‘The Acolyte’: Details On New Handheld Droid Pip Revealed
Star Wars has a long-standing tradition of introducing new droids for fans to fall in love with. From R2-D2’s appearance in the opening scenes of A New Hope to when BB-8 rolled onto the screen and into our hearts, droids have been a key element of the charm and humour of Star Wars and it looks like The Acolyte will be no exception. The official databank for StarWars.com has been updated for the series and introduced the latest droid who goes by the name of Pip.
Eagle-eyed viewers may have already spotted Pip when the official poster for The Acolyte was revealed on May 4th, though you could have been forgiven for not being sure if it was a droid or some kind of toolkit. Well, it turns out that it’s both. Here is the description from the databank:
“Pip, a handheld repair droid with a wide array of tool attachments, has a chipper, can-do personality. The pocket-sized droid is always eager to help, often suggesting just the right tool for the task at hand.”
It seems Pip will join the growing ranks of pocket-sized droids, such as cone-headed D-O from The Rise of Skywalker and Princess Leia’s companion droid LO-LA from Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Looking at the image it seems like Pip is going to be a companion to Master Sol, he’s positioned next to him in the poster and, in the trailer, Sol is the only character wearing gloves. Sol looks like a serious character on an emotionally challenging journey, so one can imagine the chipper and helpful Pip being a comedic foil to lighten the mood in tense scenes.
A video released by software company Autodesk (Hat tip to Nerdist) to celebrate their collaboration with Lucasfilm, shows the behind-the-scenes development of the droid and gives a sense of the scale for the new design, which fits into a little satchel as seen here. Seeing it’s little head moving really gives a sense of the fun personality the droid is sure to have. No details yet as to whether it will use droidspeak or be voiced like B2-EMO.
Autodesk are also running a droid design competition, with the winning droid going on display at Lucasfilm. It is eligible for US residents so, if you qualify, have a look, and May the Force be with you!
The video shows the design work that went into the production of Pip and details the functionality of the droid, showing it in use and also shows how it’s body opens out to access the array of tools available. Some very brief shots show some of the functions, including what looks like a welding attachment.
Also revealed on the databank is some information on the ship above seen detaching from some kind of hyperspace array in the trailer. This is a Polan-717 Jedi Transport manufactured by Lantillian Shipwrights. This confirms what we pretty much suspected already, that this is Master Sol’s ship.
Stay tuned to Star Wars NewsN et for more updates as the build-up to The Acolyte continues!
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.
