JokersWild Episode IV: A Review Hope
The dead speak! The Imagineering board has heard a mysterious broadcast, a threat of PIPING HOT TAKES
in the sinister voice of the late (emotionally) JOKERSWILD.
I can't do this anymore. This is a CRY FOR HELP. Anyway, here are the reviews....
Team Ringling - Rendezvous with Grogu and the Mandalorian
Really great job. Right off the bat, your team once again takes a very middle of the road approach with a very smart, very realistic meet n greet experience. I really like the idea of having guests meet The Mandalorian/ Grogu in a storeroom behind Oga's, but I do have a few logistical issues with it. Firstly, you mention it being through a nondescript door inside Oga's Cantina. Does that mean it's only accessible through the Cantina, or can guests from outside also do the meet n greet through a separate entrance? Oga's is pretty small and famously hard to get into, so I foresee the pair playing to an empty storeroom more often than not if the former is the case.
I really like most of the steps you took to update the characters to fit the sequel trilogy. The Mandalorian and Grogu were probably the toughest to adapt to Galaxy's Edge, but I think that you guys did pretty well. My only real qualm, and it's a pretty subjective one, is with how little you actually aged up Grogu. I know that it's only been 25 years and we don't really know a ton about his species' lifecycle, but personally I think that it might have been a bit more interesting to age him up just a little bit more to make him more like a classic Padawan rather than a toddler. I still like the updates you guys made - I just have been interested to see a Grogu that was a bit more different than the one that we met in the show.
I love the website. I had a few issues with how the posts were broken up, but I really appreciate the lengths you guys went to make this look like the actual Star Wars website.
Great job all around. I really enjoyed what you guys came up with, despite some nitpicks.
Creativity: 8/10
Detail: 8/10
Realism: 9/10
Presentation: 9/10
Teamwork: 9/10
Total: 43/50
Team Barnum - Max Rebo
First off, thanks for being so gung-ho about this Max Rebo thing. It was a kind of out there idea I had since Max Rebo is such a weird, and weirdly iconic, character so I'm really glad to see that you guys were so ready and willing to work on it. And, honestly, you guys knocked it out of the park. I really loved everything about it. While you guys took a very similar approach to Team Bailey in that this is more of an experience than a simple meet 'n greet, you still made sure that the meet 'n greet was the center of your project. The more show-y elements were pretty loose and honestly just quintessential Star Wars - super wacky and almost overwhelming, but framed in a weirdly rational way with some lore thrown in.
While I wouldn't have expected Rotta the Hutt, he was a very welcome addition. I think in the Clone Wars all of the Hutts with the exception of Jabba are killed, but Rotta is never given closure so it's pretty realistic that he'd still be slinking around somewhere. And while you ignore the lore a little bit with Max Rebo and his band, I'll forgive it since it's kind of open-ended. Black Spire Outpost is a perfect place for a Hutt outfit. I like how you experience really expands the world of Batuu and Black Spire Outpost. There's already a little underworld present with Hondo and the datapad, but bringing the Hutts in to the mix really helps liven it up.
In terms of the actual experience, I really love it. The details (especially the editorialized tales of Jabba the Hutt) are all fantastic and very fitting. The actual show is a ton of fun while not dragging too long, and the character interactions are a ton of fun as well. And again, the actual meet n greet is great, and I really appreciate that you guys kept it front and center. My only real question is how would Max work as a costumed character? The boy doesn't have arms so he wouldn't be able to use the props you described. Other than that everything sounded perfectly realistic.
Really great turnaround, guys. You really took mine and Tiki's critiques the last two rounds to heart and came out with a really unique meet n greet.
Creativity: 10/10
Detail: 9/10
Realism: 8.5/10
Presentation: 8/10
Teamwork: 10/10
Total: 45.5/50
Team Bailey - Paths of the Force with Ahsoka
This is probably the most unique of the three. While you technically bent the rules ever so slightly by setting your meet n greet in the World Between Worlds, I personally have no issue with it. It's a really striking setting that would set it apart from the rest of the land really well. That being said, I don't think that you guys focused on the actual meet n greet as much as you should have. This feels more like a show with a very small meet n greet at the end, almost as an afterthought. It kind of reminds me of something like
Enchanted Tales with Belle - there's a full multi-part show with a small meet n greet at the end. And I love the show, it's really cool and sort of retroactively introduces Palpatine to the sequel trilogy in a really interesting way (though that does cause some continuity errors with the films is Ahsoka is actively aware that Palpatine has returned, but chooses not to tell anyone.)
Despite issues with this not quite being a proper meet n greet, I really love the setting and celebration of all three trilogies. The art is really great - something that you should absolutely keep pulling out in future rounds,
@DisneyFan18, and the video and voice work by
@PerGron and
@monkey92514 were all standouts. My only real issue with this, much like Team Barnum last project, is that there wasn't enough focus on the actual meet n greet experience.
Creativity: 10/10
Detail: 8/10
Realism: 9/10
Presentation: 9/10
Teamwork: 8/10
Total: 44/50
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I just don't want folks to be disappointed when they inevitably don't get Adventure Time and it's the only one of the three they've seen. The other two are SUPER EASILY BINGABLE on HBO Max and remember it's going to be a longer time table than the last two projects. 
