Disney+ has shaken up the galaxy far, distant with the debut of the animated miniseries constructed brick-by-brick titled, “Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy.”
Out now (having arrived on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024), this four-piece, family-friendly present revolves round a mild-mannered nerf-herder named Sig Greebling who unintentionally discovers the traditional Cornerstone relic inside a forgotten Jedi temple. This triggers a jumbled rearrangement of your complete “Star Wars” universe and shenanigans guarantee.
Sig is quickly plunged right into a wild journey inside this bizarre twisted model of the “Star Wars” world the place villains and heroes swap locations and the destiny of actuality is determined by this unlikely savior to suit the items again collectively once more. Ewok bounty hunters? Surfer dude Luke? Insurgent AT-AT Walkers? Darth Jar Jar? We have all of them!
Written and government produced by showrunners Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, who’re no strangers to comedic animated movies after penning “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” “Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” and “The Addams Household 2,” “Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy” was an ideal pure match for the pair.
“We return just a few years with Lucasfilm and Lego,” Hernandez tells Area.com. “After they made the ‘Lego Star Wars Vacation Particular’ just a few years again, we helped out slightly on it, pitching jokes and concepts. We stored that relationship up and we actually hit it off with everybody over there. I believe they noticed what huge Lego and ‘Star Wars’ followers we had been. My love of each of these issues return so far as I can keep in mind.
“This yr is the twenty fifth anniversary of the Lego Star Wars partnership and they also wished to go massive to have fun that. So that they got here to us and we considered what we may do to make one thing actually particular this time, that is slightly greater in scope and really feel than the earlier Lego Star Wars content material that we have carried out.”
Hernandez and Samit dove into the venture with unbridled enthusiasm and commenced speaking about making a collection that may very well be a real celebration of Lego Star Wars. Tossing the “Star Wars” galaxy right into a cosmic salad-spinner was already an concept previous to bringing in Darth Jar Jar they usually made certain that content material dictated the shape.
“As soon as we realized that we had the platform to truly do one thing like Darth Jar Jar, we thought there may not be one other alternative to do that and perhaps we should always simply go for it,” Samit recollects. “This was a special model of the story and an opportunity to see one other facet of the character we might by no means get to see once more. And to have characters that would by no means work together in the primary ‘Star Wars’ canon have full scenes collectively. What would that be like? We had been fortunate sufficient to be given the inexperienced gentle and provides it a shot.”
The inventive crew’s associations with George Lucas’s area fantasy began at an early age, with Hernandez inheriting his older brother’s “Star Wars” toys as a child.
“So, I had these traditional figures from a really younger age and I nonetheless have them to at the present time,” he notes. “There actually was by no means a time when ‘Star Wars’ was not part of my consciousness. I believe for individuals like us, there is a vocabulary that is fashioned while you love and research one thing over the course of many many years. When you communicate that language it turns into enjoyable to be playful with it. What are the idiosyncratic parts of this galaxy that we’re all fluent in as followers? And Lego Star Wars provides you that excellent means to be slightly bit extra self-referential or extra conscious of memes.
“Having that fluency in ‘Star Wars’ lore and the iconography, the vocabulary, the characters, enabled us to inform a narrative that may very well be lighthearted and humorous as a result of we’ve a comedy background. Sure, it is humorous and a bit off-kilter from issues we have seen earlier than, however we sort of simply wrote it as if it had been an incredible ‘Star Wars’ journey and we hope that comes by.”
Samit grew up obsessive about Lego and “Star Wars” at a time when there have been no official Lego Star Wars units within the late ’80s or early ’90s.
“I used to be enjoying ‘Star Wars’ with common generic Legos,” Samit says. “It is all the time had that playful really feel the place you are creating this world. That is what Lego is all about, and we tried to maintain that very same spirit on this miniseries. It is nonetheless about that celebration of play and creativity, and the truth of dumping that factor of Legos on the bottom and matching all of it up. To have the ability to do this within the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy was actually cool.”
“Rebuild the Galaxy” showcases the voices of Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Gaten Matarazzo (Sig Greebling), Bobby Moynihan (Jedi Bob), Tony Revolori (Dev Greebling), Marsai Martin (Yesi Scala), Michael Cusack (Servo), and Ahmed Greatest (Darth Jar Jar).
“We led all the recording classes,” Hernandez provides. “It is one of many issues that we take loads of satisfaction in. I believe that we domesticate a extremely enjoyable, fluid and improvisational setting once we file. Gaten Matarazzo is so gifted and his work on ‘Stranger Issues’ is unimaginable. I had the pleasure of seeing him in ‘Sweeney Todd’ on Broadway and he is only a nice performer. He is received a star high quality, he is magnetic, he is type, and he is a large ‘Star Wars’ fan.
“Bobby Moynihan has been concerned with loads of ‘Star Wars’ stuff. We stated, ‘Who ought to play Jedi Bob? Who’s the funniest Bob or Bobby we all know?’ And it was clearly Bobby Moynihan. We actually approached the vocal forged as making an attempt to place collectively an ensemble in a lot the identical manner you’d do in a theater firm. Totally different tonalities. Totally different voices. Even a number of the components which are smaller are actually a part of an all-star crew of traditional ‘Star Wars’ performers who’ve been in ‘Clone Wars’ or ‘Rebels.'”
Samit admits that with the ability to play with Lego Star Wars like he has his whole life, however now as a job, has been a dream come true.
“And having helped create these Lego units for the present just like the Darkish Falcon that is bought out in every single place now. To see that each one the followers are in settlement is superior and it has been so rewarding. Everybody at Lego, Lucasfilm and Atomic Cartoons and your complete crew, we’re all mates now and we have had a blast making this factor.”
For Hernandez, getting so as to add even a scintilla of one thing new to the legacy of “Star Wars” has been really gratifying.
“It is one thing that Benji and I’ve dreamed about doing our entire lives, and that is probably not an exaggeration. We would speak about it in faculty. If we may write a ‘Star Wars’ story, what would we put in it? Then as we had been beginning this venture we stated, ‘Keep in mind that Ewok bounty hunter concept we had twenty years in the past? It is time to attempt it.’ And we have by no means seen nerf-herding on display earlier than. That is really the primary time that we’ll see what a scruffy-looking nerf-herder is all about.”
“Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy” is offered to observe now on Disney+.
