Back during the Easter break, I decided to make an animation for Star Wars Day, May 4.

When it became clear that I wasn't going to hit that deadline, I decided to put in a lot more detail and let it take as long as it needed. So, one month later and here it is - not "Star Wars", but "Background Struggles", a glimpse into how living in the Star Wars universe affects the everyday BG characters who don't get to have such things as Jedi powers, or high-ranking positions in the Empire, or... names, apparently.

May the 4th this year was a more solemn affair than usual, with the recent passing of Peter Mayhew, the actor who'd consistently been live-action Chewbacca since the Original Trilogy. I was lucky enough to see him speak at a nerd convention in Auckland in 2002(?) and he seemed like a pretty awesome guy. Also I'd never been to a nerd con before so this was the first time I'd ever seen an actor from the OT in person and I was pretty stoked about that. Mayhew was great to listen to, and despite never having his actual face in the movies he seemed very happy with his career, so you couldn't feel bad for him always being the mysterious man behind the mask and not a famous "face" like his co-stars.

And now I think about it, that's kind of the thing about Background Struggles - the characters who don't get the same degree of fame and recognition as, say, Luke Skywalker, are still just as "real" and "valid" as the main story characters with whom they share a fictional universe, and hopefully my li'l animation does them justice. And with that connection, I can unofficially dedicate the animation to Peter Mayhew, can't I? Hey yeah, I can. I think I basically just did.

But will there be a sequel to this short? Well, if there is, it probably won't be the next thing I animate this year. I have something far more interesting cooking, but which also has classic movie aliens in it. But more about that later.

MTFBWY

-TmsT/Andrew.