Mark Hamill is excited about his newest role, which he likens to his experience with his iconic role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise.
It is difficult to even imagine the Star Wars franchise without Mark Hamill. The series kicked off in 1977 with a self-titled movie (retroactively titled A New Hope), which starred Hamill as Luke Skywalker, a farm boy from a backwater planet who finds himself caught up in a space version of Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress (1958).
Along with his co-stars Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, Hamill became an immediate pop culture icon via Star Wars.
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Notoriously, pretty much everyone except Harrison Ford found it difficult to shake Star Wars from their careers.
Although Mark Hamill has acted on Broadway (most famously in productions of The Elephant Man and Amadeus) and is a legendary voice actor, best known for his portrayal of the Batman villain, the Joker, and is a prominent voice in American political discussion (particularly when it comes to former President Donald Trump), he will always be associated first and foremost with George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away.
Despite (or perhaps because) of that, the actor does not compare many of his other works to the sci-fi franchise all that often. Hamill returned to Star Wars for the Disney sequel trilogy of films starring Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver, most prominently featuring in the controversial Last Jedi (2017).
Although he reportedly disagreed with director Rian Johnson about aspects of the characterization of Luke Skywalker years down the road after Return of the Jedi (1983), it says something about his respect for the franchise that he put his trust in Lucasfilm and its directors.
It means a lot that Mark Hamill would compare his upcoming animated film, The Wild Robot, to the series he is most famous for.
At a San Diego Comic-Con panel (via The Hollywood Reporter), the actor described the film, saying, “You just have to see it. It reminds me of back in the day when I was trying to describe Star Wars to people who hadn’t seen it. It’s sumptuous. It’s emotional. It works on so many levels. The kids will love it. The whole family will love it.”
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The Wild Robot is based on the book of the same name by Peter Brown, written and directed by Chris Sanders, best known for directing and co-writing Lilo & Stitch (2002) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010). The DreamWorks Animation film is officially described as:
The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot—ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling.
The voice cast includes Mark Hamill (as a grizzly bear), Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, and Catherine O’Hara. Will it be able to match up to the grandeur of Star Wars? Hamill seems to think so, but we’ll have to wait till it’s in theaters to see.
The Wild Robot is scheduled for American theaters on September 27, 2024.