LEGO, Hasbro, Jakks Pacific and Funko all feature in a series of fan-made short features launched today on the Star Warts YouTube channel.
The first wave of Disney’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story toys has been revealed via a series of fan-made animated shorts.
New lines from Hasbro, LEGO and Funko all feature in the stop-animated series that launched on the Star Wars YouTube channel today.
As part of a competition in collaboration with the creative network Tongal, a team was assembled to write, direct and produce the original, fan-made shorts starring key toys from the new line to kick off a global social media campaign with the hashtag #GoRogue.
The first wave has been detailed ahead of the line's full release this September 30th.
“These fan-created shorts are a tribute to the incredible content that the Star Wars community posts online every day,” said Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media.
“The Go Rogue campaign was designed with Star Wars fans in mind – we want them to be front and centre in the run up to Rogue One by imagining and creating their own Rogue Stories.”
Last year, over 838,000 pieces of Star Wars related content was posted on YouTube, attesting to the force behind the Star Wars community. Star Wars fan generated content is also popular, accruing more than 16.3 billion views in the last year.
“I’ve been a Star Wars fan my whole life so this is a dream project,” added James DeJulio, co-founder of Tongal.
“It’s been amazing to see what an inspiration Star Wars has been to so many members of our creative community, whether that’s coming up with their own Star Wars story lines or playing out scenes with Star Wars toys at home with their kids.
“I am excited to share this Rogue Story with the world as we celebrate the first standalone Star Wars film and the new characters and inspiration it brings to the Star Wars universe.”
Fans can pre-order a handful of select items seen in the Rogue Stories series from September 2nd at UK retailers including Argos, Amazon, Smyths toys Superstores, Disney Store and disneystore.co.uk.
The full range of new Rogue One and Star Wars products will be available globally on September 30th.
