Star Wars Rebels Is Back With Yoda, But Where Is Hera?
In case you missed it over the holidays, IGN released a preview of the new episode of Star Wars Rebels, which features the return of Frank Oz as the voice of Yoda. “Path of the Jedi” airs on Disney XD at 9:00 p.m. Eastern tonight.
Also over the holidays, Daily Dot’s Lisa Granshaw wrote a great article about the dynamic team of Hera and Sabine. Vanessa Marshall and Tiya Sircar share thoughts on their characters.
In Rebels, Marshall voices ace pilot Twi’lek Hera Syndulla, who owns the starship Ghost on which the rebel team lives. Marshall is impressed not only with her character’s flying skills but her ability to take care of herself on land and in the air. She’s a leader who balances these skills with what Marshall describes as “a kind of compassion and a sense of nurturing for the group that softens what might make her sort of a harder-edge character.”
“She definitely has all the moxy and quippy remarks of Princess Leia and perhaps the flying skills of Han but what’s interesting I think is her ability to lead quietly, to focus on the task at hand, [and] to draw out sort of the best elements of everyone in her crew, quietly to help them discover parts of themselves that they didn’t even know they had,” she explained.
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“Personally I am impressed with her ability to focus on the greater goal and to transcend any sort of petty distractions that may come up as they do in one’s dysfunctional family from time to time,” Marshall said. “I’m impressed with her ability to see through to the end and keep everybody on track and focused on the overall mission.”
The article talks about the disconnect between the licensed material available and the storytelling intention that relays that each of these female characters are equal parts of the Rebels team. Bria at Tosche Station did some legwork, looking at what’s available in her article “Where’s Hera?” at Tosche Station. It is undeniable that, like Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy, someone is making a conscious decision to remove the female members from products that show the team. On the horizon for fans of the pink Mandalorian, Sabine’s Sketchbook, written by Dan Wallace and illustrated by Annie Stoll, was one of the few items revealed early on that featured a female character from the show. Between now and the release, Stoll will be providing Sabine sketches on her Tumblr and giving them away to followers. Here are the details:
Hey Everyone!! I’m so excited/proud/grateful to have been able to draw & illustrate as Sabine for Studio Fun/Lucasfilm’s/Author Dan Wallace‘s upcoming book, “Sabine’s Rebel Sketchbook” !!! To get hyped for it, I’m going to be drawing a new sketch every day for the next month until the book’s release on Feb 3.
And each week, I’m going to give away the week’s 7 sketches to a lucky tumblr or twitter follower!!! To be entered, follow & reblog/retweet. Each week’s winner will be picked by a random generator.
I absolutely LOVE Star Wars Rebels, and Sabine is such a fantastic character! Not only is she a strong female character, she’s an independent artist and free-thinker! Sabine is constantly observing and challenging her world. We can all certainly learn a lot from her! I was really hoping there would be more merch for Sabine and Hera, but it looks like this book is going to be one of the first major Sabine-focused items. Full Disclosure, I don’t get paid for any books sold (as an Illustrator I was paid a flat fee), but I feel very passionate about showing support for excellent strong female characters.
Check out Sabine’s Rebel Sketchbook and pre-order it on Amazon.com – http://bit.ly/SabineSketchbook – Available Feb 3!!
Update: Here’s Annie Stoll’s Twitter.
For updates on all things FANgirl follow @FANgirlcantina on Twitter or like FANgirl Zone on Facebook. At times she tries the Tumblr.
Tricia Barr's novel, Wynde, won the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Ebook. She was also part of Silence in the Library's successful all-female creator science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena's Daughters, which is available now. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.
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