In this week’s episode, Kelli spotlights the top 10 best Halloween Snacks at Walt Disney World and Chris shares the Top 5 Reasons Ahsoka is the Greatest Star Wars Character EVER.
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All music for this episode is available through a creative commons license. The background music for the News segment was created by Kevin Macleod: Fuzzball Parade by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5044-fuzzball-parade
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Show Notes:
Chris and Kelli discuss cultural sensitivity in Disney’s storytelling, with a focus on inclusive storytelling in theme parks and the potential drawbacks of Bob Iger’s recent statement on quieting the noise around culture war issues. They then shift to their favorite fall treats and desserts at Disney World, highlighting creative and detailed designs, taste, and edible images. Finally, they discuss Ahsoka Tano’s well-developed character arc in the Star Wars franchise, praising her growth from a young Jedi apprentice to a fiercely independent leader who operates in the shadows.
Outline
Disney’s political issues and how to handle them.
- Chris and Kelli discuss Disney topics with humor and enthusiasm, receiving downloads from various locations.
- Kelli and Chris discuss Disney’s handling of political issues, with Kelli expressing frustration and Chris offering a more optimistic view.
- Chris suggests that Disney should continue telling stories without regard to political backlash, while Kelli offers support for the company’s efforts.
Disney’s investment plans, park experiences, and social media reactions.
- Chris and Kelli discuss the potential for Disney to invest more in its theme parks and experiences, with Kelli expressing skepticism about the price point of Galaxy’s Edge.
- Disney plans to add new features and functionality to its parks, including pixie dust, according to a recent investor summit.
- Chris and Kelli discuss a black bear that was found in a tree at Magic Kingdom, leading to the closure of three lands in the park.
- Kelli expresses frustration with people on social media who immediately react negatively to news of the park closure, instead of finding joy in the situation.
New Disney World treats, including a Haunted Mansion-themed eclair and a Captain Hook cookie.
- Kelli and Chris discuss the new Illuminations show at Epcot, including the use of barges in the lagoon.
- Kelli and Chris discuss Halloween treats at Walt Disney World, with a focus on unique and creative designs.
- Kelli excitedly describes new desserts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, including Ursula tart and Haunted Mansion eclair.
- Kelli recommends visiting Gasparilla Island Grill for limited-time desserts available from October 1st to 31st.
Halloween-themed desserts at Disney restaurants.
- Chris and Kelli discuss Gasparilla Island Grill’s Halloween treats, including a smores ghost heart tart and a not so poisoned apple chocolate cauldron.
- Kelli raves about the treats’ adorable and creative designs, including a toasted marshmallow ghost and a real apple sitting on top of a cauldron.
- Kelli raves about a haunted forest Apple mousse at Wilderness Lodge.
- Kelli excitedly shares pumpkin-themed food options at Disney Springs.
Ahsoka Tano’s character development in Star Wars franchise.
- Chris and Kelli discuss Ahsoka Tano, a character introduced in the Clone Wars animated series, and why fans love her.
- Dave Filoni, creator of the Clone Wars and other Star Wars series, played a significant role in developing Ahsoka’s character.
- Chris and Kelli discuss Ahsoka Tano’s character development in Star Wars, highlighting her fleshed-out history and leadership lessons learned.
- Ahsoka’s personality and choices are infectious, making her a fan favorite and one of the best characters in the franchise.
Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars animated series, focusing on her character development and impact.
- Ahsoka Tano learns the value of individual worth and respect for marginalized groups (clones) in the Clone Wars.
- Anakin Skywalker teaches Ahsoka before turning to the dark side, with their interactions mirroring events in the Revenge of the Sith movie.
- Ahsoka Tano’s character development challenges gender stereotypes in Star Wars.
- Chris and Kelli discuss Star Wars and Marvel, with Kelli bringing up Ahsoka and her role model status.
Halloween Snacks at Walt Disney World: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2023/09/disney-eats-foodie-guide-to-halloween-treats-at-walt-disney-world-parks-and-resorts-2023/
- Disney General
- https://blogmickey.com/2023/09/disney-plans-to-nearly-double-investments-in-theme-parks-business/
- Magic Kingdom
- Epcot
- World Showcase
Episode Transcript:
NOTE: This transcript was produced by AI and may have many inaccuracies. Please excuse any transcription issues.
Hello there Disney fam. This is Chris.
Kelli 0:36
And I’m Kelly.
Chris 0:37
Oh my word.
Kelli 0:39
And we are ridiculous. We
Chris 0:42
are having. We’re having a moment here.
Kelli 0:45
We’re doing our best.
Chris 0:46
You can tell that Kelly’s best singing voice is not with us and I could break out into a coughing fit at any moment. So it’s a real landmine infested?
Kelli 0:56
Absolutely. Is. It fairly sound great.
Chris 1:01
You’ve got your Bambi and Thumper.
Kelli 1:03
These are I’m calling them my autumnal ears.
Chris 1:07
autumnal ears. Yeah, they do. They’re we’re
Kelli 1:10
in the first day of autumn. We pass that and so these are my autumnal ears.
Chris 1:17
They are very autumnal they I feel like they are they’re perfect for that.
Kelli 1:21
I think they’re adorable. Right? Hey, honey, did anybody listen to us this week?
Chris 1:27
Yes, we had downloads from Rockingham, North Carolina. Rockingham, Rockingham, as we say, you know, in the Carolinas, used to be a home to a NASCAR race there back in the day when they still did short tracks. I won’t digress. East German town Indiana,
Kelli 1:45
East German town as opposed to West German, I
Chris 1:49
don’t know. I just know East German town are the German towns. If there are directional German towns, then this is the best one because they download are
Kelli 1:58
welcome East German town.
Chris 2:02
Hayes Kansas. Hayes Hayes
Kelli 2:05
like Ha y es no, no. Ha y es. Hey, it’s like this is where the haze are is where we keep the haste. Yes. Hey, multiple Hey, would be haze. Yes.
Chris 2:18
Yes. Moving on. Excuse me. I know I’m gonna get this one wrong. Opinion. Canada.
Kelli 2:29
I sell it in EPAN in EP a
Chris 2:34
delightful little Township South of Ottawa. Okay, that sounds lovely. The Canadians are just so nice. And so
Kelli 2:42
great. We’re huge. They’re huge into Pn.
Chris 2:45
Well, Canada In Canada in general. Welcome the peons. Yeah,
Kelli 2:50
I’m sure that’s what they go by.
Chris 2:52
I’m sure. And if you’re listening, and we have insulted you, please
Kelli 2:56
correct us because we’re sorry.
Chris 2:59
And let us know because we are thrilled to have you. We’re thrilled to have everybody who downloads I can’t believe our success here. Yep. All right, Main Street. Give
Kelli 3:07
it to us. All right.
Chris 3:11
Excuse me. And I recently shared with the Disney Disney Investor Summit, which they had an Investor Summit just this past week. I believe. Bob Iger said that they would quote, quiet the noise around the culture war issues Disney has found itself at odds with conservative politics. Although no, no word on how he exactly plans to do that. quieting the noise.
Kelli 3:35
So fascinating. I’m kind of hoping with a I shouldn’t say it.
Chris 3:40
Yeah, probably. You could see, I could. As a reminder, in a note to Disney cast members, when he stepped back into the CEO role, he stated, I think that some of the subjects that have proven to be controversial, as it relates to Disney have been branded, quote, political. And I don’t necessarily think that they are, I don’t think that when you are telling stories and attempting to be a good citizen of the world. And that’s political. I agree with all that just that’s just not how I view it. And I agree with that. And I appreciate the sentiment. But I also think it’s pretty naive. In today’s highly polarized environment. Remember, we’re culture itself is politicized. Something is just deemed woke, and therefore it is now political.
Kelli 4:27
Well, and it’s Disney’s a media company. Well being right, you’re gonna have to, you’re gonna have to deal with a lot of that. But I can think of many ways to silence in ways and I’ll just say, Bob, that I support them all.
Chris 4:40
I think the only way forward is to continue telling stories without regard to some political backlash. Yeah. And maybe even because of the political backlash, yeah. Right. We don’t start telling less Inclusive Stories. We No, no, no, I was thinking about there’s a line.
Kelli 4:57
You don’t back down from the bullies. Right. Well,
Chris 5:00
there’s a line in Star Wars were like, just a throwaway moment that they didn’t have to put in there. But they did. Because it was social commentary where ccpo and RTD aren’t allowed into the cantina. And the, in the bartender, the cantina says, we don’t allow they’re kinda in here. It’s literally just a throwaway line. They didn’t have to put it in there. It didn’t add anything really to the story, right. But they decided to put it in there because it’s, they want to reflect, you know, write social things. And that’s what we do with storytelling, right? We’re not going to stop doing that. No. Because of ignorance. Okay, exactly. In an SEC filing, Disney said that it was planned to double is projected capital spend and theme parks and experiences over the next 10 years to $60 billion. That includes cruises merchandise and theme parks. They weren’t specific, but just tomorrow did tease imagine bringing Wakanda to life.
Kelli 6:00
I do. Let’s imagine this.
Chris 6:03
Imagine that a lot. Actually, Josh. I do like that. They’re they really sort of bought into these immersive environments. immersive experiences, yes. Starkers. It didn’t work out. But Galaxy’s edge works. Right? So
Kelli 6:18
am 4.0 Star cruiser. I mean, there’s no way around that it is the price point. If that were for a week long experience, people could justify it. But for three days, who knows? Too much.
Chris 6:37
And Uygurs email to the New York Times about this Investor Summit, he quoting him here. There are far fewer limits to our parks business than people think the growth trajectory is very compelling. Even if we didn’t do nothing beyond what we’ve already committed to. But by dramatically increasing our investment, being big, being ambitious, maintaining quality and high standards, and using our most popular IP, it will be turbocharged. So yeah, he’s right. I’m for it. And frankly, all the you know, the back and forth over whether Disney is making money or not. The parks are making money parks are making so let’s invest their big time. Yes. What so many fans have been clamoring for? Speaking of the parks, the golden statues the fab 50.
Kelli 7:29
Yes, yes. Yes, I saw those.
Chris 7:33
So they the 50th anniversary medallions had been removed. But they’re supposedly going to be adding some new pixie dust.
Kelli 7:41
I saw a picture of them getting the pixie dust. So sorry,
Chris 7:45
this is all ridiculous. We should not be doing this. But we love our people. And so we want to be here with them. I did not see what the pixie dust is so
Kelli 7:55
Oh, I didn’t see the pixie dust in the picture. I saw someone applying pixie dust right
Chris 7:59
so they’re supposed to be adding some new features and functionality. Yeah, yeah.
Kelli 8:04
Yeah, like a tiny airbrush. She was like, literally chatting right up on it like she was spraying pixie on the base of Columbus statue is what it looks like. Yeah.
Chris 8:17
Maybe you’ve heard that a black bear decided to go see the country bear jamboree.
Kelli 8:22
I’ve loved it so much, honey. I don’t think they were seeing the country bear jamboree. I think in fact, how I read the story. No, that’s not how you read the story. But I think in fact, maybe she was just as excited as you about the upcoming changes to the bears. And maybe she was trying out for the new role of Dolly Parton.
Chris 8:42
Well, she was safely relocated. So yes, they shut down three lands at Magic Kingdom this past week because he was in a tree a female black bear had found her way into a tree somewhere in the vicinity of for Timberland, Tom Sawyer Island whatever. They shut the three lands down for a few hours and safely captured the bear and relocated her to Ocala National Forest. I love that they did all this successfully and the bear is safe and sound and all and so are all the guests at the parks. What I hate is like the immediate reaction on this Twitter and social media is around. Magic Kingdom just cannot get it together. People the three hole lands in the park are shut down this morning. Well, let’s give it a minute and maybe something’s going on. Oh, they
Kelli 9:38
they weren’t saying that before they knew why. Right? Right. Sheesh,
Chris 9:42
Frontier land, Liberty Square and Adventure Land are all shut down. The only things you can do in the Magic Kingdom are Main Street, Tomorrowland and fantasyland. Okay, well,
Kelli 9:53
which is still plenty,
Chris 9:54
probably a reason probably several an hour on let’s let’s you know, take a breath Which seems you know, if you were like us right now you’d realize how, what a luxury it is to take a breath.
Kelli 10:07
You know, I just I don’t get the idea of going on to social media constantly just to bash something you don’t like, right? Like, find some joy.
Chris 10:18
Hashtag find some joy ashtag find some joy man.
Kelli 10:20
Like, I just don’t get that, like you gotta let it go. Like if you’re a Disney fan, then just let it go. Let the bear live her life. Let the people in theirs. And everybody’s gonna be happy. We actually don’t need your input. Right? Right. It’s unnecessary.
Chris 10:38
So I’m very excited about this. The the there are the luminess show at Epcot. Okay. We have barges, Oh, gosh. We have barges, bio, reconstruct who you can follow on on social media, flies his little plane over the parks and takes aerial pictures and whatnot. And took shots of the staging area, the Marina behind the China area over there where Epcot keeps all their stuff backstage, and we have six barges. So when Illumina starts up in early December, I think December the fifth is the current timeline. They have built a hexagonally shaped platform platform out in the middle of the lagoon that’s flat so that it doesn’t stick up above the water too much or anything. But it looks to me and my completely novice. I like these barges, which will control the fireworks and some water and some cannon and lighting and whatnot most likely, right. Will will be moved out during the transition from daytime to nighttime onto the lagoon and will connect to this hexagonally shaped platform in the middle of the lagoon,
Kelli 12:00
which feels a lot like illuminations reflections of our
Chris 12:04
Yeah, except that that that globe sat out there on the water all day, not in the middle. But it was it was over there near the American Pavilion. And then they run it out there. But yes, these are
Kelli 12:15
barges and it sounds like it’s going to be one central barge instead of multiple barges across the lagoon, and that they’re not going to block the view during the day. That’s the whole those were the compliance. That’s
Chris 12:27
the whole idea. We can move these barges in and out when we need them moved in and out. So I mean, again. So hey, do this. You
Kelli 12:37
want a list of things to worry about? I can give you some I’ll give you a wall. I’ll give you some of mine. And we can split the worries. If I tell you the barges are not on there. They weren’t on there for the last four years. In fact, I don’t care
Chris 12:52
my marches. I was listening to another podcast recently who made this statement. In their view, the good for harmonious outweigh the bad. That’s also how I felt Yes. Other people felt otherwise. And I’m sure they were expensive to maintain.
Kelli 13:09
Sure. But it’s gonna be cheap.
Chris 13:13
No, they are there seem to be less complicated than the things we had before. I’m excited about it. I’ll give it a shot. I think this is gonna be great. Yeah, absolutely. I’m for moving beyond Who Moved My Cheese face. Yep, I’m for it. Okay. You ready for tomorrow? And I
Kelli 13:30
am. All right. Good luck. I’m gonna do my best. So I’m gonna do the top 10 Halloween treats at Walt Disney World, parks and resorts. Okay, so first of all, there’s way more than 10. Okay, way more than 10 I can’t possibly make it through them all. Even if I had a decent voice. I couldn’t make it through them all. But I was like, I don’t want to rush. So I’m just going to narrow it down to the top 10 And these are the top 10 by looks by feature like unique SKU this year. Okay. Okay. All right. So that’s what we’re going with. Okay, so first up is Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is Animal Kingdom lodge actually has two that I’m going to feature and one of them is the Captain Hook cookie. This is a vanilla sable with strawberry jam, peanut butter, ganache, buttercream and chocolate decor. Now, do you remember a couple years back when we got that cookie that looks like a taco in Frontierland? Yes, I
Chris 14:34
do. Oh, yes. I
Kelli 14:34
saw this thing. Okay, so that’s that’s what I want you to imagine. Okay, but this time the taco is red. And the icing coming out the top is the buttercream. So it looks like a frilly, like, just trim for his shirt. Right. And then on the cookie is the mustache sticking out both sides and then a little hook. So, so cute. And I was a huge fan of the taco. Oh, it was it was great. It was like a frozen thing was fantastic frozen themed frozen thing. Yes. Fantastic. Okay, and then the second one that I’m pretty excited about is the Ursula tart. Okay, so imagine your traditional tart. Okay. Okay, this is a vanilla tart filled with spice cake, chocolate ganache, Blackberry pearls. Now these are really tiny BlackBerry pearls. They look like dark rocks. Life’s under the sea rocks. Okay, Kevin, Blackberry mousse, and chocolate decor. Now the BlackBerry mousse is in the shape of a like a Hershey’s Kiss. That’s swirly. And so that’s sitting on top of the BlackBerry pearls, which is on top of the vanilla tart. And the chocolate decor that they’re talking about is the necklace with the with a gold shell. Oh, like, Oh, okay. Like, like keeps like the one she keeps the voice in. I mean, the details on that are amazing. So if you hit up Animal Kingdom Lodge, you can get that Captain Hook cookie and the Ursula tart. Both new this year. They also have some other really cool items, but they are new. So I’m not talking about that. Okay. Okay, next up, we’re going to pop over to The Contempo cafe, where we’re going to get the Haunted Mansion Eclair. I mean, frankly, if a desert starts with haunted mansion, just like sign me up sold give me 10 Okay, so this is an eclair filled with a caramel apple moose. Y’all know I love a moose. We’ve already had one moose. Now we’re having a second moose love moose, topped with a chocolate caramel ganache with haunted mansion, edible images. Okay, so an eclair winner already Winner winner chicken dinner. And so then imagine like a chocolate ganache, just like like piped onto the top. I mean, it just looks like chocolate icing that’s about an inch thick, going all the way down. Okay. And then what we’ve got is the Haunted Mansion edible image is like a long stripe of the Haunted Mansion, wallpaper. And then on one end is a circle, which I’m going to assume both of these are in chocolate is a circle of the Hatbox Ghost. So, give me the Eclair. Give me all the chocolate with the Hatbox Ghost and everything related to that. Now we’re going to pop over to the grand flow, okay, and hit the Gasparilla Island grill. So a lot of y’all are only available October the first to the 31st Okay, so make it happen.
Chris 17:38
And this this Gasparilla grill is underrated for sure. Yes, really. Grill is
Kelli 17:43
almost always talked about and very underrated. Okay, so first we’ve got the smores tart, which I think is so stinking cute. It’s called the smores ghost heart. This is a graham cracker tart shell filled with ganache, a milk chocolate mousse and topped with the marshmallow ghost. Okay, so I want you to imagine a marshmallow sitting on top of a tart, but this marshmallow is kind of in the shape of again, like a Hershey’s Kiss like it comes up to a point and it’s toasted. Like somebody took a little little gun and toasted that out torch and then they took three little dots a chocolate and made a face. And so I’m gonna make a face here y’all can’t see me but Chris will so the little ghost is going is a surprise. Surprise ghost. It is the cutest thing. I think it is just absolutely adorable. Adorable and it’s new. Also at the Gasparilla Island grill you’ve got the not so poisoned apple. This is a chocolate cauldron filled with an apple spice cake. apple filling and caramel buttercream topped with an apple mousse. Y’all can even so it’s a chocolate cauldron sitting on like a little plate and the icing around the bottom is like yellow and orange piped it looks like leaves like a cauldron sitting on leaves or fire probably fire coming out of the top of the cauldron. It’s like a green slime coming down all sides of the cauldron. There are these little white looks like pearls which are probably like special like bubbles. And then sitting on top of the cauldron as big as the cauldron itself. It looks like a real apple. Looks like a real apple y’all and that is going to be the Apple news.
Chris 19:34
Oh my gosh. Yes.
Kelli 19:35
So so so good. You
Chris 19:38
know if you’re really great pastry chef, you have to have a good time working. Oh, it’s got to
Kelli 19:42
be a good time. Okay, so then the next is we’re going to pop on over to the pineapple and I add the poly. The pineapple and I is also very underrated and they almost always do something special for holidays. So they have the not so scary pumpkin soft serve which is a pumpkin spice flavored soft serve with coconut haupia caramel drizzle graham cracker crumbs and a white chocolate Mickey shaped pumpkin, y’all. It’s adorable. And I think it’s going to taste like like a white cream with graham cracker comes and then pumpkin cream mousse on top type of thing. And so it’s going to taste kind of like eating a graham cracker crust pie. It’s my fault. It’s so so cute. Love petite cafe at Disney’s Riviera has maybe my favorite. Okay? They have the Chocolate Cherry coffin. I mean who didn’t want to get coffin?
Chris 20:42
You know what though that that place though fights way above its weight.
Kelli 20:48
I mean, this is a it’s an amazing coffin. So the coffin is like, the lid is popped open and on the top of the confidence has rip and there’s like some skeleton hands reaching out. Really cute. Okay, and so this is a biscuit sands for rain. I don’t even know what that is. But I am excited to try it. A milk chocolate mousse and Morello cherries. I mean, give me that coffin. Like I can’t get enough of that. Okay, but here is my favorite. Okay, this is at Wilderness Lodge, the Roaring Fork. They have a haunted forest, Apple moose. Oh, almost all these have moose, y’all. And I didn’t know I didn’t do that on purpose. But you know how much I love a movie. Well, they clearly know you do too. They do. Okay, and so this is a haunted forest Apple mousse. So it is described as a green cake with Cookies and Cream Mousse and a sour apple mousse y’all it does not even come close to doing it justice. So I want you to imagine a tree stump. I’m imagining, okay. Okay. It’s just like a tree stump. And I don’t it maybe that’s icing? Maybe that’s fine, but I don’t know. But that’s the base. That’s the base of it. It doesn’t say any of that. That’s that’s your base. Sitting on top of the tree stump is an apple. Okay, that looks as real as the other Apple I just told you about. But this Apple has the green slime pouring down the top of it. Okay, I would eat 10 of these and 20 on Sunday. Yes, absolutely. It looks amazing. And again, it starts with haunted so I’ll have it right. I love something haunted. Okay, next we’re going to pop over to Hollywood studios to the dockside diner and Fairfax fair. Okay. This is a pumpkin patch cookie. These are a dorable pumpkin spiced snickerdoodle. Okay, so imagine just like your basic snickerdoodle cookie, but of course it’s Disney. These are not going to be basic. So they’re a little bit puffier Okay, and sitting on top is a pumpkin spice buttercream and little pumpkin candies. Now you’re not gonna like the pumpkin candies because it tastes like the candy corn. But it looks like little individual pumpkin patches on top of that. It’s cute though. So so so cute. Okay, and my final one is it Disney Springs. The D looks burger. This is your pumpkin pie shake. Vanilla gelato, blended with pumpkin pie mix caramel sauce, pumpkin spice graham cracker crumbles top with whipped cream and a pumpkin spice. That’s the De Luxe burger really, really does a good job on their shakes. And I think we need to make that already
Chris 23:35
and I hear nothing but good things given how much I liked it.
Kelli 23:39
They also have as an honorable mention the glow in the dark. Donald candy corn Sipar again this year and I know it scared you last year. Yeah, because you’re terrified of candy corns, but it’s really cute. It’s the so I want to get that zipper. Fill it up with the shake and then just carry it around to all those places eat and all those coffin hats and an apple dessert. fair thing to want to do.
Chris 24:05
I think that’s a solid I can get past the fact that it looks like it can be corns. He
Kelli 24:09
is so cute. He’s got his little little pumpkin candy baskets. So so cute. So so so cute.
Chris 24:16
All right, well, you really get into the season. I’m gonna go a different direction here. I’m talking about Ahsoka. Oh, okay. So, the Star Wars universe. I had been wanting to talk about this since since the show started. I am so loving the new Ahsoka series. There there are a few things you know this about me Doctor Who does this? There are a few things I love more in a series or a movie than callbacks to a previous storyline or much or when this series is totally remember all that love is so much this series is nothing but that it calls back to the iconic Clone Wars animated series which I wrote clone here so Just kind of funny. The underrated rebels series I feel like is underrated. They even call back to the air the Empire Star Wars trilogy novels that I just loved when I was young. But ultimately the reason I love it is the reason that so many other Star Wars fans love it. We cannot get enough of a so Katana in thinking about this character didn’t exist until we got the Clone Wars animated series, which this one has been a long time. But we had a lot of movies that came out before the Clone Wars animated series and he was sending me books and stuff. Since this since the animated series came out. Oh, he
Kelli 25:42
was a she was she’s not in any of the original canon No, like
Chris 25:46
she had. She was introduced as it realized that as Anakin patwon, which is his apprentice in the animated series. Okay, I didn’t know that. Yeah. So why is it that we just cannot get enough of a so Caetano,
Kelli 26:01
it’s her higher order here.
Chris 26:05
So I’ve got a lot to cover, and I’ve got a weak voice here. Let’s have it. So who created a Ahsoka and why? Dave Filoni Okay, so Dave Filoni has been the man who has who has been responsible for basically fleshing out the entire Star Wars universe. Along with Star Wars creator George Lucas together, they created a circus character. Okay, Dave Filoni he did he was behind the Clone Wars animated series, which was over the top amazing. He was behind the rebels. He’s been behind the Mandalorian. He’s behind the Obi Wan show and he’s behind us. So he is basically the guy who’s responsible for building out this Star Wars universe at this point. Okay. And he’s he’s a genius at it. The idea though, was the Clone Wars. And I know I’m getting Super Star Wars technical here. But the clone wars in terms of timeline fits between the Clone Wars movie, and the Revenge of the Sith movie. And the idea was we’re supposed to learn, like how Anakin Skywalker matured between those two movies. Right? How what was his growth path, excuse me between those two movies. And one of the literary devices that they were going to use to do that was to give him an apprentice. And it was a so Katana. She’s a kid. She’s a teenager. But she’s she’s force positive. She’s She’s strong in the Force, right? And so the idea was, Anakin would have to teach someone to be a Jedi. And we would learn a lot about Anakin. What I don’t know if anybody realized was how much we were all going to fall in love with Ahsoka herself. Not just we were we were all going to get interested in her story.
Kelli 28:00
Right her character arc is she’s badass.
Chris 28:03
She’s incredible. So again, she was supposed to just be context for us to watch Anakin mature. We got emotionally you know, invested in her right. She cannot be contained quickly became a fan favorite. Her personality was infectious from the start feisty and courageous, even earning the nickname snips from Anakin because she was snippy. Spoiler alert. Last episode, one of the most recent episodes of the live action series, Anakin causer. snips, oh my gosh, heart just melts. So,
Kelli 28:41
Anakin is Darth Vader
Chris 28:43
A becomes Darth Vader, okay. Yes, yes. But you know, it’s bigger than all of that. And so here are five reasons that I believe so Katana is the best character in all of the Star Wars. Wow, honey, that’s
Kelli 28:59
big.
Chris 28:59
It’s a big statement. A big stitch really huge. Okay. All right. Full disclosure, I got a lot of help here from couch suit.com, who’s got a great article on this, and collider.com, who also has a great article on Ahsoka Tano. Number one, no character outside of Anakin Skywalker slash Darth Vader has been more fleshed out and fully formed than Ahsoka. We’ve seen her entire history from the moment she was assigned to Anakin as a child. She’s a grown woman who has got a pet one of her own and
Kelli 29:32
Luke is flushed out nowhere close. We
Chris 29:35
don’t see any of Luke’s history. At the level of detail. Imagine a series where we get to see very precise moments. We’re not just told why. Ahsoka believes things. We’ve seen what she went through to inform why she believes things right. Okay. Luke, we didn’t meet till he was, you know, a late teenager and we haven’t seen him in a series like this. You know, it’s Seven or eight year run series. Okay. All right. We don’t spend nearly as much time with Luke and Leia and Ray and Han as we have with Ahsoka at this point. Okay. All right. Number two, Ahsoka has learned hard lessons of leadership relationship. And her choices directly result from those lessons. And we live all that with her right? As a Jedi apprentice in the Clone Wars, even though she’s a child, she commands a troop of soldiers, they’re clones. she delivers orders that often result in their deaths, just like any war commander would write, she learns the pain of losing those that she’s close to, in numerous ways, whether they die on the battlefield, or she loses them, like ultimately, you know, happens to the dark side.
Kelli 30:48
All right. Okay. All right. So Anakin is teaching her before he has gone over to the dark. Oh,
Chris 30:52
yes, most of that series is good. He’s, he’s Anakin. And he’s, we love him. Okay, the last season the last few episodes correspond with the things that are happening in the Revenge of the Sith movie. Okay, so we know that she’s off doing this one thing and we know that he’s turning Okay, okay, off off screen. She learns the pain of losing those that are close to her, she learns to focus more on what is right and wrong, even if it doesn’t fit neatly into the good versus evil world of Star Wars. Okay. Ahsoka believes that individuals have value regardless of their apparent status in society. A consistent thread that runs through the various animated series has been the plight of the Clones, ie those that are in the Clone Wars. These are manufactured quote, humans, based on one perfect soldiers model, and they were viewed as expendable, send as many clones to die as needed. They’re just Cannon Fodder will just make more. Right. This inherently provides the storytellers an opportunity to deal with a marginalized group that might mirror marginalized groups in the real world. Right, right. They’ve created this what is ultimately a marginalized group, right? Okay. From the start, however, a Ahsoka never treated her soldiers and ultimately her friends as worthy as anything other than worthy of respect. When order 66 was given, which is in Star Wars world, we didn’t realize until too late that the clones were programmed they had a program that said when order 66 is given, they would turn on their Jedi commanders and kill them all. That’s what happened to the Jedi. Even then, a sucker refuse to kill them in her defense. She did everything she could to defend herself while also saving their lives. Her her clone soldiers would often adorning their uniforms with the markings that matched her plumage. Oh, wow, very cool. Without a Ahsoka, the Rebel Alliance that’s at the heart of the original Star Wars movies likely never would have existed. The Animated Series rebels and the recent live action series and Dora ultimately tell the story of the early days of the Rebel Alliance that would eventually bring the Empire down. She operates for years in the shadows as a character known as fulcrum. A secret does Ahsoka does a secret entity that provides Intel to the early rebel operatives. And eventually we realized we find out oh my gosh, that’s a Ahsoka who we grew to love during this other series. Okay. All right. And the last one is a twofer. Ahsoka establishes a new standard for femme characters in Star Wars or any other universe. She needs no love interest to give her character worth. We care about Ahsoka for her sake alone, not because we need her as a love interest for someone else. Women in this universe have often held positions of power and leadership which is admirable right from the start. They’ve been generals they’ve been senators. We lost the princess label for layup by the second movie, right? All right, but they will typically still have a love interest, even disappointingly ray in her relationship with Kylo Ren right right. Yep. A Ahsoka never even hints it’s such a neat there’s never that in her universe at all right. Second part of this one is Ahsoka is fiercely independent. From the moment we meet her, she makes a huge decision to just leave the Jedi Order altogether. She is no Jedi she proclaims herself and she has no Sith. She has something in between that just wants to ensure her corner of the galaxy is a just place like Yes. Consider the decision here of the storytellers. The entire world they’ve created revolved around Jedi vs Sith good versus evil discipline versus chaos. light versus dark. Ahsoka says no, I will not be labeled. I will not be boxed into a set of rules. I know what is right. I know what Justice looks like. And I’m strong enough to bring it myself if
Kelli 34:53
needed. Like that.
Chris 34:55
Yes, she’s awesome. I can’t imagine a better role model for kids and especially Girls so I am all for Ahsoka, I am all end of this series in I recommend
Kelli 35:05
that everybody I haven’t watched it How come you haven’t had me watch it?
Chris 35:09
You don’t really like Star Wars all that much, but
Kelli 35:11
I liked like I watched the Mandalorian with you did you did well hey, you know what I think I watched and or at least some of it are some of Andorra watch some of the moon night one star that’s not Star Wars.
Chris 35:29
Do this. I will lose control here. He gave me as far as Marvel and Star Wars. You just brought the whole thing down.
Kelli 35:40
I thought it was Star Wars.
Chris 35:42
We’ll start a sucker over tonight. I will start from he’s not he’s Marvel. Okay. My word. Okay. Hey, folks. See, that’s this week’s show. We hope you’ve loved it. If you did go out tell a friend about it. Leave us a review and leave us a five star rating.
Kelli 36:01
Yes please because we need to buy medicine. And if you’re looking for more things Disney please visit SCF adp.com. That’s s for Super C for Cali fo fragile listed a for awesome different SDP for podcast. If you missed it. I posted last week some of our merch that we got in super excited about that. The deal is still going on. So hit up SEF adp.com and get yourself some merch
Chris 36:25
and ever do the tour of the food festival. No, we didn’t need to do that. Hey folks. With that we will see you real soon.
