AT-AT Day Afternoon

By Shamus Posted Monday Jun 28, 2010

Filed under: Movies 24 comments

I’m in a big writing push to complete my LOTRO series. I took a break and found this:

Perhaps it will cheer you up as it did me.

 


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24 thoughts on “AT-AT Day Afternoon

  1. Henebry says:

    Wonderful animation””or is this puppetry?

  2. Nostromo says:

    Seen it in other places in the past 24 hours. It’s well made, kinda cute, and it draws a smile on my face every time I watch it again. Jeez, I don’t even like dogs, but I’d consider having a pet AT-AT in a New York Minute.

    Plus: it craps collector issue Jabba The Hut every day!

  3. Roll-a-die says:

    Shamus something I’d like to ask, how does your avatar generator thing work so well at giving appropriate avatars to everyone. From where I’m sitting it works REALLY REALLY well. Acronix and I’s really suit us, mine being a seething nerd who looks like he’s about to tear into someone, while acronix’ looks like a posh gentleman with an impassive look on his face. Is it prescient or something?

    1. Shamus says:

      It’s a PHP feature. Just use the $IS_PRESCIENT superglobal.

      :)

      1. Doug Sundseth says:

        That explains why I had to build my own avatar. I have iPrescienceBlock ™ running.

        1. acronix says:

          It also explain why I couldn´t change mine!

    2. TSED says:

      I beg to differ on mine, though you may disagree with my disagreement?

      1. TSED says:

        Oh right, I changed it because that pink star going :X got on my nerves. Never mind, then.

  4. SolkaTruesilver says:

    Hey! This is French-Canadian (Quebecois, to be more exact) work! The artists’ names are all classic Quebecois names!

    It’s nice to see some of my compatriots’ work on my favourite blog :-D

  5. Audacity says:

    So THAT’S where Hutts come from.

    Nice find, Shamus. Made everyone here laugh out loud.

  6. Canthros says:

    D’aw.

  7. ngthagg says:

    The nine comment blurb is hilarious. I’ve never seen it before.

  8. ccesarano says:

    That was awesome. Insta-share to all mah friends.

  9. General Goul says:

    His Marvel vs DC videos are hilarious, he does Deadpool spot on!

  10. Ramsus says:

    That was so adorable. I want one of my very own!

  11. TSED says:

    The Jabba cameo made my day. Thanks, Shamus.

  12. Nyaz says:

    D’aaaawww. Now I want an AT-AT.

  13. X2-Eliah says:

    I don’t know, somehow it doesn’t strike me as enjoyable.. I mean, the music is borderline-awful, and since I never liked dogs nor am I obsessed with star wars, it didn’t strike me as anything more than a toy doing dog stuff.

    Cl!ck was miles better.. Oh well.

  14. Zaxares says:

    That video made me smile, Shamus. It was much needed after a long day. The Hutt was the icing on the cake. Thanks for sharing! :D

  15. JohnW says:

    I loved how it was shooting its blaster cannon at the squirrel in the tree.

  16. Drakey says:

    I was like ‘NOOOOOO Dont throw Jabba Away! Youll never find another!
    Even though it wasnt ‘jabba'(but it was) My lill voice still cringed.

  17. Slothful says:

    What I really wanna know is how that video was made. It doesn’t look like CG at all, so puppetry and camera tricks?

    1. Blackbird71 says:

      I actually had one of these AT-AT toys as a kid (it’s still mostly in tact last I saw, up in my parents’ attic most likely, awaiting the grandkids). One thing I can tell you is that the joints have nowhere near the range of motion shown in this video; there had to be a lot of custom work to get it to move like that.

      Based on the way it moves, my best guess is that the original joints at the top of the legs and in the neck and head were removed and replaced with swivels (or just attached loosely with wire), and that the toy was strung up like a marionette.

      The part I’m trying to figure out is firing the guns at the squirrel: the batteries for this are kept in the base of the main body, and the wiring is hidden inside the plastic and runs through the neck. Inside the neck is a handle (controlled from inside the main body) which is used to move the head, and also has a button which triggers the lights and guns. This handle mechanism is part of what limits the range of motion in the neck, allowing only about 45 degrees of movement side to side at the base of the neck, and giving about the same range for vertical movement at the head itself. All this would have had to be gutted for the head and neck to move the way they did in the video, but that would mean removing the controls for the guns. So, either the electronics were rewired to accomodate the new joint system, or there was an unaltered “stunt AT-AT” for the gun shot. Either way, it looks like the guy who did this put a lot of work into modifying the toy.

  18. Hmmm? I think this is what Darth Vader originally wanted them for…and then when that failed he went all crazy ‘n started to amass an “Evil Empire” ‘n stuff. (The “First” Trilogy not withstanding)

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