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Location
"Untitled (Aqtau)" (play)
Event Website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeyAnJ2QhmI&t=2s
Document Type
Presentation
Start Date
22-8-2024 12:00 AM
End Date
31-12-2024 12:00 AM
Description
Damon Wellner
"Canto Bight Zoo and Aquarium" Sequence #1 from "HOOD: A Star Wars Story", 2019
Fandom: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, toy photography, action figure collecting, Willrow Hood
GIF
Variable dimensions - 3462 × 1448 px
Collection of the artist
Rating: General Audiences
Tags: Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Willrow Hood, stop-motion, action figures, parody, animation
Creator's notes: This is a GIF taken from a six minute stop-motion animated fan-film I made in 2019 with 3 3/4" scale action figures, "Hood: A Star Wars Story". This film was my ultimate expression of Star Wars toy collecting fandom, because I wrote a backstory for a character who was plucked from obscurity by fans in an internet chatroom. Willrow Hood was just a background extra in Empire Strikes Back who was noticed by fans because he was escaping from Bespin Cloud City and running with a prop that was simply a modified ice cream maker sold on late night infomercials.
Willrow Hood was given his name not by Lucasfilm, but by fans who were inspired by the Hood ice cream company. He was canonized by Hasbro who released him as an action figure based on a fan vote which he won. Although "The Mandalorian" TV show has since retconned the ice cream maker prop to be a safe, Willrow Hood's effect on the Star Wars fandom has rippled back into the official lore. The character has grown so popular in the fandom that there's an annual cosplay event at Comic Con called "The Running Of The Hood's".
"HOOD: A Star Wars Story" has won over 30 awards at film festivals worldwide, for animation, special effects, writing, Best Fan Film, and Best In Show. Though made as a deep cut for Star Wars fans, it can be enjoyed by anyone. Even if you're not familiar with the character, it all becomes clear in the end.
"Canto Bight Zoo and Aquarium" Sequence #1 from "HOOD: A Star Wars Story"
"Untitled (Aqtau)" (play)
Damon Wellner
"Canto Bight Zoo and Aquarium" Sequence #1 from "HOOD: A Star Wars Story", 2019
Fandom: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, toy photography, action figure collecting, Willrow Hood
GIF
Variable dimensions - 3462 × 1448 px
Collection of the artist
Rating: General Audiences
Tags: Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Willrow Hood, stop-motion, action figures, parody, animation
Creator's notes: This is a GIF taken from a six minute stop-motion animated fan-film I made in 2019 with 3 3/4" scale action figures, "Hood: A Star Wars Story". This film was my ultimate expression of Star Wars toy collecting fandom, because I wrote a backstory for a character who was plucked from obscurity by fans in an internet chatroom. Willrow Hood was just a background extra in Empire Strikes Back who was noticed by fans because he was escaping from Bespin Cloud City and running with a prop that was simply a modified ice cream maker sold on late night infomercials.
Willrow Hood was given his name not by Lucasfilm, but by fans who were inspired by the Hood ice cream company. He was canonized by Hasbro who released him as an action figure based on a fan vote which he won. Although "The Mandalorian" TV show has since retconned the ice cream maker prop to be a safe, Willrow Hood's effect on the Star Wars fandom has rippled back into the official lore. The character has grown so popular in the fandom that there's an annual cosplay event at Comic Con called "The Running Of The Hood's".
"HOOD: A Star Wars Story" has won over 30 awards at film festivals worldwide, for animation, special effects, writing, Best Fan Film, and Best In Show. Though made as a deep cut for Star Wars fans, it can be enjoyed by anyone. Even if you're not familiar with the character, it all becomes clear in the end.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/fandom/Affirmationtransformation/play/3
Comments
This untitled piece, with the subject facing away, reminded me of this shot from the film. The film meant a lot to me because rather than just recreating scenes from the official lore, which I have done for 25 years, I wrote my own story based on the most obscure detail from the fandom. It's been the greatest compliment when people have told me this story is now part of their personal head-canon.