This post is part of my coverage of an expense-paid press trip with Disney and ABC TV but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
To kick off our amazing 4 days of Disney-ABCtv-Star Wars Rebels fun, our group of 25 bloggers attended a Star Wars Day “May the 4th Be With You” dinner at Preston’s Restaurant inside Loew’s Hotel with Vanessa Marshall (voice of Hera in the upcoming Disney XD series, STAR WARS REBELS), a few Storm Troopers, R2D2, and a brand new droid named Chopper.
After mingling and eating, we sat down with Vanessa Marshall to discuss the new animated series and watch a few top-secret, never-before-seen clips. Even though I can’t share those quite yet, I can certainly tell you that I am so excited for Star Wars Rebels to debut on Disney XD this fall!
About Star Wars Rebels
“Star Wars Rebels” continues the epic tradition of the legendary Star Wars saga with all-new exciting, action-packed adventures. It is a dark time in the galaxy, as the evil Galactic Empire tightens its grip of power from world to world. As the series begins, Imperial forces have occupied a remote planet, ruling with an iron fist and ruining the lives of its people. The clever and motley crew of the starship Ghost is amongst a select few who are brave enough to stand against the Empire. Together, this ragtag group will face threatening new villains, encounter colorful adversaries, embark on thrilling adventures and become heroes with the power to ignite a rebellion.
Star Wars Rebels – Back to the basics
Vanessa explained that Star Wars Rebels goes back to the basics and adopts the tone of the original Star Wars. It actually takes place 5 years before episode 1, when Luke and Leia are just pre-teens. Vanessa’s character, Hera, is a strong-minded, independent Twi’lek who is the owner and pilot of the starship Ghost. Hera is the kind of hero that boys and girls alike can identify with. When creating Hera, they didn’t set out to create a strong female character. They set out to create a strong character…and she happened to be a girl. Vanessa said that she loves portraying Hera, not only because she has such a strong personality, but because she is a great role model for boys and girls.
When asked how she felt about getting a part in this new Star Wars series, Vanessa confessed that she is a huge Star Wars nerd. In fact, when she was offered the job, she fell to her knees and started crying.
STAR WARS REBELS – Recording session. (DISNEY XD/Rick Rowell)
BEN DISKIN, TIYA SIRCAR, VANESSA MARSHALL, TAYLOR GRAY, FREDDIE PRINZE JR.
Star Wars Rebels is unique in the voice-over world in that the cast is recording each episode as a group rather than individually. They get into one big recording studio and record their dialog together. Vanessa says that it’s fun to see how each actor has begun to act a little like their characters within their little Rebels “family” – Vanessa is the “mom” of the group and keeps everyone fed. Freddie Prinze Jr. (who plays Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi Padawan) has taken on the role of mentor and teacher to Taylor Gray (who plays a human teen who is mentored by Jarrus).
STAR WARS REBELS – Recording session. (DISNEY XD/Rick Rowell)
STEVE BLUM, VANESSA MARSHALL, DAVE FILONI (DIRECTOR), TIYA SIRCAR, FREDDIE PRINZE JR., TAYLOR GRAY
To get viewers up to speed on the new characters in Star Wars Rebels, Disney XD will start rolling out character shorts in August before the series starts in the fall. I might just be sharing them here as well!
Follow @DisneyChannelPR and @StarWars for the latest news on #StarWarsRebels. Check out the just-released trailer on my post HERE.
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