Star Wars Celebration is taking place later this month, as the gathering of Star Wars fans will be held for the first time in over two years when it convenes in Anaheim from May 26-29. Unfortunately, however, not every area of the franchise will be equally represented.
Every Celebration there are those who aren’t able to make it, and this year is no different. For example, franchise legend and Celebration staple Mark Hamill won’t be in attendance due to being out of the country filming The Fall of the House of Usher. But then there are those who would like to be there but, well, weren’t really invited.
Such is the case with Tiya Sircar, who voiced Sabine Wren in Star Wars Rebels. On May 4th she posted that she won’t be at Celebration because Official Pix, who is handling the planning and organizing of it, are not booking many voice actors. She took to twitter to express how disappointed she is about not being able to be there.
This is, quite frankly, absolutely shameful for Lucasfilm, Celebration, and Official Pix. I get that logistics make it so that not everyone who is connected with the franchise can be invited, but for the reasoning to be they aren’t prioritizing voice actors? That’s stunningly oblivious to the fact that animation has been a pillar of Star Wars storytelling the last few decades. And it’s not like Sircar had a cameo once; she voiced one of the main characters of one of the main Star Wars shows.
But that’s not even the biggest reason why this decision is so confusing. No, it’s the fact that animation will have such a massive foundation in the background of this convention, all the while those who helped bring it to life aren’t even invited. So much of the live-action content that we’re getting now is strongly connected to and influenced by Rebels, and there will presumably be attention given to Ahsoka, an upcoming series all about a character who was born in animation. And according to credible reports, Natasha Liu Bordizzo has been cast to star in that series as Sabine Wren. Perhaps that will even be officially announced at Celebration?
And if so, don’t miss the irony of the fact that Rebels has laid the foundation for this new era of Star Wars storytelling, and one of the main characters of Rebels will be making an acclaimed appearance in live-action, all the while the voice actress who brought Sabine to life doesn’t get an invite to be a part of the celebration.
That’s ridiculous.
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