Thus far, this has been one heck of a Star Wars filled holiday weekend. Ever since the first teaser trailer for The Force Awakens was released this past Friday, all we’ve wanted to do is break down every frame of the new trailer, and dissect every last morsel we could until the next one is released at some point in the hopefully not too distant future. However, there’s one element of the new teaser that has managed to strike a chord, arguably, more than any other: the ball droid.
It doesn’t have a name, it doesn’t have a friend and it doesn’t appear to presently have a mission, but we can all agree that it’s the most adorable droid to ever droid this side of the galaxy far, far away. However, new information is coming to light that, internally, this little baby ball robot has been floating around the Lucasfilm archives for a long time, and is apparently based on original R2-D2 designs once developed by Ralph McQuarrie himself:
@headgeek666 From a Ralph McQuarrie interview from Star Wars Insider magazine I think: pic.twitter.com/63aMYh7SQ6
— Fastbak77 (@Fastbak77) November 29, 2014
Thanks to Nerdist’s resident Star Wars expert, Amy Ratcliffe, who did some due diligence upon seeing the quote, we can tell you this statement comes from the July 2012, #135 issue of Star Wars Insider. However, while published in 2012, the interview was actually conducted by Thomas G. Smith with McQuarrie in 1984 while Smith was researching a book. So, yes, we are indeed to believe this new, currently unnamed droid was the original R2-D2, which is something that certainly puts a spin on this tweet sent out by the ball-droid’s unofficially official twitter account:
I'm not the new R2-D2 R2-D2 is the old me
— Ball-Droid (@BallDroidVII) November 28, 2014
Of course, the ball droid hasn’t stopped there as fans have been quick to turn him/her/it into the face of the new teaser with artwork that’s just begging to be framed and hung on all our walls:
Shoutout to @briankesinger for drawing this awesome picture of me!! pic.twitter.com/Amb2YsMm7F
— Ball-Droid (@BallDroidVII) November 29, 2014
Shoutout to @evandenn for drawing me!! pic.twitter.com/X50XuZzqyC
— Ball-Droid (@BallDroidVII) November 29, 2014
So, basically, it’s hard to argue against the fact ball droid won the weekend and all our force filled hearts over the last 72 hours, and to wrap this up, allow us to extend a Jedi high five to one J.J. Abrams and the entire team that made our new must have toy a reality.
BRING IT TO COMIC-CON, J.J.!
What do you think of the new Star Wars ball droid? Let us know in the comments below.
Dude, the cross saber struck the biggest chord…
Something very similar to that little droid pops out of the THX logo and repairs it in my copy of Finding Nemo. THX is a George Lucas company. That R2 droid isn’t completely new.
ACW
Here’s Ralph’s original design that he was referring to in the interview. https://twitter.com/RMcQArchives/status/539468405258985473
WIIIILLLSONN!!!
It blows! I’m.surprised Jar jar isn’t riding it!
the latest tweet has an image with profanity (Mother F… ) in it so now its not looking so legit. if it was Lucasfilm/Disney associated that meme wouldn’t fly. oh well.
that supposed “quote” from a mcQuarrie interview is fake. its photoshopped to look like newspaper or book text but its crooked. dont buy it
Did you not read where they researched and verified the quote?
It doesn’t weigh anything? It’s hallow? It moves like a cheap blown up plastic toy.
It was reported earlier that this guy is quite small. Only a little bit taller than a basketball. The heroes will follow its lead through some caves or tunnels or something. It’s like a good guy version of the seeker droids Darth Maul used. I don’t think it’s anything to do with the Astromechs though it was probably supposed to have been designed by the same company.
I am a little disappointed that there are no astromechs on the new style X-Wings though. At least that you can see.
Well JJ *did* use McQuarries’ original “split engine” x-wing design.
Giving credit where credit is due, that was Joe Johnston’s design. Ralph just incorporated it into his paintings of the X-Wing.
A few things. This shot isn’t of an anonymous robot in the background. The camera is clearly following it in relation to the background. Now taking into account that Kenny Baker’s getting on in years and the story takes place in the future where droid technology is probably more advanced i suggest that this IS R2, in a more mobile design with more room for the little person inside.
Not about the ball droid but the ship on the left reminds me of something out of Macross.
looks kind of like the tail end of an Ajax