Epic Fan-Made Star Wars Anime Cartoon “TIE Fighter”
By Elaine Tveit
I haven’t watched that many fan fiction films. I’ve seen the stop motion LEGO “An Average Death Star Day” more than any other of the other live action creation. It’s just not the sort of thing that I have actively sought out.
But the exquisite, epic fan-made Star Wars anime cartoon “TIE Fighter” found me. And I’m so happy it did.
Several people and sites have tweeted this video out, which is how I became aware of it in the first place. It’s a seven plus-minute movie animated in the hand-drawn style of Japanese anime. And yes, it’s fan-made, but it has the quality of a professional filmmaker. A testament to this is the fact that there’s no dialogue; all you have is the music, the sound effects, and the visuals to direct you through a space battle between the Empire and the Rebellion.
Another element of interest added to this battle: you see almost everything through the eyes of the Imperial Navy, namely the TIE fighter pilots and a Star Destroyer commander.
Seriously, the amount of detail in this video is astounding. Some of this stuff, like the detailed interiors of the Star Destroyer and TIE fighters, we’ve never even seen in the films before. And it all looks seamless, even in anime style. Anime is something else we’ve never seen in Star Wars before today (at least I haven’t). But perhaps we should.
Paul Johnson, known as OtaKing77077 on YouTube, is the mastermind behind “Tie Fighter.” From his description of the video, it would seem that it was born out of pure wondering.
"“What if there was an Empire-focussed short Star Wars animation, drawn with the crazy detail and shading of classic 80s anime that’s all but vanished from Japan nowadays?Well, I tried my best. Apologies in advance for not living up to Venus Wars standards.Drawn and animated by yours truly over 4 years’ worth of weekends, with music by the living guitar solo Zak Rahman and sound design by up and coming audio technician Joseph Leyva. Fans of Lucasarts’ seminal 1994 TIE Fighter game may notice a few familiar sights and sounds. That “incoming missile” noise gives me horrible flashbacks to this day…”"
Johnson also extends his thanks to Lucasfilm.
"“Special thanks to the good folk at Lucasfilm for encouraging people to get creative and make these kind of projects. It’s thanks to their extremely fan-friendly nature that we can enjoy IMPS: The Relentless, TROOPS, etc.”"
Yeah, thanks Lucasfilm! And, maybe give Paul a job?
Props to Zak Rahman and Joseph Leyva, as well, for their work on this awesome cartoon.
Official poster art: http://mightyotaking.deviantart.com/a…
“Interdictor,” the music track: https://soundcloud.com/zakrahman/tie-…
Story/character info pdf file: http://www.mediafire.com/view/cpnc1oj…