Star Wars Weekly: A ton of Galaxy's Edge reveals, animatronics... and Pizza Hut

Time again for STAR WARS WEEKLY, the SYFY WIRE series that rounds up the most important news of the week from a galaxy far, far away. Think of us as your own personal Star Wars Holocron.

GALAXY'S EDGE ANNOUNCEMENTS GALORE

Last week, Disney brought a number of journalists into Galaxy's Edge and gave them a sneak preview of everything we'll be seeing over the summer.

There's a lot of interesting details and tidbits to find out about and StarWars.com has condensed most of them onto their site.

They revealed many of the toys and merchandise that will be for sale in Batuu, and gave us an idea of the sort of characters with whom fans will be able to interact in the park. From Loth-cats and Toydarians, it seems as though no era of Star Wars has been forgotten in the creation of this new immersive park. The actual land, as they call them in Disney Parks, will immerse visitors in Black Spire Outpost, a seedy spaceport that will recall Mos Eisley. Alcohol will be served, as will blue milk.

Galaxy's Edge opens in Anaheim sometime in the summer and in Orlando after that. I don't think there's any doubt that it's going to be amazing.

For more information, SYFY WIRE did a thorough roundup here.

HONDO OHNAKA

Probably the most exciting detail from that massive drop of Galaxy's Edge news was the reveal of the larger-than-life, realistic Hondo Ohnaka animatronic that will appear in the park. Jim Cummings is even returning to voice the character that originated in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and made appearances in Star Wars Rebels.

Here is a sneak peek at the animatronic and it's truly stunning:

And, if you still need more Hondo, here's a clip from the audiobook of Pirate's Price. This is a book that Jim Cummings did the voice for and ties loosely in with the character's appearance at Galaxy's Edge. Here he is, trying to steal the Millennium Falcon.

THE DESCENT

Star Wars Resistance has edged closer and closer to the events of The Force Awakens. In fact, last week's episode happened the day before the events of the film and saw Poe Dameron head out for his mission to Jakku, before ending on a cliffhanger of its own. This week's episode picks up where the last left off and is a must-see. It gives clues to where the show and the Resistance are heading and might even hint at things post-The Last Jedi.

Watch a preview of the episode here:

This episode airs on Sunday at 10PM ET/PT on the Disney Channel. Trust me, this show has turned into must-see Star Wars and you won't want to miss this episode.

CELEBRATION ART SHOW

The Art Show at Star Wars Celebration is always a place to get great art that gets officially licensed in small batches and some of the picks this year have been stunning and gaining the attention of many.

Here are a few samples:

You can check out the whole gallery of Celebration art here.

STAR WARS: ALWAYS

A new, fan-edited trailer for the entire Star Wars saga was released this week. Jeff Yorkes and Topher Grace (yes, that Topher Grace) put together this supercut, utilizing deleted scenes and shots and audio from every single Star Wars film. The result is stunning.

And tear-inducing.

In a day of social media being what it is, it's easy to forget what it is that people are arguing about. This trailer really brings to the forefront the love that everyone has for the saga and reminds us why it's so important to so many of us. Stories matter, and this one matters a lot. Seeing it all laid out together heightens the emotion of that experience exponentially.

The only downside is how excited this made me for Episode IX, but we don't get to taste that sweet, sweet fruit until December.

PIZZA HUT AND THE PHANTOM MENACE

This is an oddity and a rare find. Twitter user Drew Stewart found this gem of a VHS tape, converted it, and dropped it onto Youtube. This is the implementation tape for the Pizza Hut brand tie-in for The Phantom Menace in 1999. It's amazing to see for a lot of reasons. First, it's a time capsule of the hype that led to Episode I, second, it's just… You need to watch it.

One of the most fascinating things about the video is all of the redactions. So many of the characters and costumes had, to that point, been unrevealed. Some had, though, even in the trailers bookending the piece, so why they were blacked out is anyone's guess.

In any case, it's a fascinating document of the era.

Until next week, May the Force Be With You!