Do you like stop-motion? Do you love toys? Do you love STAR WARS? Then get your Cheerios and enjoy because you are in for a very good morning.
To celebrate the release of the upcoming line of ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY toys coming out on September 30 (avaiable for pre-order September 2), a series of spoof shorts will be released every week featuring the toys of the lead characters in stop-motion style. The first of the series dropped yesterday, with new ones coming over the next four weeks.
SPOILER WARNING: Okay, so although this video is considered fan-made, it was made in collaboration with Disney so the odds of it containing huge spoilers for the flick are small. However the spoof-driven story does seem to feature scenes/settings we've seen in the trailers of the movie so far. So, just in case there is more of a tie-in with the movie's story than we think, and you want to be 150 percent clear of anything even resembling a hint of said story, it’s best not to watch. But if you like living life on the edge, you’re clear for takeoff.
As mentioned above, the video was created by Tongal in collaboration with Disney to help showcase the new line of toys, and to kick off a global contest that will involve fans creating their own shorts starting when the toys are made available to purchase. Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, said the campaign and video series is designed to celebrate the fans and the already bustling online community of fan-generated content (*cough* and to sell more toys *cough cough*):
"These fan-created shorts are a tribute to the incredible content that the Star Wars community posts online every day. The Go Rogue campaign was designed with Star Wars fans in mind – we want them to be front and center in the run up to 'Rogue One' by imagining and creating their own Rogue Stories."
The global contest will open on September 30 and close October 30, and requires contestants to submit their own shorts or skits with the toys, with the winners being decided by a panel that includes the film’s director, Gareth Edwards. As for the sick prize, the winner will attend a special screening of ROGUE ONE. Potential entrants can learn about the contest at StarWars.com/GoRogue and a special contest will be open for children ages 8-12 (info at Disney.com/MyRogueStory), so they don’t have to compete with 40-year-old men who have been doing stuff like this in their parents basement for decades.
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY is set for December 16, with the shorts contest beginning September 30, but you can let your creative juices run wild in the meantime! Time to one-up those eight-year-old bastards.