‘Star Wars’: Disney presents its “real” lightsaber

Disney spent years trying to make a “real” lightsaber. First he filed the patents, then he built a prototype, in May 2021 he showed it to us, and now, finally, Josh D’Amaro, president of Disney Parks and Experiences, has unveiled it in a panel at SXSW called ‘The’ art and science of storytelling in Disney parks’.

Disney shows off his “real” lightsaber at #SXSW pic.twitter.com/e3AqDRV53P

? DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 11, 2023

Collected on video by those present, we see how D’Amaro brandishes a lightsaber that seems authentic, presses a button and, after the characteristic sound, appears to be sprouting a very real looking sheet of blue light: “It was a difficult project, it wasn’t easy, but it was worth it”says Leslie Evans, director of research and development at Disney Imagineering.

This is supposed to be the lightsaber they use aboard Disney’s super-expensive Starcruiser Galactic, but as Deadline points out, there’s a video on YouTube of that experience where The lightsabers they use are seen to have a tube protruding from the hilt, which is not retractable, and D’Amaro lacks it.

The patent

While the outlet has tried unsuccessfully to contact Disney Imagineering, it’s not hard to find the patent via Google, a document that includes schematic diagrams and a description of how it works:

“…the special effects device (or power sword, lightsaber attachment, or similar) is specially configured to provide an extendable and retractable blade of energy that appears to emanate from a hilt thanks to a glowing effect […] the device comprises two long plastic cylinders cut lengthwise. These two pieces (or blade bodies) are then wound perpendicular to their length (or their central axis), creating compact cylinders of material of relatively small volume which can be supplied on a pair of spools or spools. Housed within the body of the handle assembly of the device are the spools which support the blade body elements, along with other blade manufacturing elements.

To extend the blade, a motor provided in the handle body is driven to unwind the wrapped plastic blade body elements […] acting as a metal carpenter’s tape measure. Each element of the blade body passes through a guide or passage that forms the blade and acts to join the two semi-cylindrical elements of the blade body (with parts along their length overlapping or nesting each other in the other). ) as they exit the hilt body, thus forming the energy blade. To retract the blade, the process is reversed with the motor acting to wind the pair of reels to wind or unwind the extended blade body members in the handle body and on the pair of reels.

Also shown at the presentation were Disney Imagineers’ Blue Sky, a project that allows fans to converse with a fairy-sized Tinker Bell, a new robot, and Smart Hulk, a unique exoskeleton that allows artists to maneuver large non-human characters. . .