“Star Tours, this is serious LEGO site. What are you doing here?”
Disney’s cinematic renaissance might have kicked off in 1989 with The Little Mermaid, but the Disney parks were entering a new era two years earlier with the debut of Star Tours. The immersive ride combined motion simulation with state-of-the-art special effect filmmaking to transport riders into the Star Wars universe, joining a trench run to take out the Death Star. Okay Yaramanoglu recreates the StarSpeeder 3000 in LEGO with a model with the greebles and pinstripes that will take you right back to 1987.
What made the ride so convincing was the commitment to the bit of the StarSpeeder 3000 starship. Visitors could watch C3PO and R2D2 bicker about your upcoming journey as they stood next to one of the impressive transport vessels. By the time you reached the doors of the ride version, you were ready to believe that it was a lightspeed-ready craft that really could take you to Endor. Okay’s model captures the craft from every angle as you might have seen from the queue, down to the high-speed “warp drive” (the confusingly named tech from an era when Lucasfilm was a lot less attentive to jargon).
Okay’s LEGO model includes a row of doors slide open in unison, just like the ride. While the StarSpeeder 3000 is for tourists, it is equipped with a pair of laser blasters for the unlikely event that the tour shoud deviate from its intended flightpath.
Removing the roof of the craft reveals room for plent of passengers. There’s plenty of legroom for most species. Just cross your fingers you don’t get seated behind a Wookie.
Up front we get a glimpse ofthe ship’s captain, RX-24. Voiced by Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman), the animatronic droid was a highlight of the experience. Okay does a great job capturing Rex’s expressiveness as he prepares for his first-ever flight.
If you enjoyed this tour on the StarSpeeder 3000 in LEGO, be sure to check out our feature on builder negipon’s version of the Star Tours starship, featuring lights and motors.
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