Star Wars Day at the local Cubs and Beaver Group
March 11 2005
A last minute thing for me as I have been working flat out building another droid for C3 and finishing some props for a student theatre show.
However I am always up for entertaining kids.
Hook them and reel them into the Star Wars universe.
Grey_Starr asked if I wanted to bring R2 out as he is involved with the local 501st and they were contacted by the local Cubs Scout group to come on out and entertain the kids.
Thank goodness Grey_Starr has a van as disassembling and putting R2 in the car is quite labour intensive and I would have passed on the event.
With the van the preparation time was only about half an hour.
Dan helps Dan put on his costume
Another 501st gets ready
Almost ready to go. Now these suits were spotless.
Trooping looks fun
The gym we were in
Last minute pep speech and reminders on how to act around the kids and parents etc. Some rules but understandable to make the experience fun for everyone.
R2 is surrounded after he makes his entrance
No room for R2 to move. I have to be careful not to move suddenly or run over any kids feet. In situations like this I would just turn the head as if he is surveying the situation. If there are any kids that look frightened I will back right off. Line of sight is important to make sure everything is fine.
Posers
There were quite a few pictures taken that night.
Group shot with all the cubs
Of course some cubs were shy
Another group shot with only the 501st
R2s work is done and he is ready to go home and relax
The unglamorous side of trooping . Putting everything away
Man in tights
Normally I am too busy controlling R2 to take any photos. I have to keep up the illusion that he is real. That is just my personal preference. One trick I have learned is to control R2 with the radio behind my back. If the kids can not see the radio they don’t know who is controlling it. So much was going on that I did not have a chance to control the sounds individually or to turn the lights on in the HPs.