Linda’s Star Wars Celebration Anaheim Fan Interviews: Part One

One of the questions Tricia asked the panelists during the From A Certain Point of View panel was what we most enjoyed about Star Wars. Before Celebration Anaheim, I had a fairly stock answer: the movies, of course, especially IV, V, VI; some of the EU novels, especially Timothy Zahn’s; playing SW:TOR; and the interesting people I’ve met. What I realized at the convention was that really, truly, what I love most about Star Wars are the other fans.

I met quite a few interesting people at Celebration Anaheim, and in this series of posts I would like to share their stories with you.


SWCA Abby MikeI first observed Mike and Abby Beavers at the Her Universe line on the first day of Celebration. The line on that day was like one for concert t-shirts, thick with excitement. Abby appeared to be a little younger than my own Padawan and she was animatedly pointing out her favorite Ahsoka t-shirts to her father, Mike. I asked Abby if she liked a t-shirt I was considering for Padawan and Abby gave the Salacious Crumb cupcake a thumbs-up – fortunately, so did Padawan – and so we began our conversation. When it turned out coming to Celebration from St. Louis was eleven-year-old Abby’s idea, I knew I wanted to hear more about them.

Abby:

  1. Was this your first Star Wars Celebration?

Yes, it was one of my Christmas presents.

  1. What made you decide you wanted to come to Celebration?

I heard they were showing the teaser for The Force Awakens and I knew I couldn’t miss it. I also had just finished season 1 of Star Wars Rebels and heard they were showing the trailer for season 2.

  1. What did you enjoy the most at Celebration? The least?

I think I enjoyed the panels the most. You got to see if the celebrities would slip up and tell you something about the new movie. They were usually funny and made you laugh. My least favorite thing was probably the lines. There was just so many! You sometimes even had to wait in a line to wait in another line!

  1. How did you get into Star Wars? The movies? An animated series? The books? (Which is your favorite movie/series/book?)

I guess it was because of my dad. SWCA Abby AshleyHe was a big fan and wanted to try to share it with me. I loved it from the beginning. After watching the movies we watched some of The Clone Wars and then started watching Rebels. Recently I started reading A New Dawn. If I had to pick a favorite animated series and movie I’d have to pick Star Wars Rebels and Return of the Jedi.

  1. How else do you participate in the fandom?

I participate in the fandom by collecting Star Wars Legos with my dad. At least a half of our basement wall has bookshelves filled with them. I think I’m also going to start participating in the fandom by writing fanfic.

  1. If you could be any Star Wars character, who would you be?

If I had to choose, I guess I’d be Boba Fett because he’s neither good nor bad, which is kind of like me. I also like his backstory (at least the backstory I know). I’d also get a jetpack, which is what every kid wants at one point in their life. I don’t even know why, but that’s my favorite character and I’d love to be him.

  1. What does it mean to you to be a Star Wars fan?

To me, being a Star Wars fan means being part of one of the biggest families ever. It means being one of the many fans of one of the most famous trilogies ever made (not including the prequels). It means I’ll probably always have someone to talk to about Star Wars, especially since Disney “adopted” it.

Mike:

  1. How long have you been a fan?

I’ve been a fan since early childhood. One of my earliest memories is waiting in line to buy tickets for The Empire Strikes Back. Every stick or wrapping paper roll was a lightsaber in my hands as a kid! As soon as Timothy Zahn wrote Heir to the Empire, I began consuming all the books in what is now considered the “Legends” storyline. I refused to give up hope that someday the saga would continue in cinematic form, and now it’s almost here!SWCA Abby

  1. Was this your first Celebration?

This was my first Star Wars Celebration experience. I was never really able to justify taking the time out to go, and being away from the kids. Now that Abby is a little older and has began enjoying Star Wars: Rebels, as well as the movies, and with the upcoming release of Episode VII, the timing just seemed right for a “Daddy-Daughter” adventure.

  1. What do you most enjoy about sharing your love of SW with Abby? Has her enjoyment changed how you view or appreciate SW yourself?

I enjoy how excited we both get about Star Wars! It was so much fun getting to share that moment at Celebration when the second Episode VII teaser was unveiled! Then sitting through the trailer for Star Wars Rebels season 2, we were both cheering and laughing and genuinely thrilled to see the characters we love. So it’s given us a really solid common interest to share, which can be a challenge as a father of two girls. Abby’s enjoyment of the saga has definitely increased my appreciation for it. As a girl with an inquisitive mind, there are no end to the questions she has about the Star Wars universe, and it opens up a dialogue between us that we both enjoy. I gained a new appreciation for the fans that dress up at Celebration, too! It’s always been interesting to see the costumes, but it was really exciting to see it through Abby’s eyes, and how much she liked it.


Linda has been a Star Wars fan from the time she saw Episode IV in the theatre with her parents and insisted on being Han Solo while playing with the neighborhood kids. She’s now a fangirl who splits her time learning to twirl a bo staff like Ray Park, jumping horses, writing fanfic she dreams up on her commute to work, and spending time with her husband and their own feisty Padawan version of Ahsoka. She can be reached at Linda.HansenRaj@gmail.com and on Twitter.

Linda

Linda

Linda has been a Star Wars fan from the time she saw Episode IV in the theatre with her parents and insisted on being Han Solo while playing with the neighborhood kids. She’s now a fangirl who splits her time learning to twirl a bo staff like Ray Park, jumping horses, writing fanfic she dreams up on her commute to work, and spending time with her husband and their own feisty Padawan version of Ahsoka.

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