Tuesday November 17, 1998 was the day the first TPM trailer dropped (it went online a few days later) in a select few theaters across the country and on just about every channel on t.v..
Decider has a piece on how this was the first event trailer. Here’s my recollection from 10 years ago.
Also at Fan X last weekend was this wedding, between an Obi-Wan and a Satine cosplayer, and officiated by TCW alumni James Arnold Taylor and Anna Graves. How awesome is that?
Video by Andrew Gallup
Every Hallowee, fans send in photos of themselves, their kids, and their pets in Star Wars-related costumes in the quest for fabulous prizes on Rebelscum.com.
This year, there’s a special twist to celebrate TPM’s 10th anniversary:
Since this year is the anniversary of The Phantom Menace, we’d like to see a the letter “E” and the number “1” soemwhere in the photo with you. Carved into a pumpkin, written on a flag, or just spelling it out with your fingers – however you want to incorporate “E1” into the photo. Just remember, we need to see it in the picture. Get creative!
For more details, visit the contest rules page.
A friend of mine sent me a jif of the cover art he made for the German SW magazine “Journal of the Whills.” This upcoming issue commemorates the 10th anniversary of TPM’s release in Germany and the cover art mixes Jar Jar with a little Warhol:
Celebrating 10 years of TPM goodness, Hasbro will have a special Qui-Gon and Eopie figure available this fall as a mail-in offer. I’m guessing it will operate the same way as previous mail-in offers: you buy figures with a sticker (in this case a Darth Maul sticker), collect X amount of proofs of purchase, send them in, and voila, 6-8 weeks later you get your free figure.
I’m sure more details will be forthcoming at Comic Con.
This article on Popcorn Monster was posted while I was away last week, on May 19 to be exact, so I’m highlighting it today.
From “Topeka” at the MillenniumFalcon.com forum:
The build-up to this film was an epic adventure in and of itself: Lynne’s Diaries on the website, the fast food tie-ins, Duel of the Fates, the soda cans, the toys. The teaser trailer that is absolutely perfect, opening slowly with that clouded swamp, then exploding with Johnny Williams’ theme set over the podrace. I don’t think the excitement and anticipation before this film can ever be repeated.
I saw it in ’99 just once. I liked it, but after Episode II was released I sort of dismissed it as the necessary ‘introduction film.’ Looking at it now without critical opinion, I can only admire Lucas’ fight to be entirely independent. He’s not a sellout as some will say. He hasn’t ‘lost touch’ with Star Wars. He has simply made a movie exactly as he wanted it. In his first Star Wars outline, the story is narrated by the padawaan to the revered Jedi-Bendu, Mace Windy. This is the story that Lucas has always wanted to tell. It’s not about flat dialogue and Jar Jar’s antics; it’s about themes, and to appreciate those themes you have to look at Kurosawa’s films, Joseph Campbell’s analysis of mythology, the Republic serials of the 40s and 50s, and Lucas’ mentality after the Vietnam War and dealing with the Hollywood system.
I love Episode I. I think it’s a fantastic story. It’s George Lucas’ story, and it has been a blast to go along for the ride.
Since I will be offline May 19, I will post today my retrospective on TPM 10 years later:
Popcornmonster has posted a list of its Top 10 greatest memories of anticipating TPM. Go back in time and experience the fun and mania of 1999.
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