Science Fiction & Fantasy - News and Discussion

For everything that doesn't fit elsewhere; literature, movies, video games - whatever you desire.
Lord Jim
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

Post by Lord Jim »

What gets me is why they decided to totally ignore all the cannon follow on literature (mainly in the novels~) there is out there. This naturally progressed the development of the characters against a very fluid background and brought on the next generation nicely, including one of Han and Leia's children becoming a Sith Lord, another getting killed and their Daughter marrying the leader of the empire. On going battles between the Republic and Imperial Remnant an its Warlords after Endor, Civil War within the Republic and a new really nasty race fighting everyone and using living armour and weapons, it goes on and on.

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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'The Last Jedi' has opened in China and has failed to impress Chinese audiences
http://variety.com/2018/film/asia/star- ... 202654207/

mr.fred
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

Post by mr.fred »

Lord Jim wrote:What gets me is why they decided to totally ignore all the cannon follow on literature (mainly in the novels~) there is out there.
Because, to a greater or lesser extent, they weren’t very good?

I quite liked Heir to the Empire, but even there you get increasing amounts of fan-self-abuse. One thing I quite like about the new films is that they remove the marvel-esque levels of interleaving stories and the inability of characters to stay dead that the “Expanded Universe” became.

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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'The Last Jedi' audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is now at 49%, which is even lower than 'The Phantom Menace' which scored 55%.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_w ... last_jedi/

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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Only 7 days after its Chinese release date, 'The Last Jedi' has been dumped (cancelled) from 92% of Chinese cinemas.
https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/? ... &referrer=
:clap: :lol:

UPDATE: Now completely gone.

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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SOLO: A Star Wars Story - TV Spot


Teaser today, sometime....

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SKB
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SOLO: A Star Wars Story - Teaser

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SKB
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SOLO: Posters
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SKB
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Mark Hamill gets Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star

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The Last Jedi - How It Should Have Ended

:clap:

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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SOLO - Full theatrical trailer and poster



:thumbdown:

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^Official theatrical poster

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2HeadsBetter
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

Post by 2HeadsBetter »

Finally got around to watching The Last Jedi on blueray. It's basically a remake of Empire Strikes Back. Whole scenes practically lifted from the original. What can we expect from the 3rd film - bloody Ewoks?

5.5/10. Must try harder. Hopefully now that most of the original cast are gone from the story things will improve - at least a little originality, please.

Not a grey hair on Chewbacca though.

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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5.5 is waaaay too generous. :mrgreen:

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2HeadsBetter
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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Most of that is for the sound effects. Haven't the heart to tell them that space is a vacuum.

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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May the 4th be with you, if you still give a sh*t about this once great film saga....

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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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SOLO - A Star Wars Story - SKB Review!
Contains SPOILERS

PLOT:
On the shipbuilding world of Corellia, a young "scrumrat" and aspiring pilot named Han (Alden Ehrenreich) and his love Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) long to escape the clutches of the local criminal gangs. They successfully bribe an Imperial officer who grants them passage on an outgoing space transport but Qi'ra is apprehended by their pursuers before she can board. Han vows to return for her and with no means of income joins the Imperial navy as a flight cadet, with the Imperial recruiting officer dubbing him "Han Solo" in absence of a surname.

Three years later, Han has been expelled from the Imperial flight academy for insubordination and is serving as an infantryman during a battle on the planet Mimban where he encounters a gang of criminals posing as Imperial officers led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson). He blackmails them into allowing him to join but Beckett has him arrested and condemned to battle a "beast" held in captivity. The beast is revealed to be a Wookiee named Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo). Owing to Han's ability to speak Shyriiwook, the two stage a fight for the benefit of their captors and escape after collapsing their cell after which they are rescued by a sympathetic Beckett. He enlists the two for a planned train heist to steal a shipment of the hyperfuel coaxium but is enraged when Han ditches their shipment after they are ambushed by the Cloud Riders criminal gang.

Beckett reveals he was ordered to steal the shipment for Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), leader of the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate, and he now fears Vos' wrath. Han and Chewbacca volunteer to help him steal another shipment. They travel to Vos' yacht where Han is confused to discover Qi'ra, who confesses that she is a member of Crimson Dawn. Han announces a plan to steal unprocessed coaxium from the mines of the planet Kessel. Vos insists on Qi'ra accompanying them. To procure a ship for the heist, Qi'ra introduces the team to Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), an accomplished smuggler and pilot. Han challenges Lando to a game of sabaac with the wager being Lando's ship, reputed to be the fastest in the galaxy. Lando uses sleight of hand to win but is convinced to join the mission in exchange for a share of the profits. The team boards his ship – the Millennium Falcon – and head for Kessel. After reaching the planet and infiltrating the mine, Lando's droid co-pilot L3-37 instigates a riot. They use the confusion to steal a consignment of unprocessed, volatile coaxium but L3 is fatally shot in the escape. With Lando injured, Han pilots the ship knowing that they must make the infamous "Kessel Run" in less than twenty parsecs if they are to reach Vos before the coaxium explodes. Han's prodigious piloting skills allow them to evade an Imperial blockade and they rendezvous with Vos.

Vos surprises the team by announcing that the coaxium is fake – he reveals that his "inside man", revealed to be Beckett, informed him of Han's plan to sell the real shipment to the Cloud Riders and their leader Enfys Nest. Han announces that he anticipated Beckett's deception – the coaxium they are holding is real. Beckett takes Chewbacca hostage and escapes with the coaxium. A gunfight between Han, Qi'ra and Vos ensues which ends with Qi'ra killing Vos. She exhorts Han to help the Cloud-Riders and insists she'll join him shortly. After Han leaves, Qi'ra seals the room.

Han catches up with Beckett and Chewbacca and fatally shoots Beckett after a stand-off. Han and Chewbacca deliver the coaxium to Enfys Nest who reveals her plans to use it in "a rebellion" against the Empire. She offers Han the chance to join but he declines and Nest states that some day he may feel more sympathetic to the rebels' cause.

Alone aboard Vos' yacht, Qi'ra contacts Vos' superior who is revealed to be Darth Maul (Ray Park). Qi'ra informs him of the mission's failure. Han and Chewbacca, now referred to as "Chewie", track down Lando and Han again challenges him to a Sabaac game for possession of the Millennium Falcon. Han subtly relieves Lando of the cards stashed up his sleeve and wins the game. Han tells Chewie he plans to take them to Tatooine, where Beckett told him a gangster is putting together an organisation, as the Falcon jumps into hyperspace. . . .
My Reaction & Score:
My initial reaction is that SOLO: A Star Wars Story is not brilliant. But then again, its not terrible either. Somewhere in the middle.

One viewing was enough, I don't plan to see it again. But I did like it far more than The Last Jedi (2017) and The Force Awakens (2015) and I would rate it on par with Rogue One (2016). One for the bluray collection and for occasional viewing it there's nothing decent on the telly.

There's a good start, an okay middle, and a so-so ending which is a bit predictable. The film is basically a heist/robbery film which involves getting things to do things which affects other people that aren't really essential to the timeline of the Star Wars universe.

It's mainly a Han and Chewbacca origin film which is done basically, feels a bit rushed and tacked together without much detail or backstory and feels a bit lazy. The young Han Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich is quite believable and delivers a good performance, but is too "nice" and lacks the "stuck up, scruffy looking nerf-herder" scoundrel persona famously played by Harrison Ford.

After watching the disappointing Episode VII and the terrible Episode VIII, I reluctantly went to see it with a sense of curiousity and fear. I was prepared to hate this film and I wasn't going to waste money on multiple IMAX or 3D showings. But I was surprised a little and did not "hate" it, but then again, I didn't "love" it. It was okay, it did the essential thing of telling a story of how Han, Chewbacca, Lando and the Millennium Falcon had their beginnings in the Star Wars universe.

In the 200 seat screen I saw it in on a Thursday lunchtime, there were only 30 people watching. There were no families or young kids present, but it is essentially a kids film, that feels like a Guardians Of The Galaxy type film. I suggest that if you choose to see SOLO, that you treat it as such.

Score: 5/10

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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THE CLONE WARS (2019)

(Star Wars) 19th July 2018
Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Reporting in for another tour of duty....
:shock:


(San Diego Comic Con) 19th July 2018
The 10th Anniversary of The Clone Wars panel at San Diego Comic Con 2018 where it was announced the series would be returning!
55:15 - Dave Filoni makes the surprise announcement.

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SKB
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Episode IX Cast Announced
Image
(StarWars.com)
LUCASFILM 27 JULY, 2018

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX CAST ANNOUNCED
RETURNING AND NEW CAST MEMBERS WILL JOIN TOGETHER FOR THE FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THE SKYWALKER SAGA.
Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Release is scheduled for December 2019.

Little J
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

Post by Little J »

Carrie Fisher returns... Should have just let her die in space instead of her supergirl moment.

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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"London's Pinewood Studios".... ?
:roll:
It's actually in Buckinghamshire, just outside of Greater London and the M25 orbital motorway....

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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Red Letter Media's infamous Mr. Plinkett gives an hour long analysis/review of The Last Jedi.

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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Gary Kurtz, 1940-2018
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Gary Kurtz, the producer of "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back" passed away, aged 78 on 23rd September 2018 in north London.
BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-45632165
Star Wars website: https://www.starwars.com/news/gary-kurtz-passes-away
Gary Kurtz, Star Wars producer passed away on Sunday the 23rd of September at 4.47pm after living with cancer for the last year.

In the 70s and 80s Gary Kurtz was a young film maker that revolutionized the Hollywood film industry at its core with his films like Star Wars, American Graffiti and The Empire Strikes Back. The agreements he closed altered the balance of power from the film studio to the directors and producers so they could, for the first time, make the films how they wanted to make them and control the process of the art of filmmaking.

In the mid 1960s Gary Kurtz was assistant director on a Monte Hellman western, Ride in the Whirlwind, starring Jack Nicholson, and went on to work on Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet with Basil Rathbone and Queen of Blood, with John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, and Dennis Hopper, and then on to another Monte Hellman western, The Shooting, starring Warren Oates and Jack Nicholson, and finally wore multiple hats as production manager, assistant director, and editor on the Harry Dean Stanton film The Hostage.

Then in 1966 Gary Kurtz joined the U.S. Marine Corps where he served his country in Vietnam. This led him to experiences in his life that would later directly influence his film making skills and story telling ethos.

After leaving military service, Gary Kurtz moved into studio pictures, and became associate producer on Chandler and Two-Lane Blacktop with Monte Hellman for Universal Pictures, both in 1971. Kurtz’s well-rounded skills in directing, editing, producing and storytelling made him the perfect partner for the young upcoming George Lucas when they first met through Francis Ford Coppola in 1971. This meeting led to a collaboration of these two film makers that lasted over a decade.

Gary Kurtz studied religion extensively in his early years. In the early stages of development on “Star Wars” he suggested to Lucas that he might give the film a sufficiently universal religion to help to give it more depth. That led to Kurtz working on the “Star Wars” screenplay and developing “The Force” which would go on to influence generations of fans. Lucasfilm was born under their banner, and went on to make some of Hollywood’s most successful films of all time.

Gary Kurtz developed a good relationship with Universal Pictures off the back of Two-Lane Blacktop in 1971. Following that, George Lucas and Gary Kurtz brought a two-film deal to Universal for American Graffiti and a sci-fi film that was to be Star Wars. American Graffiti was a low budget movie and cost only $777K which was less than Kurtz’s last movie Two-Lane Blacktop at $850K, but American Graffiti went on to take $140 Million world wide which made it the lowest cost to highest profit ratio film of all time and that record held until The Blair Witch Project in 1999. Kurtz now 33 years old went into re-negotiations with Universal Pictures to make the the second of the two film deal which was to be the Star Wars film. In the end Universal passed on the project because the script was not fully developed.

Gary Kurtz later closed a deal with 20th Century Fox to make Star Wars for $11 million, and off the back of this Kurtz and Lucas set up the Star Wars Corporation. Gary Kurtz became Vice President of the corporation looking after the development of the film and also the film’s other assets such as merchandising rights and products. Star Wars was to become a troublesome production which was complicated to finish. It pushed special effects technology and the art of filmmaking to the limit.

In order to finish the film on time, Kurtz set up a second unit and directed many pick up shots, most of the cockpit dog fighting scenes, and most of the Star Wars opening scene interior fight sequences on Princess Leia’s ship. He then went back to the US to work on the special effects miniature unit at ILM as they were struggling to complete many of the shots that were promised in England. At this point, George Lucas was not confident that they had a film to release, but in the end Star Wars was finally finished and unleashed to the world on May 25, 1977 and became one of the biggest films of all time bringing in over $1.1 billion.

Kurtz and Lucas carried on their partnership but they both started to have desires to make different sequels to the successful films they had already released. So, it was decided that Gary Kurtz would make the Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back and that Lucas would make the sequel to American Graffiti, More American Graffiti. Gary Kurtz would join up with long time friend Irvin Kershner to direct Empire, the film again pushed all limitations in filmmaking technology. The film had twice the number of sets that the first Star Wars film did and a budget match of $18,000,000.

Gary chose to film in icy Norway where he had served out his basic training in the U.S. Marine Corps. They filmed there during Norway’s coldest weather in over 25 years. The production then came back to its UK home in Elstree Studios, but disaster struck when the the large sound stage there caught fire during Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining. Gary Kurtz again just got on with what was needed to make the film happen and negotiated with the studio to have a new soundstage built using Lucasfilm funding. The agreement allowed them to use the stage rent free and once the filming of Empire was completed the new soundstage was to be sold back to the studio. This saved on the production budget and only pushed the filming back by a few days. In the end, the film, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was released on June 20th 1980.

At this time Gary Kurtz started to feel that Lucasfilm had become too corporate as he often said there were too many suits in the production office that was supposed to be full of artistic people. That started to damage the strength of the Lucas / Kurtz partnership. Gary Kurtz was asked to produce Revenge of the Jedi (Return of The Jedi) and turned it down as he felt the script was too limited and that most of what was in the script had already been seen in the first two films (i.e. Another Death Star and the sand planet). He had worked on the Star Wars films for many years now and wanted to continue with changing the direction of filmmaking.

Kurtz was living in the UK at this point and had made several interesting filmmaking friends there. He had been talking to Jim Henson about a big film featuring only puppets. This felt like a real challenge to him, which is exactly what he was searching for, so he joined up with Jim Henson to produce and second unit direct The Dark Crystal, a technical filmmaking masterpiece.

Gary Kurtz’s next big film was again not going to be easy. A long time friend, Walter Murch, had written the screenplay and was to Direct Return to Oz. Gary Kurtz Executive Produced it and it was critically acclaimed for its technical achievements with the room of mirrors. It was a very dark twist on the world of Oz and was released June 21st of 1985.

Gary Kurtz went on to produce more films such as Slipstream (1989) with Mark Hamill, The Steal (1995), 5-25-77 (2007) and stayed working in the industry developing projects around the world including the far east and China up until his death, at the age of 78.

Gary Kurtz was considered by many as a pioneer in the film industry and a master of the art of filmmaking. He found any opportunity to share his expansive knowledge of the film industry with budding filmmakers and those seeking knowledge. He was a real humanitarian and a gentleman; some have said that he is one of the gentlest souls in the film profession, modest and humble, and a very unique man.

Gary Kurtz’s art left lasting impressions on generations of adults and children across the world. We have him to thank for these wonderful memories that he made for us all. Gary Kurtz helped to create the force and it is with us always.

Gary Kurtz left behind Clare Gabriel ,Tiffany Kurtz, Melissa Kurtz, and Dylan Kurtz. Our thoughts are with his family.

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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The Making Of The Empire Strikes Back

(Uploaded by Adywan)
An excellent and very rare documentary of French origin (its in English though) of the making of Empire. (58 mins)

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SKB
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Re: Star Wars - News and Discussion

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VADER EPISODE 1: Shards Of The Past
A fan film by "Star Wars Theory".



Star Wars Theory channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8CbFn ... eaz8y9wd_Q

Better than all the Disney versions.... :clap:

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SKB
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:thumbdown:

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