The force was strong at the Anaheim Convention center last weekend. Star Wars Celebration 7 made it’s triumphant return to Southern California after an 8 year gap since the last one that took place there. Fans from all walks of life came out to spend 4 days immersed in all things from the Galaxy far, far away. The first day saw a very special panel with the director of Star Wars Episode 7, J.J. Abrams, as well as Kathleen Kennedy who is now president of LucasFilm and the films producer.They brought on new and veteran actors from the film and of course the amazing new teaser trailer from the film.
Amongst some of the other note worthy panels was the Star Wars Rebels presentation. The entire main voice cast was in attendance as well as supervising director Dave Filoni and producer Simon Kinberg. They treated the crowd to an amazing, extended trailer for season 2 of the hit Disney XD series, which will see the return of some very familiar, fan favorite characters.
This convention had an amazingly high volume of cosplayers from every possibly corner of the Star Wars universe. Stormtroopers, Madalorians, Jedi, and a whole heard of Star Wars Mash-Up costumes, could be seen roaming the exhibit hall. The creativity level was high and attendees really raised the bar for this one. Also littered throughout the exhibit hall were some very impressive set pieces including a replica of the famous Mos Eisley Cantina, which was a special place that only Star Wars Cosplayer could enter. A replica of the Holochess (dejarik) table with a section of the Millennium Falcon provide an exciting photo opp. for guests.
My two favorites were the full size Rancor (which was named Roxy by her creators) and the larger than life Imperial AT-AT. The exhibit hall was also filled with merchandise of every type for fans to spend their hard earned credits on. I personally came home with some great items I had been searching for. There was definitely something for old and new fans of Star Wars and its clear from the craziness that Star Wars is truly FOREVER… I hope you enjoy the photos.
*Photography by Emily Jones