The most hushed room at Star Wars: Celebration, the gigantic Lucasfilm-produced “Star Wars” convention happening for four days here at the Anaheim Convention Center – the room that is so popular the line to get in will cost you at least an hourlong wait – contains a small exhibit of props and costumes from the upcoming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Inside, you step around a dark curtain and find yourself in a dimly-lit room where about 40 people at a time are admiring, studying, and photographing — then stepping back and standing around. They are huddled in clusters, noting the chunkiness of the newly designed Snowtroopers, and the old-school thrill of new-fangled Millennium Falcon and X-Wing models. A big hit is the new R2D2-like droid, named BB-8, which, in person, so to speak, resembles a scalped R2 surgically joined to the top of a high-tech beach ball.
“You know, they totally came through on the Stormtroopers, obviously,” said Josh Mireles, of Chico, Calif. “They could have looked dumb. I didn’t want stupid-looking Stormtroopers and now I feel better.”
He raised a cellphone and took a picture.
The quiet in the room was not reverence so much as the sound of “Star Wars” nerds soaking in the details of actual costumes, actual props. “You have to understand, there’s been so much CGI effects in the most recent (‘Star Wars’) movies that it’s kind of striking to be standing in a room with new things from a ‘Star Wars’ movie,” said Jeff Cameron, of Chino Hills.
A man with a Yoda strapped to his back noted that the mask of Kylo Ren – the Darth Vader of “Force Awakens,” in a sense – looks like a disco-era Motocross mask. Others noted an apparent Afghan influence, fashions that looked cobbled together (intentionally), as though the characters of the new films are scavenging the clothing and styles of characters who debuted in the ’70s.
Fashion-wise, it was a hit.
And standing to the side, listening to all this, was Will Steggle, the wardrobe master on “Force Awakens.” He wore short pants and tan high-top sneakers and a hat that only said “VII” (which was actually his hat from the production). Asked about the risk of adding new details to a universe so pawed over, he said: “Things change, someone has to take the risk.” But in general, he said, the response has seemed promising: He didn’t hear anyone complaining about anything, which, considering the pickiness of the average “Star Wars” fan, can be viewed as a victory.
“I kind of can’t help listening, basically ear-wigging it, here,” he said. “A lot of people put a lot of work into this and sweat and heart, and you want to know the reaction. And I think J.J. Abrams (the director) was so smart in that he didn’t want to put his mark on this world – he was sympathetic to working within the world that he stepped into, and that’s very wise.”
The Stormtroopers are a hit.
“They are,” Steggle said. “And again, the key there is, same ingredients, slightly different take, a natural evolution. And I think, in there (in the room), people get it.”
