The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: July 12, 2026
Next year: cheesesteaks and lightsabers
Hello there
Welcome back to your regularly scheduled Sunday evening edition of the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This week the DSHR Podcast returns, there’s actually a reason to visit Philadelphia, it’s almost awards season, and an extremely rare Star Wars artifact has surfaced. Oh, and your next Halloween costume dropped.
As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
I still find it fascinating that Peter Mayhew lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And that he was a Redditor.
The FORCE of July Continues
That’s right, Shane Elliott and I are back again as the Feats N’ Faults Force of July rolls on. This we’re talking about Maul: Shadow Lord. Can anyone get a better FNF score than Maul? Will Two-Boots lose points for, you know, bringing the entire force of the Empire to Janix? Will Shane and I go an entire podcast episode without mentioning Young Jedi Adventures? Spoiler alert, we mention Young Jedi Adventures.
As always, make sure you check out the rankings over at Feats N’ Faults.
The Gang Executes Order 66
You guys, 2027 is turning into a banner year for Star Wars fans. Consider:
January or February (probably) - Ahsoka season 2
February - 50th Anniversary A New Hope in IMAX
April - Star Wars Celebration in Los Angeles
May - Attack of the Clones 25th Anniversary. This is not confirmed or even rumored but I am calling it now.
May - Star Wars: Starfighter.
That’s just what we know, or in the case of the 25th anniversary of Attack of the Clones, pure speculation and my part. Decent chance we’ll get season 2 of Maul: Shadow Lord and maybe another chapter in the Visions anthology. Who knows what else we could get?
And now, we just got one more fun Star Wars event. Friend of Death Star HR Brian Lennon tipped me off to this one. If you’ve been looking for a Star Wars related reason to visit a city most people would describe as a wretched hive of scum and villainy AND in a state with probably the strangest liquor laws east of the Mississippi1, well your time has arrived. Star Wars: The Experience is coming to The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, starting February 13, 2027 and going until September 6.
If Philly isn’t your jam, The Experience is going to be doing a five year tour of North America after it leaves the City of Brotherly Love. What do you get to see?
Told through an extraordinary collection of more than 70 artifacts — many of them on view for the first time from Lucasfilm — the exhibit invites you to take a closer look at legendary screen-used pieces including Darth Maul’s lightsaber hilt and Darth Vader’s menacing armor, as well as a selection of fan-favorite aliens, droids, and creatures, including the Mandalorian’s faithful companion Grogu (from Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, in theaters this summer), and the droid duo that started it all, R2-D2 and C-3PO. A celebration of the depth and breadth of storytelling in the galaxy far, far away, the exhibition also includes vehicles like a full-sized speeder bike and original props from Andor, the critically-acclaimed and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Disney+ series.
If you’ve never been to one of these type of exhibitions, they are pretty cool. Way back in the day I convinced Mom Mothma and Darth Dad that we needed a road trip to Toledo, Ohio to see the Magic of Myth exhibit at the Toledo Art Museum. The focus on that was connecting Star Wars and Joseph Campbell’s book “The Hero With a Thousand Faces” and the hero’s journey. Campbell was a pretty well known influence on Lucas. I still have the book I bought there, and I’m certain I still have the poster as well and the pictures I took somewhere in a closet. I should see if I can find them.
Also, no shade to the city of Toledo, they are the home of the Mud Hens, the AAA team for my beloved Detroit Tigers. But how did they get this exhibit? The other cities on the exhibition tour were Washington DC, San Diego, Minneapolis, Chicago, Houston, Brooklyn, and Sydney. Good on the residents of The Glass City for punching above their weight. Especially you have Detroit and the world-renowned Detroit Institute of Arts just an hour or so up the road.
Second side note, Wookieepedia says the tour was in Toledo from August 2001 to January 2002, when I was in college. But I could have sworn I went when I was in high school. Which then gets to why did I go with my parents? I had a car, the fastest slowest hunk of junk in the galaxy. Who can say?
Back to the exhibit, San Diego Comic Con is in a few weeks, and there will be a panel moderated by Ashley Eckstein discussing setting it up and the lucky people in attendance will get to see the first gallery renderings. I’m hoping we get the full five year schedule so I can quit my job and follow the exhibit around like it’s Phish.
Star Wars Cartoons Get Emmy Nods
The 2026 Emmy Awards nominations came out on July 8th, and while there wasn’t a prestige TV show like Andor to represent the galaxy far, far away, Star Wars still had a few nominations in the animated categories.
This is now two weeks in a row that I get to mention “Black” the final episode from Star Wars: Vision Volume 3. There’s really no good way to describe the episode, I think the phrase I used last week was “a psychedelic meditation on death” and that’s as good of a way to describe it as anything. If you haven’t watched it, you really should. “Black” was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program. It’s up against Bob’s Burgers, Rick & Morty, The Simpsons, Smiling Friends, and South Park.
I am truly both surprised and not surprised that Maul: Shadow Lord didn’t make the Outstanding Animated Program category. It’s one of the best Star Wars animated shows we’ve seen in quite a while. Not to mention it looks absolutely spectacular. But there’s probably still a view that Star Wars cartoons are for kids. The above mentioned “Black” being an exception. But even if Maul: Shadow Lord missed out on a big prize, it still received a nomination for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation. This isn’t limited to just animation so its competition is a little more mixed, going up against A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Murderbot, Predator: Killer Of Killers, and Widow’s Bay2. The specific episode for the nomination was the season finale, where a certain Sith Lord showed up.
There was a certain, “squishy” sound when Rook Kast dies. I mentioned this when I wrote about the finale of Shadow Lord. Vanessa Marshall who voices Rook Kast was given the option of choosing how her character dies. She choose. “getting her lungs ripped out via the Force.” So yeah, kinda squishy.
The Creative Arts Awards part of the Emmys takes place September 5th and 6th, we’ll see if Star Wars can pick up any awards.
Even Yoda is Huge in IMAX
I’m not sure why it took until The Mandalorian and Grogu for me to see a Star Wars movie in IMAX. All of the Disney Star Wars movies were shown in IMAX. Strangely, out of the the Prequels, only Attack of the Clones was shown in IMAX. Again, I’m not sure why it was only Episode II, and I’m not sure why I didn’t see it. It was spring of 2022, I had graduated from college and was figuring out what I was going to do. There was no reason not for me to have seen it. Who can say? But, the IMAX version of Attack of the Clones did have a pretty great poster.
I did see an article that said the IMAX version of the movie didn’t come out until November of 2002. Still, no reason for me not to have seen it. Other than maybe it wasn’t a nation wide release, but rather a select theaters release. Anyway, all that to say, filmmaker V. Trent came across a 70mm print of the Attack of the Clones IMAX trailer. Something that by all accounts shouldn’t even exist anymore.
Trent was further astonished to realize that the print he had acquired was an un-projected theatrical safety print. “Because this reel was an uncut, unprojected backup spare, it completely bypassed the wear, tear, and toil of commercial theater projectors,” Trent said. “The silver halide emulsion is in a completely virgin, factory-fresh state, meaning the digital data and color science captured on these frames are an exact, mathematically perfect match to the master file. Because Lucasfilm strictly mandated the total destruction of these exhibition reels, this virgin safety copy is an incredibly rare archival survivor that practically shouldn’t exist today.”
I understand, to a certain extent why Lucasfilm mandates the destruction of this kind of stuff. I guess. I get they don’t want their property out in the collectors’ market. But there are so many films that were lost to history because the studios just didn’t care or didn’t want to pay for storage space. And maybe there is an print hidden away in a Lucasfilm vault that looks suspiciously like the Emperor’s Throne Room, deep under the ground at Skywalker Ranch.
Trent, realizing what he had on his hands, decided he had to figure out how to preserve the trailer. And the solution was photographing the print, frame by frame.
“I used a completely darkened-out room with only a single bright backlight behind the print and a camera in front,” Trent said. “For about three days, I went frame by frame and captured individual frames of my gorgeous IMAX reel. Even with my naked eye, the resolution of the IMAX DMR printed image was absolutely breathtaking. Every single grain of sand, lightsaber glow, and the details in Yoda’s skin were impeccable.”
I did once meet someone who said they had a regular 35mm print of Star Wars. I even gave him a DSHR card and said email me, I’d love to talk about how you ended up with it. No luck though, never heard from him. Maybe he knows the Lucasfilm ISB is still after him.
Great Moments In Star Wars Merchandising
Long time readers of DSHR know that A) on Halloween I get a lot of trick or treaters at my house and B) I use Halloween as a measuring stick to see where Star Wars is in hearts and minds of the youths. As I wrote about last year, it hasn’t been great.
Last year, out of the roughly 820 kids that came demanding candy, there were 6 Star Wars costumes. Not great. But I have hope for this year. Move over, Mario! So long, Spider Man! All the cool kids this year are going to be rockin’ Spirit Halloween’s Rotta the Hutt costume.
I had seen this posted on various Star Wars Instagram accounts the last few days and honestly thought it was a joke. But no, it’s real. And it’s spectacular.
This Day in Star Wars History
As Death Star HR is in its third year and “This Day in Star Wars History” has been a pretty regular feature. It hasn’t happened very often, but I’ve already covered July 12th back in 2024. It does make things easier because I can just copy and paste. The first 3 were listed in the 2024 DSHR, the last one I added for today.
Walter Murch was born in 1943. He was an OG Lucas guy who worked on pre-Star Wars films like THX 1138 and the movie that made George a star, American Graffiti. He also directed a single Clone Wars episode, “The General.”
Second on the list a big name, Ben Burtt. Born in 1948, Burtt is a sound designer and is probably best known the humming sound of the lightsabers and the clashing sound when two lightsaber blades hit each other. He’s also credited with Vader’s breathing, Chewie’s “voice”, and many of the spoken alien languages.
And on this day in 1979, Omid Abtahi was born. He voiced a Mandalorian cadet in two episodes of The Clone Wars. He also tried to experiment on Grogu, that jerk, as Dr. Pershing in The Mandalorian.
In 1989, Disney and Lucasfilm exported our greatest American asset, Star Wars. The Star Tours ride at Tokyo Disneyland opened. I was reading through the entry for Star Tours, this might be my favorite part: “As part of the Star Tours experience, upon exiting the StarSpeeder 3000, passengers are led to a store which sells merchandise based on Star Wars and the ride itself. This includes action figures, clothing, etc.” Very on brand.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
This week we’re going back to the Star Wars comics. The movies and the TV shows have to maintain a modicum of decorum. The comics though? That’s where you can really get weird with it. Given how much I love when Star Wars does get weird with it, I should probably read more comics. Because you get very, very important characters like Unidentified Assassin’s Associate. He was, in part:
A red-skinned being worked as an associate of an elite assassin assigned to kill Darth Vader around 19 BBY.
Administrative assistant for an assassin, or the cover of an unreleased Mayhem CD? Appropriate to mention Mayhem since I’m watching the England/Norway match as I type this.
The most metal \m/ character in the Star Wars universe? I think so.
News From the HoloNet
Major piece of ‘Star Wars’ history up for auction for $1 million
Ever wanted to own Luke’s hand?
If Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars Character is a Skywalker, I swear to God…
I am 97% confident this won’t happen.
How to secure Lucas Museum of Narrative Art tickets ahead of the fall opening
Tickets, get your tickets!
That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.
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The one time I was in Philly and we were looking to get some beers, we couldn’t buy them at the 7-11. We had to go to the hoagie shop around the corner.
If you haven’t watched Widow’s Bay, you should. It’s great.
I was wondering if you were going to talk about the Rotta costume! When I saw that, I almost did a spit take, haha.
Attack of the Clones theatrical release was full of surprises, so to speak. The real version is f the movie was shot entirely digitally, which was a first at the time. So you had to find screenings that were shown digitally to really see what they shot. Some screenings were transfers (as i remember it) from the digital version to film, and they didn’t look awesome. There was a blurriness that was noticeable at times. It was Lucas pushing for adaptation to f new standards, but that didn’t happen overnight.
I did see the IMAX screening of AoTC and one thing was that certain CGI elements were really laid bare when blown up to that size. Digital characters that were small in frame and therefore not rendered in close-up detail really looked it. I remember especially certain shots of Dooku near the end of the film looking like an animated character was just inserted in the movie awkwardly.
They were pushing the technology all over the place, to the point the seams showed. Which I know appreciate and see as the cost of innovation. But it was a thing!