In fact, writer David Shayne could have just swung for the funny fences in LEGO® Star Wars Summer Vacation and left it at that. Meant to remind us of those seminal moments in the movies that forged their friendships, it works really well to underscore the emotional climax of Finn’s story. But the special’s most visually ambitious sequence comes with some beautifully cinematic recreations of key moments between Finn and his friends in all three sequel films. But there’s also the comedic design flourishes of random additions like Darth Vader’s Jimmy Buffett-inspired hat or the loud print of Obi-Wan’s Hawaiian shirt. Summer Vacation looks bright and vibrant, with the clever application of brick design and symmetry woven into the familiar Star Wars ships and structures.
What also sets these specials apart is the animation ambitions of director Ken Cunningham and Atomic Cartoons. The nuttiness of those original ideas mixed with the snark and satire of the known characters from within the universe remains on point and the charm of the series. Tompkins voicing Rad, a teen rival for Ben Solo, who prompts him to joyride the Millenium Falcon. There’s also plenty of original weirdness to enjoy too, like “Weird Al” Yankovic voicing the beach party singer Vic Vankoh, or comedian Paul F. Colvett Valeria (Yvette Nicole Brown) from the Freemaker Adventures, or a line said in Anakin’s story about how the Imperials came to build a base in Scarif, which connects to Rogue One. And lastly, Force Ghost General Leia Organa (Shelby Young) rounds out the stories by sharing her last family summer trip with Han (Ross Marquand) and young Ben Solo (Matthew Wood) before he went off to be trained by Luke.Īs with all of the LEGO specials, each story contains a cornucopia of Easter Eggs and references related to the LEGO-verse and Star Wars mythology, such as Obi-Wan’s adventure being spurred by Lt. Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) then appears to tell him about his Darth Vader-era trip to Scarif with Emperor Palpatine (Trevor Devall). That’s where Force Ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) finds him and shares his own story about an unexpected trip to Jabba’s Palace, where he sang with the Max Rebo Band. Looking to the trip as an opportunity to spend fleeting quality time with his besties before they split up to pursue their new paths, Finn instead mopes at the bar. But almost immediately after a holo of Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) welcomes them aboard, they all scatter like marbles pursuing their own downtime activities, which bums out Finn. Leaning on that Disney corporate synergy, the gang books a trip on the Galactic Starcruiser: The Halcyon to celebrate their victory together. The wraparound story for the special revolves around Finn convincing his fellow rebellion heroes to take some R&R after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
But this installment also weaves in some emotional heft with some surprisingly poignant moments that Star Wars fans will appreciate. In keeping with this franchise, the summer-centric special leans into the silly and the visually absurd while softly ribbing the canon of the universe, which is why these specials are so much fun. Closing out the trilogy of new LEGO Star Wars animated specials is LEGO® Star Wars Summer Vacation, which features Finn (Omar Miller) as the central character who gets told three stories by iconic Force Ghosts who impart to him some emotional wisdom regarding his friends, Poe (Jake Green), Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), and Rey (Helen Sadler).