Star Tours - The Adventure Contuinues Archives

Star Wars Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George to Appear at Star Wars Celebration VI

May 25, 2012 by Aljon Leave a Comment

Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George has a rich history in the Star Wars galaxy, and will be appearing at a Celebration for the first time this coming August in Orlando.

Starting in Star Wars designing spacecraft for Return of the Jedi, George was Production Art Director for the Ewok television movies, and a matte painter for Episode I The Phantom Menace. Most recently he journeyed in the galaxy far, far away as the Visual Effects Supervisor for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue.

Since joining Industrial Light & Magic in 1981, George has worked as model shop supervisor, art director, matte painter, commercial director, and visual effects supervisor. Other highlights of his career include miniature construction and design on Blade Runner, art direction and design for five of the Star Trek films, and overseeing model construction on Ghostbusters 2 and Alive.

In 1988, he received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on Innerspace. In 2002, director Steven Spielberg entrusted George to update the beloved character E.T. using digital character animation for the 20th Anniversary Edition of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. George went on to earn nominations by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the British Academy and the Visual Effects Society for work on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as well as an additional VES nomination for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Recent projects include Visual Effects Supervisor credits on Twilight, I Am Number Four, and G.I.Joe: Relatiation.

Don’t miss Bill George at Celebration VI!

RELATED ARTICLE

Read Sorcerer Radio DJ Eric Allen’s interview with Bill George for Sorcerer Radio HERE.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars CG Supervisor Joel Aron to Appear at Star Wars Celebration VI (jedimouseketeer.blogspot.com)
Ian McDiarmid to Make Rare Convention Appearance at Star Wars Celebration VI in Orlando (chipandco.com)

Star Wars Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George to Appear at Star Wars Celebration VI

Filed Under: Celebrity, Movies, Movies, News, Sorcerer Radio, Star Wars, Stuff Tagged With: Star Tours - The Adventure Contuinues, Star Wars, Star Wars Celebration

Exclusive Printables on Disney’s Star Tours Site

August 24, 2011 by Aljon Leave a Comment

Disney.com’s Star Tours website will be releasing exclusive Star Tours printables for fans to download. Stormtroopers and Jedi alike can now visit the Star Tours destination page to download and print a Star Tours poster to hang inside their Starspeeder 1000s. Fans can also access an exclusive Disney.com Vinylmation Star Wars™ iron-on to help spruce up their intergalactic wardrobe and accessories. Be on the lookout for Star Tours coloring pages to help entertain the young padawans in the family debuting over the next few days.

The site also features exclusive videos, character bios, descriptions of the Star Tours planet destinations and behind-the-scenes footage from the attraction at Disneyland and the Walt Disney World Resort. Fans can check out even more exclusive Star Tours crafts, printables and recipes from DisneyFamily.com.

Web link: http://www.disney.go.com/star-tours-adventures/index

Filed Under: Disney & Co, Disney Family/Online, Merchandise, News, Star Wars, Stuff, Vinylmation Tagged With: Disney Crafts, disney.com, Disneyfamily.com, star tours, Star Tours - The Adventure Contuinues, Star Wars, Vinylmation

Billy Dee Williams, the King of Cool, is a HUGE Disney Fan

August 13, 2011 by Aljon 2 Comments

Billy Dee Williams

You may know Billy Dee Williams from his portrail of the sly gambler, Lando Calrissian in the original Star Wars trilogy. What you may not know is that he is an accomplished artist and Disney fan. I recently had a chance to chat with Willams for a press event promotion the upcoming 2011 D23 Expo where spoke about Star Wars and art.

Now that Star Tours – The Adventures Continue Billy Dee has heard nothing but great things about the attraction and hopes to check it out soon. He believes his character of Lando would have made a great host for Star Tours guests.”As long as Darth Vader isn’t following behind … as long as it’s not hostile, it’s quite welcome. I think Lando probably would welcome the whole situation,” Williams said jokingly. Hopefully Imagineers will eventually bring the Cloud City of Bespin into the attraction as originally thought. I believe it would be a perfect addition to the attraction for next year’s Star Wars Celebration VI.

Speaking of Disney, Williams is a huge Disney fan. He has not only taken part in Star Wars Weekends in 2010 but was also able to tour the hallowed ground of the Walt Disney Archives. Williams is also working on a Disney-inspired painting showcasing the Fab 5 (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto) playing jazz. “I was visiting the archives one day and thought doing a litho would be fun. I’ve been a Disney fan all my life,” Williams stated.

As of late the demand for Williams has been at a fevered pitch. He appears regularly on short clips on the Jimmy Kimmel Live as a semi-parody of himself. He played Toussaint Dubois for General Hospital: Night Shift and reprised his role as Toussaint on General Hospitalitself beginning in June 2009. Williams has also been doing voice acting for the animated series The Boondocks, where he voiced a fictionalized version of himself in the episode The Story of Lando Freeman as well as Robot Chicken and The Cleveland Show. In February 2011, Williams appeared as a guest star on USA Network’s White Collar as Ford, an old friend of Neal Caffrey’s landlady June, played by Diahann Carroll.

I was visiting the archives one day and thought doing a litho would be fun. I’ve been a Disney fan all my life. – Billy Dee Williams

Williams is no stranger doing fan events and conventions and enjoys meeting people and especially looks forward to the D23 Expo. Williams states, “I always enjoy it. … I’m looking forward to seeing everybody. I always look forward to the whole Disney experience.” Williams’ future projects include doing a production of Driving Miss Daisy on Broadway soon as well as working on new episodes of Robot Chicken.

Celebrate the grand re-opening of STAR TOURS 3-D with actor BILLY DEE WILLIAMS (aka Lando Calrissian) Billy Dee Williams will be at the D23 Expo from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Aug. 19 at the Coolwaters Productions booth #405 in the Exhibitor Showcase. (Fees DO apply)

CATCH THE SORCERER RADIO INTERVIEW!
Join hosts Kristen Hoetzel and Aljon Go on WDW Tiki Room as they chat with Billy Dee Williams and feature his thoughts on Disney, art, Star Wars and more! Tune into the WDW Tiki Room, the show about ALL THINGS DISNEY, Fridays 8:00 a.m. and 7 p.m./eastern on Sorcerer Radio – www.SRSounds.com.

Interview made in partnership with Chip and Company, Cooking with Mickey and Jedi Mouseketeer.

For more Billy Dee Williams, check out LANDO WEEK on Jedi Mouseketeer!