Star Wars Begins, An Insightful Documentary
Here’s a fascinating 2-hour-19-minute documentary on the making of Star Wars, compiled by Jamie Benning, with commentary by George Lucas, Gary Kurtz, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, John Williams, John Mollo and others in the cast and crew.
See the original Jabba the Hutt! Watch the deleted Anchorhead scenes! Hear Darth Vader as voiced by David Prowse!
Available on Vimeo here.
Daniel on Dagobah
Here’s a video from a UK children’s show, Jim’ll Fix It. This episode aired in early 1980, prior to the release of The Empire Strikes Back. Daniel’s visit to Dagobah was taped months earlier while filming continued on the bog planet set at Elstree Studios.
Did you know that Artoo-Detoo can teleport picnic baskets?
Enjoy the trip:
http://youtu.be/f98TW0-_10c
Theme from The Prisoner
It’s a joy to listen to Ron Granier’s theme for The Prisoner. Here is the full version without the ancillary sound effects:
Just the opening:
And the closing:
For kicks, “High Wire” by the Edwin Astley Orchestra, the theme used for the second series of Danger Man, the precursor to The Prisoner:
In America, the second season was retitled Secret Agent, with the theme song performed by Johnny Rivers:
I Am Not a Number
After Secret Agent/Danger Man, actor Patrick McGoohan co-created his next series, The Prisoner. In it, his character is a British secret agent who resigns from his job because “I know too much.” He is kidnapped, held captive in a place called The Village, and labeled Number Six. The Village was run by Number Two. But who was Number One?
There’s a clue in the opening sequence.
Number Six asks, “Who is Number One?”
Number Two replies, “You are Number Six.”
Put a comma after “are,” and note Leo McKern’s emphasis on “You.”
“Who is Number One?”
“You are, Number Six.”
Be seeing you!
The Theme to Danger Man
Secret Agent was made as Danger Man in England. Edwin Astley composed the theme for the second series/season, entitled “High Wire.” Here it is:
Music from Danger Man, Secret Agent and The Prisoner was sold on vinyl records, and can be heard on the internet here.
The Disney Videos of Jim Korkis
In July this year, animation historian and Disney expert Jim Korkis hosted a video, “Walter E. Disney’s Love of Steam Trains,” which can be found here: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/news/steam-trains/
Now he has another video he wrote and narrated, “The Fabric of Holiday Storytelling at Epcot,” online here: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/news/hatw-video-2011/
Jim talks about the Holiday Storytellers at Epcot, and in particular how the costumes contribute to the story. It’s amazing how the Mouse House craftsmen invest so much detail and care into their work.
