So how did C-3PO get that red arm in The Force Awakens?

One of the few characters to appear in every movie of the Star Wars sage to date, C-3P0 -- the protocol droid who along with his astromech companion R2-D2 have become pop culture icons -- was showing some age in Episode VII: The Force Awakens having lost one of his limbs and featuring a bright red replacement to it in the film.  Director J.J. Abrams has mentioned in several interviews that this was meant to differentiate the appearance from Return of the Jedi as a visual tool showing numerous years had transpired between the events portrayed within the two films and many new adventures had taken place by the time The Force Awakens begins.  Of course most movie watchers probably figured that out just by seeing Han Solo and Leia Organa's grey hair.  That being said, C-3P0's red arm was a very noticeable element of the film for long-time Star Wars fans that was never explained in the new movie.

If you were irked by not knowing the back story behind C-3P0's new arm you won't have to wait much longer to find out all the details.  Marvel will have a special one-shot comic book issue arriving on store shelves Wednesday March 30, 2016 that promises to provide readers with the details of this The Force Awakens teaser.  Check out a preview of this upcoming comic book:



Star Wars: C-3P0 #1 will be 40 pages and retail for $4.99 (US).   The comic book was written by James Robinson with artwork by Tony Harris.  Originally slated to go on sale December 2, 2015 before The Force Awakens was released in theaters, approvals from LucasFilm delayed production until the current March release date.  Based upon the original release date of the comic book prior to The Force Awakens arriving at theaters and the awkwardness of the C-3P0 scene in the movie you just have to wonder if Disney orchestrated a tie-in between the publishing and film aspects of its corporate family that went awry which may make this an extra special collectible item to pick up.

So if you are curious about C-3P0's red arm the mystery will soon be revealed.  Stop by your local comic book store or download a digital edition through an online source such as Comixology on March 30.

ENJOY AN OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD SNACK MADE FROM GENERAL MILLS CEREAL & YOPLAIT GO-GURT

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias and its advertiser.  All opinions are mine alone. #AwakenYourTastebuds #CollectiveBias

 
Who isn't excited about the new Star Wars™ movie that will be hitting theaters in December?! I've been a fan of these movies since I was six and am so excited to share the experience of enjoying a brand new film together with my six year old twins.  To get them up to speed on all the characters and canon from past films, we devoted a weekend for a movie marathon viewing the original trilogy. Of course if you're going to be having a movie marathon you need something fun to snack on so we made an out-of-this-world treat to enjoy.

Cereal doesn't need to just be for breakfast! We combined General Mills Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal with Yoplait Star Wars™ Strawberry Smoothie Go-Gurt® to create futuristic looking popsicle treats.  Throw in some blue milk to drink along with it and you have a great snack that looks like it could have been served in a scene from a sci-fi movie.

We made a quick visit over to our local Walmart to pickup all the supplies we needed including Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal, Star Wars™ Go-Gurt®, popsicle molds, and wooden sticks so as my daughter would say making these treats ourselves was "easy peasy."  Not only did my kids really find these snacks to be a tasty treat but they had a blast helping out in the kitchen making them which was an activity that really enhanced our movie marathon experience.

 Here are some simple DIY instructions for these out-of-this-world snacks:

Cereal Freezes

The Cereal Freezes are a great mixture of the smooth strawberry taste of Yoplait Go-Gurt® blended with fruity flavored cereal and marshmallows from General Mills Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal to provide a crunchy texture.

Ingredients:

1 Large Banana;
1 Cup of Yoplait StrawBerry Smoothie Go-Gurt®;
1/2 Cup of Milk;
1/2 Cup of General Mills Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal.

Directions:

• In a bowl mix up the banana until mashed and smooth;

• Slowly add in the Go-Gurt® and milk to the ball.  Mix until blended with the banana mash;

• Add Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal to the mixture.  Make sure to stir by hand at this point to avoid crushing the marshmallows and cereal;

• Pour the mix into popsicle molds. Insert a wooden popsicle stick as a handle.  Freeze for 8 hours until solid;

• Once frozen, place the popsicle molds under the kitchen faucet and  spray with warm water.  Gently pull the Cereal Freezes from their popsicle molds.

Blue Milk

Feel like a hero from Star Wars™ by enjoying some Blue Milk along with your Cereal Freeze.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Milk;
1/2 teaspoon of unsweetened blue fruit punch mix;
1/2 teaspoon of sugar.

Directions:

• Pour the milk into a tall glass and gently stir in the blue fruit punch mix;

• The drink should initially be lightly tinted blue.  Add more of the fruit punch mix to get a darker color if you desire;

• Add sugar to sweeten the taste.

Voila! There you have it some delicious and simple to make snacks that can provide some out-of-this-world flair for a party, family game night, or a movie watching marathon.  My kids really love this snack and I'm sure yours will too!

Do you have any favorite snacks you like to make for Family Movie Nights? Find more #AwakenYourTastebuds inspiration here.

R2-KT Bunny Ears Patch Supports Easter Seals

My daughter likes to add buttons, charms and patches to her backpack throughout the school year to personalize and make it her own unique thing.  One of the neat things we've discovered to add to it are Star Wars inspired patches of a little pink droid called R2-KT that come out around holidays and special events meant to keep a little girl's memory alive and support various charities.  The most recent patch features artwork by Dave Lieu illustrating R2-KT wearing bunny ears and all proceeds  support Easter Seals.  Each patch is $7.00 and includes free shipping.  You can order patches and pay for them via paypal to r2kt@r2kt.com

There is a special story behind R2-KT.  In 2005 a little girl named Katie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Katie loved Star Wars (like her father Ablin - the founder of the 501st Legion Star Wars fan club) and loved the color pink. When her health declined to the point she couldn't get out of bed, she said she wished she had a droid to watch over her like R2-D2 watched over a sleeping Padme in the Star Wars movie Attack of the Clones.  Word of Katie's illness spread throughout the Star Wars fan community and another club of fans that makes authentic recreations of droids from the Star Wars movies called The R2 Builders knew this was a job for them, and in mere months they constructed a custom R2 unit all painted in pink and dubbed it  R2-KT. It rolled, it blinked, it even talked: Katie had a droid to watch over her! And she kept KT by her bedside through her final days.  Katie passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 9, 2005.

Katie's legacy lives on in her pink companion. R2-KT now tours the world, spreading the joy to Star Wars fans and a message of hope for kids who suffer childhood illnesses. R2-KT attends fan conventions, visits sick children in hospitals, appears in parades, inspires young girls that Star Wars has a place for them, and helps raise funds for a wide range of charities. In 2007 Hasbro produced an R2-KT action figure, which raised $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2008 Dave Filoni of Lucasfilm featured the droid in a cameo role in the Clone Wars animated feature film, making her a canon member of the Star Wars universe! In 2013 KT appeared in the Star Wars Weekends parade in Disney World, then traveled to be a guest of honor at Celebration Europe II in Germany. R2-KT has become a symbol of everything Star Wars fandom has come to represent: spreading the magic of hope.

 For more information about R2-KT visit  www.r2kt.com

See the Star Wars Movies LEGOized on Disney XD

Cartoon Network and Disney's cable network equivalent, Disney XD, have featured over the years LEGO themed television specials called the YODA CHRONICLES that are a fun spoof of the Star Wars space opera.  These humorous adventures are a show that my kids and I equally enjoy and it is always nice to be able to watch a show together that everyone in the family likes (yes we even find my wife who claims to not really like Star Wars sitting on the couch with us whenever these shows come on chuckling at the jokes and slapstick humor in them).  So we were all really excited to hear that based upon the popularity of the YODA CHRONICLES and the new animated hit series STAR WARS: REBELS that Disney XD to help promote the upcoming feature film STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS will be retelling the original six movies in half hour LEGOized tv specials.

LEGO / STAR WARS: DROID TALES which will air on Disney XD later this year will consist of five 22-minute episodes that will re-tell the Star Wars saga in chronological order from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace through Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.  Taking place in a LEGO universe, Droid Tales will start with R2D2 and C3PO beginning to tell the Star Wars story from their perspective during the victory celebration at the Ewok village on Endor that took place at the conclusion of Return of the Jedi.  An accidental kidnapping occurs while the droids are reminiscing and viewers are taken on a new adventure that leads to encounters with familiar faces and places that prompt the retelling of the entire saga.

Through a press release, Jill Wilfert, vice president of licensing and entertainment for The LEGO Group, provides some insight into this new LEGO/STAR WARS collaboration:

Since we introduced our first LEGO Star Wars set in 1999, we have seen and heard from countless Star Wars fans who have used LEGO bricks to tell their own version of this timeless story, re-enacting favorite scenes and imagining new story lines.  LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales gives us an opportunity to share highlights of the Star Wars story with a sense of humor and excitement that can only be conveyed through the LEGO brick, and will be a fun resource for families as they gear up for the next movie.

Keep your eyes peeled for more information about when LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales will be airing on Disney XD as the countdown for The Force Awakens December premiere begins.

Droids Need Hugs Too: R2-KT Valentine's Day Patch Raises Money for Make-A-Wish

When you see stormtroopers and other Star Wars characters at public events they are normally part of an organization of move fans called the 501st Legion whose members focus on creating authentic-looking costumes for cosplay, special appearances, and charitable work.  Since being formed by Albin Johnson in 1997 the group has expanded from a handful of people carefully recreating stormtrooper uniforms to having more than 6,500 active members with "garrisons" located throughout the world portraying Star Wars bad guys ranging from Tusken Raiders to TIE fighter pilots.  Locally, we have a very active group called the Great Lakes Garrison: 501st Legion - Michigan Chapter which is involved in events such as the Detroit Tigers Star Wars Night, Free Comic Book Day, Star Wars Reads Day, and the Great Lakes Comic-Con among numerous other appearances throughout the year.  Across the country you will also occasionally encounter a pink astromech droid named R2-KT making an appearance with members of the 501st Legion to meet with children in a hospital or promote the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

courtesy www.r2kt.com

For a $7 donation with proceeds benefiting Make-A-Wish you can purchase a R2-KT Valentine's Day embroidered patch designed by Juan José Matamoros featuring the little pink droid showing some love to the 501st Legion members who always wear uniforms of the color that symbolizes this special day.  There will be a limited number of these patches made and delivery is scheduled to be by Valentine's Day (Feb 14) so if you are interested get your order in now!  $7 via paypal to r2kt@r2kt.com  I know my daughter likes to have us sew patches like these on her backpack for school so this will be a special treat for her.

There is a special story behind R2-KT.  In 2005 a little girl named Katie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Katie loved Star Wars (like her father Ablin - the founder of the 501st Legion) and loved the color pink. When her health declined to the point she couldn't get out of bed, she said she wished she had a droid to watch over her like R2-D2 watched over a sleeping Padme in the Star Wars movie Attack of the Clones.  Word of Katie's illness spread throughout the Star Wars fan community and another club of fans that makes authentic recreations of droids from the Star Wars movies called The R2 Builders knew this was a job for them, and in mere months they constructed a custom R2 unit all painted in pink and dubbed her R2-KT. It rolled, it blinked, it even talked: Katie had a droid to watch over her! And she kept KT by her bedside through her final days.  Katie passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 9, 2005.

Katie's legacy lives on in her pink companion. R2-KT now tours the world, spreading the joy to Star Wars fans and a message of hope for kids who suffer childhood illnesses. R2-KT attends fan conventions, visits sick children in hospitals, appears in parades, inspires young girls that Star Wars has a place for them, and helps raise funds for a wide range of charities. In 2007 Hasbro produced an R2-KT action figure, which raised $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2008 Dave Filoni of Lucasfilm featured the droid in a cameo role in the Clone Wars animated feature film, making her a canon member of the Star Wars universe! In 2013 KT appeared in the Star Wars Weekends parade in Disney World, then traveled to be a guest of honor at Celebration Europe II in Germany. R2-KT has become a symbol of everything Star Wars fandom has come to represent: spreading the magic of hope. 

courtesy www.r2kt.com

For more information about R2-KT visit  www.r2kt.com

courtesy www.r2kt.com

Aspiring Athletic Wear Designer Creates Stellar Star Wars Themed Soccer Uniforms

The indoor soccer team I play on thought we were sporting some great jerseys when we selected the stormtrooper themed shirt pictured above to wear during games for our most recent season.  We were put to shame though by an aspiring clothing designer named Nerea Palacios who has showcased a line of Star Wars themed soccer kits (what serious players and fans call uniforms) on her website that are pretty fantastic.  Hoping to garner the attention of Nike or another sporting attire brand to hire her to professionally design soccer kits, Palacios created a number of outfits tied to specific Star Wars characters to demonstrate her talents and gain some attention.

The soccer kit themes include Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Obi-wan Kenobi, R2-D2, C-3P0, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and Stormtrooper.  All of them are impressive, most impressive ... though my favorites out of the bunch are the the droids R2-D2 and C-3P0.

To check out the full gallery of her Star Wars soccer kits visit www.behance.net/nereapalcacios.  Good luck with your job hunt and fashion designing career Nerea - May the Force be with You!

Watch Disney's Star Wars Rebels for FREE on iTunes

Disney debuted the newest edition to the Star Wars saga when it aired a one hour special last week on Disney Channel titled "Sparks of Rebellion" to launch its new animated television show titled REBELS.  Half-hour episodes of Rebels will then begin airing on the Disney XD cable channel each week on Mondays at 9pm ET/PT beginning October 13th.  Can't wait until October 13th to watch the show's first new episode "Droids in Distress" or don't have access to Disney XD on your cable lineup?  Then you may want to visit iTunes which is providing FREE downloads of "Droids in Distress" for a limited time to promote Star Wars: Rebels and its iTunes season download passes that are being sold for $29.99.  For the time being though the price for the season's first episode is listed as FREE and you can download it at no charge. 

Disney's Star Wars: Rebels television series is set 5 years before the original 1977 movie (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) and fourteen years after the defeat of the Jedi Order and creation of the Empire (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith) in the Star Wars story timeline.  The show focuses on the crew of a space freighter called the Ghost that has banded together to tackle the Empire in an effort to spark a rebellion against it.  CLICK HERE for more details about Disney's Star Wars: Rebels from a previous A Geek Daddy blog post.

While this is a new television show it has many of the features that so many people love from the original trilogy of movies.  There is a focus on the force as a mysterious power (rather than some midi-cholorian over explanation from the prequel movies) with one of the last Jedi taking on a new youthful and rambunctious apprentice; a beat up freighter akin to the Millennium Falcon; a quirky droid named Chopper similar to R2D2 but yet with its own unique personality; and lots of storm troopers and TIE fighters that are the images people most identify with when characterizing "the Empire."  While Disney's Rebels takes a lot of cues from classic Star Wars cannon it also sets itself apart with new characters and locations.  The crew of the Ghost isn't made up of established Star Wars characters but rather are all brand new creations to give the series its own unique identity and the principal villain isn't the figure that is often the face of the Star Wars franchise, Darth Vader, but rather the newly introduced Inquisitor.

Rebels succeeds where the prequel movies failed in that it embraces the heritage and elements of the original movies that my generation loved but still has enough new twists and angles to make it interesting to younger audiences.  I watched the one hour Disney Channel movie with my children and we both enjoyed it but for different reasons.  I enjoyed it for the sense of magic and unknown the show returned to the power of the force, the Ralph McQuarrie inspired touches that the artistic team added to the show, the John Williams Star Wars musical score and seeing TIE fighters and star destroyers flying across a screen again.  Meanwhile my kids enjoyed the comedic elements of the show, loved the baby wookiee rescue scene, appreciated the rebellious youth character Ezra who they could relate to, and were excited to share in something with their dad they know I have a passion and appreciation for.  This show did a nice job of bringing together two generations to mutually enjoy a science fiction space opera together.  Disney has done a nice job with Star Wars: Rebels and this animated series get A Geek Daddy nod of approval.

CLICK HERE to download on  iTunes the #FREE "Droids in Distress" #Disney 's #StarWars Rebels episode.

Droids in Distress Episode Description

The crew of the Ghost intercepts a shipment of weapons intended for the Empire.  Along the way they also inadvertently pick up C-3PO and R2-D2 who are are  on a secret mission sent by Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan to prevent the weapons from falling into Imperial hands.  Meanwhile the Ghost continues to be chased by Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau.  The story eventually wraps up with R2-D2 providing Organa with information about this motley crew of rebels that helps keep his faith in becoming one of the founders of the Alliance to Restore the Republic (aka The Rebel Alliance)

Easter Eggs aren't just for the Holiday

When you hear the term "Easter Egg" the first thing that probably comes to mind is a furry bunny hiding colored eggs for children to find.  There is another term for "easter egg" though which can allow you to have fun hunting for things throughout the year rather than just around the Easter holiday.  Originating from a hidden message in the 1979 Atari video game ADVENTURE, the term "Easter Egg" now refers to a concealed joke or message in a video game, television show, or movie.  As with any good Easter Egg hunt, finding these treasures are tough to find and lots of fun when you discover them.

Easter Eggs received a lot of public attention a few years ago when Director J.J. Abrams slipped in an appearance of the Star Wars character R2D2 into his 2009 Star Trek movie.

R2D2 made a repeat appearance in 2013's Star Trek: Into Darkness:

In fact, R2D2 has been a popular Easter Egg that has been slipped in movies ranging from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Transformers.  Can you spot the droid from Star Wars in this scene from Close Encounters?

R2D2 was also carved into the wood of the pirate ship deck for the movies Goonies.  If you aren't looking you'd probably miss him.

Did you catch him in these scenes from the Transformers movies?

My favorite R2D2 Easter Egg though is the robot's appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The Egyptian hieroglyphs in some of the scenes contain images of R2D2 with famous golden sidekick C3PO.

Disney, which now owns the rights for the R2D2 character, is known for placing Easter Eggs in their films.  It will be interesting to see if they add some R2D2 appearances in their future productions.  While R2 didn't appear in Disney's most recent animated feature FROZEN, here are a few easter eggs they did add to the film.

In FROZEN, there is a Mickey Mouse toy sitting on the lower shelf of supplies at the Wandering Oaken's Trading Post & Sauna.

An inside joke with the film's production team, during Anna's big song "For the First Time in Forever" she leaps into the air mimicking the pose of the painting "The Swing."  This Rococo-era masterpiece by Jean-Honore Fragonard was credited by the artists who worked on the movie TANGLED as the inspiration for the visual look of their film.

Take a close look and you'll see that they imported the candy from the Land of Sugar Rush in the Disney movie WRECK IT RALPH for the treats at the royal coronation in FROZEN.

In another nod to TANGLED, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider are guests at Elsa's coronation in FROZEN. Some people have even suggest that this ties FROZEN to THE LITTLE MERMAID.  The theory is that Elsa & Anna's parents boat that sunk in FROZEN is the sunken ship in THE LITTLE MERMAID which went down in a storm on its way to the Return Celebration held for Rapunzel in TANGLED.  Rapunzel and Flynn Rider are attending the coronation out of respect for loss of Elsa & Anna's parents relating to their loss at sea.  "The Little Mermaid" was written by Hans Christian Andersen and is set in Denmark.  Andersen also wrote "The Snow Queen" which FROZEN is based on and takes place in Norway.  The story of "Rapunzel" is based in Germany so it appears transit along the path of these three stories would be feasible if they were featured in one combined fairy tale timeline.  Hmmm?

Another Disney acquisition that makes use of Easter Eggs in its films is Pixar.  The creative team is known for slipping "A113" into their movies which has appeared in every Pixar film since TOY STORY.  The inside joke is that this is the classroom number at California Institute of Arts where John Lasseter and his Pixar leadership team learned about animation.  Well in MONSTER'S UNIVERSITY this is the classroom where Mike & Sulley learn the art of scaring.

A Pizza Planet truck appears in almost every Pixar film and MONSTER'S UNIVERSITY is no exception.  The truck made famous in the TOY STORY movies is parked outside the JOX Fraternity house in this movie.

The ball featured in Pixar's first short film "Luxo Jr" has appeared as an Easter Egg in most of the studio's feature films.  In MONSTERS UNIVERSITY the Luxo Ball appears in graffiti on a wall in a scene during the Scare Games first challenge.

Pixar often plants Easter Eggs in its films that tie to an upcoming film.  In MONSTERS INC for example, Pixar teased FINDING NEMO by placing a Nemo doll in Boo's room.  In MONSTER'S UNIVERSITY, dinosaur toys are placed throughout the movie that look like the concept art for an upcoming Pixar movie titled THE GOOD DINOSAUR that was originally slated to hit theaters in 2014 and is now being released in 2015.  Could these be an Easter Egg for things to come?!

Once people are aware that these hidden images are included in movies, Easter Egg hunts can be a fun addition to the enjoyment of a film.  Not all movie related Easter Eggs are on the silver screen though.  Did you know there is a Darth Vader gargoyle included on the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.?

You need binoculars to see it...but Darth Vader is there!  Print out this PDF for more information on how to find him if you are taking a trip to the nation's Capital: www.nationalcathedral.org/pdfs/darth  It pays off to always be on the hunt for an Easter Egg!