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The Beginning Of The End, and the Long, Slow Downward Spiral. Believe it or not, The Phantom Menace was released exactly TWENTY YEARS ago today, on May 19,1999.
I vividly recall Star Wars fans working themselves into a lather when The Phantom Menace trailer was released, exhaustively analyzing ever single frame. Heck, things got so crazy that they actually paid good money for tickets to the movie Meet Joe Black, the trailer was playing before it. And once they'd seen the brief two minute preview, they exited the theater en masse!
I remember there was a HUGE merchandising push for the movie— every product you could possibly imagine had the logo slapped onto it, and licensed crap was being sold everywhere. And I do mean EVERYWHERE— even in places that had no business selling such merch. They even had an action figure display inside my local gas station!
Then the movie finally premiered, and cineplexes across the country were littered with the broken and shattered bodies of disappointed fans. It wasn't pretty. With all that buildup, it was inevitable that the movie would disappoint..
It's hard to believe it's been TWENTY years since George Lucas foisted this horse-faced, lop-eared frog onto an unsuspecting public. It just doesn't seem possible that we've been living in this Post-Jar Jar World for an entire decade. How quickly the years roll by.
I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever drawn Jar Jar. I have to admit he's kind of fun to draw, even if he did ruin Star Wars.
If you're a regular reader of my blog, as most of the country is, you no doubt know that I usually include the original sketches of my illustrations here for future generations to study. You're also no doubt noticing there's no Jar Jar sketch here. That's because I didn't draw one. I haven't been sketching on paper all that much lately. More and more I find I'm sketching directly on the screen. It's quicker and more flexible and all that. My paper sketches are becoming less like preliminary art and more like reminders to draw something later, like a "Don't forget to buy milk" note. I haven't decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet.
