Star Wars Celebration is underway in Chicago right now, and among other things the Galaxy’s Edge panel has revealed some of the sounds guests can expect to hear when they visit the new lands in Disneyland Park and Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios.
First and foremost among long-time Star Wars fans, as they walk through Galaxy’s Edge they will get to explore behind a backdrop of music composed by legendary cinema-score composer John Williams, the man behind the music of the most memorable moments of the Star Wars franchise.
Not only will fans hear the music of Star Wars, they’ll also hear the voices. Frank Oz will return to one of the roles that made him beloved to entire generations: Yoda, or at least his voice, will appear in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Imagineer Scott Trowbridge began the announcement about the recognizable voice saying, “Not every character that we hear is a character that we can see.”
After some prodding by panel host Josh Gad, Imagineering’s Chris Beatty continued, “The Force is a very mysterious thing and sometimes, maybe, Jedis from the past could visit us and be a part of your experience…Maybe a small green Jedi…I think the name you’re wanting to hear me say is Frank Oz.”
The panel also highlighted their adventure to Kenya to get a hold of the original voice actor who portrayed the character of Nein Nunb, Kipsang Rotich, so that he could return to voice him once again at Galaxy’s Edge.
If you, like every Star Wars/Disney crossover fan ever, have been wondering how Rex — the delightful droid from Star Tours voiced by Paul Reubens — made the career transition to DJ of Olga’s Cantina at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the panel at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago just filled us in. Not only that, but the panel also gave fans a listen to the type of music we can expect in Olga’s.
Once again voiced by Ruebens, Rex’s path to his new gig wasn’t arbitrary; Matt Martin of Lucasfilm Story Group gave the character a complete backstory to fit his appearance in the new lands: “The short story is basically, Rex kinda flunked his way out of Star Tours, eventually through some misadventure found his way to the Rebellion,” Martin described. “In the final battle of the Galactic Civil War — the Battle of Jakku — in a very epic TIE Fighter chase he ends up crash-landing on Batuu. There he is rescued by the local droid-smith, Mubo, where he is repaired and made into a DJ at Olga’s Cantina.”
Some of the music that DJ Rex will be spinning is meant to be reminiscent of the famous Mos Eisley Cantina song from Episode IV. Rather than just replay that same fan-favorite tune, Imagineers and Lucasfilm decided to add in some new songs by the same in-canon band, Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes. Along with the new Modal Nodes songs, which were highly reminiscent of the Mos Eisley Cantina style, Rex will also be featuring some droid-created tunes with a few more stylized bleeps, blops, whistles, and whirls for more techno-centric tunes.
For Disney Parks vacationers who can’t wait to hear all of this new ear-candy, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open at the Disneyland Resort on May 31st, and at Walt Disney World on August 29th.
Images: Lucasfilm/Disney
