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On 29 June, I (vaughn) went to NYC to the Brooklyn Museum of Art to see the traveling Smithsonian show entitled Star Wars: The Magic of the Myth. The show was great. Lots of props, costumes, and concept art were on display. Unfortunately, the lighting and the presentation were very poor for photography. In spite of that, I was able to get nearly 90 images... In addition, Trooper Adam Simms has filled in some gaps in my coverage (thanks Adam!). Check out the pictures below. (As always, click on the picture for a larger view)
After you enter the exhibit, three posters from the original trilogy (special edition) with "posters" explaining the purpose of the exhibit. It was a traveling Smithsonian show etc etc.
In the first space, scenes from the movie were being shown on a large screen. Concept art lined the walls and a number of the main characters costumes from ANH were on display. They also had a number of HDTV plasma screens showing "pivotal" scenes from the movies with commentary. Among them was the opening sequence of ANH, one of the most powerful scenes in film. Concept Art One of my favorite pices of concept art is the picture of young Luke Starkiller with his landspeeder overlooking a spaceport on Tatooine.
Below, concept art of a jawa camp by Ralph McQuarrie. Ralph McQuarrie did much of the concept art for the original trilogy. Also on display were some pictures by Joe Johnson, who also did concepts for the OT.
One of the most important scenes in the entire OT is the bespin duel, which has received some great attention from Hasbro this year. Below are three pictures by McQuarrie of the bespin scenes... the basis for the figures released recently in the saga line.
Below is one of the first concepts for the infamous bounty hunters...on Bespin.
Below is concept artwork for ROTJ. On the left is a concept of Mon Mothma and the rebel base. The second picture shows the second death star orbiting Endor's forest moon and two pictures of the imperial city (later Coruscant). The third picture shows a concept of the rebel fleet (Mon Calamari Cruiser), the b-wing fighter/bomber, and the attack on the reactor of the 2nd Death Star. Finally, the last picture shows the battle between the AT-ST and the furry pests. Another pivotal scene in the trilogy is the final Jedi duel, immortalized by the cinema scene as well as the flashback emperor and "Emperor's Wrath" Vader (where's our new Jedi Luke).
Finally, some new items were shown at the NYC exhibit. AOTC concept artwork and digital matte paintings were shown. The republic gunship, the battle of geonosis, the hangar duel, and the kamino platform were among the paintings shown.
PROPS Also on display were a number of original props from the movies. Shown below are Darth Vader's helmet from ROTJ, Jabba and "throne", hoth gear including binoculars and scanner, and the assassin droid from AOTC.
Among the displays, were larger scenes featuring the Emperors throne room, Admiral Akbar and Home 1, and the Emperor's Royal Guard and Imperial Shuttle. Sketches A number of original concept sketches were on display as well as a few storyboards from the OT. Darth Vader, Yoda, Dewback, Ishi Tib, ROTJ Death Star 2 Assault and AT-AT are shown below.
In addition to the sketches above, a few pieces showed early concepts of the storm trooper. Also, concept artwork of Darth Vaders CASTLE were shown. We never saw this in the movie, but it was cut from the original script. Also shown are early pictures of Darth Vader, Luke and Ben, and the AT-AT.
Finally, a number of sketches from AOTC were on display: Chancellor Palpatine's desk from his office on Coruscant, the Jedi Starfighter, Jango Fett, Chancellor Palpatine, and Clonetrooper. Themes Throughout the exhibit were a number of large posters explaining the various themes and inspirations for scenes in the movie. I may have missed a few, but most of them are shown. Ive tried to present them so that you can read the text (long load times)
Production Models Before the days of CGI, talented model builders built together detailed scale models from scratch for filming. A large number of these models were shown. In one of the first rooms there was a huge model of the star destroyer (wow). Also shown were the TIE Figther, TIE bomber, TIE Interceptor, Darth Vader's TIE Advanced for the Imperial Navy. For the Rebels, a huge X-Wing, a y-wing, b-wing (not shown), and snowspeeder were on display. Other notables included a large Millennium Falcon, a probe droid, a full-size speeder bike, and the Tantive IV Escape Pod.
Costumes Many of the original costumes from the movies were on display. After seeing the "homemade" costumes at Celebration II, its amazing what fans can do! It was cool to see the original costumes. Numerous costumes were on display from each of the five movies. Star Wars: A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Episode II: Attack of the Cones
Finally, after rushing through the display, thoroughly documenting the experience, I was arrested for not having a press pass (or my Sandtroopers Paldron). Actually, the last room was "kids space" with a guest book and helmets and masks for you to try on, so naturally, I tried on the stormtrooper helmet. I really enjoyed the exhibit and Id definitely go see it again! Hopefully, if you missed it, our coverage has whet your appetite for when (or if) it comes back to the states....as of right now its headed off to "the land down-under!"
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