The Lighter Side of Star Wars

Happy Star Wars Day. I started the celebrations early this year, by collecting the free build of baby Grogu (not Baby Yoda!) from the Lego Store. I had to queue but was entertained by members of the Saber Guild and the Rebel Legion - people who clearly love Star Wars.

I've been thinking recently about the many send ups and spoofs of Star Wars that I've enjoyed over the years. This was prompted by seeing the  Star Wars episodes of Phineas and Ferb as part of our watch through of the show on Disney Plus. I hadn't seen them before this year and they have quickly become some of my favourite Star Wars homages. 

What makes Phineas and Ferb different, to say, the Family Guy retelling of Star Wars, is that instead of the main characters in the TV show assuming the roles of key characters in the films, they set Phineas and Ferb along with their friends and associates in roles around the original story. So Phineas and Ferb live on the next farm to Luke Skywalker, they meet Isabella the star ship captain in the same cantina where Ben and Luke meet Han Solo and Chewbacca, Perry the Platypus is a rebel agent and so on. In this version of the story, Phineas and Ferb are returning the Death Star plans that R2-D2 accidentally dropped in their landspeeder. 

There were several funny knowing gags in the film. Darth Doofenschmirtz 'flushing' after going to the bathroom setting off the trash compactor is one that made me chuckle. The jump scare Tusken Raider made me laugh out loud. A discussion over who started shooting in the cantina prompted knowing nods. There are also some great songs, full of nerd-level jokes. 

I think it was one of the best, and most enjoyable, retellings of Star Wars, and I'm delighted to have discovered it. It was much better than some of the Lego Star Wars shorts that have been made more recently. Those seemed to have been written for kids rather than old fans like me. 

I've already mentioned the Family Guy trilogy of special episodes. I'm not a fan of Family Guy but they had some clever bits. Half the jokes relate to the Family Guy characters so I felt I was missing some of the humour. It's been years since I watched them, though, and I don't really feel any desire to watch them again. 

When I watched the Family Guy Star Wars, I  was making a direct comparison with the Robot Chicken Star Wars series that came out around the same time. Robot Chicken was a lot funnier; a series of short sketches and gags that jumped around the Star Wars universe, sending up particular scenes from the movies and exploring what was happening off-screen. 

The most widely shared Robot Chicken sketch is probably 'Darth Calls the Emperor', showing the phone call that Vader makes to tell the Emperor that the Death Star has been blown up. "What the hell is an aluminum falcon?!?" still makes me laugh despite seeing it numerous times. Other favourite bits include Admiral Ackbar on a game show, the tragic story of Ponda Baba's ruined career as an architect, Max Rebo's greatest hits album, and Admiral Ackbar (again) out for brunch with Mon Mothma. 

Robot Chicken came out before the Disney sequels and TV series and I'd love to see the team have a go at mocking the Disney era. There would be ample material in just The Mandalorian.

But the grandaddy spoof of them all is the film, Spaceballs. Written and directed by Mel Brooks, it's an older film now, but it still checks out. It's very loosely based on Star Wars, sending up the look of the franchise and its impact more than anything else. The main villain wears an outsized black helmet and is known as Lord Dark Helmet. The wise old master of the Schwartz is a small green character (played by Brooks walking on his knees) called Yogurt. There is a whole sequence making fun of merchandising and how the name of the film gets slapped onto everything - then later in the film characters are using Spaceballs-branded merchandise. Lord Dark Helmet plays with Spaceballs action figures at one point.

My brother and I watched Spaceballs multiple times when we were kids. Recently we introduced by eldest niece and nephew to it as well. They found it hilarious too - a real test of how well made it is considering it's a spoof movie. It helps that the special effects were done by the same people who made Star Wars, with George Lucas's blessing. 

I've said before that the escapism of Star Wars, with its simple good v evil plotting, really helped me when I was a child and adjusting to a very big life change. One reason why some of the newer Disney Star Wars projects leave me cold is they deliberately pursue ambiguity, with characters being morally grey and storylines exploring more complicated approaches to the old good guys versus bad guys trope. (Even if, from a certain point of view, that has always been there.)

Star Wars, to me, was always meant to be a bit simple and silly, and I think that's why I enjoy watching silly spoofs of it. My dad would often sum up a film by saying 'It's not to be taken too seriously'. He was right, and the comedy versions of Star Wars help me do that. 

Power shopping!

A work trip to London this week included an evening to amuse myself, so I took the tube to visit Battersea Power Station. This has been done up as a premium shopping experience. Among the stores is a brand new Lego Shop. I'd packed my Lego passports in the hope of getting them stamped.

The exterior of the Power Station looks very pretty lit up at night.

Inside, the vastness of the former turbine halls is awe inspiring.

I found the Lego Shop and admired some of the artefacts within. Of note, the 'build a minifigure' station, and the Power Station replicated in Lego and depicted on a frieze made out of Lego bricks.

I was also looking for somewhere to eat. I found this place...

I phoned Cathy while waiting for my order. I told her I was in a restaurant called 'Where the pancakes are' and she said "Well, I know why you're there!" Well, where else would I be if that was where the pancakes were?

I had something called a 'Dutch baby' - think of a Yorkshire pudding made with apples and almonds, served with a scoop of ice cream. 

After that rather filling meal, I had another wander around the shopping arcade, which is full of original bits and bobs. 

There was something gloriously optimistic about the way the building had been transformed. It had an authentic industrial chic and worked with it to create a futuristic feeling space. I don't usually rave on about shopping centres, but this was special. 

Celebrity selfies

Call me a fame hog, but I can't resist a selfie with a famous person. Here are some of my favourites.

Big Bird 

Paddington Bear (twice)

Scooby Doo

Wally the Green Monster (mascot of the Boston Red Sox baseball club)

A member of the Ghostbusters

And his nemesis, Mr Stay Puft

Lester, the store mascot for the Leicester Square Lego Store

Harry Potter (in brickish mode)

Groot

Dougal from The Magic Roundabout

And a blurry photo with Ermintrude, also from The Magic Roundabout

Samantha Stephens (from the TV show Bewitched)

And finally, long-time Cardiff resident and local legend, Billy the Seal

Silly Lego mischief

At the back of the Lego store in Cardiff there is a 'pick a brick' wall. (Think of pick and mix sweeties and it's the same concept.) Anyone can pick up a cup and fill it with fun Lego pieces. There is an art to packing the cups to get as many pieces in as possible.

I often stroll past the hoppers of Lego bits to see what's available. Currently they have cloud shaped pieces (which Lego fans will recognise as the figurine bases from the Unikitty blind-bag range) and they also have eyeballs. And, um, yeah...

I originally only made one of these, but then Cathy found the other eye shapes so we ended up with two little characters. While grey, is probably a suitable 'sky' colour for Cardiffians, Cathy thought it looked dull, so I moved my cloud people to the hopper full of aquamarine bits.

It just shows how much fan can be had with just a few pieces of Lego.