The next comprises minor spoilers for the primary two episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
I’ve been wanting ahead to utilizing my Disney+ subscription to see Skeleton Crew ever since seeing the primary preview of it again at D23 over the summer season. It appeared like enjoyable; a easy, however fulfilling present that will ship a gaggle of children on a galaxy-hopping journey. It’s the kind of premise for a Star Wars collection that appears so apparent now, you marvel why it took so lengthy to get right here.
As CinemaBlend’s resident theme park skilled and Disney historian, the primary two episodes of Skeleton Crew had been particularly good. Not solely is the collection to this point a number of enjoyable, however these episodes contained two completely different references to basic Disneyland sights. Certainly one of them was, clearly, a Star Wars trip, however the different, apparently, was not.
Star Excursions RX-24 Is Driving the Faculty Bus On Skeleton Crew
If you happen to went on Star Excursions at Disneyland or Walt Disney World from when it first opened again in 1987, to when it closed over a decade in the past, then you’ll have acknowledged the obvious of the 2 theme park easter eggs when it appeared within the first episode of Skeleton Crew. An early scene exhibits two of our major characters taking the bus to highschool, and that bus is pushed by a droid, one that appears remarkably like RX-24, the pilot of the unique Star Excursions.
RX-24 (Rex) was voiced by Paul Reubens on Star Excursions. He was a droid that had solely just lately been commissioned to pilot Star Excursions flights. As such, he doesn’t actually know what he’s doing and he makes a number of errors.
Rex was changed by C-3PO when Star Excursions acquired a serious overhaul a decade in the past. Nevertheless, Rex lives on, full with the voice of Paul Reubens, because the DJ of Oga’s Cantina at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The bus driver in Skeleton Crew has a distinct voice since Paul Reubens handed away final yr, so he’s most likely not imagined to be an an identical mannequin of droid, however they’re clearly, and deliberately, related.
Nevertheless, the wildest easter egg linked to a Disney park got here within the subsequent episode.
Is Captain EO Half Of The Star Wars Universe?
In Episode 2 of Skeleton Crew, the children discover themselves inside a pirate hideout. Whereas exploring the place, one of many youngsters discovers a stall promoting numerous unique creatures in cages. Certainly one of them may look acquainted to you should you bear in mind the different Disneyland attraction that was produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola within the late ‘80s: the musical 3D film, Captain EO.
That is Fuzzball… or extra seemingly it’s a creature of the identical species as Fuzzball, a small flying alien who’s considered one of Captain EO’s crew within the brief movie that starred Michael Jackson and initially ran at Disneyland from 1986 till 1998. For sure that as a Disney Parks fan and a Star Wars fan, this raises a number of questions.
Is Captain EO happening in the identical universe as Star Wars? I have to know. George Lucas did co-write and produce Captain EO, so the 2 initiatives are associated in that method a minimum of. Did George Lucas conceive that his musical sci-fi story was linked to his magnum opus?
I haven’t seen the movie in a couple of decade (it briefly returned to Disneyland and Epcot following Michael Jackson’s demise in 2010), however it was one of many sights that was working on my very first Disneyland trip ever, so it holds a particular place in my coronary heart.
I really feel just like the psychological gymnastics that will should be executed to make Star Wars and Captain EO actually match collectively can be fairly important, and I am undecided it might work. Nonetheless, I might like to see Disney do one thing with Captain EO once more, so if that is the start of that, I’m seated.