last-minute changes, such as Cameron Monaghan’s poncho entrance when promoting Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The hosts of the live stage also give their input into the experience of presenting at Celebration.
David Collins interview
A long-time Celebration host himself, David Collins talks about his varied career with Star Wars, working on sound design in various roles over the years. David reflects on his beginnings working at LucasArts, where he started doing voiceover work, which later led to migrating to Lucasfilm to contribute additional voices to The Force Awakens, Rogue One and other projects. He talks about his love for The Bad Batch, which he worked on as Supervising Sound Editor and his more recent work as Sound Designer for The Mandalorian season 3.
The High Republic Companion: Phase II
For those of us who are way behind on the High Republic, there is a perfect way to catch up with a full recap on all the books, comics, audio drama and more from the second publishing phase set hundreds of years before the Skywalker Saga. As well as brief (and generally spoiler-free) synopses of all the stories, there are quotes from the authors highlighting their inspirations and favourite moments and characters from the series.
Tessa Gratton interview
The High Republic author talks about her journey and the life experiences she has drawn on as a writer and brought into her Star Wars storytelling, as well as her experience on collaborating with so many different authors on the publishing initiative.
Retro of the Jedi
A piece for all action figure lovers as Tim Effler talks through the early days of Kenner after they acquired the rights to sell toys for the original trilogy, with a particular focus on the Return of the Jedi line of toys that he worked on. Bringing things to the present, Hasbro’s Chris Reiff talks about his experience recreating the same classic figures in the modern day for Hasbro’s Retro Collection.
Exclusive Return of the Jedi Short Fiction
The second in a series of short stories set in the immediate aftermath of the battle of Endor, ‘Lost in the Woods’ tells the story of a Rebel soldier on the forest moon who is sent to find a downed Rogue Squadron pilot with the aid of C-3PO and Wicket.
A teacher from Wales in the UK, Aled has loved Star Wars ever since that Star Destroyer flew over his head and blew his mind.
