Countingdown.com had a lot of good updates this weekend. One of which was a Photo from the Leavesden Set of what appears to be a speeder. We asked the infamous Bothan Spy if the photo was the real deal, and they said, "Absolutely! That's a speeder with some Gungan submarines standing upright behind it." Cool stuff! Hopefully Countingdown will get more.

Another report was posted that was supposedly from an ILM Animator. The report said that Natalie Portman was hurt in an accident which caused her to limp. They claimed that they removed her limp with computer animation. While Natalie Portman WAS hurt in an accident, it wasn't a foot injury and there was no CG removal of a limp (which makes the report highly questionable). At Leavesden, there was a scene where Natalie Portman was supposed to peek around a corner, then jump back just as a blaster shot hits the wall and explodes. However, somehow the effects technician, Portman, or whomever missed their timing, and Portman stuck her face around the corner at the same time the blast went off. The debris got in her eyes and she was pretty shook up. Her father went ballistic and the technician ended up being fired (though Portman was OK and there was significant debate on who's fault it was). This same story was reported by Bothan Spy and several of our other sources, so we take it as reliable. This may have been what prompted Kenny Baker's "drama queen" comment about Portman in that Arizona paper a year or so ago.

Richard let us know that Lucasfilm registered the following domain names:

GUNGAN.COM
GUNGANFRONTIER.COM
GUNGAN-FRONTIER.COM
THEGUNGANFRONTIER.COM
THE-GUNGAN-FRONTIER.COM

Is this a new feature for StarWars.Com? Possibly. Is it used in the film? Who knows. Keep watching the Official Site!

Reader Dev1 has made a cool Episode I screensaver--it's still in beta, but you can check it out at his web site here.

We keep getting reports that prequel licensees are being given short presentations which include Episode I footage. Sounds like LucasFilm isn't being as secretive as they've led us to believe! Thanks to Skellington for keeping us updated.

Someone on Ebay recently posted a picture of a new Episode I Toy, a Jabba Glob. They are planning on selling the item. He comes with little frogs you stuff in his mouth. Now look at this screen capture from the Anakin's Home tour at StarWars.Com. (This shot is from the kitchen and was sent by Dave Wright.) Notice a similar frog-shaped thing hanging from the ceiling? Does Mama Skywalker cook up french fried frog legs for Annie? Guess we'll see! (Thanks to Droopy McCool for pointing this out.) Highlight the following to read: Does this confirm the Mos Espa Frogs we heard about before? Who knows!

The Fan Site The-Phantommenace.com has posted a bunch of cool Episode I toys inclusing plush toys, 12" Battledroids and Darth Maul, playsets, and a lot more. Very much worth checking out. Sir Steve's has also posted some Micro Machine images of the Gungan Sub, Speeders, and more. Thanks to everyone who notified us about these.

David Esselburn sent us some scans of the Insider Prequel Pics:

Darth Maul with Saber
Battledroids and Protocol Droids
Obi-Wan with Red Controls
C-3PO
Shmi
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon
Naboo from the Republic Cruiser
Maul with Binoculars
Ki-Adi Mundi and Council Members
Shmi and Qui-Gon
Jar Jar and the Droids
Pod Race droids
Anakin
Obi-Wan
Sebulba
Pod Race Pit crew
Jedi Council
Senator Palpatine
Park preparing for a scene
Behind the Scenes - Maul falling
Maul with Saber
Park and Ewan practicing saber duel
Park and Gillard talking

If you'd like a subscription to the Star Wars Insider, call 1-800-TRUE FAN or visit MosEspa.Com.

Countingdown.Com has received some of the new pictures from the Star Wars Insider described in earlier posts.

Sir Steve has also posted a the first look at the Applause 12" Darth Maul and some promotional material (including pictures) for the new Galoob Episode I toys like the Sith Infiltrator and Anakin's pod racer.

HOTT continues to divulge descriptions of the new pictures from the latest edition of the Star Wars Insider.

Qui-Gon and Shmi standing side by side watching something. Nothing particularly interesting. They're in Tatooine. Caption: "Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn stands on the back porch of the Skywalker hovel as he and Shmi Skywalker discuss the future of her son, Anakin."

Really cool shot of a full bodied Jar Jar, R2D2, and C-3PO. Great shot of the pod engines and the little arc. There's a moisture vaporator in the background. The shot in the teaser where Jar Jar shocks himself w/ the electricity is probably a different angle of this same scene. Caption: "The droids R2-D2 and an unfinished C-3PO try to steer clear of a couple live engines as Jar Jar Binks tinkers with an energy arc between them." The engines and the energy arc is really neat.

The next shot is simply incredible. It's a shot of two 'pit droids', with MASSIVE engines towering over top of them. I'm not sure if these are the pod engines' or not, as they look too big in relationship to the droids. Unless the droids are really short. They both have 'toadstool' heads, and they look REALLY cool! I think pictures of them were posted on the Internet sometime back as conceptual art. A really neat picture. Caption: "A couple of pit droids tend to their chores in the Podrace arena on the outskirts of Mos Espa on the planet Tatooine."

The next shot is of Kenobi and Anakin. Nothing special, Kenobi kneeling down next to Anakin, both of them looking at something off camera. In some kind of ship. Caption: "Young Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi hav e much to discuss as they encounter Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn in a hallway of the Naboo Queen's ship."

The next shot is reason enough to subscribe to the Insider: the coolest Prequel picture I've seen yet. Sebulba. Also the coolest alien I've seen so far. He's decked out in his pod racing suit (goggles and 'padding') and is in the cockpit of his pod (which is yellow). The 'dreadlocks' hanging off his snout and ears look REALLY cool, and the goggles/helmet make him look spectacular! It sort of looks like he has more than two hands though. This is just a really cool shot, which will send you into geek-gasms the moment you see it. Honestly. I'm not sure if he is CGI or if it is a mock-up. Cool effect with the goggles: the lenses distort his eyes behind the goggles. Looks neat! Cool caption too. Caption: Sebulba, who is acknowledged as the best Podrace pilot in Mos Espa, will not hesitate to try any dirty trick to win a race."

Cool shot of a blue Pod being repaired by two technicians. There are some neat multi-colored flags in the background. I can't tell how many pods are in the shot though. Confusing design, but cool nonetheless! :) The pods all have a very airplane-cockpit-feel to them in the actual pod cockpit (the separate piece), but the engines look like hot rods. Very interesting mix. Caption: "Two Tatooine Podrace crew members work on a cockpit near the starting grid of the Mos Eisley arena."

Just a cleaner shot of the Jedi Council chamber scene shown in the trailer. Not a new angle or anything, same shot. Caption: "As the Coruscant sky fades into night, young Anakin Skywalker faces the probing questions of a senior Jedi, Mace Windu, as the other 11 members of the august and powerful Jedi Council pay close attention."

The last shot is of Senator Palpatine in his quarters, standing there facing the camera. There are large windows behind him with an INCREDIBLE view of Coruscant. Remember those production sketches of Coruscant way back when? Well, during the daytime, it looks EXACTLY the same. The canyons and towering 'atmosphere'-scrapers look REALLY cool. There is also a really weird alien behind Palpatine. Caption: "A concerned looking Senator Palpatine, pacing his quarters on Coruscant, discusses a weighty issue that affects the fate of his planet."

That's about it. The other shots of Darth Maul in the interview don't have any interesting descriptions and the previous guy that wrote the shorter descriptions summed them up pretty well, so I won't go into them.

Go and get the magazine! That has got to be motivation enough to subscribe to the Insider, right? Now, if we could just get someone to scan the pics and send them in...

Reader HOTT chimes in with more details about the loaded new SW Insider hitting subscribers and magazine racks this week. His landed in his mailbox today, so he includes a description of the first few pages of pictures and promises more soon. There are minor spoilers ahead so read with caution. Here's what he had to say:

The first pic is a centerfold of Maul, which shows a great close-up of his face. He has a stud earring at the top of his ear, which kinda surprised me--I never heard about it...You can actually see the horns for once, which look especially cool. He is standing in a prone position, holding his lightsaber--both blades extended. It's SORTA like the scene in the teaser trailer, except he is facing us more...Those eyes are so menacing! Caption: "As the doors part in the main Theed hangar, a menacing Darth Maul ignites his double-ended lightsaber."

Man, does the next picture rock. A silver 3PO-style droid is standing in a hallway, and it looks like he's just been jumped by Battledroids. There are five B-Droids, all aiming their guns at him. I can't tell if the B-Droids are CGI in this shot or not, they co u l d be either. Four of the B-Droids have red paint on their 'shou lders' and 'dreadlocks' (the back of their head), and another has yellow paint. I'm guessing the paint shows command rank, with yellow being the high-ranking droid. Caption: "A lone protocol droid has a close encounter with some very insistent battle droids in the hallway of a large space freighter."

This one we've already seen, Obi-Wan bathed in a red glow looking at a display read-out. I'll spare the details since it is already poste d everywhere. Caption: "Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the bridge of Queen Amidala's ship, seeks meaning from the readings on a monitor."

C-3PO looking straight at the camera, in his ultracool unfinished state. No need to describe this one either. Caption: "Protocol droid C-3PO, still in an unfinished state, stirs into alertness in the hovel of Anakin Skywalker and his mother Shmi."

Just a picture of Shmi, nothing special. Caption: "Shmi Skywalker agrees that she has a very special son, realizing that his life is about to take a sharp turn."

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon just standing there, looking cool. There's a Naboo guard in the background. They're just looking straight in the camera, nothing else special. Caption: "Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi stand before Naboo Queen Amidala and her handmaidens to tell them of a change of plans."

A cockpit of a strange ship. Looking out the window, you can see the planet of Naboo and some cool ships floating around. The ships look very similar to the outline of a Dreadnaught! Caption: "Two cloaked Jedi, ambassadors of goodwill, approach the planet Naboo on a fact-finding mission that is about to turn dangerous."

VERY cool shot of Maul looking through Macrobinoculars at Tatooine. It's a side shot, with his hood up, macros up to his eyes. He's on a cliff, with a rocky-mountain-type background. Cool indeed! Caption: "Sent by his master to the desolate Outer Rim planet of Tatooine, Darth Maul scours the landscape in search of his intended prey."

Another VERY cool shot, this time of the Jedi Council! You can see Plo Koon, Yoda, Mace, and Ki-Adi-Mundi. Plo looks really cool, but you can only see him from the back. Ki-Adi-Mundi and Mace look very 'regal' and cool, and Yoda looks much livelier, especially for such an old guy! :) Caption: "Ki-Adi-Mundi, one of the members of the Jedi Council, turns to talk to Yoda as Mace Windu and Plo Koon turn to listen."

And that's just the first two pages!! There's a couple more to go! And remember, if you haven't got your subscription of the Star Wars Insider, call 1-800-TRUE-FAN today!!

The Phantom Menace doesn't open until May, but "Star Wars fever" is already hitting a record pace...Not much news here, but for our international fans that can't see the show, here's a review of the Entertainment Tonight segment:

They basically looked at things we've already seen on the official site, like the tour of Anakin's hovel and the sound stage surrounding the set. They said the stage the set was on was over 1.5 million square feet and you could log onto the official site for more information. No new pictures.

And the highlight of the segment? They joked, "Because of the slave quarters and the dysfunctional family of Anakin, no wonder he becomes Darth Vader!" :)

We've all heard by now George Lucas's announcement that Trailer B will be showing in March. HOTT, a frequent reader and contributor, found some further news on the 'net.

I just saw on Dan's Wing Commander Site that the TPM Trailer B will be attached to the Wing Commander movie "FOR CERTAIN", which opens March 12th. It certainly sounds right, according to statements made by GL...And WC is a FOX project...And Dan's is a very reliable site and WORKS for the WC:M production team...He wouldn't post it if it weren't certain. It loo ks VERY likely we'll see Trailer B in front of another space opera--Wing Commander. March 12th. Sounds great!

Countingdown.Com has received information abo ut a Pizza Hut Episode I commercial that was filmed at a theater recently. They had cardboard cutouts of Queen Amidala and posters of her and another character, too. Is this what we'll be seeing at theaters in May? Difficult to foresee. Always in motion is the future. :) But they are cool. Check it out! We'll have more cool stuff later today, so be sure to check back.

The Virtual Anakin's Home feature we mentioned below has been released on the Official Star Wars Website. Go check it out!

Sir Steve' s Guide just got pictures of the new Jabba's Palace Diorama, and on the back are details on Jabba, the Pod Race, and a very cool Pod Race picture of Anakin's Pod. Check it out!

Bob Cesca created this way cool "Dark Side" Episode I poster. (I love "Beware the Dark Side" tag line!)

Johnny Jedi created two zipped Darth Maul Animated GIF's.

SithMastir sent a neato Darth Maul. He also created some cool zipped Wallpapers.

Ed Bain continues his On Line comic strips: Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28.

M. F. White craeted a nice Queen Amidala painting.

Just to show you never know where fan art will pop up, check out this E! Daily News screen shot sent by Michael Paponetti (skribblize). His art was shown on the show! Other artists have reported being contacted for other possible future art jobs. Keep it coming!

However, please note this. We absolutely LOVE the Darth Maul art that has been coming in. It's great stuff and he'll definitely be the coolest character. But there's been an awful lot of i t latel y. How about some other stuff? What does Otoh Gunga look like? Can you draw a Pod Race action sequence? How about som Nimoudian shots? What do you think Watto's Junk Shop looks like? What about the Galactic Senate? Let's see what ya got! More to come later.

Also, there was a glimpse of something cool on ET tonight. The promo showed a Virtual Anakin's home, which you could tour with your Internet Explorer and mouse. Neato. I missed the whole report, so maybe someone else can catch it too. Also, new images from TPM on ET tomorrow night. It showed the same type thing but with a virtual slave quarters. Very cool.

MaulRats.Com contacted us to let us know they have posted shots of new figures:

I'm happy to announce our exclusive pictures of some new action figures. Sebulba from the Pod Racer, Anakin from the Pod Racer, and Qui-Gon Jinn from the Beast Pack. Sebulba was quite a surprise, very small, about the size of Anakin. The Anakin figure has a non-removable helmet. Qui-Gon is the most interesting of all. He comes with some sort of aquatic breathing apparatus molded onto his face, with his long Jedi robes, a Gungan? harpoon, and has a removable lightsaber that fastens to his belt. The most interesting thing about the new Qui-Go n is his articulated ankles, which allow his feet to be positioned for "swimming action".

And to shed a little light on the "swimming action", Virtual Edition has posted some information on those scenes. Watch out for spoilers! This sounds like it is related to those underwater scenes we heard about that were filmed (see old reports in Production).

T-Bone also received a report on the Prequel Legos that will be available later this year. Sounds like I'm going to be blowing a lot of money on Pod Race, Sith Fighter, and other prequel Legos! < P>We'll have more info later today.

Drew Corbitt found the new Insider #42 cover at Mos Espa.com. It is on sale now.

We have received some dialogue from an early draft of Episode I. The scene has already been extensively detailed by Starwarz.com and Cinescape, but we'll post it for you to check out. Keep in mind this may or may not be what is in the film. Highlight to read it.

WATTO
...Now let me see... a T-14 hyperdrive generator!! You-a in luck, thee! I'm the only one in town who has one... but yousa might as well buy a new ship. It would be cheaper, I think... Saying of which, how's thee going to pay for all this?

QUI-GON
I have 20,000 Republic dataries...

WATTO
Republic credits?!? Republic credits are no good out here. I needa something more real...

QUI-GON
I don't have anything else. (raising his hand) But credits will do fine.

WATTO
No they won'ta

QUI-GON, using his mind power, waves his hand again.

QUI-GON
Credits will do fine.

WATTO
No they won'ta. What, you think you're some kinda Jedi, waving your hand around like that? I'm a Toydarian. Mind tricks dont'a work on me - only money. No money, no parts! No deal! And no one else around here has a T-14 hyperdrive, I promise you that.

2/2/99: TRAILER B, FAN ART

9:15 pm CST

Word from our informants is that the second trailer, Trailer B, is assembled and making rounds. Not too much longer till we'll see it!

Alan Douglas created a really nice fan poster. Well Done! Click on the thumbnail for a larger version.

2/2/99: PAGE UPDATE, FAN ART, AUSSIE REPORT, SCRIPT REVIEW

3:45 pm CST

You may have noticed that it has been fairly quiet around here the last few days. Besides there not being a heck of a lot to report on, we can tell you that we're hard at work on a major overhaul of the site. We've got a whole new format on the way, awesome new graphics for the major s ections, hidden shockwave surprises, and more. We'll also have our long overdue mailing list activated, and a contest with prizes from Entertainment Earth. We don't have a firm date on that relaunch, but we're definitely well on the way to having it activated soon.

We're also happy to announce the addition of a new prequel team member, Josh Griffin. He's already been a huge help by working on the site redesign and he's already done several of the updates you se e below.

Mik e Sherman sent us a cool Darth Maul Custom Figure:

I just finished a custom 12" figure of Darth Maul, and I took a picture of it that I thought you might want to add to your prequel page. I added glow to the light saber and a Phantom Menace logo using a photo editing program.

Michael Orduna sent a nice picture of Darth Maul and Darth Vader. DrthSdious sent a cool Darth Maul. Ken Kaminski also sent a Darth Maul. Arvin "Trencher" Bautista sent a shot of Obi-Wan.

A spy in Australia sent in this report:

A Los Angeles storyboard artist called David Russell is already here in Australia settling in before starting work on Ep 2. Other crew are already here in Sydney

Another spy has sent us their thoughts of an EARLY DRAFT of the Episode I script. There's not really much in the way of spoilers, but highlight if you want to read it. We can confirm that they apparently have the real thing.

The oldest Jedi is MACE WINDU. To his left is an alien Jedi name KI-ADI-MUNDI, and to his left, the Jedi Master, YODA.

QUI-GON
.my only conclusion is that it was a Sith Lord

MACE WINDU
A Sith Lord?!?

YODA
The Very Republic is threatened, If involved the Sith are.

That sequence, the first with reference to Yoda, my favorite of the Star Wars cast sent chills up my spine. It was that sequence that made me realize, what I was reading might actually be the real thing. The first installment in the new Star Wars series. At that moment, I forgot where I was what I was doing and yelled out, not caring what others would think. No matter, that I was in the middle of an out door mall in Century City on a hot day in June. I had what most fans would kill to get their hands on, a copy of the Phantom Menace, though I would soon find out, the copy I had came to an abrupt end, about 30 pages short of it's conclusion.

Getting my hands on the Holy Grail of scripts came about by chance, unfortunately I can't go into too much detail here as to how I came about those pages, for fear of dire repercussions, if you know what I mean. For days after receiving them, I was nervous, paranoid, watching for ominous people, you know, Men in Black types or Lucas Film Cronies anxious to put me away. I read it the first time, an hour after receiving it and another time that night before hiding it deep in my drawer for a month before I let another living soul know I had it The first time I sat down to read those pages, my biggest fear wasn't whether I'd get caught, that set in soon afterwards, but whether what was contained in those pages could live up to 15 years of hype. Yo u see, I wasn't as privileged as many other Die-hard Trilogy fans, I didnt see all three in the theatre until last year with the release of the special addition. I moved to the United States about a year before Return of the Jedi came out. It was the second movie I ever saw in a movie theatre, E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial, being the first. Hows that for an introduction to American Cinema, Spielberg followed by Lucas. I set upon reading the script with an overwhelming sense of dread and ant icipation. Around 20 pages in, I realized my worrying was unfounded. Lucas proved he was still a force to be reckoned with behind the keyboard. The characters in TPM are every bit as engaging as the ones he unleashed upon the world, in A NEW HOPE, 22 years ago. He has something for everyone, terrific battles between Jedi Knights and Shadowy denizens of the Dark Side, a love story, and of course cityscapes and space battles that boggle the mind. After reading it, I felt like Id just finished the Lawrence of Arabia of science fiction movies.

Now, content that my fear of being disappointed by the new trilogy has dissipated. I will get in line at the Chinese Mann Theatre on May 21, 1999 with millions of other fans around the country to give George Lucas the opportunity to take my mind to, A GALAXY FAR, FAR, AWAY.

2/01/99: ANALYSIS OF STARWARS.COM PICTURE

3:05 pm EST

Informant Erwin Koremans contributes this analysis from one of the pictures on the official Star Wars site over the weekend. If you have not seen the update, it discusses Ryan Tudhope, brought in by Lucasfilm to provide computer-generated "pre-visualizations" for most of the shots in Episode I. Ryan was brought on to the team in 1997 at age 18. You can view the and analysis of the picture here. As always, remember that this his analysis is informed speculation so the usual disclaimers apply. It warrants your attention, but we cannot vouch for it being absolutely accurate.

2/01/99: NEW KFC PROMOTIONAL ITEMS, FIRST LOOK AT APPLAUSE FIGURES

10:45 pm EST

Corona's Coming Attractions has landed a scoop regarding the new items for the promotion of Star Wars:Episode I. Items include a JarJar Binks foam flyer, and various other Kentucky Fried Chicken items like drink topers and much more. Click here to view the rest of the pictures on their site.

Also, Sir Steve has been sent some new pics from the new line of Episode I products by Applause. Follow this link to visit his site.

1/29/99: POD RACE, FAN ART, APRIL COMPLETION

9:45 pm CST

An anonymous informant sent us in these bits of info from the Pod Race. They are spoilers, so highlight to read:

XELBREE, BOZZIE, TERTER, OBITOKI, HABBA, and ODY MYSTURALL are all pod racers from the early draft of the script. In one scene, a droid, curiously named DUM-4, runs in front of ODY MYSTURALL's pod and the alien shouts at him to get out of the way of the huge 747-like engines. Later during the race, as DUM-4 again demonstrates his keen grip on reality, DUM-4 runs in front of a pod in the pits being repaired, and when BOZZIE starts the engine, he sucks the droid in to the intake mainifold. The engine coughs and dies, then explodes. "Droids!" he says.

Heh he! Next up, we get this article from Mr. Showbiz concerning Ron Howard's defense of Jake Lloyd. But here are the interesting parts:

1/28 ---And while we're on the subject of the prequel, Lucas tells USA Today that the special-effects heavy film should be completely finished in April, just in time for the May 21 release date.

"Right now they're editing the sound effects and doing the music," the filmmaker says, adding that the mania surrounding the movie "is like being in a time warp?I don't expect this to do as well as Titanic. That might be too much to ask."

I think Lucas seriously underestimates the power of the Force. Anyway, I hope they do get it done by April!

Bishop333 sent a great picture of the final Jedi Duel.

1/29/99: OFFICIAL SITE UPDATE and FAN ART

9:45 pm CST

The Official Site updated with a reiteration of what Lucas said on ET: The next trailer will be in March, along with posters. They also updated on a teenager, Ryan Tudhope, who is working on Animatics for Episode 1. Turns out Rick McCallum saw his work on a documentary. Just goes to show you never know where your skills might be discovered!

On that note, here's some fan art by Geoff Holman. It's a nicely rendered Naboo Hangar.

1/29/99: YOUNG YODA FAN ART

7:00 pm CST

We really enjoy all of the art you guys create, but every once in a while someone will send something that makes you go, "Whoa! WIZARD!" :) Here's such a piece:

My name is Aaron McGruder , I'm a syndicated cartoonist with Universal Press Syndicate (my comics strip The Boondocks, launches next year - you can check it out at www.uexpress.com ). Anyway, I've got this Star Wars art that I've done just laying around here and nobody is seeing it so - if you guys would like to post it you can. The closest thing I had to something related to Episode 1 was a picture me and my brother (Dedric McGruder) did shortly after the Special Edition. We were wondering what Yoda would look like in his prime - about 250 years old or so. I'm sending a couple of other pics - but its Star Wars (Episode 4) stuff. Well, enjoy, and keep up the good work.

Wow! Great stuff Aaron! You can also view his drawing of Obi-Wan and the Heroes of Yavin.

1/29/99: DARTH MAUL and OTHER FAN ART

5:45 pm CST

Lots more cool fan art! I'm getting the impression that Darth Maul will be the most popular character of the prequel, eh?

Steve Vitale sent a cool Darth Maul.

Jonah sent anothe r cool Darth Maul.

Jefferson Ballew also sent a Darth Maul.

G. Smaragdis sent some cool rendered Darth Maul Pics: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Ted Hardy also created a pencil sketch

Bulent Hasan sent a funny Darth Maul Got Milk? Ad.

Josh Howard sent a cool comic style Obi-Wan and Padme.

Ed Bain sent us more of his comics On Li ne! Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20.

John Jongsma sent a cool rendered Battledroid Inspection.

1/29/99: SIMPSONS CREATOR AND PROOPS

11:20 am EST

dwfake sent the following:

Si nce there's a lot of crossover between Simpsons fans and Star Wars fans ("Luke be a Jed i tonight")... This comes from an interview with Matt Groening in this month's Wired magazine,

Q. Seen any great movies?

MG: I watched the trailer for the Star Wars prequel. I was surprised by how much bodily excitement I felt. My calculating commercial brain says that it is going to be the biggest money making film of all time.

C. C. Russell sent this in:

Just thought I'd let you know that Greg Proops was on instant comedy with the groundlings (on FX) last night. They mentioned that he was in the"new star wars movie" and then asked him what his s.w. action figure would look like. He replied "A very small, attractive man." You might want to tune in again ton ight as the guests usually do two to three nights in a row. Nothing earth-shattering, but figured you'dlike toknow.

Hmmmm...attractive man might be a little generous, eh? ;) More later today.

1/29/99: SPY REPORT: FIRST MEETING OF ANAKIN AND PADME, NEW OBI-WAN PIC, SMITHSONIAN VOLUNTEER REPORTS

11:20 am EST

A reliable source (that has requested to remain nameless at this time) with  direct access to an early draft of the script has chimed in with some new news on the first meeting on Anakin and Padme. The source went on to describe their first scenes (highlight spoilers to read):

Anakin thinks Padme is an 'angel.' He has not seen a woman like her ever in his life on the outer-rim planet of Tatooine. In their first dialogue, Anakin asks her if she is an angel and then proceeds to ask her to marry him. She replies that she thought that wasn't possible because he is "just a boy." Anakin grins and replies, "But I won't always be."

This spy also indicated there is more to come in the future.

Also make sure to check out this new picture of Obi-Wan on Sam Davatchi's Page.

E Janniche sent the following:

Hi, I was able to attend the party tonight for the volunteers for the Star Wars exhibit at the Smithsonian in DC. It was fun, but no Earth shattering news. Your basic food and drinks, people in costume, door prizes(the prizes were all normal items that you can get from the Fan Club), then finally the video presentation. Well, they just showed the E1 teaser trailer. They then showed a neat compilation of TV news stories about rabid fans who spent $7.00 to watch the trailer and then leave before th e movie opened. We then watched extra footage of the original documentary for the exhibit. It was just extra clips of interviews with Mark Hammill, John Williams, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford. We then heard stories from the lady who made the documentary and the lady who designed the exhibit. Cool stories about meeting Harrison Ford and visiting Skywalker Ranch. All in all a fun night.

Mary Jo also sent the following:

I was just at the party held for SW exhibit volunteers (the exhibit closes on Sunday) and while there was nothing particularly Earth-shattering gleaned while there, here are a couple of tidbits thrown our way:

1) It's still not a done deal yet, but the exhibit may tour to other cities beginning in late '99. They may know for certain by April. We were advised to check their web site. And it's very likely that the touring exhibit will have items from Episode I.

2) The documentary video will not go up for sale any time soon. They tried to get sponsorship, but Fox was uninterested. In any case, the video will be part of the touring exhibit, so it'll be a looong time before it's released for home consumption, if ever. There are apparently outtakes from the video...if you view the video at the library (the Smithsonian's??),you'll b e able to see the outtakes there. They showed them to us, and they're extra inter view footage.

I can't believe Fox passed on that documentary video!!! Ack! I'd buy that for a dollar ! Maybe the Insider or someone will pick up on it and sell it as a special offer.

Ewan McGregor was also on BBC's Radio 1, but we don't really have anything to report on that yet. More later today!

1/28/99: ENTERTAINMENT TV: MORE SUPERBOWL NON-NEWS

2:09 am CST

If you caught Wednesday's Entertainment Tonight, you'll have figured out that the Superbowl ad featured was indeed by the 'team that brings you Star Wars' and not Star Wars ads specifically. They showed clips of an ad for 'First Union' bank with effects by ILM. ILM is rumored to b e involved with the E.T. Prudential ads to be played during the Big Game.

Reader JWK-88 tells us that a report on E! tonight has an LFL official denying any Superbowl involvement. Apparently, this same report featured a number of screen shots of TheForce.Net web site. If anyone has a copy of this report that could be sent to us either electronically or on tape, please let us know. (Hint, hint...)

To keep hope alive, reader Chris Reed points out an AP article listing some SuperBowl sponsors which concludes, "There will also be at least four movies advertised during the game." So... I guess this settles nothing.

Meanwhile, Space Ghost News is reporting a late title and casting change to Episode 1. Check it out! :)

1/27/99: EP 1 MAGAZINES (AND MORE) REVEALED

5:28 pm CST

PREVIEWS has updated their website for May titles. Naturally, Episode 1-related products abound. Along with some books (Novelization, Cross-Sections, Audio-Action Adventure, and Mighty Chronicles.. details in books) and collectables (a list almost too long to believe, check it the whole thing in collecting), there are some official magazines listed...

Star Wars Insider #43
Available in a Previews Exclusive cover! This action-packed edition of the Star Wars Insider includes part two of our special interview with George Lucas in Austra lia and an interview with Brian Blessed. This issue also features articles on the Droids of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Lucasfilm Lifers, and the new Star Wars Sega Arcade Game. Plus a previ ew of the first official Star Wars convention of the 90s! And much, much more! (Official Fan Club) PREVIEWS EXCLUSIVE ED.?Magazine..........$4.50 NEWSTAND ED.?Magazine..........$4.50

Official Star Wars Episode I Souvenir Magazine
Direct Market Exclusive. Lots of magazines will be covering the mega-release of the first episode, but only Topps has the "official" Star Wars magazine and access. Will include exclusive last-minute special-effects shots, biographies of the new characters and actors, an illustrated recap of the film, and more. This direct-market exclusive features a spectacular chromium cover and tw o exclusive chromium trading cards. (Topps) (CAUT: 4) Magazine, 100pg, FC..........$9.95

OFFICIAL STAR WARS EPISODE 1 POSTER MAGAZINE HEROES (C: 4) $3.95

OFFICIAL STAR WARS EPISODE 1 POSTER MAGAZINE VILLAINS (C: 4) $3.9 5

Also note that the image used to represent the Souvenir Magazine is the same Oystein Finnestad fan-art mentioned in one of yesterday's stories!

1/27/99: CANADA MEETING and FAN ART

9:20 am CST

This came in from an anonymous informant. It is apparently an informatio nal sheet on a meeting for Canada licensees:

Star Wars
Episode I
Canadian Summit

Lucasfilm and G Squared Promotion Ltd. are pleased to formally invite you to attend the Episode I Information Summit being held in Toronto.

Date: Thursday, January 28, 1999
Place: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Time: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Registration: 8:00 a.m. (Continental Breakfast Served)

The summit will provide a once-only opportunity to view and understand first-hand the main plot of the film, the strategy behind bringing the film out, the plans promotionally in Canada and the guidelines concerning products.

Please confirm your attendance by completing the bottom portion of this invitation and provide a photocopy of your business card. Please sign the attached Confidentiality Agreement(s), both corporate and individual and return all forms via fax before Friday January 15, 1999.

Admittance to the Summit will be permitted only wiuth a special meeting ID tag (picked up at registration) and a signed Confidentiality Agreement on behalf of the company AND by each attendee. No on-site registrations will be permitted. There will be NO EXCEPTIONS.

Sounds like things are really moving in the world of licensing!

Jeff Carlisle sent this cool animated style Episode 1 Poster. (This convinces me even more that they need some sort of Star Wars cartoon involving Mr. Cartoon Voices himself, Mark Hamill.) I think Star Wars translates well to animation

Marc McConnell created a great Rotating STAP Model. It is a zipped AVI file, worth downloading.

More later today.

1/26/99: PREQUEL SLIDE SHOW

7:15 pm PST

One of our contributors sent this in a little while ago:

Lucas Licensing was visiting our company just recently, and they brought along some very cool products (a two-foot-tall STAP, large models of the Sith Fighter and the Naboo Starfighter).

[This paragraph is spoiler material -- highlight to read!]
What REALLY caught my eye was a slide show of completely new footage from the film. Terrific slides of various action sequences, only one of which really stands out in my mind. It's the battle between Jinn, Kenobi, and Maul. Maul is h anging (dangli ng) from a railing with Obi-Wan Kenobi on his back and it looks like Kenobi has ah old of Maul by the face. I saw it for less than three seconds, but it looked like a REALLY pivotal scene.

Doesn't it just make you want to quit your job and go work for Pepsi or Hasbro or some other licensee? :)

1/26/99: ET REPORT, FAN ART

8:00 pm CST

Entertainment Tonight had their report this evening. They asked George Lucas when the next trailer would be out, and he said something to the effect that the FULL trailer would be out in March. When asked if the movie would live up to the hype, he said that it would exceed it for many, but not for a few. I'm just paraphrasing here, but we'll have the video clip in multimedia later tonight. Spielbe rg also said that he'd be going to see it 12 or more times. :) They also mentioned the Newsweek article and fansites in general.

Bishop333 sent a nice Episode 2 Fett in Shocktrooper armor. Skribblize@aol.com created a cool Darth Maul.

1/26/99: DARTH MAUL SIGHTINGS, FAN ART

5:20 pm CST

This Darth Maul guy really gets around! First he was spotted on a poster in Belgium by Lord Vader. Then he was spotted in a Prague Newspaper by Tau. Now you'll see Maul is in a t on of cool fan art!

Cliff Kaise created a cool rendering of the Queen's Ship.

Ryan Bruemmer sent in a rendering of a STAP.

Mike Bailey sent a cool picture of Qui-Gon and Darth Maul.

Dan Lawler sent in more kid versions of Darth Maul< /A> and Obi-Wan. (See below for more of his work.)

Jeff Carlisle created a great drawing of Ben and Jar Jar.

Tom Gordon made a colorful Darth Maul.

Andrew Hartman created a cool Darth Maul.

Finally we have Ed Bain's Day 15 on line. (We're a bit behind. Sorry!)

More fan art to come. Remember, Mac files and bitmaps give us problems, so please send jpg and gif files only. Thanks!

1/26/99: SUPERBOWL UPDATE, FAN ART RUN AMOK

1:00 pm CST

First up, the E.T. commercial is for Progressive Insurance, and you can find the details on it at their site. (Thanks to Mike Kotila, Chris Kramer, and others who let us know.) Information on the First Union Bank ad can be found at The Boston Globe.

Next, a bad thing (depending on your point of view) has been happening with the fan art posted on this site. People keep taking it and sending it out to other sites pretending it is official film or artwork. One of the first was a piece by Oystein Finnestad who created a great poster for us (see above). It the n appeared on Dark Horizons, sent by someone claiming i t was the official movie poster. It next appeared in PREVIEWS magazine, with them g iving the impression of it being official Lucasfilm artwork. Then it apparently turned up on a Target listing of upcoming Episode 1 merchandise and on a DVD website. Sheesh! Now a certain website has taken a fan animation created by Javier Fernandez (who now is an artist for the Star Wars Insider) which we posted a long time ago and is saying that it is "ILM Test Footage". (See screen captures above.) Dark Horizons also posted it, but at least recognized that it was fan made. PLEASE don't fall for this sort of thing, and if you see a site that does fall for it, let them know they are mistaken. Also, fan artists! If you want credit for your works of Star Wars art, I highly recommend you put your name and e-mail address somewhere on the image or animation.

1/26/99: SUPERBOWL, ET

10:45 pm CST

There's been a lot of conflicting reports on if a Star Wars ad will run during the Superbowl. First up, Cinesca pe representative Chris Kivlehan reminded us of a report where a Lucasfilm representative stated that Lucasfilm did NOT buy air time for the Superbowl and none of their licensees will be doing Star Wars related ads. This sticks with their no-overhyping campaign which is well known. Also, you m ay have seen our earlier report where a student said his teacher work ed at ILM and was working on a commercial for the Superbowl. Another one of those students said that the ILM guy was doing an ET (as in the Extra Terrestrial) related commercial, not Star Wars related. We were also able to confirm that ILM is doing a Superbowl commercial for First Union Bank. Maybe these are sources of confusion?

Entertainment Tonight will be running a Star Wars related story tonight. You can download a preview (I think) on their website. (Thanks to Sam Moody for the heads up.)

More later!

1/25/99: DIRECTOR RON HOWARD SPEAKS ABOUT JAKE LLOYD

8:30 pm PST

On our front page, we mention the new Newsweek magazine, which has an article about fan sites (including this one) and Star Wars -- definitely worth checking out.

Reader Nick Woythaler pointed us to something else in the magazine we'd missed -- a letter written to the magazine by director/producer Ron Howard himself. In it, he chides Newsweek for making less-than-favourable comments about Jake Lloyd's acting in TPM. Having recently seen a rough cut of the movie with a few of Lucas's other industry buddies, he says that "Jake is terrific in the film (which, by the way, is truly amazing)."

1/25/99: NEW AMIDALA PICTURE FROM ACTION FIGURE CARD

8:30 pm PST

Andrew Halaby drew our attention to a new update on Sir Steve's site. He posted a new pic of Queen Amidala which was supposed to be used for the flashback photo on the new "classic 8" Princess Leia in Ceremonial Gown figure from Kenner. They only made a limited amount of the figures with this picture on the card, hence, it is a ".00" instead of the ".01" which has been on various collecting sites for a while. You can see the scan of the picture here. If you're interested in Episode I action figures, be sure to check out Sir Steve's Guide.

1/25/99: SPY REPORT: NABOO FIGHTER SCENES

2:22 pm CST

An anonymous tipster let us know that in the course of their job they saw a special Laserdisc with shots from TPM. Each shot was preceeded by a blue screen with the ILM logo and a shot number and shot description. Each shot was a few seconds long and all were of Naboo craft in battle. This was, in the tipster 's words, "absolutely fantastic looking stuff!"

The tipster went on to descr ibe some scenes (highlight spoilers to read): " One shot showed a very familiar looking scene of a squadron of Naboo craft on a pproach to one of those huge circular ships seen in the trailer. The camera followed them from behind and they slowly pulled away into the distance. It reminded me of the X-wings on approach to the Death Star. Most of the shots were of the fighter craft flying through on-coming laser fire and close-ups shots of pilots in their cockpits including Anakin doing a couple of barrel rolls. Lots of exploding craft, and one scene that was in the trailer. My favorite shot by far was a POV view from in the cockpit of one of the Naboo ships as it sped through what looked like the hanger room. It dodged several objects and squeezed through a door that looked like it was closing." This person also sent along their own very rough and hurried hand-drawn storyboards of one of these scenes. Click here to view.

1/25/99: STAR WARS TRAVEL AGENCY

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1:15 pm CST

Mikk sent the following (which we verified):

Thought you might like to know that when I called the Fan Club line to get tickets for the SW Con I asked the guy if t hey had any sort of special deals about flights or hotels. He said that they were doing something with BTC Travel (1-800-367-7842). I called them earlier today, the recording said that they were the official travel agency of the SW Celebration. Anyway here's what they are of fering. For airlines it's 10% off the lowest fare on Continental, US Air, or Untied. For Hotels it's the Sheridan ($68 a nite plus tax), the DoubleTree ($70 a nite plus tax), Holiday Inn ($69 a nite plus tax) and the Renaissance, I think, ($59 a nite plus tax). He said that all four hotels were in the same general area & that all but the Renaissance offered airport shuttles, plus Holiday Inn & the DoubleTree offer shuttles to the event. The one from the DoubleTree goes in the morning & the evening & the one from the Holiday Inn goes a pprox. every half-hour.

1:15 pm CST

Never let it be said that we're not educational. Todd Stewart sent the following:

I found this quote from a 1927 case that I read for my Constitutional Law class; it sounds familiar, doesn't it?

The United States Supreme Court made the following observation in Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357, 375-376, in speaking of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and the framers of the Bill of Rights, Free Speech in particular:

"They believed . . . that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people . . . they knew that order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies; and that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones . . . they amended the Constitution so that free speech and assembly should be guaranteed" (emphasis added).

My jaw dropped when I read this. It's either an amazing coincidence or someone at Lucasfilm has read this case (maybe Yoda is really a legal scholar).

Now if your employer, spouse, parent, or someone asks what you were doing wasting time on the net, you can say you were educating yourself on the Supreme Court rulings from 1927 and look kind of smart. Well...kind of. :)

12:15 am CST

Check out today's Foxtrot. I think you'll appreciate it. :) You can view it here. (Thanks to Otiscat for pointing it out.)

12:40 am CST

If you haven't seen it already, Lego has recently opened their Star Wars Lego Site. For those of you who grew up with Legos like I did, this is a really fun site. The initial registration and login is slightly tedious, but I was very pleased with the results. Take Obi Wan Kenobi's quiz and you'll get a fun sneak preview of an Episode 1 toy. Lot's of really well done Flash animation. Check it out!

1/23/99: CON TICKETS FOR SALE ONLINE, DIALOGUE, REDESIGN DETAILS, FROGS, SUPERBOWL, TARPALS ACTION FIGURE

Finally, Maulrats.Com (as in Darth Maul) has what appears to be a Captain Tarpals prototype action figure. Worth checking out!

1/22/99: OFFICIAL SITE and CON

1/22/99: SUPERBOWL NEWS AGAIN

Again, there is no official confirmation yet, but it looks like a Star Wars Superbowl commercial is very likely.

I'd also like to take a br ief moment and rant about how much I hate the policy tha t Canadian cable companies have of preempting American channels with lousy local Canadian commercials during the Superbowl. I have never seen a "proper" Superbowl broadcast, with spectacular commercials and all. (No offense intended to those reading this who work for Can adian cable companies, of course -- you're just doing your job.)

1/22/99: DENVER CON TICKETS ON SALE

1/22/99: NEW TRAILER, THING IN LUCAS'S LAP

1/22/99: EP 2 PRODUCTION RUMORS, ILM'S CTO SPEAKS, RETURN OF THE SHOE?

Thanks to JarJar for pointing it out. If you ever find a Star Wars-related article or news, be sure to let us know.

Speaking of IT-types, someone with a trained eye who w orks in the CG software business sent us a note wondering if perhaps ILM snuck a shoe into the Ep 1 trailer? Check out this picture they sent. What do you think? Let us know in the Jedi Council forums!!

1/22/ 99: RACING PODS CORRECTION, MORE SUPERBOWL RUMORS

1/21/99: NEW PICS!! RACING PODS AND DESTROYER DROIDS

1/21/99:&nb sp;DESTROYER DROIDS and DARTH MAUL RUMOR

1/20/99: ET LLOYD INTERVIEW

9:00 pm CST

We have a Quicktime video clip of the Entertainment Tonight interview in our multimedia section. There weren't any spoilers (unless you haven't seen the trailer, perhaps), but it was interesting to watch the boy's personality. I definitely think he can pull off the "touch of evil" this role requires. We haven't heard anything about the E! interv iew yet. Let us know how it was if you saw it, or especially if you can get us a digitized video clip!

9:00 pm CST

Early today we noted a site that had pod pictures from the set. (Please see link below.) Several of you sharp eyed readers out there noticed that at least one of the shots was a ship from the new Wing Commander movie which is now being filmed at Leavesden. While some of the shots are from Episode 1 apparently, please note this.

Marcus Filipsson sent the following in:

In today's "Sydsvenskan", one of the larger papers in Sweden, there is an interview with Pernilla August. Besides a lot of non-TPM stuff she says:

Her filming on TPM took place in London and Tunisia

She said that Lucas was, like all big directors, good at creating a warm and generous atmosphere that helped you relax

The actual work before camera was not different to any other productions, despite all special effects

She had scenes opposite Neeson, but NONE opposite McGregor

She was initially worried about her accent, but Lucas reassured here that this was not a problem since she was supposed to come from another planet (it is not clear if this means other than Tatooine, or just other than Earth)

In the art department, we have Ed Bain's Day 14 in line and from Sevaan Franks comes How to Draw Darth Maul.

More news and fan art to come!

2:00 pm CST

Scott Sala from E! News Daily let us know that they will be running an interview with Jake Lloyd today at 7pm eastern and pacific. Many of the people there are fans, so expect continuing coverage of TPM.

11:00 am CST

T'Bone at Starwarz says a source close to Ray Park let him know that Park will be at the Official Star Wars Celebration in Denver, possibly performing martial arts. Jedinet reports that Terry Brooks will also be in Denver signing advance copies of his Episode 1 novelization. Meanwhile, Newsdroid obtained a Vendo r Information Kit for the conference, officially confirming many previously reported details.

T'Bone also points out a web site called Mark's Place where some unofficial behind-the-scenes pictures from the Episode 1 set have been posted.

In the art department, we have Ed Bain's Day 13 in line and a great TPM sketch by DLMacabre.

7:00 pm CST

Jake Lloyd will be on ET tomorrow. You might be able to find a preview of the show at ET Online. Looks like a great interview. Lloyd said at one point, "It's going to wipe TITANIC off the boards." Then he had a huge little kid grin on his face. The Force is strong with this one. :) (Thanks to HOTT for the initial heads up.)

Josh Berhnard found the TPM Mouseover graphic in his cache. Thanks!

6:35 pm CST

Quite a number of readers sent us email letting us know that the animated mouseover title s at the official site was finally reading ' The Phantom Menace', but before we had a chance to check it out it was pulled. If anyone out there has this graphic file remaining in their browser's cache, please send it our way.

Lincoln from countingdown.com asked us to let you know that his server will be down temporarily. In the interest o f getting news out to you fans, he forwarded us an item from one of his readers who subscribes to 'Advertising Age' magazine. The latest issue has an in-depth article listing all of the advertisers who have time for the Superbowl, including time alloted and price paid. Conspicuously absent are both Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox. This is in contrast with unconfirmed rumors that Lucasfilm paid $22 million for Superbowl advertising. Pepsi is listed, but reportedly not for advertising any TPM-related promotion.

8:45 am CST

Guy Puzey noticed something cool in the Behind the Magic CD. Spoilers ahead, so highlight to read:

8:45 am CST

They also had some information on the Jar Jar costume. Basically, during shooting, ILM, John Knoll, and Jeff Olson didn't know how they were goi e3d ng to handle Jar Jar. The suit was built cheap, ?200,000 approx, to use fo de4 r arms, shoulders, legs etc that were out of focus, or swinging through shots. The d59 informant saw the first comparison between head repl d46 acement on Ahmed and a fully CG Jar Jar. Interestingly, the fully CG cost less to produce! As far as they know, he will be mostly CG. The spy also had some info on Ahmed Best, apparently a funny guy. On his first night out in London, him an c24 d some of the creatures team went out. He didn't know anyone and was very shy. Months down the line, and he had the whole crew and cast down to the 'Spot' nightclub in Covent garden for his birthday bash. We hope to hear more from this informant later on.

9:00 pm CST

From ae8 Newsweek:

JAKE LLOYD
Pint-Size Jedi

To look at him, you'd never guess it-this is the face of evil? In "Star Wars: Episode I," Lloyd, 9, will play Anakin Skywalker, the boy who grows up to be Darth Vader. (The dark side won't beckon until part two.) The prequel is the Los Angeles native's third film. Laying out why he likes his job, Lloyd speaks in giddy italics: "It's doing the acting, meeting the people, going all over the place ... and the girls go nuts over m 83a e." Certain grown-ups go nuts, too, like George Lucas, who's said to adore him. Steven Spielberg calls him "one of the scrappiest and most determined kids I've seen in a film in rec 78d ent memory." Wait, you mean 773 you've seen the movie? No fair!

1:04 pm CST

The official site has posted an interesting feature called "Ben Burtt: The Sound Design of Episode I". It's great to see Lucasfilm pushing the technology envelope as much today as they did back in 5af the mid-1970s.

10:45 am CST, UPDATED 11:00 am CST

An anonymous informant sent us a picture of what they say is the Nimoidians/Nimoudians. (Note that we still haven't even nailed down the spelling on these aliens.) We're not sure of the origin of this picture, but it appears to be the real deal. This mi 41b ght be a spoiler for some of you, so view at your own risk. Presumably, we see Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, and Daultay Dofine in this shot. Highlight the following to read: A hologram of Darth Sidious seems to be on the right (thanks to Brendan Gallager for pointing this out.)

Nimoidians