Barely Good Luck: Our Tokyo Star Wars Celebration Adventure

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Episode Transcript

Joshua Gilliland (00:02):
Hello everyone , my name is Joshua Gilliland,
one of the co-founding attorneysof the Legal Geeks.
We were in Japan, we haverecovered from Japan and we're
now ready to talk about StarWars Celebration.
With me are two of my travelingcompanions to Japan, Katrina
Wright and Stephen Tollefield.

(00:22):
So, starting with Stephen, howare you?

Stephen Tollafield (00:27):
I'm doing good, the world is a lot less.
It was a lot more boring, a lotless magical than when you're
at Celebration, but it's slowlyreadjusting and and or helps for
sure.

Joshua Gilliland (00:43):
Katrina, how are you in a post-celebration
life?

Katrina Wraight (00:47):
I'm doing wonderful.
Thank you, Getting back into myroutine.
Got a little sick there after.
I wasn't sure what that was,but I'm recovered and feeling
great and no complaints.
I'll take sickness with alovely trip to Japan any day.

Stephen Tollafield (01:03):
A little com-cred is a lovely trip to
Japan any day yeah A little concredit is a small price to pay
right.

Katrina Wraight (01:09):
Yeah, the cons always seem to get me yeah.

Joshua Gilliland (01:15):
Yes, yes, indeed, right.
So let's discuss our trip toTokyo.
So there won't be any legalanalysis.
So this is just us talkingabout we had a wizard of a time
and how much fun we had, andwe'll discuss some highlights
what we did before the show,what we did after the show and

(01:36):
now that life is back, to quote,normal.
So first things first, let'stalk about the pre-show Travel
to Japan.
Katrina, how was your adventure?
Getting to the land of therising sun?

Katrina Wraight (01:51):
It was wonderful.
It was great.
No issues whatsoever.
I'm good on an internationalflight.
I sleep the whole time, oh mygosh.
I took A&A, though, for thefirst time ever, and they had
the most adorable Pokemon flightpreparation videos, with, you
know, little Pikachus running upand down the aisle.

(02:12):
It was so cute.
And the food was absolutelyamazing.
On ANA it was some of the bestairline food I've had, probably
since, like Etihad.
So travel trip was just great,no complaints whatsoever.

Joshua Gilliland (02:26):
Good steven.
How about you?
You guys arrived, uh, I think,a day or two after, after we did
so, yeah, we got there rightbefore the convention.

Stephen Tollafield (02:37):
We, we landed in tokyo the day on
wednesday.
No, yeah, there Thursday.
Um, we left on Wednesday butdidn't arrive until like kind of
after dinner on Wednesday orThursday night.
And so we got off our plane, wegot off that weird shuttle from
the airport to um, to our hotel, and ran we had like 15 minutes

(03:01):
to get our badges, um, and justlike hit the ground running and
ran into the line to get ourbadges.
So yeah it was.
The journey was mostly prettysedate, except for that last
little sprint.

Joshua Gilliland (03:14):
So I left on Saturday April 12th and arrived
on Sunday April 13th because theinternational date line and
took the bus dateline and uhtook the bus, uh, we stayed uh

(03:34):
near disney and uh really didgrow to enjoy that hotel and the
surrounding area because it wasdisney um which.
So I thought there'd be lots ofsense in english and other
things that would makenavigating easier.
Sunday I was able to meet upwith well, actually, no Sunday
was more travel get settled,watch Doctor who, had the buffet
and made it to bed by eighto'clock local time.

(03:57):
Monday morning went down to thewater's edge because we were
looked over Tokyo Bay because Iwas thinking like hey, my
grandfather was there for thesurrender and met up with James
Gones and his buddy Ed fromMonster Party and we went to
some vintage toy stores, theGodzilla Hotel it was really

(04:22):
cool and had a fantastic time.
And and then, uh, met katrina atthe airport, which was again
exciting to navigate, and thenoff to uh, then off to uh back
to the hotel the Tuesday, so wegot to play tourist.

(04:46):
And so, katrina, what was yourhighlights from the adventure?

Katrina Wraight (04:54):
before the show so we had like a temple day
that's the first thing with atour guide, a very fast older
japanese gentleman that scuttledaround the city.
We had a hard time keeping upuh, but he showed us kind of the
wonderful temples and theculture in various areas.

(05:17):
He somewhat showed us how towork the train system, which is
one of the most difficult trains.
I love a train.
Um, one of the most difficulttrain systems I've ever
encountered.
I had no idea they had so manyvarious private lines and so
many different types of lines.
If you pulled up the map Iremember wanting going, going to
look at the map and being likenever mind, uh, that's not I'm

(05:39):
not gonna memorize that anytimesoon.
Um.
So what was good about, uh, andwhat I'd probably recommend for
anybody going, is our tourguide picked out certain well,
we picked out certain spots andthen he showed us how to get
around and kind of gave us aprimer on how to use the train.
So that's always probably agood thing for everybody to do
when they first get there,because you've got to lay out
the land and then figure out atleast where the train ticket

(06:02):
systems are and kind of how theywork um very, very complicated,
um it's still a lot of fun, um.
Do you have anything to sayabout that day, josh?

Joshua Gilliland (06:12):
yeah, well, before you, before you arrived,
uh, I took the train back afterhanging out with james and, uh,
to my horror, I learned that thetrain reversed.
So I thought I was going backto the hotel and it made it to a
specific stop because it was anexpress train and then it

(06:33):
started going the otherdirection from which we had just
arrived and I thought that'snot good, that's not how I
thought this was going to go.
And my train adventure, youknow I was not lost in Tokyo, so
it was not an after-schoolspecial but it was, you know,
popping off at one of the otherstops, taking the train to the

(06:55):
main Tokyo station, which isintimidating, but luckily they
have color-coded markings on thefloor to follow, like to which
train that you need.
So there was a switching andthat was unnecessarily exciting,
but made it back to the hoteland was able to drop off some

(07:18):
purchases from that vintage toystore and made it back From the
tour of Tokyo.
I mean, we had a great lesson inhow the train work.
But, more importantly, it setthe theme for us for barely good
luck.
At one of the shrines it was,you know, you drop a hundred yen

(07:43):
, which is a coin and theirvaluation system is completely
different than ours.
So when we think $40 for them,it's like you know, like 500 yen
and it's just.
It's a very different.
You know mathematical equationto run in your head.
But dropped in a coin of 100 yenand got my fortune and I opened

(08:07):
it and it said barely good luck.
And I thought like good enoughfor me, I can work with barely
good luck.
And the tour guide was like no,that's actually bad, you should
tie it to the rail and do itagain.
And I was like no, no, we canmake it work.
And that turned into the themefor the rest of the show.
So we can talk about wherebarely good luck happened later.

(08:29):
But Wednesday was our MountFuji day, where barely good luck
granted us great weather.
Cherry blossoms were still openaround Fuji.
We could see the snow blowingoff the mountaintop.
It was just so much fun.

(08:51):
Katrina, what were yourmemories of Mount Fuji and the
restaurant where we had lunch?

Katrina Wraight (09:02):
Mount Fuji was absolutely gorgeous and I was so
happy that we got to see thosecherry blossoms.
Our tour guide was telling usthat typically they're only in
bloom around like two weekstotal, and more recently they've
been blooming in bloom for aslong as two months.
There weren't any in the cityof Tokyo, so we didn't get to
see any on our initial tour, but, for whatever reason, they were

(09:30):
lingering around the mountain,and what I loved about the tour
was the secret little spots thatour tour guide kept pulling off
to where he wasn't supposed to.
The one specifically thatsticks out to me is that there
was the lake where you had theview of the cherry blossoms and
the Mount Fuji in the background, and overlooking a lake was
absolutely gorgeous.

(09:57):
So thankful for him showing usaround and then stopping in all
sorts of places he wasn'tsupposed to so that we could get
a good little shot.
And then he, it was a madhouse.
It was so busy, probablybecause the cherry blossoms were
still there.
So the line getting off thefreeway was how long, would you
say josh?

Joshua Gilliland (10:09):
so long it was like 20 minutes, I mean it was.
Yeah, it was rough, uh, I I wasimpressed with his work stamina
because that kind of likedefensive driving is an art and
skill and the parking around thefirst little village that we

(10:33):
went to, at mount fuji, was someof the worst parking I have
ever seen in my life and Isurvived driving in boston and,
uh and la, like it was, it wasbonkers scary on that little
parking lot.
But all you know, we saw thispond because it's groundwater

(10:55):
coming up to make this pond with, with all these, uh, koi, fish
and ducks and you get to, youknow, feed them, and the view
was spectacular and this, allthese little markets and we got
tons of snacks.
Uh, you got that seafood thatthat is hard to explain, um I'm
sort of like squid.

Katrina Wraight (11:15):
I don't even know what it was on a stick like
, but in an egg casing.

Joshua Gilliland (11:20):
Oh man, it was worth a try it was like seafood
corn dog, like it was but likesquishy and like rectangular you
know, I mean you were hungry.
We fixed the situation.
But man, that was, uh, that wasone for the books, uh, but the

(11:42):
little wasabi you did not takemy offer for a bite.

Katrina Wraight (11:45):
You didn't.
You didn't give it a go.

Joshua Gilliland (11:48):
No, I was.
You were braver than me so andand remained that way throughout
the week.
So I, yeah, I knew when to foldthem.
But the restaurant that westopped at, I mean it was super
busy.
That we stopped at, I mean itwas super busy.
I had a pork dish and you hadthat amazing ramen.

Katrina Wraight (12:11):
Ramen with the best homemade wheat noodles I
think I've ever had in my life.
We sat Japanese style so on thefloor cross-legged, which we
had to keep adjusting ourselves,as did most of the other
Americans in the room keepshifting the weight from side to
side.

Joshua Gilliland (12:30):
I did learn to carry Tylenol after the walk
around Tokyo where we logged atleast.
That was hard to explain.

(12:50):
It's like you get to cook themeat that they serve you, but
it's like this little candle litgrill or hot plate and we were
starved by the time we got there.
But that was fascinating.
And drinks followed by karaokeand I'm grateful there's no

(13:13):
video, um, but we, we did liveto tell the experience and uh,
the private room karaoke is theway to go, and uh, I think james
may have some video.

Katrina Wraight (13:23):
If, uh, anybody you know wants some blackmail,
I want to put your video.

Joshua Gilliland (13:29):
It wasn't me well, yeah, it was not me, but I
will follow up accordingly, incase there I I had hoped there
was no video, so that uh I thinkyou may have video.
Oh, no, might need a restrainingorder, so there is irreparable

(13:51):
harm.
So we can talk more about thatwith him at Comic-Con.
But, yeah, so the Tuesday andWednesday with all of our tours,
which is so much fun and it'slike part of me is still at
Mount Fuji, fuji, like I canclose my eyes and still see it.

(14:12):
It was just so awe-inspiringand I we got some great photos,
but, man, that was just soincredible.
Which then brings us toThursday, which was our, uh,
disney day.
Well, first things first, werendezvoused with Thomas Harper,
uh, who got in Wednesday, andwe met for dinner and, uh, why

(14:37):
don't you, uh, share the dinnerexperience?
Because that was some of yourfinest work.

Katrina Wraight (14:44):
Okay.
So we were looking forsomewhere good to eat, somewhere
close, because Thomas had, Ithink, just that second gotten
as well and he was also, I think, rushing to get his badge or
deciding whether he was going torush to get his badge.
So I booked a reservationonline and it was like kind of a
fancy restaurant, like abenihana type, uh ordeal, where

(15:07):
they uh do it in front of you,the cook-in, um, and it had one
of those little boxes for you toput like happy birthday or
happy anniversary, and I wasrushing to get a reservation
because the windows keptdisappearing, um, so I just put
Star Wars, exclamation point init.
And then at the end of dinnerthey came around and brought a

(15:30):
dessert with candles for Josh toblow out, and then it just said
Star Wars on it, exclamationpoint.
And the lady came over andshe's like Star Wars Didn't know
what to say.

Joshua Gilliland (15:41):
She's used to saying, I'm sure, happy birthday
or happy anniversary orwhatever it might be, but I
managed to sneak in a littlestar wars reference there to
begin with you were so cunningand tactical and quick I mean
like we're talking princess leiatype activity here with just
being able to make that happenand saying dantooine, um, it was

(16:06):
uh, I like you had seconds todo that and that was very
impressive, brilliant.
Yes, I, I keep it on myrefrigerator, just because again
they came to me with it.

Katrina Wraight (16:20):
Um, they knew it was free.

Joshua Gilliland (16:25):
And the dinner was really good, so it was
super tasty.
And this is all before the show.
That includes a trip toDisneySea and Tokyo Disney and
I'm a Disney fan I've been goingto.
You know there's pictures of memeeting Donald Duck when I was

(16:46):
four.
So getting to do both of theseparks was so much fun.
And the US translation for thepark entry was about 60 for each
park, which is way less thanDisneyland or a park hopper with

(17:06):
California Adventure Likethat's $190 something.
So this is pretty impressive.
And DisneySea was unlikeanything I'd seen before.
Yeah, the center of the park isVolcania and you know from
Jules Verne and it's, you know,captain Nemo's base.

(17:27):
And then, being the skipper ofthe Nautilus in my Sea Scout
life, getting to see a, you know, a full scale mock-up of the
Nautilus from 20,000 LeaguesUnder the Sea was was very
important to me.
But, katrina, why don't youshare your impressions and
favorite elements of DisneySea?

Katrina Wraight (17:49):
DisneySea was beautiful.
It was gorgeous, it was scenic,had a lot of like the like kind
of facade elements that say,like you know, certain places in
Vegas do but beautiful littleareas you have, like the
Mediterranean area, where therewas the most incredible curry
popcorn.

(18:10):
The lines for the popcorn werearguably the longest, some of
the longest lines in the park.
It was a very, very big deal.
I can see why that currypopcorn was to die, for I dream
of it.
But it was beautiful, likeMediterranean elements, the sea,
sea elements.
It was gorgeous with all thewater throughout.
It's one of the most beautifulparks I think I've ever seen.

(18:30):
We also happened to time itreally well and that it was the
food and wine west of festivals,such that you could get special
treats and alcoholic beverages.

Stephen Tollafield (18:41):
But no wine but no wine.
But no wine.
There was no wine at DisneySeaat the Food and Wine Festival.
I was like, is it really Foodand Wine Festival?
What's the wine.
The drinks were great, but Iwas like I'm not seeing the wine
.

Katrina Wraight (18:57):
Yeah, that's so true.
Actually I don't see any wine.

Stephen Tollafield (18:59):
No, no wine .

Katrina Wraight (19:00):
The drinks were great.

Joshua Gilliland (19:03):
Maybe if we'd gone to one of the Italian
restaurants, there would havebeen wine.

Stephen Tollafield (19:07):
Yes, yeah, maybe if you sat down in one of
the places, yeah, but yeah, itwas really funny.
The food was great, though, andyou know we tried to find that.
We went to DisneySea after thecon, just for the evening,
though.
You can get a post 5 pm likedusk ticket, so you the evening,
though you can get a post 5 pmlike dusk ticket, so you get

(19:27):
like four hours in the park.
It was perfect.
Um, we just went to have likedinner and food, and, um, we
tried to find the curry popcorn.
We found every flavor ofpopcorn, but the curry.

Joshua Gilliland (19:33):
We're so sad the fact that the app showed the
lines for the popcorn wassomething I was not prepared for
.
That'd be like going toDisneyland and seeing an app
saying how long the line is toget a churro.
Like.
It's just not something youexpect.
I did have one of their churrosthat were potato based.

(19:57):
It was different.
It was tasty.
It wasn't what I expected andit did not remind me of the
churros of Disneyland because itwasn't coated in cinnamon and
sugar and things that wouldshorten your lifespan.
It was deceivingly healthy, butit was still.

(20:18):
It was tasty, but it wasdifferent.
The rides the 20,000 LeaguesUnder, under the sea ride, I
thought was a ton of fun.
Uh, because it has the peterpan element of like.
Like you get into the little uh, dsrv and that's steampunk
style and you go through thisarea and instead of submerging

(20:42):
the windows, you know, look,make it look like you're diving
and I thought that was a niceelement.
And you get to.
You know, control a searchlightso you can look at the undersea
areas.
But there were other rides thatwe went on.
Now Katrina, you did the Towerof Terror.
It was something that hurts myback and Stephen's giving a

(21:04):
thumbs up, so why don't you twohave a bonding moment over the
thing that would put me intraction?

Katrina Wraight (21:10):
Oh, so fun.
Did you love it Stephen?

Stephen Tollafield (21:13):
I did.
You know I hadn't been toDisney.
I'm not from California, so Ihadn't been to Disneyland really
until about five or ten yearsago.
So by the time I got there,tower of Terror had already been
re-scanned as the Guardians ofthe Galaxy, so I'd never done
the original version of it.
So it was really cool to dothat.
Um, and it was fun.
Um, I feel like, uh, it was.

(21:35):
It was not as scary as Ithought it would be.

Katrina Wraight (21:38):
Yeah, I guess.
It's a shorter drop, I think,than the, maybe the one here,
but something about a hauntedmonkey or something.
It was all in Japanese and Ihad no idea what was happening,
but it was so much fun we allgot.
It's one of those rides whereyou all get off and everyone's
giggling and giddy and that'slike what state parks are all
about.
I feel like it's fun.

Stephen Tollafield (21:58):
Did you do the toy story?
Ride right around the corner.

Katrina Wraight (22:01):
I think Josh did while I was on Tower of
Terror.

Stephen Tollafield (22:03):
Yes, super fun, right?

Joshua Gilliland (22:05):
we really enjoyed that one yeah, which is
very, very similar to californiaadventure yeah, it's similar to
the spider-man ride too, yeahso it was good, clean, fun.
But hearing all the charactersin japanese is uh kind of a head
switch.
Uh, because it's like okay,it's, it makes sense, like why?

(22:26):
But no, you're not hearing TomHanks Like so it's a different,
it's just different.
I did have one of my higherscores though, so like that,
that was fun.
Years of practice being broughtto bear, the war we weren't

(22:46):
able to go on to the journey touh, to the center of the earth
ride.
I really want to do that thenext time, so fun that one is
really cool.
That was my favorite yeah, itlooked good, it was.
We were just running out oftime, it was.
You know, we had the mantra ofwe'll leave something for next
time.

Stephen Tollafield (23:02):
That's what's left for next time that's
a good thing to look forward to.
It's really fun.

Joshua Gilliland (23:06):
The Indiana Jones ride is very similar to
the California equivalent andthe Soaring ride is very similar
in the execution, like thewaiting room area has this 19th
century european gliding craftthat I'm not familiar with, with

(23:31):
a falconeer that apparently isimportant in french history that
I've never learned about, uh,but the flight is like, let's
just say, 80 the same, exceptfor the end, which is, you know,
japan, you know, which makessense as the california, one
ends in california.

(23:52):
So all of that's good fun.

Stephen Tollafield (23:57):
uh, anything else from disney sea
either, if you want to highlightyou know we were kind of
running through it because weonly had a few hours.
We didn't get a chance to do alot of the rides we wanted to,
but it was just really fun.
Ariel's Castle at night wasbeautiful.
That was really impressive.
Yeah, it was a cool park Ireally enjoyed it.

Katrina Wraight (24:17):
I imagine it was beautiful in sunset because
it was just such a gorgeous parkto begin with.

Stephen Tollafield (24:22):
I imagine it was so pretty.

Katrina Wraight (24:25):
Yeah it that, because it was just such a
gorgeous park to begin with, Iimagine it was.
So yeah, it was beautiful.
The only other thing would be atip.
If anybody wants to know is tosign up for the app, and then
you get a feel for how the likeback passes and bcas work.

Joshua Gilliland (24:35):
I guess it's not a huge deal, but yeah what
were some of the other ridesthat we were able to do, because
there's a lot to do there.

Stephen Tollafield (24:47):
We did the little roller coaster.
Which one?
What was that?
That was kind of fun.

Joshua Gilliland (24:53):
The one that goes inverted.

Stephen Tollafield (24:55):
Yeah, it has a loop.
Yeah, it was fun.

Joshua Gilliland (24:57):
Yeah, I'm glad that warned me.
I chickened out.
I chickened out the trampsteamers, so it did.
All of this was designed forthe the sailor and, uh, you know
, for a tramp steamer is a shipthat doesn't have a set routine

(25:19):
and they look like you knowpaddle wheelers, wheelers of old
that were crossing you know thePacific or the Atlantic in the
late 19th century, except theseboats definitely had diesel
engines.
It sounded very familiar towhat I've been able to operate
and Katrina humored me andnerding out and being on a boat.

(25:42):
So thank you.
But yeah, that was fun to take alittle cruise on that, so it
was amazing.
Then we were able to hit DisneyTokyo, which there are parts of
that theme park that are betterdesigned than Disney, just with

(26:07):
Main Street and how it's widerand it's covered and it has like
side streets that you can godown and from what I we saw the
park because that was ourlimited experience.
I think it's a it's a smootherdesign.
I think Disney had a littleurban sprawl in California so

(26:29):
the layout isn't as ergonomic asyou could make it and I think
the Japanese counterpart did a agood job of building that out.
So that was fun and we did thehaunted mansion and a couple
other things around the park youhave to mention Small World
with Groot.

(26:53):
Oh golly.

Katrina Wraight (26:57):
That was so well done.
It's the cutest thing I've everseen.
It's me, josh and Thomas all onSmall World like loving it,
because they threw little Grootthings and elements it was.

Joshua Gilliland (27:07):
I think he took videos and they have other
Marvel characters that are donein like that same puppet style
throughout it.
That's just clever.
And Katrina spotted someonewearing a little Groot like
headband deal, so it's Grootkind of across the top of your

(27:29):
head.
So we did find one of those.
They are available for purchaseand so, again, it was a truly
wonderful experience and I didbring back some of the very
tasty chocolate candies fromDisney and have had them at work

(27:52):
and shared with colleagues, sothey've been popular at the
office.
We got our tickets Tuesdaymorning, so we did that before
the tour and that was anadventure.
Pro tip for those who arethinking about 2027 is you know,

(28:16):
in the past you go online tobuy your celebration tickets and
it's a team building experiencebecause you might have a friend
who gets in before you.
Thus they end up buying ticketsfor a bunch of people and then
they transfer them to you.
Uh, read pops transfer systemshows that the tickets are

(28:39):
transferred, but then apparentlyanother affirmative act needs
to happen to actually make itcompletely done, because we
didn't have a problem because wewere in early and we got
someone who was a problem solverwho said oh, the person who
bought the tickets was person x.
You guys are, you know, joshuaand katrina carry your badges

(29:04):
and we got our badges and weresuccessful.
Others were not and had to dealwith the person who purchased
the passes.
Even though that they weretransferred to those individuals
, they couldn't pick up theirbadges.
I was theorizing how to do aclass action lawsuit in line and

(29:27):
looking up like what venue tosue in if they started messing
with people who crossed an ocean.

Stephen Tollafield (29:38):
And you said there'd be no legal
analysis.
Yeah, I'm sorry, but we weretotally looking at the terms of
sale, like reading the fineprint, to see, yeah, that was
ridiculous, like I I.
I don't remember it being likethat before in previous
celebrations.
I don't know why they changedit and it was fine for us too.

(29:58):
We were at the very end of theday and by the time we got to
the front of the line we had afriend had bought our tickets
and I was like we don't have theqr code, can we still get our
badges?
And it was fine.
What if it was going to be fine?
Why did they have to layer inall that stupid language about
you need the qr code show uplike why are their comms so
confusing and so like wrong allthe time?

Katrina Wraight (30:21):
I don't get it why they got to be like that
yeah it was added stress of youdon't know, no one knew, if they
were, if they didn't have theirqr card, how they were going to
manage.
Right person wasn't, even injapan.
What were you going to do?

Stephen Tollafield (30:36):
exactly and I was glad that you guys had
gone earlier the day, that wehad gone and had we're fine and
that gave me confidence that itwas going to be okay.

Joshua Gilliland (30:44):
But um, wow, it was stressful and
unnecessarily so, yeah, yeah,and there were people who were
complaining that, you know, itwas not consistently applied and
that they needed the person whopurchased the tickets.
Um, so all all scary stuff.
Uh, and because, again, it'slike, think of the damages

(31:06):
somebody would have had if theyhad bought airfare, paid for a
hotel, got to tokyo and couldn'tget in because their friend in
ohio, who got sick and or losther job and decided not to go,
uh, canceled and um, all of thatis bad, uh, so so, yeah, all

(31:30):
bad, but it worked out.
So happy ending for us.
And and but again, that wasunnecessarily stressful, um, so
unnecessarily stressful.
But now we're crossing into theshow, uh, the main event, and so

(31:52):
friday, let's, let's just taketake a look at our notes.
Uh, because barely good luckwas holding on, so there was a
line, long line, to get in, andit started with thomas and I,
and thomas had swag to trade andhad this little sign that I
have swag to trade, so we weregetting stopped all the time by
people, um, who made like pinsor stickers like I haven't seen

(32:17):
that swag yeah, I haven't seenpeople do that at like san diego
comic-con or wonder con, so Iguess it's a Star Wars
celebration phenomenon.
I thought it was cool to see.
But getting stopped all thetime was starting to turn into a
buzzkill because it was likeevery three feet, so like that,

(32:41):
that did get a little rough.
But seeing the creativity wasinspiring and or kids coming up
to thomas and you know, it'slike they would have a sticker
and he gave them a coaster, itwas just like that.
Stuff was pretty adorable anduh, uh and it's a good community
experience.
So, despite the stopping, Ithought it was pretty cool.

(33:03):
Um, and then we get in.
So the first big panel was themandalorian.
In grogu I tried doing astandby line, uh, to get into
twin suns.
Uh, it was full, did not makethat one.
That was the only one.
We were not successful, uh, ingetting in.
But I took the opportunity towalk around the floor and watch

(33:26):
some things at the main stage,got the little lightsaber that
they gave out that changescolors and they were all on a
circuit or Wi-Fi and so theircolors could be controlled so
they would all turn red at thesame time in the audience, or

(33:49):
all green or all blue, and Ithought like that's one
impressive technology.
And two, you know, everyone'sgoing home with like an 18 inch
lightsaber.
So that was pretty fun.
So that was pretty fun.
But we started doing, you know,some shopping and looking

(34:12):
around and I got to say PedroPascal and Filoni are true rock
stars.
True rock stars.
Uh, because when pascal made itto the main stage and we were
getting ready to go do our firstphoto op, like the exhibit hall

(34:33):
all rushed towards the mainstage, like I'm just talking
about charisma and commandpresence.
It was just Well.
Then we did our first photo op.
And, katrina, why don't youtell the story?
Because it is one for the ages.

Katrina Wraight (34:51):
Well, first, when I came I came a little bit
later Because I think I neededto go to the gym first before I
came but when I arrived, haydenChristensen was in the Star Wars
Live stage and it was hisbirthday, so everybody sang him
happy birthday.
Stage and it was his birthday,so everybody sang him happy
birthday.
And it was adorable, and it wasso nice to like see him welcomed
back in a good way and youcould tell, like you'd see on

(35:15):
his face, how happy that madehim.
That was wonderful.
Um then, I think almost rightafter that was when r Gosling
was up on stage, right too thatthey announced the Starfighter
uh spinoff with the director,the Deadpool director I forgot
his name um Levy, sean Levy yeah, yeah, so that's what was.

(35:36):
Something that was really coolabout the hall in and of itself,
I think, is that you couldcatch all the big stars there,
even if you didn't make it intothe panels, and it was kind of a
surprise.
You didn't know.
Like you said, they would allrush to the stage, so that was
really cool.
Brian Gosling told the storyabout how he had Empire Strikes
Back bed sheets and his mom sentthe picture in for the panel

(35:58):
and he was like oh, nobodyelse's mom sends their bed
sheets in, so that'll beinteresting.
But then we had our first photoop uh, the ahsoka duo.
Um, so I was awesome, it was sospecial.
I walked in first and ashley xpwas like just like this, but put

(36:19):
her arms out for a big hug,like it was a huge hug, and kind
of set the stage, um, and thenrosario dawson was there and
let's meet in for a big hug.
Like it was a huge hug and kindof set the stage, um, and then
Rosario Dawson was there and letme in for a big hug and she was
like, wow, you're so pretty.
And I was like, wow, you're sogorgeous.
And we were shocked by eachother's beauty, um, which is
like so cool.
But I'm blushing, I couldn'tspeak, I and say anything.

(36:42):
The boys said their littlepieces.
It was adorable.
They were so wonderful and kindand welcoming and I know for
some photo ops we're like don'ttouch people or don't even shake
their hands and they gave usbig old hugs and welcomed us
literally with open arms.
It was so wonderful.

Joshua Gilliland (37:01):
That's now the top photo op I've experienced.
Wonderful, that's now the topphoto op I've experienced.
And so it it displaced the ewanmcgregor one and and which was
like it was cool because, likehe did, you know, like like
shake hands, it's like hi, I'mewan and you know.
And arms around everyone andlike gentlemen, actors, actor.
But like the hugging, thewelcoming, like it was, even

(37:26):
though it's like just 20 seconds, a lot happened in those 20
seconds of making people feelspecial and appreciated.
Uh, they, they love the fans.
I am so glad to see the voiceactress and the live action
actress like just being adynamic duo.

Katrina Wraight (37:49):
It's just everything good about fandom
they both cared about how thepicture, how you set the picture
up.
So the one before they did thepose with that girl did you see
back?
yes which is probably such acool picture.
And then rosario dawson waslike oh, what are we doing?
Just smiling?
Okay, like wanted to make surethat, put extra effort in to
make sure that she addressedeach one of us, and then the
pose is what we wanted as well.

(38:10):
She's got her arm, like all theway around me in the photo.
It's just really special umsituation.

Joshua Gilliland (38:17):
They were lovely, lovely lady that and, uh
, that was the last one wesigned up for.
Like we were getting lunchbefore our tour and looking at
the app and I went like, oh,this one's still available and
we talked about it and we'relike, yeah, let's do it.
So it was an impulse buy and Iam grateful we did that impulse

(38:38):
buy Because that's framed on thewall right now.
It was just so cool and theytreated everyone so so nice and
and you know, katrina was justbeaming with that story about
you know, rosaria Dawson said Iwas very pretty, that I did have

(39:02):
a custom t shirt made, made andI know it was delivered.

Katrina Wraight (39:05):
So, um, uh with with the quote, so uh, I'll be
riding that high for all year,maybe, yeah.

Joshua Gilliland (39:16):
The picture and the t-shirt to prove it.
So it was uh, uh again.
Like that was just that cool.
I haven't seen that happen at acon before.
It was just neat.
We also did one with VanessaMarshall later in the day and
she's amazing.
Quite.
The space mom Love her as Hera.

(39:37):
She and other castmates havethe pot of rebellion right now
doing a rewatch of Rebels.
Strongly recommend it.
I think Rebels is one of thebest Star Wars stories.
So getting to see her justloving all the fans, the fact
that she booked that trip on herown and when the organizers

(39:58):
found out she was going, theylike promoted her up to like you
know, like the photo op and shemoderated panels, uh, so just,
I mean it was, it was ane-ticket, so very happy for her
I remember the guy that came outwhen we were standing in line.

Katrina Wraight (40:14):
He comes out and he like, stops, bed and
distracts.
He's all on his own and he goesoh and I was like, look at it.
And I was like, was it at him?
He's so cute.
And I was like, was it good?
He's like, oh my gosh, you weresuch a joy Like I can die happy
.
And just to watch this completestranger's reaction just from
coming out from his photo opwith her was so special, it was

(40:37):
so beautiful, it was wonderful.

Joshua Gilliland (40:39):
I think he was German, he might have had a
script with him from Rebels.
Think he was german, he mighthave had a script with him from
rebels.
Again, just like quality fanexperiences of people just
enjoying the community of otherpeople who love star wars.
It was just good and pure.
And then we made our way to theanimation anniversary panel,

(41:04):
which I just I loved.
So the animation folks kept thelight on for fandom after
Revenge of the Sith and there'san entire generation of people
who grew up watching the CloneWars and that's their first
introduction to Star Wars andthe, the interviews and hearing

(41:28):
Filoni, all that was cool.
And they showed the firstepisode from Tales of the
Underworld with Asash, ventressand I.
It's just so good.
Uh, katrina, like we saw itwith Thomas and Katrina.
You, this might have been oneof your first or second

(41:49):
introductions to some of theStar Wars animation.
What did you think of theVentress story?

Katrina Wraight (42:03):
the animation.
I think we were having thisdiscussion where I don't know
what I was thinking aboutanimation, or if it's, I don't
know what, the generalstereotypes are right, like it's
childish and like you know.
I don't know what I wasthinking, but I think I told you
that one of my first runs inrun-ins was with Bad Batch and
I've absolutely fallen in love.
And then to see Dave's passionfor these projects and how much

(42:25):
heart he puts into it and like,how, like, all consuming it was
for him, I just think it'ssomething that's super special
that I certainly need to give asecond look.
Um, and most definitely will.
Um, but yeah, it was, and it'sjust so beautifully done like I
wouldn't expect the like, beautyand the heart that go into it,

(42:45):
and I don't know that there isany other animation kind of like
that.
You know what I mean.

Joshua Gilliland (42:51):
Stephen, did you make it into that panel?

Stephen Tollafield (42:53):
yeah, actually we, we, I think we just
stood by to get into thecelebration stage, um, and yeah,
it was great, um, really fun tosee the first episode.
As always, it's really fun tohear the stories about the
production and how the budgetworks and sort of the nitty
gritty.

(43:13):
That's really interesting.
And so, yeah, it was a greatpanel.
And I kind of missed the CloneWars the first time around too,
katrina, I didn't watch it thatpart of my life when it was like
each week, because I think itwas like on Disney or something
like Cartoon Network to begin.
Cartoon Network, yeah, exactlyso it was kind of like Cartoon

(43:35):
Network, of course has swim andeverything, but it seemed like
it was kind of geared for kids.
But I did a rewatch years afterit came out and or an original
watch, I guess, um, and loved it, and then all the stuff that's
come out since I've just been areally big fan of.

Joshua Gilliland (43:51):
So it's very cool to see that they're still
doing that but and the um otherproducer with feloni, who I'm
blanking on her name athPetrillo.
Yeah, the hero who's good atgetting things funded.
She's incredible.
There should be little statuesof her.

Stephen Tollafield (44:12):
Very clearly the brains of the
operation.
She runs the show.

Katrina Wraight (44:16):
They respect her.
It's cool to see a woman inthat arena with that much
respect.

Joshua Gilliland (44:25):
The preview that they showed for mall.
You know, uh, uh, golly, what's.
What's the new mall show goingto be called?
Um, not underworld, but um,something lord crime, lord.
Uh, I'm blank, and I justlistened to a great interview
with Sam Witwer on the KatieSarkop's podcast, that great

(44:53):
trailer In fact he came out inthe Darth Maul voice that played
again.

Stephen Tollafield (45:01):
I think it is just called Maul Shadow Lord.

Joshua Gilliland (45:03):
Shadow Lord.
That's it, steven, with thesave, save, google with the save
you're typing and I wasstalling.
So teamwork, all good stuff,but we'll talk more animation in
a moment.
For day two.
Was there anything else fromday one that either of us want,

(45:27):
anyone wants to, to mention?
Well, there was a lot ofshopping.
Um, I, I'm not.
I'm not ashamed to admit thisnow, but I I love getting Star
Wars socks, and so we had acouple different.

(45:48):
We went to the Stance store andthe Rock'em store, and so we
got one Rock'em set stolenpackage.
These will be put into servicebut also got the uh stance ones.
The uh, these ones are justpreview ones, and yeah, worn

(46:14):
yours.
Yet I've worn all my dainty I'velooked longingly at them and uh
do have your Lucasfilmanimation poster too.

Katrina Wraight (46:25):
From that day I've gone through my photos.

Joshua Gilliland (46:27):
I do.

Katrina Wraight (46:29):
That's a really cool poster that they gave out
with that as well.

Joshua Gilliland (46:35):
I have yours as well.

Katrina Wraight (46:37):
I'm glad you could show everybody, because
it's so cool.

Joshua Gilliland (46:41):
It's in my office home office.

Katrina Wraight (46:43):
I got it.

Joshua Gilliland (46:44):
We'll get that out.
And the other set from Stance.
But I own a lot of Stance andRockham and at the Rockham booth
they had the artist who'sdesigned them and so we started
chatting and discussed how we dolegal panels and I was a big

(47:06):
fan of his work and he's, youknow, started talking about some
of the ones he worked on.
I was like did you do thehalloween one, star wars ones?
He's like, yes, did you do thechristmas ones for star wars,
marvel yes.
So again, it was just it's like, dude, you're awesome.
It's like I have lots of yoursocks and the socks are comfy.
Like, again, the seven-year-oldgetting socks on Christmas

(47:29):
morning.
Granted, if they're just whitetube socks, you know that's less
exciting, but I can say inmiddle age socks are a good gift
.
And I got Star Wars socks formy nephews and nieces who love
Star Wars immensely.
So going to a Star Wars showand not bringing them back

(47:50):
anything, just I mean they'llall have fun memories, so very
grateful about that.
So, yeah, so that's day one.
Day two the Andor panel.
Day three they had people whowere doing the one-way-out

(48:13):
cosplayers.
Like it was a good way to warmup the crowd Seeing the actors
speak.
I was in Twin Suns Like I wasin an overflow, but seeing the
actors speak and just thereverence that they all have for
the subject matter and how muchthey love Star Wars was fun to
see.
But then we got to see thefirst episode and you know I've

(48:38):
been watching Andor at homealone.
Watching it with 1000 of yournew best friends is a preferred
method for watching it.
Steven, you're nodding, buddy.
Now share your love.
What happened?

Stephen Tollafield (48:52):
Yeah, I love that was the one panel that
I had a reservation for and wewere on the galaxy stage for
that one.
We wound up getting into abunch of other ones, just kind
of luckily in standby.
But that was the one I reallywanted to see and was not
disappointed.
It was everything I kind ofhoped for and I love that the
one way out is kind of takingover the Willow Hood, the

(49:16):
running of the Willow Hoods withthe ice cream bucket, so that's
a really great tradition.
I love seeing that.
You know, I was wondering.
So when we were in Anaheim andthey did the preview or they did
the Obi-Wan premiere, that waslike at night right, like they
kind of announced at the panelthat everyone who was there

(49:38):
would get would be able to comeback and watch the premiere and
that was like a whole red carpetthing and there was like
costumes and it was like a wholeevent.
And this one was just kind oflike you get to see the episode.
So it was like it was cool andI was really grateful for it.
But I was kind of found myselfkind of yearning for that extra
layer of like specialness thatwas the Obi-Wan premiere.

Joshua Gilliland (50:01):
Since I couldn't get into the Obi-Wan
premiere, I preferred this onebecause it was a little more
democratic that everyone.
Because of all the overflow,rooms, rooms.

Stephen Tollafield (50:12):
It wasn't just in one theater that special
tickets, it was, you know, 2000 lucky people yeah, or, and
and I don't see why theycouldn't have the galaxy galaxy
stage and the twin sun stagealso showing it at night.
Like that place is huge, likewhy can't everyone come in and
see it?
Like, like, anyway, I don'tknow that's my roasting of Reed

(50:34):
Bob.

Joshua Gilliland (50:35):
I think that just goes to the difference of,
I think, the venues, because, asThomas highlighted, in older
celebrations they had eveningscreenings of movies.
That didn't happen here or atAnaheim.

Stephen Tollafield (50:52):
It's been years since that happened and I
don't like that sort of thing.
I don't understand why reed popis like every year it just
diminishes just a little bit,like things get taken away, um,
and it changes in ways thatmakes the experience more
painful, um, and so I'm justcurious about like what in LA is
going to be like no longerthere or what's going to be kind

(51:15):
of just a little less cool, Iguess, and I'm not sure why read
pop does the way things it doesit might swing the other
direction and they might bringthings back.

Joshua Gilliland (51:26):
so let's just again this importance of doing
the surveys, importance of beingengaged.
But all of that aside, the showending effectively at six
o'clock, anaheim went later.
It's not like WonderCon or SanDiego Comic-Con that has panels
going up until nine o'clock atnight.

(51:47):
That can include screenings andother community events.
We're done at dinner time and Idon't know if that's just
japanese culture with how theydo a convention, or in japan, or
if it was shower, maybe likegetting people away from I don't
know, who knows it, but it wasjust different because anaheim

(52:09):
went a little later yeah and Ihad more evening activities yeah
but anyway in a different place.
Uh, so we we have andor, we hadthe ahsoka panel that was the
one we didn't get in.

Stephen Tollafield (52:28):
To see, we were in the standby line for
that and got cut up we didstandby and made it in nice.

Joshua Gilliland (52:35):
And uh, katrina, do you want to share
any of the ahsoka panel memoriesyou might have?
Seeing you shake your head, I'mgonna go with no, uh just like
how passionate rosario is about.

Katrina Wraight (52:52):
That character really blew me away.
That she's like championed forit to begin with or something,
and then that's how much shetruly cares.
That was my takeaway.
It's beautiful to see someonein a role be that passionate
about it she really campaignedfor that part.

Stephen Tollafield (53:12):
She's kind of like a simu liu and so cool
well that.

Joshua Gilliland (53:16):
And you know, hearing feloni talk about
realizing, oh, she wants to dothis, let's talk to her like it
was, like man, it's more thanmanifesting it.
It was, you know, the, thecreative team, going like, yeah,
that is a good idea, let's,let's, let's talk to her.
How often does that happen?

(53:38):
Uh, just let's, let's set up askype and we can chat.
Like good for them, like that'sreally impressive to pull off.
And hearing her speak with suchreverence for the fans who make
that costume and the orangebody paint and everything else
that goes into it, there's justa respect.

(53:59):
Hearing Filoni, uh, like we're,we're the same age and so
hearing him talk aboutexperiences that I'm very
familiar with was cool.
But you know, the fact thatwe're going to see Grand Admiral
Thrawn versus Admiral Ackbarmade my heart sing, because we

(54:23):
haven't seen like full-on navalstrategy of, like, you know,
fleets versus fleets, like youknow, fleets versus fleets, uh,
and the idea of seeing akbar,you know, and prime akbar, you
know, uh, going up against avery formidable enemy, uh, is
something I I just can't wait.
I mean, I don't know if they'llshow like crossing the t and

(54:45):
other you know naval strategies,or they'll lean more into the
world war II type experience offighters against capital ships.
But I'm excited to see whatthey do and they're working on
filming now.
But I remember the teasertrailer they did for Empire

(55:06):
Strikes Back.
So, seeing the way that theydid a teaser trailer for Ahsoka,
not having any footage yetthat's of the same venue, of,
like it's like animated stillsor, you know, like character
pictures, the fact that Zeb willbe, you know, in Ahsoka, it's

(55:29):
like you know, they're bringingall of the Rebels characters in
live action together and I'mhere for it.
So it's just, it's just nerdygoodness and can't wait.
So we did that.
We.
Then let's talk about Stephen.
You were able to see manyannyJancito on the live stage.

Stephen Tollafield (55:54):
Yeah, I was a big fan of the Acolyte and I
happened to catch him on thelive stage and, as you were
talking about before, it's socool to be able to just catch
randomly people like that.
I will say his appearance waspretty remarkable.
He was very visibly emotionalabout the fact that the show is
not coming back for a secondseason and it was kind of

(56:16):
awkward that you know he'd beeninvited back to, he'd been
invited to celebration to sellthe show and to meet the fans,
and then two weeks later theycanceled the show and so he's
like I guess I'm stillcontractually obligated to come
to the celebration so and sothat was a little cringy and a
little weird, but um, kristenbavar was interviewing him and
she kept it very nice and it wasa great uh conversation, so

(56:39):
that was good.
But he was kind of misting up abit um when he was talking
about the show and um, but itwas a really great opportunity
for the fans to show theirappreciation for him and for the
production and we're allchanting season two at the end.
It was really, really great.
So that was actually one of myfavorite um moments from
celebration was just catchingthat, just the randomness of it
and um how kind of emotional itwas.

Joshua Gilliland (57:00):
it was relatable, yeah he's, he's a fan
and yeah, for sure.
Um, I had problems with writingof the acolyte specifically at
the end and uh, but that's whywe need a season two.

Stephen Tollafield (57:16):
It's like it ended in a kind of an awkward
place, Like it was.
It was a down point and thecharacters need to come back up.

Joshua Gilliland (57:23):
Well, it's, star Wars is about hope and I
felt Acolyte was devoid of hopeand I agree with my brother's
analysis that it was anunder-end ending.
All of that aside, I love Mannyand he was so formidable.
The dude hit the gym Gottarespect that.
And loves the fans, and so Ireally want the best for them

(57:49):
and hope they can finish thestory.
Want the best for them and hopethey can finish the story.
However, meanwhile, katrinaThomas and I made it to the
Siege of Mandalore, clone Warsscreening Nice, and I really
enjoyed seeing Katrina'sreaction to it, since she hadn't
seen it before.
So, katrina, can you share howthe experience was for you?

Katrina Wraight (58:15):
Well, first off , it was in Japanese, so let's
start there.
How they can even convey thatmuch again beauty and heart when
it's not even in English.
But it was epic.
It was wonderful.
I got to like get involved.
What I've enjoyed most hearing,though, is about the history and
your guys' tales about how thatwas something that you didn't

(58:38):
think was going to be, and thenthey made it happen, and then
like how much more epic that was, and then just everyone in the
room, like with theirlightsabers and you could hear
it like people sniffling andlike people cheering and like
just like pure emotion in thatroom, and how much it meant to
everybody.
When combined with you guys'sstories about how just thankful

(58:59):
and grateful you were that iteven came to be, um, I just
can't get over how like gorgeousit is, it's so beautifully done
.
Um, it's gorgeous, it'sabsolutely gorgeous, and I gotta
like I gotta get stuck in forsure and then just like how much
it means to thomas.
We should save it, talk to himabout it like it's, it's so cool

(59:23):
, it's so special, and like justthat pure passion and that
innocent fun.
There's like not much like thatin the world and something
truly to marvel at yeah, I haddisassociated.

Joshua Gilliland (59:35):
It was in japanese, like that's how
powerful it is.
Uh, I'm like sure I've seen itbefore and I I was privileged to
see it at celebration 22, uh,at the end of the convention.
Uh, they again, they did agreat job with it.
Um, uh, in the big theater atanaheim.
Seeing it this way was justcool.

(59:59):
Uh, so much hard again, why,like, seeing how, like you know,
you riveted watching it andthat was really cool to see that
level of, like you know,connection uh to it.
Uh, because I mean, you know,like the first half or
two-thirds, uh, with the, youknow there's mandalore and

(01:00:22):
everything that happens there.
But you know the last halfwhere it crosses into revenge of
the sith and order 66, and it'sjust like you know, it just
tears your heart out.
Um, especially with you know,like you, know, I got shells
again.

(01:00:44):
There are goosebumps it's justjust seeing it of, like, you
know, rex trying to fight it andand ahsoka going like, oh no,
because now the entire ship thatare her clones you know that,
that you know she has tried toprotect and lead are now trying

(01:01:06):
to kill her and she does.
You know it's a great arc withthat character.
Like you know, I will not bethe one who causes their death
and you know, doing surgery onrex, you know, having hearing
her say, like I am one with theforce and the force is with me,
it's like oh, uh, way to workand sure it in way, just, I mean

(01:01:28):
just just so, so good.
And that you know, like it endswith no dialogue Now and just
people crying, you know,highlighting the futility and
horror of war of you know, andthe final music is burying the
dead.
That's the name of the track andit's this haunting melody that

(01:01:54):
you know breaks you.
It's just so powerful and sowell done.
So, yeah, bring on moreanimation.
Uh, because they're, they're in, and let those folks also make
live action.
Uh, as well.
Uh, because, again seeing, ohno, I don't want to spoil it for

(01:02:14):
you.
Uh, you, there's something don'tdo it, I went to the.

Katrina Wraight (01:02:19):
I went to the restroom after and all the girls
are in the mirror like tryingto fix their makeup sniffling
and like it was so cute,everyone.
It just like was broken and itwas all dampened and like I't
know.
Just the pure emotion I mean,it was my first time, but all
those people have probably seenit a billion times and the fact

(01:02:39):
that I can invoke that feelingagain and then being in a room
with all the people that careabout it so much, it was truly
special.

Joshua Gilliland (01:02:48):
There are a few stories that do that to a
person years after they'vealready seen it.
You know, like Wrath of Khan isone, glory is one.
It's a short list of media thatcan have that emotional gut

(01:03:09):
punch, and I think all of theanimated series do that at least
once, sometimes more.
And uh.
So yeah, get ready for uhrebels and bad batch um, because
they have the same kind ofemotional weight with solid

(01:03:31):
storytelling, with charactersthat people care about.
Um, and that's again.
Lucasfilm was really good atthis.
We did a little more shoppingthat had barely good luck, um,
so I was able to get the roninuh uh action figure from hasbro
still still in its package, butit opens up to a nice diagram.

(01:03:53):
I was able to get the music boxset, but we also went to the
Roosevelt booth.
So I'm wearing one of theshirts that's the Empire Strikes
Back one, because that's mymovie.
But Katrina, our barely goodluck was at play there, could

(01:04:14):
you?

Katrina Wraight (01:04:16):
I feel like we should pause on this too, until
I can show it okay so we'll savethat for another time but there
was barely good luck at theRoosevelt booth incredible.

Joshua Gilliland (01:04:30):
I'm very proud of that.

Katrina Wraight (01:04:31):
That was impressive the lovely lady there
had my back, thanks to her.

Joshua Gilliland (01:04:38):
I knew it was going to end well as soon as you
talked to her.
So that's day two.
We had a nice dinner afterwards, then crashed hard because we
were beyond the point ofexhaustion.
Then day three, you know, westarted with the visions panel,

(01:04:59):
we saw the ILM 50th panel, wehad a photo op with Ahmad Best
and in the closing, stephen any,any, oh, we got together.

Stephen Tollafield (01:05:16):
Like we finally found you.
Finally, after three days ofkind of like orbiting each other
, we finally connected.
It was really cool.
That place was huge.

Joshua Gilliland (01:05:22):
It was really hard to find folks yeah, but it
was like you were the one thatwas hard to find for me.
There was another gentleman whogoes by, the star wars lawyer,
walked by me and hugged me.
Oh, nice and so and then we raninto him like yeah, it's like a
90 minutes later with anotherone of his friends who cosplays,
is cosplays deidre muro, fromnice, and like she's also a

(01:05:48):
lawyer, scary looking as deidrelike just nails it and and lives
in San Jose, and so, with thefact she was able to like quote
back uh information that thatwe've covered in prior episodes
was pretty cool, very cool, uh,katrina, your thoughts on the

(01:06:10):
last day?

Katrina Wraight (01:06:13):
I'm running out of battery on my iPhone.
Okay, I just got the 10% warningand I'm not anywhere near a
charger.
I really enjoyed the ILM panel.
I thought those were reallyreally cool to see how it works
and how, um, yeah, how theyexplain to you that cgi is what

(01:06:38):
costs the most money.
So in all actuality, thoselittle models, um keeps the cost
down, which just wouldn't.
I wouldn't know.
I'm not in the scene at all,but that like blows my mind.
And then how they would show theactual side by side of what the
cgi rendering was going to beand how much more epic that mini
model was, with the shadowingand the detail, like I wouldn't.

(01:07:00):
I would never have thought thatthat would have been the case.
Um, and I forget the guy's name, but the guy that set up the
track that put the spaceships onto have the models go by, that
he did on his like spare timefrom like on his weekends and
his shop, like that is so cool,that is so mind-blowing to me
that he just came up with thatin its entirety and then to get

(01:07:21):
to see, like the actual productand then to know that's what
you're seeing when you see thesethings.
I thought that was so, so coolhe also co-created adobe
photoshop.

Joshua Gilliland (01:07:32):
So, yeah, the fact that he's inventing things
in his garage is one like a verysilicon valley type story.
But also the lucasfilm story oflike yeah, I just did this, you
know, like made it in thegarage, thought it'd be fun I
knew this is what we needed.

Katrina Wraight (01:07:49):
I knew exactly how to do it.
I made it happen like that's socool when you're that tactile
and creative and like you canmake something like that be, and
then it's what you do for allof them going forward, cause it
worked so incredibly well,awesome.

Joshua Gilliland (01:08:05):
Yeah, it was heroic and, you know, I got to
see Fawn Davis talk, who who isa friend, a mutual friend in
common, and Fawn is a great guy,and so hearing him talk about
working on the different moviesthat he's worked on in his
career was very cool.

(01:08:26):
So Fawn is a wonderful person.
And then we end up, you know,last dinner, which did include
ramen and which was pretty epic.

Katrina Wraight (01:08:37):
Oh but you're forgetting our fairly good luck
on the way out of the Amag Bestpicture.

Joshua Gilliland (01:08:44):
Yes.

Katrina Wraight (01:08:45):
We are walking out of our starter together.
That we got, which waswonderful, and I thought Hayden,
from afar, panic and spit outonly the words I can get out,
like no, no, you guys, hayden,just to make sure that you guys
know that he's just about toliterally walk past us, like two
feet away across from oneboundary.
Um, I'm in that time, I'mscrambling and yelling at you

(01:09:08):
guys that he's about to walkpast.
I managed to get a selfie andhe flames in it, so like wow,
that was a crazy way to end thebest in the con.
It's so kind of him, right,he's just been doing all this
photo op.
He kind of has some issues withhis signatures and stuff and he
saw what I was doing and gave mea little wave he might have

(01:09:28):
been on your return flight too,so there he told me that and I
was like he might have been onyour return flight too.
So there's.
He told me that and I was likedo I go and maybe get kicked off
his plane.
Do I walk up there Check it out?
I did not.

Joshua Gilliland (01:09:44):
Good life choice.
Good life choice, and the nextone's in Los Angeles.

Stephen Tollafield (01:09:57):
So I'm not sure which convention center in
la will host it, but I wasthinking it was the one downtown
, isn't it?

Katrina Wraight (01:10:00):
yeah, I think the la one in la live or in that
general area I think it said itdidn't it it's, it's right by
crypto, right yeah okay, soplenty of hotels, so that'll be
good, yeah, kind of a sketchypart of town though DTLA is.

Stephen Tollafield (01:10:15):
We were just there last weekend.
We went down for a concert andwe stayed in DTLA and it was.

Katrina Wraight (01:10:22):
It's very much Good location to take the train
up for people, if they're comingfrom various places.
That'll be good.

Joshua Gilliland (01:10:28):
We can drive to it as opposed to crossing the
Pacific.
Tickets will be exciting.
Uh, I I'm guessing you knowwe'll have.
There'll be events at the lucasmuseum.
Uh, yeah, coincide.
I would bet good money thatthere'll be a screening of Star

(01:10:50):
Wars at the Chinese GraumanTheater.
Pretty, cool.
I've been wrong before, butthat just seems like a
no-brainer because there are somany of the iconic photos from
the premiere in 77.

Stephen Tollafield (01:11:04):
I really hope you're right in that they
take advantage of all the stuffthat's kind of in LA and kind of
around it to unpack things alittle bit more.

Joshua Gilliland (01:11:15):
Yeah, and just , I mean you, it makes sense.
I mean, like you have talentdown there.
I was expecting Anaheim again,la, close enough that I think it
will be a good time, but that's2027.
And so we'll have one moviebefore, then another movie right

(01:11:37):
after then.
So you know there's a lot tolook forward to.
So, uh, well, before batteriesrun dead, katrina, favorite part
of the trip favorite part ofthe trip.

Katrina Wraight (01:11:56):
Favorite part of the trip, Honestly, like the
Wagyu, highball comboseverywhere.
A dream, An absolute dream.
Someone was trying to sellJapan to me.
That would be the way.
Every menu has a highball andhas the best Wagyu on every menu
.
Like, oh my gosh, that was anabsolute treat.
But I think, like seeing thesights-wise Fuji was epic, Like

(01:12:20):
the symmetry on that mountain,just absolutely gorgeous, the
scale.
I don't think I even knew whatto expect there.
And then, probably, honestly,the celebrity run-in was Rosario
and Hayden.
That was super special and forthe con that made it it was
really cool.
And then, yeah, the Ahsoka duoand how warm and welcoming they

(01:12:41):
were.
You can tell that's just whothey are generally and every day
and it makes the charactersjust have that much more, you
know, meaning and heart to them.

Joshua Gilliland (01:12:55):
Thank you, steven, how about?

Stephen Tollafield (01:12:57):
you, buddy.
So I um I love the ender panel.
I love the visions panel.
I love the visions pavilion onthe floor in the um and of the
convention that that wasprobably one of my favorite
things was so cool to see someof the animated costumes
conceived of in real life andsome of the props that was
really cool and the maquettesthat was.
I love seeing stuff like that.

(01:13:17):
I wish there was more of it.
Um, that was great.
I?
Um love the cosplay.
Like.
I had high expectations forJapan cosplay and was not
disappointed.
It was really really good.
Um, and also just the overallseeing star wars stuff in the
context of japan, where thecinema played such a huge role

(01:13:40):
in developing the look and thefeel and the stories of star
wars that seeing that connectionin that context was just really
special and I felt reallyprivileged to be able to be a
part of that.

Joshua Gilliland (01:13:49):
So that was kind of my big picture favorite
part I'm going to go with beingthere with all of you.
So that was a lot of fun.
Uh, being able to again go onthe trip with you and have that
adventure was uh important to me, um, as opposed to just going
to a con by yourself.

(01:14:10):
You Having friends there andhaving that adventure is what
matters.
In addition to that, justhaving some of the smaller
movements, I was able to getlittle blind boxes with pins for
my scouts and watching themopen it was hysterical because

(01:14:33):
one of them opened it and shegot Count Dooku and she went.
I got an old man and I went.
That's Christopher Lee.
He became very famous forHammer Horror and is arguably
the best Dracula.
And one of the other scoutswent Sir Christopher Lee was in
Lord of the Rings and I and Ithought like you know, that's

(01:14:54):
why I volunteer like I just thatlevel of nerdiness and both,
both, both of them were a ton offun to have those reactions, as
were the other seven.
Um, all of that aside, uh, itwas a great trip, from the food
going to a restaurant in analley where I wasn't sure I was

(01:15:18):
going to get black bagged or not, to again Katrina's.

Katrina Wraight (01:15:24):
You're lucky, you're lucky.
That wasn't my plan.

Joshua Gilliland (01:15:27):
Yeah, because I turned and you know we turned
down the alley and I looked atKatrina and went where are we
Worry about it?
Yeah, that was your reply.
I was like okay, Come on, let'sdo this.

Katrina Wraight (01:15:44):
He went to tag us and he was like where are we?
I didn't give you anyinformation.

Joshua Gilliland (01:15:53):
The karaoke was a ton of fun too.
So, uh, and I started lookingat private karaoke rooms in san
diego for comic-con so there aresome and so I was sending you
them, sending you links on, uh,the other before, right after we
got home.
So, um, so there are.

(01:16:13):
Yeah, so need need some moreresearch, but um, might have to
book one of those during sandiego.
But again, it was just a ton offun and the fact we kept having
barely good luck was a highpoint.

Katrina Wraight (01:16:33):
That is all you need.
We made it work.

Joshua Gilliland (01:16:40):
Ended well.
So with that, everyone, thanksfor tuning in.
There was mild legal analysis,but not much.
This was just pure nerddom ofour trip to Tokyo, so we'll be
back.
We're going to start andorcoverage.
You know, between trial prepand other deadlines and travel,
uh, we now need to uh get toandor.

(01:17:01):
So, everyone, wherever you are,uh stay safe, stay healthy and
stay geeky, take care.