When designing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Imagineers and Lucasfilm looked to the over four decades of films, television series, novels, comic books, and video games for inspiration, in order to tell new stories that felt authentic to fans.
The planet of Batuu and the Black Spire Outpost are new in the Star Wars universe. This unique setting will offer a genuine Star Wars experience where even the biggest fans can discover some special “hidden gems” and familiar details, but new fans won’t feel out of place.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is set during the current film trilogy, but some of the details will be familiar to fans of the entire saga. Here are some details to look for:
- The dianoga from the trash compactor scene in Star Wars: A New Hope is in a tank above a drinking fountain in the Black Spire Outpost.
- A taxidermic wampa from the ice planet of Hoth in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back sits in Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities.
- In Ronto Roasters, a podracing engine similar to those seen in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace cooks meats, while a droid like one seen in Jabba the Hutt’s palace in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi turns the spit.
- In Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, there’s a recreation of a bas-relief mural that appeared in Chancellor Palpatine’s in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. The artwork depicts an ancient battle between the light side and the dark side of the Force.
- In Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, Hondo Ohnaka from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated series will give guests their mission.
There are even more new details to discover:
- While Batuu is scattered with tall petrified tree trunks, the Black Spire Outpost takes its name from one that’s in the center of the village and is darker than all of the others.
- To create droid tracks, Imagineers took rubbings from the feet of one of the original R2-D2 droids used in Star Wars: A New Hope. From the rubbings they created three-dimensional wheels that were then rolled on a trolley through some of the concrete pathways.
Since the new land was announced, some of its residents have been appearing in and inspiring other Star Wars stories:
- In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Dok-Ondar and the Black Spire Outpost were both mentioned.
- Oga’s Cantina makes an appearance in “Thrawn: Alliancies,” a novel by Timothy Zahn.
- Another trip that Hondo Ohnaka made to Batuu was detailed in the young-adult novel “Star Wars: Pirate’s Price,” by Lou Anders.
- In April, a five-part Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge comic book series from Marvel explored some of the famous items found in Dok-Ondar’s shop.
- An upcoming novel, “Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire,” will tell the story of Vi Moradi, who is Leia Organa’s top spy, and why she chose Batuu as the secret command post for the Resistance.
- A young-adult novel that is also in the works, “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge-A Crash of Fate,” covers the adventures of two childhood friends from Batuu that find each other again later in life.
The details continue as fans that attended Star Wars Celebration 2019 in Chicago last April have become part of the new land. Fans were allowed to record their personal Star Wars stories, and those videos will be placed in a Jedi holocron headed for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which opens August 29th.
Imagineers worked hard to keep the land authentic and provide the appropriate details:
- As with many Disney theme parks, Imagineers created Galaxy’s Edge with a cinematic look, starting with wide angles that invite guests to explore deeper, eventually zooming in for the close-up details.
- When possible, Imagineers sought out pre-1980s materials for props and decor, in order to maintain the feel of the original trilogy.
- Imagineers looked to character creator Dave Filoni when designing the older-looking Hondo Ohanaka audio-animatronic figure for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run.
Finally, here’s a look at what inspired parts of Galaxy’s Edge:
- Imagineers were able to visit the private archives of George Lucas where they studied Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept art for the Star Wars galaxy.
- During trips to Morocco and Turkey, Imagineers experienced open-air markets, similar to those created in the Black Spire Outpost.
- Imagineer headed to the United Kingdom to visit the sets of the recent Star Wars films to get ideas for ships and costumes.
- When creating merchandise, Imagineers had access to original props and costumes, some of which were scanned in 360-degrees.
- For the recreation of Princess Leia’s necklace from the final scene of Star Wars: A New Hope that is available in Dok-Ondar’s shop, Imagineers contacted the original designer in Europe who still had the original mold.
- At Resistance Supply, the soldier’s ration kit is similar to Luke’s from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Disney spoke with actor Mark Hamill what he remembered from the kit and tried to recreate some of those items.
- Black Spire Outfitters features Jedi robes and tunics that are modeled after those worn by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
- Anakin’s tinkering with C-3PO in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was part of the inspiration for the interactive experience that takes place in the Droid Depot.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars helped inspire the handbuilt lightsaber experience in Savi’s Workshop.
Source: Disneyland Resort
