For more than three years, the Upcountry History Museum has been working with Walt Disney Archives to create its “Finding the Force … Awakening an Empire” exhibit, which will open June 15.
Inspired by the film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the exhibit’s final concept also took over six months of planning.
“(We) worked very closely with the Upcountry History Museum in providing of what we had available that would fit the story that they’re trying to tell and exhibit that they wanted to build,” said Rick Lorentz, senior manager of acquisitions and loans for Walt Disney Archives. “I think with the exception of BB-8 and R2D2, this is the first time that Walt Disney Archives (has loaned) any of these assets to the public.”
Setting up ‘Finding the Force’
For the exhibit, Walt Disney Archives shipped 24 screen-used displays over 2,000 miles, including costumes worn by Rey, Finn, Poe, Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Kylo Ren, as well as authentic props including a stormtrooper uniform, blasters and an interrogation chair used by Ren in the film to question Poe.
To prep for the installation, archivists had to coordinate with the museum to ensure it had mannequins to fit costumes and plans to transport the items into the museum.
“It’s a lot of things to take into consideration, a lot of balancing back and forth with dimensions,” Lorentz said. “How big is a blaster? How big is Chewie’s bowcaster? We had to have a special crate built for the interrogation chair that is here for several reasons, the first one being that it’s large and the second one being that it’s quite heavy and you never know who’s going to be on the other end to help move a piece like that around. We had to create designs so that it stays on the base of the crate as a display platform.”
“Finding the Force” will run through Nov. 9 and also feature a collection of “Star Wars” toys and collectibles from private collector and museum curator Jarrod Roll of Onalaska, Wisconsin.
For more information, visit upcountryhistory.org.
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