Star Wars: Visions Season 2 Upholds Two Time-Honored Franchise Traditions
When the London Evening News took out a full-page ad on May 4, 1979 congratulating Margaret Thatcher on becoming Prime Minister, the UK newspaper couldn't have imagined that the pun they used, "May the Fourth Be With You," would become such an effective marketing tool for Lucasfilm over four decades later. "The Empire Strikes Back" just happened to be in production over at Elstree Studios at that time, so Star Wars fever could have certainly been in the spring air. Thatcher was a staunch symbol of the Establishment who may have fit in quite well with the Empire in George Lucas' epic space saga. But winning the hearts and minds of everyday people is a task best suited to the Rebellion.
Fighting against powerful regimes has always been a common thread in Star Wars, and that theme is continued in one of the best episodes in the new animated anthology "Star Wars: Visions Volume 2." The French outfit Studio La Cachette ("Primal," "Love Death + Robots") has delivered a sensuous, rousing short film titled "The Spy Dancer" that spotlights an act of resistance against the Imperials inside a lavish nightclub. The story centers around a cabaret dancer named Loi'e who discovers the officer that took her son is in attendance one night during a performance. With her secret dance company of spies at her side, Loi'e doesn't hesitate to go from dancer to rebel in one fell swoop.
The flowing animation of "The Spy Dancer" is exquisitely choreographed, and the episode also manages to include some of the poetry and rhyming of Star Wars by incorporating a couple of classic phrases into the mix.
Say it with me, folks!
The inclusion of some classic moments and lines over the course of Star Wars history has become something of a time-honored tradition. Occasionally, it can feel completely shoehorned in and obligatory to the point where it induces eye-rolls. Thankfully, in La Cachette's "The Spy Dancer," there's a little more thoughtful care and consideration taken in bringing back some of the franchise's all-time great one-liners.
At about the halfway point of "The Spy Dancer," Loi'e stealthily orchestrates a surprise rebel attack during one of her performances. As she begins to dance and the orchestra begins playing, the conductor utters the famous line, "I have a bad feeling about this." The most ubiquitous line in Star Wars makes yet another appearance after first being uttered by Luke as they approach the Death Star in "A New Hope." Not to be outmaneuvered, Han Solo repeats the line in the trash compactor scene. Keeping track of how many times the phrase has actually appeared across every Star Wars property has turned into a massive undertaking. Now, thanks to this new "Visions" episode, there's one more instance to add to the list. Interestingly, the line is said in an alien language by the conductor in "The Spy Dancer," marking one of the few times "I have a bad feeling about this" hasn't been heard in Basic (which is the in-universe equivalent of English).
Seconds later in the episode, Loi'e's plan is thwarted by an Imperial officer who suddenly refers to her as "rebel scum" once her treachery is brought to light. Ever since Han was called "rebel scum" by Imperial Officer Renz (an uncredited Barrie Holland), that disparaging remark has become something of a badge of honor. So Loi'e, "The Spy Dancer" herself, should wear that moniker proudly.