Star Wars Bits: The Book Of Boba Fett, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian, LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales, And More!

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

• "The Book of Boba Fett" Poster & Premiere Date
• "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" Season 2 in Production
• "The Mandalorian" Season 2 ILM Sizzle Reel
• "The Mandalorian" New Funko Pop! Bobbleheads
• "LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales" Poster
• And more!

Disney+ recently announced today that "The Book of Boba Fett" — the new series teased in a end-credit sequence following the season 2 finale of "The Mandalorian" — will premiere on Wednesday, December 29, exclusively on Disney+. Here's the official synopsis:

The Book of Boba Fett, a thrilling Star Wars adventure, finds legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigating the galaxy's underworld when they return to the sands of Tatooine to stake their claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate.

Disney+ also revealed the key art for the series:

"The Book of Boba Fett" stars Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen. Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson are the executive producers.

Back in August, it was announced that "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" would return for a second season in 2022, but we haven't heard much about the further adventures of Omega and the Bad Batch since the first season wrapped. Well, we now know that season 2 is in production and that members of the cast are currently recording dialogue thanks to an Instagram post by Michelle Ang, the New Zealand actress who voices Omega:

Industrial Light & Magic is celebrating the Emmy-winning visual effects of "The Mandalorian" season 2 with a special look behind the scenes. You can watch the sizzle reel, narrated by visual effects supervisor Richard Bluff, above! According to StarWars.com, season 2 of the groundbreaking Disney+ series featured 5,000 visual effects shots across eight episodes! 

In addition to digital wizardry, practical effects played a huge role in realizing the world of The Mandalorian Season 2, as envisioned by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. To populate the galactic cast of characters, Favreau and Filoni collaborated with production designer Doug Chiang and his team of artists in the Lucasfilm Art Department, who created all manner of designs. From there, John Rosegrant's team at Legacy Effects constructed over 100 puppeteered creatures, droids, and animatronic masks, including a 10-foot-high rideable bantha puppet. Practical miniatures and motion-control photography made scale-model ships fly, and miniature set extensions brought ILM's StageCraft LED Volume images into our world; the legendary Phil Tippett also returned to the galaxy far, far away, with Tippett Studio animating the haunting scrap walkers of the Karthon Chop Fields with stop motion — the same technique utilized for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back's AT-ATs.

Speaking of "The Mandalorian," the next wave of Star Wars Funko Pop! bobbleheads based on characters from season 2 are available for pre-order now! The lineup includes a Dark Trooper, Frog Lady, Luke Skywalker holding Grogu, Cobb Vanth, the Child on the seeing stone, and new versions of Fennec Shand and Boba Fett.

StarWars.com sat down with Lucasfilm's senior manager of product design Brian Merten and Funko's creative director Reis O'Brien to talk about the upcoming figures, so be sure to check that out for more information, including some hi-res images!

Pre-order Cobb Vanth, Fennec Shand, and the Pop! Moment featuring Boba Fett and Fennec on the throne at Target now. You can also pre-order Luke Skywalker with Grogu and the Pop! Deluxe of Grogu on the seeing stone at Entertainment Earth, which has exclusive versions of the Dark Trooper and the Mandalorian hologram as well. And pick up Boba Fett without his helmet exclusively at Walmart now. The Frog Lady will be available exclusively at Walgreens.

Around 3,000 young actors auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace." One of those young hopefuls was Devon Michael, a child actor who made it to the final three alongside Michael Angarano and Jake Lloyd, who eventually won the part.

In a new short documentary film by The New York Times, 32-year-old Michael talks about auditioning for "The Phantom Menace" and how being rejected for the role affected his life. The 16-minute video is a must-watch for "Star Wars" fans. 

Also, check out "Finding Anakin," a bonus featurette from the home video release of "The Phantom Menace" detailing the audition process:

"LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales" is now available on Disney+! Check out the new poster below, which is a clever homage to Stanley Kubrick's classic 1980 film "The Shining." 

In LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales, Poe Dameron and BB-8 crash land on the lava world of Mustafar. They soon find themselves on a journey inside Darth Vader's castle, where they learn scary stories of the past and uncover a devious dark-side plot...

Also streaming on Disney+ is "Star Wars: Galaxy of Sounds," a collection of ambient sounds. The seven episodes, which run between seven and nine minutes, cover a range of themes from across the saga, including "Wonder," "Excitement," "Dark Side," "Light Side," "Beeps," "Connections," and "Oddities." Here's the official synopsis:

Star Wars: Galaxy of Sounds explores the ambience of a galaxy far, far away through themes such as wonder, excitement, oddities, and more. Be immersed in the hum of Coruscant at golden hour, listen to the light side of the Force as Rey connects to past Jedi, and observe booming lightsaber duels. Experience the nostalgic sounds of Star Wars from across the franchise.

Star Wars Explained has a review of "Star Wars: Ronin: A Visions Novel" by Emma Mieko Candon. Coming October 12, the novel expands on the world of Kamikaze Douga's "The Duel" from the anime-inspired anthology series "Star Wars: Visions." 

On "This Week! in Star Wars," host Kristin Baver gives us the lowdown on all the latest news from that galaxy far, far away!

This week in Star Wars, we get excited for key art and a premiere date for The Book of Boba Fett, take a look at some spoilers from Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows, and grab some popcorn as LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales creeps its way onto Disney+. Plus, legendary actor James Hong stops in to talk about voicing the Elder in Star Wars: Visions.