I Am C-3PO - The Inside Story by Anthony Daniels

Author:Anthony Daniels [Daniels, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781465492562
Publisher: DK Publishing
Published: 2019-11-04T16:00:00+00:00

42 ride

1986 – Flower Street – Burbank – California.

Tom Fitzgerald sat behind his desk. He was the creative director-producer. He and his fellow Imagineers would combine talents with Lucasfilm and ILM to create a thrilling ride in the Disney theme parks. In his simple office, he conjured the most extraordinary adventure in the air between us, simply with his voice and gestures. He was describing, with vivid energy, the Star Tours experience.

Guests would be hurled into space, under the incompetent piloting skills of Captain Rex. Being his first day on the job, there would inevitably be some problems. This meant experiencing many of the most dramatic and exciting moments from the three Star Wars movies – the viewport screen constantly alive with a seamless view of the drama, with the passengers seat-belted into the hurtling flight simulator. Thrilling!

Entering the spaceport prior to departure, the guest would be immersed into the world of space travel. While weird announcements and flight information filled the air, passengers followed a snaking path. It led them past a StarSpeeder 3000, similar to the vehicle they would soon be boarding. This particular one was currently under repair. Artoo doing the mechanics – Threepio directing from a control platform, up above them. Things would not go well, especially with the craft’s space cannons about to explode. This was where I would come in.

I stood before the camera, in front of a mock-up of the control console, in an otherwise empty studio. Tom directed my performance, as I instructed and cajoled an eyeline that was the non-existent Artoo. I was wearing jeans and a shirt – and a sandbag. The latter kept my feet steady, in one place. My left leg would be the conduit for all the wires needed to activate the animatronic figure I would become.

Tom and I had such fun, as we recorded the 12-minute performance that would eventually be an endless loop in the parks. And that would include Paris Disney. So I recorded the lines in French as well. Months later, they realised that the French take twice as long to say anything. So we had to re-record a truncated script to fit with the animatronic programming. But I was concerned that the talented team of Imagineers, the utterly brilliant and inventive team who actually create the experiences at Disney parks, would make Threepio too human. I impertinently briefed the animation programmer, that this droid’s movements were unique. David Feiten listened impassively. I just hoped I had made myself clear.

Many months later, in the middle of the night – a time when installations and maintenance are done at Disney parks – I stood in the new but empty spaceport. There was Threepio, going through his procedures. It was uncanny. He was just as real as if I were inside. David had done a stupendously good job. Later I would tell him my ecstatic reaction. He would smile, slightly. He always did a good job.

But now I stood there alone. When we’d filmed the sequence, Tom directed me to put a glance down, towards where the audience would be passing through.

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