For over three years, the Upcountry Museum of History has been working with the Walt Disney Archives to develop the exhibit, “Searching for the Force… The Empire Awakens,” which opens on June 15.
The final concept for the exhibit, inspired by the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, also took more than six months to plan.
Left to right: Jarrett Hartman and Rick Lorenz of the Walt Disney Archives set up the Poe Dameron mannequin in the Upcountry History Museum’s “Searching for the Force” exhibit. Photo courtesy of Upcountry History Museum
“(We) worked closely with the Upcountry Historical Museum to provide them with something that would fit the story they wanted to tell and what they wanted to display,” said Rick Lorenz, senior manager of acquisitions and loans at the Walt Disney Archives. “With the exception of BB-8 and R2D2, I believe this is the first time the Walt Disney Archives has loaned these assets to the public.”
Finding the Force setup
For the exhibit, Walt Disney Archives transported more than 2,000 miles to collect 24 exhibits used in the film, including costumes worn by Rey, Finn, Poe, Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Kylo Ren, as well as Stormtrooper uniforms, blasters and the interrogation chair used by Ren to interrogate Poe in the film.
To prepare for the exhibit, archivists had to coordinate with the museum, find mannequins to match the costumes, and plan for transporting the items to the museum.
“There’s a lot of things to consider. You have to balance things with the dimensions,” Lorentz said. “How big are the blasters? How big is Chewie’s bowcaster? We had to build a special crate for the interrogation chair here for a couple of reasons, first of all, it’s big, and secondly, it’s pretty heavy, so you don’t know who’s going to be on the other side to help you move a piece like that. We had to design it in a way that it would stay on the base of the crate as a display stand.”
Han Solo and Chewbacca costumes on display at the Upcountry Historical Museum’s “Searching for the Force” exhibit. Photo provided by Upcountry Historical Museum.
“Searching for the Force” runs through Nov. 9 and also features a collection of Star Wars toys and memorabilia from private collector and museum curator Jarrod Rolle of Onalaska, Wisconsin.
For more information, visit upcountryhistory.org.
