John Celestri: Star Wars Holiday Special Animator of Boba Fett

The first time anyone caught a glimpse of the now infamous bounty hunter was in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special.

Yep. That one.

We talk to Boba Fett‘s animator, the great John Celestri all about it: how Lucas got involved, what their inspirations were, and just a ton of great stories. Some other topics include:

• Growing up wanting to be an animator (and being self-taught)
• Getting involved with Nelvana (known for Ewoks and Droids), as well as how George Lucas first heard about the studio through Cosmic Christmas
• Inspirations for the short ranging from Heavy Metal magazine and Moebius to Clint Eastwood

You have a week, as of this publishing, to help with Mr. Celestri’s Kickstarter and get that Boba Fett sketch for yourself: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johncelestri/john-the-animator-comicx

For even more Lucasfilm animation stories, check out Skytalkers’ incredible 3-part deep dive about animation: https://skytalkers.com/2020/07/25/star-wars-animation-1978-2012/