"Spark of Rebellion Pt. 1" (S1E1)

We start where it all began in 2014 when Star Wars Rebels entered the pop culture chat, sparking the beginning of The Ghost Crew being a mainstay in Star Wars fans' hearts. 

Jon sets the stage of where Star Wars and the world were when she show debuted back in 2014 as Vanessa, Tiya and Taylor reminisce about their first day in the booth, the weight of expectations entering a universe as prolific as Star Wars and share many other behind the scenes stories. It's a trip down memory lane revisiting the series premiere and it's all tied together at the end with fact checks from our in house Star Wars guru, J.C! 

This is where the fun begins....

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Coming off of Clone Wars, which is such a beloved series,
and I love Clone Wars and I love how there
are ties into Clone Wars throughout Rebels. Did you feel
pressure from that? And also was there any sort of,
for lack of a better word, like orientation of somebody saying, hey, FYI,
this might happen because I know that you're stepping into
a world with so many fans, with so many opinions.

(00:22):
On the one hand, it could be great when they
love you, but if they don't, it cannot be great.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Dave told us something that when he said it, I
didn't know what he meant. He was like, here's how
Star Wars fans are.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Hi everyone, or as Obi-Wan would say hello there, Hello there.
Don't we sound so polished and love rehearsed for our
first episode to debut on iHeartRadio for our Star Wars
Rebels rewatch podcast. How is everybody so good?

Speaker 3 (00:57):
I'm so excited about this.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, I'm it's hard to believe it's been well now
a little more than ten years, because we are in
like twenty twenty five now, which is crazy. But I'm
excited to get into this and I love you all
as people and performers, and I think this is just
going to be fun and we're for anyone listening. We're
just we're kind of figuring it out as we go.
But what we want to do is like when you

(01:20):
see a comic com Panels or in hall h we
want to just bring that to you each in every week.
And that's going to be the general idea of this.
So I guess should we officially like introduce the show
like maybe, yeah, sure, absolutely, Well, I can't think of
anyone better. I'm not that anyone's better. I'm not comparing
to anybody, but I feel like the most appropriate, I

(01:42):
think appropriate to throw to Vanessa first, because you are
Captain Hera, the Captain of the Ghost, our fearless leader.
So do you want to kick it off for our
intro that we may or may not have rehearsed. I
don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
Well, yes, absolutely. My name is Vanessa Marshall. I'm the
voice of Hera Syndulla from Star Wars Rebels. This is our
very special ten year reunion Rebels rewatch, and I am,
of course Spectre two, and I will hand it off
to the next spectre.

Speaker 5 (02:11):
Hi.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Hi, everyone, This is Tiya Sircar Sabine Wren specter five.
I'm very excited to be here with my friends and colleagues.
And we've got one more spectre for you.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Taylor Gray, Ezra Bridger Specter six, and this is Oh Well.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
I I am Jon Lee Brody nonspector. I did not
voice anyone in Star Wars Rebels. I wanted to say yet,
but the show is not on anymore. So that one.
Thanks everybody you are listening to Pot of Rebellion. This
is our Star Wars Rebels rewatch podcasts. I'm going to
be serving as the moderator to try to push some
of the discussions along, and we have three of the

(02:51):
amazing cast members here to give some insider info that
I'm going to try to pull out of you a
little bit. That's what you're in for. And with this
we're going to go over episode start. The course of
this podcast, we're also going to bring on some friends,
some guests. We're gonna have some bonus episodes down the
line where we'll explore the whole zeitgeist of Star Wars,
like video games and other TV shows, other movies, and

(03:12):
how it influenced the entire pop culture world. But today
we are going to be focused on Spark of Rebellion
Part one. We are going by the Disney Plus sequencing
because that's how we're rewatching it, and that's how you
can rewatch it along with us. So when you hear
let me say season one, episode one, even though technically
that was Spark of Rebellion, the TV movie, we're just

(03:34):
going by the sequencing once again on Disney Plus. So
a few fun facts as we go into this. This
first episode is going to be a little bit more
expositional for you all, but I just want to set
the stage of what we're getting into. This was a
year before The Force Awakens release, so in twenty fourteen.
Clone Wars and ended previously March seventh, twenty fourteen. We

(03:55):
have a when you're gonna hear me talk about someone
named JC and when I say that, that's our awesome producer,
Jasee Reifenberg, who is also going to be our fact
checker at the end of episodes. It's not jaz Chaise
from in Sick at least not yet, at least not today,
but maybe eventually. So Clone Wars will we've ended March seven,
twenty fourteen. Disney had purchased Lucasfilm two years prior to that,
and timeline wise, I believe fourteen years after the events

(04:18):
of Clone Wars, four or five years before the battle,
and it's definitely before Rogue one. And as far as
a fish original air date, there's a few here that
I see. September twenty sixth was for verified users on
Disney XD dot com, which was not me. The rest
of the world sat on October third, twenty fourteen on

(04:39):
Disney XD, which was also Mean Girls Day, so Aaron
Samuels was being asked what day it was from Katie Heron,
while we were also introduced to Star Wars Rebels and
fun fact, I believe Clone Wars also debuted on Mean
Girls Day back in two thousand and eight. And before
we get into the episode, I want also, because I

(05:00):
know this is a long time ago for you all
you recorded in twenty thirteen, right and then released in
twenty fourteen, I want to take the three of you
and our listeners back to what was going on in
the year twenty fourteen, which is a lifetime ago.

Speaker 4 (05:15):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
The average price of gas in California was two dollars
and twenty eight cents, just not what it is now. Unfortunately,
the President of the United States of America was Barack
Obama the Ice Bucket Challenge for als, when people were
putting buckets of ice and more than on themselves for als,
awareness was like the thing on social media. Jimmy Fallon

(05:36):
took over The Tonight Show and Taylor Swift this is
pre Travis Kelcey dropped her nineteen eighty nine album and
we were all shaking it off to tab So that
was just taking it back to twenty fourteen. And we
didn't even need Doc Browns Delrion to do it.

Speaker 5 (05:53):
We've never even heard of COVID.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
I know, which is dude, Which is going to be
an interesting point we can bring up, I think throughout
the course of this entire podcast is you were on
the booth together, which doesn't happen as much anymore, right
because remote became the norm out of necessity during COVID.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
Well not just anymore. I mean, I think a lot
of shows and animated films they don't have the luxury
or they don't give their actors the luxury of recording together.
We just we're super fortunate.

Speaker 5 (06:25):
I know.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
Clone Wars did the same thing. We got to record
as a cast every single episode, which is why we
like each other so much because we hung out every.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
Week for years, and which is why the chemistry is
so genuine and special when you listen, when you watch
these episodes, there's something like organic there and you're not
sure what it is, but I feel like there's a
direct correlation between when the cast is in one verom
recording for animation versus if it's been for lack of

(06:54):
better term, like Frankenstein together and piece together when people
do it separately. So that is really what makes one
of the many reasons why Star Wars Rebels is special.
So shall we get into this first episode and then
to our discussions? Do it so U for our listeners
and people who may consume a lot of podcasts like me,
you'll notice a lot of rewatch podcasts, they like to

(07:15):
just go beat by beat with the story and that
becomes the focal discussion point. And I enjoy that for
what it is. But we are the pot of rebellion,
so we're going to rebel against that a little bit.
So what we're going to do is I'm just going
to do a bit of a one to two minute
recap of the general idea of the episode, and then
from there We're going to just get an open discussion

(07:37):
and then whatever happens happens. If you all would be
so kind to listen to my recap, and then if
you hate the recap, then we can always scrap it.
But this is just the general idea. We'll see what
happened to them.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
I have at j are good.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
I'm glad you're not doing the hantle. I have a
bad feeling about it.

Speaker 5 (07:54):
I didn't want to speak up, but.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Let's stay on Brandon. At least it's so body is
saying that we got a bad mealing box. Okay, So
here comes to recap for season one, episode one, Spark Rebellion,
Part one. The episode begins with an ominous image of
multiple star destroyers, and we are then face to face
with Darth Vader, aka the most powerful villain to ever
have asthma and whose voice sounds a lot like Eddie
Murphy's dad, and coming to America. He is warning an

(08:19):
inquisitor of a possible Jedi youth uprising known as the
Children of the Force. We then moved to the planet
with Thal, where the Galactic Empire's reign appears to be
in full force. We get a glimpse of how day
to day life is for citizens of the Fall, and
among those citizens is young Ezra Bridger, who has one
of the best heads of hair in Star Wars history.
After Ezra shows a neck for helping fellow citizens while

(08:39):
also helping himself and a pastor for Yogan Fru, we
also meet another mysterious group of rebels who have no
problem being destructors to the Empire, and Ezra has no
problem being a destructor to this group of rebels. After
a speeder by showdown that would make Luke Skywalker on
the Forest mood of end or proud, Ezra ends up
on a VCX one hundred light freighter with these band
of rebels, stolen cargo and all after Ezra, whit is

(09:00):
his crew in action fighting off Imperial tie fighters, swoops
around the ship and finds mysterious artifacts, including a holocron
and lightsaber, and having a couple of fleeting conversation with
crew members, it becomes clear to Ezra that this group
he has come to contact with are a group of
do gooders and are like the Transformers, and that there's
more than MEETSTI. Though his curiosity intrigue are peaked, he

(09:20):
still wishes to return home to Lathal, But before that
can happen, this group of do good rebels must first
embark on a mission to free Wookies from an Imperial
star destroyer. Ezra hangs back with Hara, the ship's fearless
leader and captain, while the others infiltrate the star destroyer.
Ezra and US viewers then get to get the privilege
of witnessing Harrah's boss Lady's stads when she puts an
Imperial officer in his place over the commps in a

(09:41):
way that would make Jessica Pearson on Suits both envius
and proud, and thus that sets the stage for the
others to start the rescue mission. However, it soon becomes
evident that this whole mission was actually a setup. Harah
urges Ezra to go and board the others, which is
a foreign concept to this loner who's used to looking
out for himself. Ezra is now faced with a Jean
brey and like paradox where he has two choices in

(10:02):
front of him and he's not sure which direction to go.
The episode then leaves us hanging like Sylvester Stillone in
nineteen ninety three in the movie cliffhanger. What's the bernny question?
Will Ezer Bridger make like the title of a Spike
Lee movie and do the right thing?

Speaker 5 (10:18):
I was wrong? That was incredible, Taylor, Wow, that was amazing.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
I mean closing, Uh, the best villain with asthma never incredible?

Speaker 5 (10:31):
Question?

Speaker 2 (10:31):
Is cliffhanger from this the Vester Stalone movie? Is that
where we get a cliffhanger? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (10:36):
I mean from ninety three you know, no way, no,
from ninety three.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
We've had cliff You mean like the it's the.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
Term oh no no oh, I'm saying I got it
from the no no no.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
You saying like, is that word originated into the zeitgeist?

Speaker 1 (10:54):
J c Uh. Maybe he can tell us at the
end of the episode.

Speaker 5 (10:58):
A cliffhanger, But I'm saying, like, did it be calm?
You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Did it become relevant where every TV show and film
says clothing?

Speaker 3 (11:05):
Oh, I'm going to say, listen. I know JC and
I know Jason allow us with some facts at the end,
But I mean think about like Hitchcock films and like,
that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
If that's a antacritistic but I don't know.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, well, well I guess we'll find out at the
end of this episode. Stay tuned, y'all.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
That's incentive for people to tune in.

Speaker 5 (11:28):
An education. It's an education.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Our edutainment, I believe, is what it's referred to now
because we're educating and being entertaining.

Speaker 5 (11:35):
Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
So thoughts everybody, because I know it's been a minute
this So this wasn't the first thing you recorded, though.
There was these four shorts that were released, and that, technically, right,
was the first thing you recorded, as your character is correct.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
That's correct.

Speaker 4 (11:50):
Yeah, the shorts. I think my first session that I remember,
I for some reason did not receive any lines via email,
so I had no idea what we were doing. And
I was also told to prepare whatever that was with
a French slash ryloth accent, just in case. And when
I got there, I met Tia, I met Freddie. Steve

(12:13):
Bloom was in the UK doing a convention and he
joined us from some kind humanitarians closet somewhere in the
middle of nowhere, and that's when he discovered that it
was Star Wars, but.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
Taylor hadn't been cast yet.

Speaker 4 (12:27):
Yeah, and we didn't have an Ezra at that point.
But I just remember being so thrilled to be present.
I'm a huge Clone Wars fan, and I felt the
responsibility and the honor of having this first foray into
Disney owned property. You know, people were drawing pictures of

(12:50):
Donald Duck with lightsabers and stuff, sort of curious to
see how this would all come together. But I knew,
I felt from the moment I walked in that there
was a rever for the IP and a passion for
it that especially, you know, with Filoni at the helm
and all the great minds everyone that we met. The
first day, there was a huge book with all the sets,

(13:12):
like this is your ship, this is your bed. I mean,
it was really enriching. It was soul food. I don't
know what your experience was.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
TA Well, I'm only going to share the story because
Freddy is not here and I he all can never
repeat this to him. I've actually never told him, of
course I haven't. But so I had absolutely no idea
what I was doing, what I was in for this
was I had. I had done an animated film once

(13:41):
before I did. I did an made a film called
Walking with Dinosaurs. If you love dinosaurs, check it out,
and then I did like an episode of Phineas and
Burg that was the very first voiced over gig I
ever had. So I had no I had such a
so little experience in uh, you know, voice acting, the
voice acting realm that I showed up to our first session,

(14:04):
I didn't know anything. I didn't know who I was
going to meet. And I remember walking in the door.
We recorded at the same place for you know, all
four seasons, which was great. It fell like second home.
And I walked in the door door and one of
our producers was there to greet me, and she said,
hi to you. We're so happy you're here. This is
Vanessa Marshall. And I shook Vanessa's hand and said Hi,
nice to meet you. And then I was like, oh

(14:25):
my god, what is Berdie Prince Junior doing here? Like
my fourteen year old self was like fully freaking out,
like why why, why, why? Why is Freddie Prince Junior here?
What's he doing? So yeah, I totally had like a
moment of like panic, like my you know, I know
what you did last summer. All my Teamy Bomber self

(14:48):
was fully trying to keep it cool. Then you know,
soon after, quickly after I realized that Partie's like my
big brother, and that that feeling passed quite quickly. Initially,
I was like totally starstruck and freaked out. But yeah,
my experience is probably a little different than Vanessa's because
Vanessa is like that was I mean, not that you'd

(15:11):
done Star Wars before, but you you know, Vanessa is
a prolific, incredible voice actor and has done this, could
do this in her sleep. And so my experience was
very much like having absolutely no idea what I was
doing there and hoping no one would realize that they've
made a grave mistake, recaps me or something. I know

(15:33):
you don you want to talk about these interstitials later,
so I'll save the rest for another conversation. But that
was my initial I was just trying to like hope
no one noticed that I probably shouldn't be there.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
I was only going to add and then you showed
Freddy that you were all that. But you know, right, all.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
Right, my teeny bomber self appreciates that reference. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
No, I mean, I grew up on those nineties wrong
comes to believe me, like and when Freddy and I first,
and for people who know like Freddie's like a friend
of all. He's pretty much the big brother too, like
everyone to y. Yeah, very much so. And we also
have another podcast together that was pretty scary that we
do together. But it's when we first met. It's like,
you couldn't help but think about that. And that's kind

(16:13):
of the magic of our industry. You don't ever think
that you're going to be face to face the people
you grew up with. If you don't watchkeep and go,
I'm going to be friends with this person, It just
you know, when it happens, he's like, oh wow, and
then you realize that they're also they're real people. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:28):
And the good thing about it's Freddy And anyone who
knows Freddy would I think attest to this. It's like
he has no heirst about him. He's totally unimpressed with
his celebrities. So it makes you It puts you at ease.
You're like, oh, he doesn't care, why would I care? Yeah,
I don't know, Taylor, do you?

Speaker 5 (16:47):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah, No, I.

Speaker 5 (16:50):
Didn't know.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
I didn't know much of anything coming in, to be honest,
I just kind of shoot from the hip.

Speaker 5 (16:55):
I do remember I came in off book.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
To do this this short because I was like that's
what I did for everything, and that, like off Book
is like being memorized. I had to which you don't
need to do in voiceover because they have to script
in front of you.

Speaker 5 (17:08):
But when I did the short, it was oh man.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
There was one person who was playing like a tie
Fighter pilot and he ended up doing other episodes later on.
But it was just like a long session with Felony
and the Disney and lucasfilm people as they like talked
through what we were going to be doing. I remember
the only thought in my head was just like fake
it till you make it, buddy, Like no one here

(17:33):
has to know that you don't know a thing that's
going on. But yeah, I was ready to lightsaber dual
anyone and I grabbed a pen and they're like, you
don't have a lightsaber. It was like, okay, that's what
Jedi have. But it was fun and everyone was so great.
Once we got moving with the show and into the
first episode, I think we all sort of had that

(17:54):
feeling of like this is going to be fine.

Speaker 5 (17:57):
We're all trying to take our cue off of someone.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
But I've everyone was in that same boat, and so
I don't know you feel that energy in the show though,
like watching it, I remember the feeling that I had
that felt pretty palpable.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
Taylor, I don't know how much of the show you've seen,
if it I almost like, I think the joke in
our group chat was I think it's a rewatch podcast
minus the ree for a couple of guys.

Speaker 5 (18:19):
Oh yeah, I can. I can admit to this pretty quickly.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
I think I've just seen the episodes that they like
they had premieres for like the season, the season premieeres
and then finales, and then a couple of like the
big episodes throughout the show they would screen for us
at Disney that they wanted to show us. One that
I remember in particular is way towards the end is
a world between worlds. They showed us in the theater,

(18:44):
so I saw those. But outside of that, it's a
it's a fresh watch.

Speaker 3 (18:48):
I'm excited we'll have fresh eyes, perspective, a different perspective
on the show.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
So did it invoke any memories of being in the
booth or was it just like, because you know, I
don't everythink memories and completely lost. I think they're just
kind of dormant and then something will spark like they
tells of a spark, it'll spark your memory. Go oh wait,
yeah I remember saying that line. Was there anything like
that or or was it pretty much like you're watching
like a casual like any other fan, and just in

(19:16):
consuming it like somebody would consume the show. I'm just
curious about that because for me, it's like I watch
as a fan. Now I'm watching through the eyes of
somebody who wants to help drive a discussion on this podcast.
But for you, while you were in it, like this
was a big part of your lives and careers.

Speaker 4 (19:32):
Well, I, like I said, I did not receive the
voiceover copy for the shorts, so when they handed them
to me, I was like, well, we're gonna water ski
through this bad boy, you know, And I literally on
the way home, was like, well, if I get fired,
you know, it would have been great to have the
lines in advance, but no, what just happened it But

(19:55):
it actually made it more sort of real and in
the moment, much like you know, Taylor is new to
voiceover was and Freddie sort of guided him like a
Jedi would guide a padawan.

Speaker 6 (20:06):
You know.

Speaker 4 (20:07):
Sometimes out of these happy accidents would come sort of
the magic that where life was mirroring art or art
mirroring life. Hara had no idea what she was doing either,
so but she did have this sort of shorthand with Chopper,
and I just kind of plugged into that. I was
happy in watching the shorts. I was like, thank goodness

(20:29):
that worked for the scene, you know, But I was
kind of flying by the seat of my pants, as
it were, and so was Harrah. So luckily it served
the scene, but I was pretty terrified. I like to
prepare my lines. I like to read the script ones through.
I like to go through and highlight it. I like
to get on a treadmill and you know, read the

(20:49):
say the things out loud, get the words in my body,
and then forget all of that and show up and
be in the moment and listen. Did not do any
of that for the short, So watching the shorts it
was a lot of relief for me. And then watching
the episode. I can remember watching it on I think
it first aired on ABC, and I just I was

(21:10):
blown away. I was just blown away. And I also
had discovered this thing called Twitter at the time, so
I was watching it in real time with new friends
that I had made Teresa Delgado. She had a Star
Wars podcast, and I ended up meeting her and we
were tweeting back and forth live. I had never experienced
anything like this at all, and so began all my

(21:33):
friendships with all these Star Wars fans, and I count
myself as one of the fans. But when that episode
aired on ABC, it was like the first day of
the rest of my life.

Speaker 3 (21:46):
I feel like watching it again this time. I mean,
I haven't watched these I have seen these before. I've
seen all the episodes, but I haven't watched them in
ten years. I mean, the only time I've ever seen
them is either, like Taylor said, when you know, Lucasfilm
and Disney wand screened them for us certain episodes, or
when they first aired on television. And then so it's

(22:09):
been a really long time since I've seen these, and
so rewatching these first two episodes first couple, you know,
it's the television movie or whatever. Gosh, it was like
such a kind of delightful blast from the past. I mean,
I see, luckily, we are all still very close, and
so I am fortunate to get to see these guys,

(22:30):
you know, semi regularly, and we get together and do
dinners and things like that. So it's not like we've
been out of touch, but I haven't sort of thought
about like I haven't actually watched the show and so
to get to watch it again, and I guess the
first time I watched these episodes, all of these episodes,
it's you know, very much. I don't know if you
guys are like this, Taylor and Vanessa, but you know,

(22:52):
I'm like watching like through like that my holding my
fingers in front of my eyes, like with you know,
just the tiny space to kind of like I'm like
watching my performance and critiquing my performance and going like
oh to youa well, you know, or like oh that
could have been this or whatever. And this time I
was just able to sort of enjoy it, and you know,

(23:12):
it felt like nostalgic and sweet and I was able
to watch the show for the storyline or rather than
like sitting there and just I mean I still critique
my performances, of course, but yeah, it was enjoyable in
a different way and really just like a lovely walk
down memory lane.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Yeah, yeah, no, I agree with all of that. I
have a hard time. I'm actually not bad. We have
a lot of friends who are artists and actors. There
are people and you have two camps. Some people who
just pick apart everything's gone because they know how the
sausage is made. I can actually delude myself and be like,
you know, I'm easily entertained, but I have a hard
time watching myself. But I found watching this to like

(23:55):
something animated a lot, a lot easier.

Speaker 5 (23:59):
But also I'm hearing so many things and I'm like.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Oh, buddy, you had no idea what you were doing, Like,
I mean, what we're watching. That's my first time ever
speaking into a mic for character, you know what I mean.
So there are times where I feel that I'm like, oh,
you thought you really had to tell people you were running,
as opposed to just like inhabit what that might be.

(24:22):
And so it's fun. It's really fun watching and it
makes me laugh. And I've been watching it with some
of my friends, so it's sweet to hear their take
on it all.

Speaker 5 (24:30):
But it is such an entertaining show.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
Totally.

Speaker 4 (24:35):
I never ever watch my cartoons. I have the same
perhaps the way you feel about on camera. I half
the time I don't even know what I've done because
everything has such an nda that I'm like, oh, I
was in that. Oh cool? But this The only way
I could say is that on the page, it's one thing.

(24:56):
And I remember taking a class and called called from
the page to the stage. And what happens when the
art direction and the director in the art when when
you know, the animated version of all those titles, when
they imbue these words with the visuals that are beyond
anything I could ever imagine. I don't even remember recording

(25:16):
it half the time because it's so other than what
I had imagined that I'm able to also enjoy it
as a fan and by like wow, that's oh wait
I said that, Oh you know, it was impressive twice
reading it and then seeing it.

Speaker 3 (25:33):
The other thing that struck me. I mean, I remember this,
but because I haven't seen it in so long, it
was sort of like, oh yeah, maybe to tie to
tie into what you were saying, Taylor, Like, when I'm
doing on camera work, if I end up watching something,
I am very much like critical or yes, let's just

(25:55):
say critical of my own performance, and so I have
a hard time sort of like oh but what lovely cinematography?
Like you know what I mean, Like I'm just I'm
really sort of nitpicky again, But as y'all know, I'm
quite type A and perfectionist. So but watching this I'm
able to sort of like step back and go like,

(26:16):
oh man, this music is I mean, the music just
never fails to just blow my mind. And you know,
the animation is so beautiful and like I love even
from this stage. I know it like progresses as we
go on throughout the seasons, but even at these nascent
stages of the show, the animators using our uh, you know,

(26:37):
facial expressions during the recording sessions, I don't for some
of you guys. Some of you guys listening might know
this and others might not. But as we said, we
recorded all of our sessions together. But we also they
had cameras set up at each one of our stations,
I guess our microphones, and so they would record our
performances and then send our performances to the animator. So

(27:00):
the animators were actually like sort of infuse or sort
of incorporate our gestures and facial expressions and reactions into
the animation, which is so cool but so it's so
fun to see that stuff, and people like you.

Speaker 5 (27:16):
Guys feel that it that's an interesting thing.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
I'm glad you brought up because I forgot that, Like
I thought they were putting.

Speaker 5 (27:24):
The cameras on us to be like, Okay, you at
least have to show up.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Like I thought it was like a gesture of being sweet,
like you can't come in your pajamas and you got
to try and put it, you know what I mean.
And then when I watched the show, I'm like, I
see your guys's face, and even my friends they were like, oh, whoa,
that's you. You smirk like that, like everyone starts in
a different way. I'm like, oh, whoa, I see everyone

(27:48):
in their character. It's so funny. Did you think it
was like a ring cam for the lucasfilm? Like seriously,
in the back of my mind, I was like, very sweet, guys,
you don't need to turn the camera.

Speaker 5 (27:58):
I thought they were off.

Speaker 2 (27:59):
I was like, yeah, right, But they really did send
it and they look amazing.

Speaker 3 (28:04):
I think, Vanessa, what do you think? I think that
the most, I think that Ezra is the like like,
as far as those gestures and vacial expressions and smirks
and grins, I feel like Taylor is all up in
that animation of Ezra and the rest of us.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
I agree, I agree, and Taylor, You've always been an
old soul, but I feel like the earlier episodes capture
you were intrinsic innocence to the to the medium that
made you so authentic and vulnerable and in the moment
and uh, I mean it was fun to watch you work,
but it was also amazing to listen to. But I

(28:43):
can hear knowing you now, and we've gone to so
many conventions together, and you know, struggle to airports together.
I'm telling you, this dude was like, do it like
Heisman through the Dallas Airport, Like this guy is no joke.
He led me like a Jedi through Gate A to
Gate E. But but I have come to respect you

(29:04):
more and more with every trip that we take, and
so when I hear who you were then, I mean
we've all changed to some extent. I mean it's ten years, y'all.
I mean, we're at different phases in our lives. But
I I just have so much more respect for you
watching it this time around ten years later, For how

(29:27):
you've always been the same person, but you have afforded
me the honor of getting to know all of who
you are. And I hear who I thought you were
then and who I know you are now, and I
see glimpses of it in the performance, and I just
I felt so proud and same with you, Tia. I
felt like, oh, you know, there was an innocence there

(29:47):
that you guys were sort of learning the world of
Star Wars in real time, and you know now we
go to conventions and this and that. But I just
I had such a warm feeling that it just kind
of brought back. I could feel the past sage of
time and how much everyone has matured and achieved excellence,
you know with on camera stuff. You guys have really
gone on to do such amazing things. I just feel

(30:10):
so proud. I guess I'm space momming. Sorry, thank you.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
Space Space Mom is real, you guys, and she's Vanessa Marshall.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
And Taylor Gray apparently is the he's a Travis Hunter
of our podcast Chris Black. The Heisman theme right there.
See why I play you absolutely you will you pretty
much are because Taylor, you and I met through Freddy Boxing,
through our our because we had the same boxing coag
wayn mccaugh and so that's how tailor that met. Yeah,
we met punching each other in the face. Like literally, sure,

(30:40):
it's true.

Speaker 2 (30:41):
We took off our head care I'm like, okay, man,
Like Star Wars, Freddie was funny, he was so good
about I think you mentioned this, like he just took
on that role outside of the show as well. I
mean through that whole first two seasons. I think, like
every other night you would, we would just be sending
each other the dumbest selfies, Like the amount of ridiculous
photos we must have of each other is a joke.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
Yeah, I got quite the archive of that. I want
to go into a couple of story things here. And
here's the funny thing. When I watch Ezra in this
first episode, and whether it's by design or just coincidental,
but like I mentioned at the top of the show,
Disney had bought Lucasfilm two years prior to the release
of this And when I see Ezra, and maybe this

(31:23):
crosses over to Taylor a little bit in terms of
the beginning of his voiceover career. I see Aladdin because
Aladdin was known as like the Diamond and the rough,
like he doesn't understand his greatness yet, he just has
to dig deep and understand it's there. But somebody has
to help bring it out. And that's what I felt
with Ezra and all the way down to hustling for
Yogan Fruit and then hopping away, and I'm waiting for

(31:46):
somebody to do a musical version of Ezra Bridger, like
with that song a one Jump from Aladdin, but he's
like one jump the Empire, one jump ohut of the Empire.
Because even Caanan refers to you as a street rat
in the episode, it's like he's a street ran. What
do you mean you can help Boston. That's when I
would love to have a cutaway of as we're walking

(32:06):
on the ghost going rear for half Hello threat.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
So I feel like I feel like we should put
your hat in the ring because I'm not doing it
too amazical era.

Speaker 5 (32:15):
But I think, I mean, you guys might know.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
It's one of those things that's weird, especially looking back
my memories like Swiss cheese and like, uh, I don't
know which parts informed the other, but I think the
description said a lot of space or people online started
writing it and then I read it and I was
like spacelined because I honestly no idea, no idea people

(32:40):
were saying it.

Speaker 5 (32:41):
I saw an image or something.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
You're You're absolutely right. I mean I don't think it
was in the description, but I do remember there was
some uproar about like wait a minute, this is just
Aladdin and you know another really good head.

Speaker 4 (32:55):
Of hair, right, so yeah, champion, champion and stuff.

Speaker 5 (33:00):
So like the the.

Speaker 3 (33:03):
You know, like a rapscallion loner has to like you know,
self preservation and like Wiliness, Like I see the similarities,
but Space Aladin is cooler.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
I like Space Alabit. And speaking of everyone, first of all,
in our cast here in real time has great hair,
but this cast of Star Wars rebels. I mean collectively
if it's top three for sure, if not the greatest
collective ensemble of great heads of hair. Because between Canan's
like Jedi ponytail, like Haras like Twilight, and Sabines like

(33:39):
multi colored, you know, showing her artsy side. And then
you know Taylor Ezra despite living alone in this communications
tower where it doesn't look like he has access to
a salon, like it's like he's a mirror. It's just
like the volume is just perfect, like he's walking like
walking talking Bedel Sassoon commercial And I want to bring
up something else too, because and this is something we

(34:01):
had talked about in previous discussions, or for whatever reason,
voice acting seems to be looked at by some people.
I'm not saying this is uniletta by some people like, oh,
it's voice acting, it's a cartoon. It's easy, you get
to show up to work in your pajamas or whatever.
But from where I'm saying, and I've done a very
small handful of voiceover work, I have such respect for

(34:22):
it because in some ways it is so much more
difficult than on camera. And I know, Tia, Taylor, Vanessa,
you can all speak to this as well, because you know,
when you have the super the close up, you can
rely on subtleties. You can like de Niro is known
to be right here. He's like very soft, but his
facial movements are so subtle, you know what he's trying
to get across. You can't do that necessarily with your

(34:45):
voice when you're trying to get a certain message across.
And I feel like this is the other goal of
our podcast that hopefully people would just look at voiceover
through a different lens and understand that, yes, on camera
has its difficulties, its challenges, but in voiceover there is
that as well, and I want to commend all three
of you, but there's one scene in particular, and I

(35:06):
know we sidebarred on this. My favorite scene in this
first part is when Ezra's talking to Sabine and Sabine saying,
this is kind of like family, and we don't know
anything about Sabine's backstory. If you're rewatching like myself and
you know how it ends like to me, it hit
much different scene this time around versus when I first
saw it. But when Ezra asked Sabine, what happened to

(35:27):
your real family? And there's this whole there's this beat,
and then Sabine says the empire, and there's so much
like pain and backstory behind that, but it's two words
and then quickly you shift it back to what happened
to yours and it sounds like you're almost throwing the
line away, but it's really again, we'll get to it

(35:48):
in terms of where that comes from. And I know Tia,
you can speak to this. I don't think the entire
story of Sabine is fully fleshed out or known to
you at that point, but you're setting the stage that
there's so much more to this story, which is very
on brand for Star Wars, because when you watch a
new Hope, you know it's already part of a bigger
story even without them saying it. And I'd love that scene.
It's again, it's two three lines of dialogue, but so

(36:11):
much thought and so much meaning behind it, and I
just wanted to highlight that, and hopefully other people will
see that, and I want to rewatch it after listening
to this and going, oh wow, like you can really
feel the pain, the sorrow, everything on the backstory of that.
So I just wanted to highlight that.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
Well, thank you, that's kind. I didn't know. I mean,
it's been such a long time, but I mean I
remember Dave Filoni telling me that I think she had
said that Sabine was sort of the least flushed out
character when we started this thing, and so you know,

(36:49):
we kind of found her together. I mean, I don't
mean like I had anything to do with storyline, but
you know, she kind of got developed as we went
along and or backstory and stuff. So when we recorded
that scene, I didn't know anything about what was to
come and see some three and onward, but you know,

(37:12):
he Dave Filoni works on a need to know basis,
and he tells you something when he feels that you
need to know, and most of the time you don't
need to know until you do, and do you absolutely do.
We would get our scripts the night before our recording sessions.
Sometimes we would get them at our recording sessions.

Speaker 5 (37:31):
Part of a script.

Speaker 3 (37:32):
Totally, totally, but yeah. So like he had given me,
you know, he had given me background, and I knew
something terrible had happened. And I knew, uh, something terrible
had happened with her family and with her people. You know,
there was a schism or a rift or whatever. So
I don't remember exactly what I knew, but I know

(37:54):
I definitely didn't know the specifics that we get into
like two seasons later. But thanks, I'm glad that scene
was impactful.

Speaker 5 (38:03):
For you well.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
And also it just shows that you know, you do
have a very thorough and effective acting process because you
probably had to fill in those blanks by yourself and
make sure that that line carried weight, which it did.
And I have no doubt and I can't speak for anybody.
I'm sure it inspired the creators and the writers being oh,
like there's something else there let's let's really get into that,
which even in this first season you get the hints

(38:26):
of what Sabin's backstories. And again, we're going to get
there because we got what seventy six more episodes to go,
so we got plenty of time to get there. But again,
like voice acting, voice acting is acting. It's not theater
acting is acting. TV film that's acting. It's all under
that same umbrella, but just the different intricacies are going
to be required for each specified sense of acting.

Speaker 5 (38:49):
Yeah, when you're telling your mom waiting here, homeworked down,
that's acting.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
We're always sort of acting, is what I've realized.

Speaker 3 (38:56):
No anyone that says like, oh, well, it's just voice
acting or we have to like qualify it as voice
acting and not just acting, I think it's silly because
as a primarily on camera actor, coming to voice acting
was wildly challenging because I don't have the facilities at
my disposal, like you know, physical gestures, you know physicality,

(39:20):
and you know you can't use your face, you can't
use your body. You literally can just use your voice
and emotions. And so it was a real exercise and
I guess sort of flexing a muscle that I had somewhere,
but you know, had been relying on so many other
faculties tailor. I'm sure you felt the same. I'm assuming
you felt the same way.

Speaker 5 (39:41):
Yeah, I have the utmost respect. I'm so impressed.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
I think it's much harder genuine because you've you've cut
off all these other resources that you would use, like
just facial awareness, Like you said, a look where you're
putting your attention. None of that is there, and it's
just all on the mic. And it's how rich can
you make those choices just through your voice? And I mean,

(40:05):
I thought it was huge and it was the best
vocal training that I ever could have imagined. But I've
also gone back and forth because early on I remember
hearing like Vanessa and Steve and being so so impressed
with like, oh my god, I can close my eyes
and I feel everything that they are channeling through their

(40:26):
voice and being like I need to gradually work up
to layering more and more. But then there are moments
too where I was like, I don't we all have
different approaches, and like nuance is something, especially when you're young.
I started acting so young, I was like, oh, kids
are just precocious. I'm going to be serious and real,
and so you would be looking for nuance And now

(40:47):
that's like a silly thought as a child, but it
was always there.

Speaker 5 (40:52):
And then watching this show.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
And I haven't seen too many other animated shows, but like,
nuance does play so much well, like to the point
this the lines that you picked out, that's just very
nuanced simplicity, you know what I mean, And it's it's
kind of beautiful to see that juxtaposed to some of
the like bigger choices that I know Dave would encourage

(41:14):
out of us, because I remember there was some line
where he's like it was in our first episode I'm
in space and he's like freaking out and Dacob going like,
go bigger.

Speaker 5 (41:22):
I'm like, dude, what this is insane? But then it
does play and it is fun.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
But when you juxtaposed to very just honest takes, I
don't know, I'm enjoying the entire spectrum of all of
our performances, and it's really sweet to see.

Speaker 3 (41:38):
I was just gonna say, not just not to blow
up your spot here, Vanessa, but when we're talking about
like voice acting and versus not really versus acting, I mean,
you know, Taylor and I were kind of newbies and
we get to be we're like flung into this situation
with absolute like legends, legends like sorry even as you're

(42:01):
right here, but Marshall, Steve Bloom, d Bradley Baker, like
if you're gonna learn from anyone, you learn from these guys,
like there is I don't I think between the three
of you, or even just any one of you, like
there's nothing that these guys can't do. And to get
to watch it in real time, right in front of
you know, our faces, was so I mean inspiring and

(42:25):
humbling and just so impressive. Like you know, you can
ask de Bradley, you can give de Bradley Baker like, okay, D,
you're a puffer fish, but you're being buried in quicksand
and you're also smoking a cigar and you're like, what
what on earth would that possibly sound like? And then
D goes okay, and then he makes some sound and

(42:48):
you're like, I didn't learn. I tried to learn. I
didn't learn that much.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
The voice I think exercise of our podcast.

Speaker 3 (42:57):
Everybody you know, D or Vanessa or Steve like they
do it and you're like, holy cow, that is exactly
what that would sound like. That's absolutely right, you know,
it's just I mean, thank goodness that we got to
learn from the best. I just tried to be like
a sponge and try and soak up as much knowledge
and as much, you know, just as much as I

(43:17):
could from these like just superbly talented voice actors slash
just actors.

Speaker 4 (43:27):
Well, I was going to say that y'all flourished, so bravo.
I can remember being in graduate acting school and we
studied Committia de larte and you could put a mask on,
and when I put the mask on, I suddenly was
doing these Martha Graham moves all over the place, and
the teacher was like, good lord, all we had to

(43:48):
do is put a bag on your head, you know,
because I felt so free, that I felt invisible, and
that invisibility gave me permission to play fully out. And
I know a lot of people say, oh, actors, they're narcissists,
they're so full of themselves. No, for you to be
seen on camera and let your soul be seen through
your eyes is a kind of It takes a humility

(44:11):
to tell those stories on cameras. So equally, if you
threw me on a set, I'd be like, Hi, how
you doing? You know, or I don't know what it
would be like, but it would be equally challenging. I
my personality type, I think thrives in the invisibility and
it's it's only my imagination is the only thing that
limits me. And so when you when you say you

(44:32):
close your eyes and you can see it, That's exactly
what the process is and always has been like for
me at the microphone, and I delight in that, I
you know, I can play any age and this and
that that the only thing that limits me is my imagination.
But I was very impressed with your ability to just
transition into it, given that you also excelled previous to this,

(44:54):
you know, with on camera stuff. But I also want
to say, you know, we were talking about watching the
art and sort of seeing the animation and how that
landed on us. I just one thing I really want
this podcast to do is to celebrate the people behind
the scenes. Killian Plunkett was a genius, Joel Aaron. I

(45:15):
mean they still are geniuses, but I mean the writing
team that we had, Simon Kinberg, we had Carrie Hart,
Carrie Beck, Greg Weisman, Steve Melching, Henry Gilroy, Christopher Yost,
Kevin Hopps. I mean, there were so many incredible people
that were, you know, giving us the words to say,

(45:36):
and then of course, you know, filling in and making
all of these sentences breathe with color in a way
that was at once powerful but also a lot of
times hilarious. Like when the Stormtrooper falls, you know, it's
just classic Star Wars comedy and the epitome of us

(46:00):
Stormtrooper excellence right there, Like good job, buddy. But I
do hope that we can. We had talked about perhaps
going up to the ranch and having interviews with some
of the people behind the scenes. Amy Beth Christensen is
another incredible talent. I hope that we get to celebrate
them in the course of this podcast. And really, you know,

(46:22):
obviously some of them are not available there, you know,
Stem and Kinberg is the you know, doing all sorts
of stuff at the moment. But I do hope that
we get to sort of amplify and lift them up
and celebrate them, because I don't know that they are
afforded that as often as I would love to see
that happen, so in our Rebellious pod here, I hope

(46:44):
that we can do sort of special highlight features like that,
and if if fans have any requests or ideas, please
let us know, because we would we would love to. Yes,
we want to bring hall h to everybody, and if
you can't get to a comic con, you can go
to this podcast instead. But also, like, I never see
any of those people at Comic Gods really, so it

(47:06):
would be fun to hear sort of their perspective when
they hear our words and see our performances on camera,
to then translate that into what we all had the
pleasure of experiencing and still can on Disney Plus.

Speaker 1 (47:19):
Hey, I love that that's so well said. Yeah, because
we definitely want to have this inclusive atmosphere, which is
what we're trying to have for everybody, a safe space
if he will. And so one other voice I want
to give a NodD to and I feel like pay
of respects to because this episode opens two things. This
I don't believe this first scene that I talked about

(47:39):
with Dark Vader was in the original broadcast. I think
this is the prologue edition we're getting on Disney Plus.
And jac again, can I'm just throwing stuff at JC.
So we can have a really cool fact check and
when we get to it, but rest in power to
the late great James Earl Jones, who passed last year.
I mean not just Tart Vader, but like I said,
I mentioned coming to America. I love him as Prince

(48:00):
of King's dad and come to America and just he's
moved Fassa, he's everything. There's this movie in the nineties
called Sneakers that he shows up in the end and
not a lot of people know about it, and he's
just he was the actor's actor Sam, Like I always
thought everything, oh Henry, yes, but I went blind. So
it's like we want to just like pay respects to

(48:21):
the late great James Earl Jones, because when you think
you know Star Wars, you can't not mention the James
Earl Jones in the same sentence. A question I want
to throw up to the three of you, and I
feel like I just as your friend and as a
fan of the show, curious about coming off of Clone Wars,
which is such a beloved series. And I love Clone

(48:41):
Wars and I love how there are ties into Clone
Wars throughout Rebels, But was there any sort of one
did you feel pressure from that because knowing that fan
base and knowing how fandoms can be, and also was
there any sort of, for lack of a better word, like
orientation somebody saying, Hey, FYI, this might happen. I'm just

(49:04):
curious about that because I know that you're stepping into
a world that is so vast, with so many fans,
with so many opinions, and on the one hand, it
could be great when they love you, but if they don't,
it cannot be great. So I was just curious about that.

Speaker 4 (49:20):
Well, yeah, yeah, ahead, yeah, I mean, but to the
extent that I also have a Star Wars collection upstairs,
and I have my original Chewi that's off card, and
I played with my toys too. I am one hundred
percent in alignment with most of those viewers and know
what they demand, and so I felt like I was

(49:41):
getting to take my toys out of the room upstairs
and bring them to the record. I didn't actually do that,
but what I'm saying is I felt that the loving
energy that was in the group, Freddy's vast knowledge of
the dude, he's one hundred percent like the Lord Jedi

(50:04):
of all I mean, next to Sam wit Or, I
don't know. It's a it's a toss up between the
two of them. But I felt that we were in
great hands with Dave Filoni and all the writers that
I mentioned, I mean, and there are even more than
Nicole Dubuck. I mean, there were so many people that
were as big a fans as we are, and felt
some of them had worked on the Clone Wars. We

(50:25):
were given all the best possible tools to accomplish the
task at hand. I will say when I met Ashley
ex Stein, I one hundred percent ugly cried, not professional
at all. I was like, oh, where you up the
Jedi order though, you know? And she's like, well here
and she give me a sweatshirt. I was not anyway,

(50:46):
I got it together for the record, But I do
remember d Bradley Baker at were we I think I
was at Buzzy's record and he said are you ready?
And I said what do you mean? He goes, welcome
to the rest of your life? So what does that mean?
He said, your life is going to change? And I
think he did not mean that in sort of a

(51:09):
oh in terms of notoriety or this or that. But
when you become a part of the hashtag Star Wars family.
That's not just a hashtag. It is a very real thing.
I think the bond that the Clone Wars actors have
Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor, Ashley x Steyin, Sam Witward,
Nika Futterman, all. I mean, there are so many more

(51:30):
incredibly talented actors in that cast, you know, and you
have bad Batch that came from that. I think what
he spoke of is sort of the I don't need
circle of life is the wrong term, but there is
just a very real bond that you step into the
center of and sort of humbly offer up your best

(51:50):
storytelling abilities, whether you're visible or invisible. And I just remember,
I'll never forget him saying that to me, And and
that sentence meant more to me with every session that
we did, and I came to see what he meant
by that, especially when we did go up to the
ranch and he hit a bottle of bourbon in the fireplace,

(52:14):
you remember, I do.

Speaker 3 (52:15):
Remember, anyway, And I went again about a year later,
and I went and tried to find it and it
was not there. It was not where he had had
had hidden it. And I was like, somebody just got
hand covered. I handed up, Yeah, like it happened upon
a really nice bottle of burdon. I will say I had.
I mean, I had no idea, like there's no there's

(52:36):
nothing to really prepare you. But I do remember Dave
kind of giving us sort of like a pep talk
I guess you might say, like an orientation slash pep
talk of like, well, guys, this is kind of what
you know, what what is lies in your future? And
we were I was excited and sort of, you know,

(52:57):
not really apprehensive, just excited and didn't really know. I
kind of conceptually understood what he was saying. But nothing
prepares you, because I remember we did our first we
did San Diego Comic Con, all five of us. We
did a panel. We had I don't know, five thousand
people in our audience, and not one second of our

(53:19):
show had aired yet, no one had seen our show.
And so that was like the first inkling I had
of like, oh wow, this is something much bigger and
so much greater, grander than I had ever than I
could have imagined.

Speaker 5 (53:36):
And it was so.

Speaker 3 (53:37):
Incredible because people were you know, the artwork had been
released and people were dressed up. You know, they were
already cosplaying our characters, and I was like, what is this?
What is happening? And it was incredible in the best
way people. You know, I don't know about you guys,
but my initial sort of experience was that there is
this sort of you know, global or like intergalactic Star

(54:03):
Wars family and they just right out the gate open
like welcomed me and welcomed us and welcomed our show
with open arms. And it was really kind of overwhelming
and so touching. And you know, that's continued on, like
we're so lucky that we still get to do stuff
like this, We get to do this, we get to
like go to comic cons and meet fans and they're

(54:25):
still cause playing our characters, which is just amazing. But yeah,
that first San Diego Comic Con was my first inkling
of what was to come. And like Vanessa the Mandalorian Merx,
Vanessa and I as honorary members, and they presented us

(54:46):
both with these like handmade Sabine Bren helmets. Oh yeah,
there it is right there on Vanessa's wall.

Speaker 4 (54:55):
In my live stream room, and I have the Sabine
helmet hanging on the wall. For those of you who
are listening. We are recording video, and we're going to
figure out how to let you see all these fun things.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
We'll make a social clip. We'll make a social clip
so people can see.

Speaker 4 (55:07):
Yeah, but that was that was one of the most
spectacular nights of my life. For sure.

Speaker 3 (55:12):
That was pretty incredible.

Speaker 1 (55:13):
Yeah, how about you, Taylor, because you were nineteen when
you started on this show.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
Right, Yeah, I was telling people I was on Clone Wars.
I was like, I'm doing the animated STO show the
Clone Wars.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
Was like, I don't think so, maybe right, yeah.

Speaker 5 (55:31):
Could be.

Speaker 2 (55:32):
I remember Dave saying something to us early on of
that was just at the right time to be jaded,
where I was like, I don't know shows i've been
I don't get canceled, and I was like, I don't
believe anything until I see it, Like who knows. But
Dave told us something that when he said it, I
didn't know what he meant. He was like, here's how
Star Wars fans are. We're gonna we're gonna put something
new out. They're gonna flock to it, They're gonna complain

(55:55):
about it, tear it apart, and then they will love it.
And he was like, it happy with everything if we
put a trailer off for a film, a video game,
and he wasn't entirely wrong. I remember going to I
mean still conventions you'll hear early on people were like,
I didn't want us to watch the show because I
was such a Clone Wars fan, and I get it.
You're like they were scared that Disney might mess it up,

(56:17):
like why put a bad taste in your mouth? The
animation looked different, and they're like, then I gave it
a shot. A lot of people haven't even seen the
show until Disney Plus. They were like, or yeah, Disney Plus.
They were like, I came to it later, and now
I've realized how great it was in fun and I
think that's cool, like it's a testament to the show.
But there was definitely an apprehension I think with people

(56:39):
at first.

Speaker 5 (56:40):
I was just oblivious to it.

Speaker 2 (56:41):
Like they were saying stuff about it, and I was like, yeah, cool,
sounds good, want you give it a shot.

Speaker 5 (56:45):
But I remember going to these were they called Star
Wars weekends.

Speaker 2 (56:50):
Set the show hadn't come out, and we I wish
they still did that. That was fun out in Disney World.
They would bring us out like different weekends, and there
would be like an actor from Clone Wars, acts from Rebels,
acts from the movie, acts from a movie, like a
different disparate group each time. And I remember we would

(57:11):
go in this like parade like what they have at
Disneyland at the back of the car, and like I
see pictures now of that.

Speaker 5 (57:19):
There's just this look.

Speaker 2 (57:20):
In my eye being like what am I doing, like
just waving to be able to be like you haven't
seen the show.

Speaker 5 (57:26):
I could have really just screwed all this up.

Speaker 2 (57:28):
But I remember thinking like, oh my god, there's a
cause playing character in the park of our characters, like
walking around with you, and I remember being like, oh man,
I screwed everything up.

Speaker 5 (57:40):
This character is not going to be what people want.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
And it was just such a funny thing because you realized, oh,
this is way way bigger than we could have imagined.
You feel like this, this small pebble on this beach
that is Star Wars, and it's just so.

Speaker 5 (57:55):
Cool to be a part of it.

Speaker 2 (57:56):
The fact that it's still lasting and it's going to
be forever, and like Vanessa said, this Star Wars family
and that's what's so special.

Speaker 4 (58:04):
I think my first Ugly Cry was at the Star
Wars weekend. The weekend I went. I was there with
Peter Mayhew, and as I said, I have Chewy was
my first action figure, and so there's that. I couldn't
even look him in the eye. I was freaking out.
I luckily had never seen any of Freddy's movies, so
I was like, who's this guy? I mean, no offense,
but no, sorry, bro, I don't know. I don't know

(58:28):
how I missed the whole train. I think I was
in college and my brain was I was in the library.
I don't know. Not to denigrate anything he's done, and
forgive me for not seeing it. I'll go home and
watch it right now.

Speaker 3 (58:38):
But I was the target demographic. Yeah, I watched all
of this stuff on your behalf.

Speaker 4 (58:44):
Yeah. I just was like, are you a good person? Oh? Cool,
We're good And he is. He's an incredible man and
an incredible father and a great husband and just an
all around great guy and very direct and I love it.
But Star Wars Weekends there was a woman who had
waited out in the cold Well, Florida. But still, you know,
it's dewey out. She slept outside to give me a

(59:07):
gift of Lecou. Now the show hadn't aired. I started
sobbing immediately, like an any form of human kindness like
that that exhibits that, like there is goodness in humanity.
I just wept. And I'm still friends with her. And
that was my first experience of this hashtag Star Wars family.

(59:29):
And that's what I'm saying. That was what ten years ago,
over ten years ago, because I think that was before
the show even aired. But it was times like that
that I realized, Wow, we are really stepping into the
world that Dee Bradley Baker had mentioned. It's another dimension
of human interaction where there's kindness. And yes they may

(59:51):
complain at first and fall in love and this and that,
but we all managed to come together at the end
of the day with our various collections. But yeah, it was.
It was a very moving experience that has not been lost.
And I have the le cou upstairs and I might
wear them next episode. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
Please do thank you and thank you for sharing that.
And I know that our listeners and eventually our viewers
are going to be really appreciative of it because your
three years so open. You're very generous through knowledge of
Jemmy generous with the stories, and I think that just
adds to why people love the show so much, and
it almost fills in the blanks like, oh yeah, I
already loved the show, but like them, get to know

(01:00:31):
you as people and hearing these stories is a true
for me too. I get the front row seat to
some of the best information in the house. So we
are a part of a show that I want to
induce the three of you, and also our listeners were
also going to officially introduce j C Reifenberg, our producer
and resident fact checker. So, Jc, what do you have
for us today on our pilot episode A Pot of Rebellion?

Speaker 6 (01:00:55):
All right, I got all sorts of fun stuff. I
just want to start by saying, last night I rewatched
these two episodes on an oculus in a virtual movie theater,
and they play like a movie. I mean, it feels
like you're watching a Star Wars movie. I sat down
in the virtual front row, so like the screen was
you know, I had to turn my head to watch everything.

(01:01:15):
And so it is very cinematic in a way that
like a lot of cartoons and TV shows aren't. So
if anybody has an Oculus at home. Highly recommend watching
this on Disney Plus in a movie theater.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
Or if Oculus wants to sponsor ros And because that. Yeah,
I just just found out their Oculus because endorsement from JC.

Speaker 6 (01:01:35):
I guess it's called meta no meta quests, So yeah, sorry,
sorry Oculus, or sorry meta fact checking myself in real time. John,
you mentioned the show takes place five years before the
Battle of Weaven.

Speaker 5 (01:01:51):
That was correct.

Speaker 6 (01:01:52):
You also mentioned that Clone Wars was released on October third,
which is also correct, so at least the same day.
In two thousand and eight, there was some debate about
Ezra's hair. I just want to put out there that,
like I mean, all the seventies hair in the original
Star Wars is pretty magic. When when a little bit

(01:02:13):
of wind hits Luke Skywalker looking out at the twin
sun setting. I don't want to start controversy at the
first episode, so I just want to recognize that moment
and that hair. Talked a lot about the term cliffhanger
that became a coined term kind of in the serials
of the nineteen thirties, which relates to Star Wars, because

(01:02:35):
that was kind of where George Lucas pulled his inspiration
for a new hope to begin with is he wanted
to create something like You Know That and the opening crawl,
which he pulled from those as well. Going a little
bit deeper, the first credited cliffhanger was to a magazine
story called A Pair of Blue Eyes, which was written

(01:02:56):
by a guy named Tom Hardy, not the guy who
plays Venom, but different Tom Hardy that was published in
either or eighteen seventy two or eighteen seventy three, where
at the end of the article the hero is literally
left hanging off a cliff, so you'd have to buy
the magazine next month to see what happens to the hero.
If you're rewatching US, Taylor, you mentioned watching World Between

(01:03:19):
Worlds is one of the few episodes you actually watched.
Stick with us. World Between Worlds is season four, episode thirteen,
so we'll hear more about that in some episodes. Vanessa,
you mentioned watching it on ABC. Just to give everybody
the complicated release timeline of Star Wars Rebels. We also

(01:03:43):
mentioned the San Diego Comic Con panel that happened on
July twenty fourth, twenty fourteen. I guess apparently there is
a screening on July twenty six, ty fourteen, which is
the first time anybody in the public actually saw Star
Wars levels. Then on September twenty seventh, twenty fourteen, there

(01:04:04):
was an official premiere at Century City, which I was
actually at the press conference for, so that's where I
first saw all of you guys. October third, twenty fourteen
was the Disney Channel. October sixth, twenty fourteen was Disney XD.
Then it was released on DVD. Remember that, that's how

(01:04:25):
long ago this was. There was a thing, kid, It's
called DVDs that was a shiny diss that you could
watch movies on. That was October fourteen, twenty fourteen, and
then finally on ABC on October twenty six, twenty fourteen
for a time.

Speaker 5 (01:04:41):
Thanks JC, I've got more.

Speaker 6 (01:04:43):
You guys talked about voice acting and delineating it between
on camera acting and how it's really the same and
in some ways more difficult, I wanted to point out. Famously,
on the set of A New Hope, Peter Cushing hated
the writing boots that he had to wear, so a
lot of his scenes were filmed waste up because he

(01:05:04):
literally was wearing slippers on the bottom half, so even
on camera. Actors have a long tradition in Star Wars
of showing up to work in their pajamas.

Speaker 5 (01:05:15):
And then those boots.

Speaker 6 (01:05:17):
Actually, or those slippers that he wore on set of
the Desk Star actually went up for auction in twenty
and twenty three, listed for between fifteen and twenty thousand pounds.
It does not look like they actually sold. So if
you guys are going to sell your pajamas, price them
a little bit better, but you might be able to get.

Speaker 5 (01:05:36):
A vacation out of it.

Speaker 6 (01:05:38):
Vanessa, you mentioned taking a college class putting on a
mask or your teacher said, Oh, I just had to
put a bag on your head to draw this out.
Reminded me of a famous Oscar Wild quote, which is
something to the effect of give a man a mask
and he'll tell you the truth. Or I think the
actual quote was a mask tells us more more than

(01:06:00):
a face. And then John, you mentioned the Darth Vader
prologue on this In it he mentions children of the Force,
which is also a reference to a Clone Wars episode
in which Cad Baine goes after Jedi kids. That was

(01:06:21):
season two, episode thirteen of the Clone Wars. And then
going back even further to nineteen ninety five, there was
an expanded universe novel by an author named Barbara Hambley
called Children of the Jedi, in which Luke goes out
looking for clues to pass Jedi as he's trying to
rebuild the second coming of the Jedi Knights. And then

(01:06:42):
you guys mentioned how the animation style was a little
bit different in Rebels than it was Clone Wars. I
remember from the press conference back when the show was released,
and also just cross reference. A lot of that comes
from original Ralph mcquarie art, So a lot of what
you see in Chopper can be point pointed back to

(01:07:03):
some of the crazy Ralph McQuary stuff of R two
D two. The Stormtroopers are lifted almost directly from that
famous Ralph mccruary painting with the stormtrooper with the shield
and the lightsaber and a lot of that. So if
you like the animation style Rebels, you don't know who
Ralph McQuary is, look him up because there's a wealth
of information there as well.

Speaker 2 (01:07:27):
I'm here for the fact check. That's great a little
in there too.

Speaker 3 (01:07:31):
I loved it. I love an Oscar wild reference. Who
we're talking about Star Wars.

Speaker 1 (01:07:34):
Yeah, we're very academia here on the Power clearly because
I'm Jeandan and you're mentioning Oscar Wild. So thank you,
jac and I think you're going to quickly become everyone's
favorite part of the podcast because I love learning.

Speaker 4 (01:07:50):
I would like to give one more hair shout out
to Canaan's mullet in all its glory when he makes
the ultimate sacrifice. We'll get there spoiler alert, but Canaan's mullet. Please,
if we're gonna like note fine hair in the Star
Wars Rebels universe, I think that deserves a special mention.

Speaker 1 (01:08:08):
Oh yes, we'll do a standalone episode just on that, just.

Speaker 4 (01:08:11):
On his mullet. I appreciate that. But I also want
to make mention I did Wonder Con before the show
had even aired, and I met the Rogue Rebel family
Sal and Liz Prowess and their two kids, Lizzie and Axel,
and I just want to give them a shout out
because they were I couldn't. I saw the five Oh first,

(01:08:31):
you know, okay, great Darth Vader, the whole nine. But
I looked over and saw the Rogue Rebels, this entire family,
and they even had a chopper, like a little Teddy
Bear chopper, and the show hadn't even aired yet. I
just want to give a special shout out to them
as well, because they really are very much a part
of the the core friends that I have made in

(01:08:52):
the Star Wars universe. In fact, I hope to go
to Star Wars Celebration with them in April. So I
just I could not talk about the first part of
this sort of blowing up without mentioning that they have
become very much a part of my life and I
love them very very much.

Speaker 1 (01:09:10):
I love that, of course, and you're talking about Star
Wars family, so that very much is including that. So
thank you for sharing that, Branessa. So to our listeners,
thank you for tuning into our first episode of Potter Rebellion.
You can follow us on socials. It's just Potter Rebellion
on Instagram, where we will post those social clips and
hopefully we're gonna have a lot of good stuff there.
Please remember to rate subscribe five star rating please. Okay,

(01:09:33):
here's the thing. If you, for whatever reason don't like
our podcast, you can give us a five star rating
and say whatever you want in the comments. I think
that's a to find enough thing, because at least then
we're up in the algorithm, we keep our bosses that
iHeart happy. I think that's a fair trade off. You
can also write to us Potter Rebellion Podcasts at gmail
dot com. We would love to hear from you if
you have like fan theories, fan art, fan suggestions, or

(01:09:56):
maybe there's a guest you would like us to have on.
We want to hear from you because, like we're alluding to,
we are an inclusive podcast. We want to include you
in this whole journey we're on. It's not just limited
to us talking into our microphones. So Potter Rebellion podcast
at gmail dot com. Please, we would love to hear
from you. And I guess I'll see you all next week, right, Well,
we should probably keep going because there's a part time

(01:10:17):
this episode. Yeah all right then if if anything, we're
going to come up with some sort of an outro.
I don't know what that is yet because again we're
clearly so lowerhears, but if uh, I'm just gonna say
we will see you all next week for Spark Rebellion
Part two, and.

Speaker 3 (01:10:34):
I'll sanks listening.

Speaker 4 (01:10:35):
May the Forest be with you always hear the music.

Speaker 1 (01:10:42):
Potter Rebellion is produced in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, Producing,
hosted by Vanessa Marshall, Tia Surkar, Taylor Gray and Johnny
Brody Executive producer and in house star Wars Guru slash
backchecker j c Riifenberg. Our music was composed by Mikey Flash.
Our cover art was created by Neil Fraser of Neil
Fraser Designs. Special thanks the Holly Frean, Aaron Kaufman over
at iHeart, Evan crascoor At, Willie Morris Endeavor, Trasa Canobio,

(01:11:04):
George Lucas for creating this universe we love so much,
and of course all of our amazing listeners. Follow us
on Instagram at Potter Rebellion and email us at Potter
Rebellion Podcasts at gmail dot com