“Through the Force things you will see. The future, the past, old friends long gone.” - Yoda
A brief history of Star Walking Inc.
Star Walking Inc. "The Star Wars Appreciation Society of Australia" was created by Shane Morrissey in June 1987 to replace the highly successful H.A.M.I.L.L.S Star Wars fan club which, after six years of operation, closed down a month earlier in May 1987.
Shane, with assistance from co-founders Michael Wilson and Darren Maxwell, formed Star Walking Inc. to fill the void left by H.A.M.I.L.L.S, though no one could ever have guessed just how much would be achieved in the club's lifetime.
Despite being conceived in June 1987, Star Walking Inc. was not officially launched until October 14, 1988. The decision to run a new Star Wars club at this time was questioned by many as the entire franchise was going through a very quiet period (known as the 'lean times') both in Australia and the rest of the world.
But the club flourished very quickly and within its first year of operation ran the highly successful Star Walking Inc. - The Convention in September 1989. This large, multi-media science fiction event attracted over 300 people and featured Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) making his Australian convention guest of honour debut, and in the process becoming a good friend to Star Walking Inc.
Following The Convention, Star Walking Inc. then went on to organise The Empire Strikes Back 10th Anniversary Celebration banquet in 1990. This event was a great success and in turn paved the way for many more outstanding banquets and dinner dances to come.
Amongst these were the highly acclaimed Raiders of the Lost Ark 10th Anniversary Celebration banquet in 1991. This event featured songs from the 1930s and 40s era performed live by members of the fan community.
Then in 1993 came the Return of the Jedi 10th Anniversary Celebration banquet. This event was memorable for two reasons: first it featured a special mock wedding performance of 'Han and Leia’, and secondly a congratulatory letter personally hand written by Mark Hamill was read out at the start of the night.
However, the really significant aspect of this banquet is it was held during Star Walking Inc. - The Second Convention. This was another lavish and successful multi-media science fiction convention which included a wonderful public exhibition. The convention featured Don Bies (Archivist at Skywalker Ranch) making his first Australian visit, and in the process becoming a good friend to Star Walking Inc., and Lisa Cowan (staff writer for the Official Lucasfilm Fan Club) as guests of honour.
With the success of these two conventions under its belt, and with the sudden "rebirth" of Star Wars through Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire novels, the time was perfect for Star Walking Inc. to create something new and special. Its own social club meetings.
In February 1994 the newly created Skyforce held its first social club meeting in St Marks Church Hall, Camberwell with 96 eager Star Wars fans attending. Based on the success of this achievement, everyone knew Skyforce would quickly go from strength to strength.
1995 proved to be a massive year for Star Walking Inc. With Skyforce running strong, it was only natural for Star Walking Inc. to create the first of what would become a national Star Wars institution, the Force conventions.
Force I "The First National Star Wars Saga Convention of Australia" was the first fan run Star Wars convention to be held in this country - possibly even the world. The convention, which featured a special Cantina themed dinner banquet, was a great success with Star Wars fans attending from all over the country. Force I had Jon Berg (ILM model maker), Nelson Hall (ILM model maker), Steve Sansweet (Lucasfilm Ltd/mega collector), Hugh Fleming (comic book artist) and Don Bies returning for a second time as guests of honour.
With Skyforce running successfully for two solid years, the time had come for Star Walking Inc. to spread its wings nationally. So in 1996 Skyforce Sydney was launched making Star Walking Inc. the first science fiction fan club ever to run a social club meeting interstate.
Skyforce Sydney kicked off its first meeting with around 300 attendees which was just phenomenal! This proved without a doubt that Skyforce really was living its slogan: "a new Force rising..."
1997 was the year Star Wars: The Special Edition films were released theatrically and Star Walking Inc. was right there to hold special screenings for all three movies, both in Melbourne and Sydney. Following on from this, Star Walking Inc. was an integral part of the large Myer department store stage show held in the city where The Special Edition video release was hosted by Tim Ferguson.
Hot on the heels of The Special Edition were two of Star Walking Inc.’s biggest projects: Force II "The Second National Star Wars Saga Convention of Australia", and the Star Wars 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet which was the largest science fiction fan club banquet held in the country.
Force II was a hugely successful convention which was further enhanced by the presence of the Sydney Skyforce team who brought a large amount of energy to the event. Force II featured Kenny Baker (Artoo Detoo) and Jeremy Bulloch, along with Steve Sansweet, returning back to Australia as guests of honour.
The Star Wars 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet occurred during Force II and was so large it needed to be held in an aircraft hangar. Convention attendees were ferried by bus to the unknown location so as to keep the banquet venue a secret. Parked at one end of the hangar was a two-thirds scale Millennium Falcon built by Star Walking Inc. member Justin Dix - who eventually became the Artoo Detoo/See Threepio wrangler in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The night featured a wonderful song and dance number performed live by Kenny Baker which helped make the banquet such a lavish success that it is still spoken about today.
With Skyforce meetings in Melbourne and Sydney being a raging success, Star Walking Inc. believed Skyforce could now occur anywhere. As a result plans were put in place to run a Skyforce meeting in Brisbane in 1998. Skyforce Brisbane was a day long event which was a resounding success, as evidenced by the fact that our meeting had a larger attendance than a locally run Science Fiction convention occurring on the same day.
They say "time waits for no one" and Star Walking Inc. knows all about this, especially as the next major event for Star Walking Inc. to focus on was Force III "The Third National Star Wars Saga Convention of Australia".
Yet before this convention could occur, Star Walking Inc. had to focus on a brand new Star Wars film launch.
The Phantom Menace hit cinemas in May 1999 and Star Walking Inc. was right in the middle holding multiple screenings in multiple states. Then no sooner had the film been released when Force III kicked off.
Force III was not only a very popular and enjoyable convention, it was particularly significant for featuring the world’s First International Star Wars Fan Film Festival which attracted a lot of local and overseas entries. This convention also included our special Phantom Menace themed banquet with pod racing sets built by Justin Dix. Force III featured actor Hugh Quarshie (Captain Panaka), along with Star Wars authors Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole next to Don Bies (now a crew member of The Phantom Menace) as guests of honour.
Both the convention and the banquet saw the emergence of many new fans joining the Star Walking Inc. community for the first time and discovering our wonderful events. Yet September 1999 also became a sad time for Star Walking Inc. as the club's director and founder, Shane Morrissey, along with several members of the executive committee - including co-founder Michael Wilson - chose to retire after 11 very successful years with the club.
Shane's departure allowed for new director Chris Brennan, along with a new committee, to fill the organisational roles needed to run the club.
With a fresh new committee in charge, the way was paved for Star Walking Inc. to not only run the Raiders of the Lost Ark 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet in 2001, which saw Anthony Daniels (See Threepio) joining in on the action, but also to launch its first mini-con Force 3.5. This one-day event was held in 2001 and was a great success, so much so that hot on the heels of Force 3.5, was Force 3.75 held a year later in 2002. This latter event also featured The Second International Star Wars Fan Film Festival.
2002 also saw the release of the new Star Wars film Attack of the Clones, and Star Walking Inc. was right there making many costume appearances and assisting in promotions.
It was also in 2002 where Star Walking Inc. got to bask in the limelight in a rather new and unique way with the launch of a feature length documentary about the club.
Throughout 1998 and 1999, two filmmakers captured moments of the Star Walking Inc. committee as we prepared for the release of The Phantom Menace along with our own supporting events. Their internationally released DVD called The Phandom Menace focused much of its energy on the people who made up the 1999 Star Walking Inc. committee as well the Force III convention, the banquet and the film premiere release of The Phantom Menace itself. To many Star Walking Inc. supporters this documentary (which is now viewable on YouTube) is considered a wonderful time capsule for how the club looked during this highly productive and exciting period.
Whilst there was a lot of Star Walking Inc. activity occurring in Melbourne during the early 2000s, the Skyforce Sydney team continued to do their part for Star Wars fandom with the launch of their own one-day convention Jedi-Con in 2002. This event coincided with the Magic of Myth Exhibition being held in Sydney at the same time. Jedi-Con featured Zak Jensen (Kit Fisto) and Mary Oyaya (Luminara Unduli) both from Attack of the Clones as guests of honour.
Meanwhile back in Melbourne, with two great mini-cons under its belt 2003 saw the new Star Walking Inc. committee take on their greatest challenge, a banquet to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Return of the Jedi.
The Return of the Jedi 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet (which also incorporated Star Walking Inc.’s 15th anniversary) was a resounding success as it featured numerous live song and dance numbers performed by club members – further cementing Star Walking Inc.’s ability to create spectacular events that never failed to please. It was during this period where Karen McGoldrick took over the role of Director of the club from Chris Brennan for a period of six months before retiring. After Karen’s departure, Chris Brennan once again took over the Director’s position.
Knowing Star Walking Inc. still had the magical touch to create great events, the next logical step was to run another convention. As a fundraiser for this event, Star Walking Inc. ran another mini-con called The Day of the Sith which was very successful.
With The Day of the Sith completed, all eyes turned towards this new convention which would coincide with the release of Revenge of the Sith in 2005. Once again, Star Walking Inc. was heavily involved in cinema promotions and costume appearances for the film.
Force IV “the Fourth National Star Wars Saga Convention of Australia” was held in 2005 and hosted the Third International Star Wars Fan Film Festival. Moreover, the convention was very successful in raising over $5,000 for the club’s nominated charity. Force IV had Sandi Finlay (Sly Moore), Matt Sloane (Plo Koon), Sean Williams (author), Nicola Scott (comic book artist) and Justin Dix as guests of honour.
2005 also saw the retirement of Chris Brennan from the position of Club Director for the second time. This in turn paved the way for long standing club member Peter Jordan to step into the top job.
With Force IV complete, Star Walking Inc. kept up its visual presence by continuing to hold successful Skyforce meetings in both Melbourne and Sydney with various members making appearances on television game shows, including Bert’s Family Feud (where the Star Walking Inc. team won) and 1 vs 100.
Star Walking Inc. also received exclusive licensing rights from Lucasfilm Ltd to create a special Star Wars 30th Anniversary Letterman leather jacket. These jackets were only available to Star Walking Inc. members and for this reason became an instant collectors item.
October 2007 saw the running of the highly successful Jedi-Force ’07 Expo which was effectively a two day Force convention with a new identity. This turned out to be yet another successful and well-run Star Walking Inc. event celebrating 30 years of Star Wars in Australia which in turn raised $6,500 for the club’s nominated charity. The Expo featured the outstanding Star Wars 30th Anniversary Celebration banquet which sold out of tickets months in advance, along with a fantastic public exhibition of Star Wars costumes, props and rare collectables that left people in awe. Jedi-Force ‘07 featured Bruce Spence (Tion Medon) and Peter Sumner (Imperial Officer/Pol Treidum) as guests of honour.
Exactly one year later in 2008, Star Walking Inc. held another special banquet, this time to celebrate the club turning 20 years old. The night was a celebration of the club’s finest achievements and included the cutting of the birthday cake by the three acknowledged co-founders: Shane Morrissey, Michael Wilson and Darren Maxwell.
Two years later in 2010, Star Walking Inc. in conjunction with the costuming groups 501st Legion and Rebel Legion ran The Empire Strikes Back 30th Anniversary Celebration banquet which was a great success. Ironically this event was held in the very same hotel function room as The Empire Strikes Back 10th Anniversary Celebration banquet 20 years before.
But there was some sad news to come, in October 2011 Star Walking Inc. saw the retirement of its last co-founding member. After 23 years of service Darren Maxwell opted to depart from the committee and become a normal club member for the first time.
With the Star Wars franchise going through yet another period of 'lean times', it felt as if the best years of Star Walking Inc. were now behind it as things had quietened down considerably. But all that changed in September 2012 when Disney announced it had acquired Lucasfilm Ltd and were putting plans in place to make more Star Wars films.
The impact this unexpected news had on Star Walking Inc. was immediate as a brand new committee took charge of the club. Included in this change was the return of club founder Shane Morrissey after a 13 year absence. Also in the mix was Chris Brennan returning as Director for his third stint after the retirement of Peter Jordan who had served the role for 7 years.
With a new lease of life, the club immediately began to make preparations for the new film release along with additional supporting events. Indeed, the Force was back!
October 2013 saw the milestone of Return of the Jedi turning 30 years old along with Star Walking Inc. celebrating its own silver jubilee 25th anniversary – as highlighted by George Lucas himself in a letter he sent to us!
To celebrate this doubly special occasion, Star Walking Inc. ran a banquet which was held 30 years to the very day (the very night in fact) when Return of the Jedi premiered in Australia. Although this banquet was to celebrate the 30th anniversary release of the film, it also included a special 50 minute photo/video DVD tribute to Star Walking Inc.’s 25 year long history. This presentation covered every aspect of the club's existence from its conception in 1987.
2013 also saw the return of co-founder Darren Maxwell to the Star Walking Inc. committee after a brief two year absence.
To prove Star Walking Inc. was keeping up with modern times, October 2014 saw the club’s quarterly produced paper journal The Force (originally known as The Newsletter), which had served the club for 26 years be upgraded to a monthly, full-colour, digital only publication.
To support this new and exciting initiative, the club’s membership price was then REDUCED by 50% to be cheaper than when the club was first launched in 1988! Surely a first for any science fiction fan club – anywhere!
2015 was a very busy time in the newly reenergised Star Wars universe, with Star Walking Inc. focusing on something particularly special, the highly anticipated premiere release of The Force Awakens.
To prepare for this auspicious occasion, Star Walking Inc. organised a special midnight screening of the film in both Sydney and Melbourne, with the Melbourne premiere being the largest private screening held in the country with a 740 seat Vmax cinema! To further celebrate this monumental event, attendees also received an exclusive, limited edition The Force Awakens one sheet movie poster created especially for Star Walking Inc. by Hugh Fleming. As to be expected, both screenings were a great success as a new era of Star Wars was ushered into the world.
With social media being so prevalent in modern society, 2016 saw Star Walking Inc. branch into a new arena of publicity and promotions by creating its own online monthly podcast. Aptly titled Star Talking, this production was hosted by Deputy Director Peter Sims and supported by club Director Chris Brennan, club co-founder Darren Maxwell and in time club member Catherine Kneen. The first episode was launched in February and was very successful (note Star Talking can be heard from the Star Walking Inc. website and on iTunes).
April 2016 also saw a brand new innovation for Star Walking Inc.’s social club meetings, Skype sessions! Melbourne Skyforce played host to the club’s first ever live Skype session with Star Walking Inc. supporter and mega collector Steve Sansweet in San Francisco USA. The event featured a live broadcast from Steve’s Rancho Obi-Wan as he toured the site whilst engaging in back and forth communication with all the Skyforce participants.
With 2016 drawing to a close and the 40th anniversary of Star Wars on our door, it was time to finish the year on another high note with the premiere of Rogue One. Star Walking Inc.’s special midnight premieres occurred in both Melbourne and Sydney with the Melbourne screening having over 500 people attend.
2017 saw the arrival of Star Wars’ 40th birthday which was an exciting time for all Star Wars fans. To celebrate the great milestone Star Walking Inc. ran its special 40th anniversary banquet which saw over 100 fans from all over Australia come together - many attending a banquet of this type for the very first time. This year also saw Star Walking Inc. create its officially licensed 40th anniversary letterman jackets for club members to compliment the 30th anniversary jackets made 10 years prior.
There was also great joy to be had this year with the elevation of Sydney Skyforce team member Melissa Quinton to a Life Member thanks to her 21 years of tireless work at the meetings (it’s hard to believe she only missed one meeting in all that time!). However, this year also saw some sadness with the second retirement of club founders Shane Morrissey and Darren Maxwell - though as it turned out Shane couldn’t stay away for long, opting to return the following year in his new role as club Secretary.
Another special bonus occurred on the TV game show Family Feud where for a second time Star Walking Inc. fielded a team for a special May 4th episode, and again the Star Walking Inc. won.
Yet 2017 still had one big event left in it, the film premiere of The Last Jedi.
As per The Force Awakens, Star Walking Inc. organised a special midnight screening of the film in both Sydney and Melbourne, with the Melbourne premiere being the largest private screening held in the country with a 740 seat Vmax cinema! Also as per The Force Awakens, attendees also received an exclusive, limited edition The Last Jedi one sheet movie poster created especially for Star Walking Inc. by Hugh Fleming. As to be expected, this screening was a great success.
Then less than six months later in 2018, the premiere of the new Star Wars film Solo occurred with Star Walking Inc. organising midnight screenings for Sydney and Melbourne which were a great success.
2018 also saw a significant change within Star Walking Inc. itself with the retirement for the third time of Director Chris Brennan and the appointment of new Director Luke Sword.
In many ways the club was going to have a different look and feel leading into 2019, not the least of which was the impending change of Melbourne Skyforce venues after 16 years in the one location.
* * *
Aside from the numerous events listed here, Star Walking Inc. has run some wonderful non-Star Wars orientated banquets in its time, as well as assisting other clubs and conventions in running their formal dinner dances too. Alongside this have been many premiere screenings of non-Star Wars films the club has hosted, mainly during the early years.
Star Walking Inc. has also been involved in Star Wars costume appearances, TV/Radio/print promotions and publicity, parades, public library presentations, computer game product launches and assisting and/or advising on product licensee development. On top of this, Star Walking Inc. continues to set up visually stunning display tables at selected conventions and Expos.
Star Walking Inc. is a Star Wars fan club which has a long and proud history, and there is still lots more to come as the Star Wars saga looks forward into the future. This in turn will pave the way for Star Walking Inc. to do what it does best: provide a central outlet for all Star Wars fans to share their love of the Star Wars universe on common ground for many, many years to come.
Indeed, the Force is strong with Star Walking Inc.
Star Walking Inc. is the WORLD’S LONGEST RUNNING STAR WARS FAN CLUB, and to think it all started in Melbourne, Australia. Now that's something we can all be very proud of.
May the Force be with you.
A brief history of Star Walking Inc.
Star Walking Inc. "The Star Wars Appreciation Society of Australia" was created by Shane Morrissey in June 1987 to replace the highly successful H.A.M.I.L.L.S Star Wars fan club which, after six years of operation, closed down a month earlier in May 1987.
Shane, with assistance from co-founders Michael Wilson and Darren Maxwell, formed Star Walking Inc. to fill the void left by H.A.M.I.L.L.S, though no one could ever have guessed just how much would be achieved in the club's lifetime.
Despite being conceived in June 1987, Star Walking Inc. was not officially launched until October 14, 1988. The decision to run a new Star Wars club at this time was questioned by many as the entire franchise was going through a very quiet period (known as the 'lean times') both in Australia and the rest of the world.
But the club flourished very quickly and within its first year of operation ran the highly successful Star Walking Inc. - The Convention in September 1989. This large, multi-media science fiction event attracted over 300 people and featured Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) making his Australian convention guest of honour debut, and in the process becoming a good friend to Star Walking Inc.
Following The Convention, Star Walking Inc. then went on to organise The Empire Strikes Back 10th Anniversary Celebration banquet in 1990. This event was a great success and in turn paved the way for many more outstanding banquets and dinner dances to come.
Amongst these were the highly acclaimed Raiders of the Lost Ark 10th Anniversary Celebration banquet in 1991. This event featured songs from the 1930s and 40s era performed live by members of the fan community.
Then in 1993 came the Return of the Jedi 10th Anniversary Celebration banquet. This event was memorable for two reasons: first it featured a special mock wedding performance of 'Han and Leia’, and secondly a congratulatory letter personally hand written by Mark Hamill was read out at the start of the night.
However, the really significant aspect of this banquet is it was held during Star Walking Inc. - The Second Convention. This was another lavish and successful multi-media science fiction convention which included a wonderful public exhibition. The convention featured Don Bies (Archivist at Skywalker Ranch) making his first Australian visit, and in the process becoming a good friend to Star Walking Inc., and Lisa Cowan (staff writer for the Official Lucasfilm Fan Club) as guests of honour.
With the success of these two conventions under its belt, and with the sudden "rebirth" of Star Wars through Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire novels, the time was perfect for Star Walking Inc. to create something new and special. Its own social club meetings.
In February 1994 the newly created Skyforce held its first social club meeting in St Marks Church Hall, Camberwell with 96 eager Star Wars fans attending. Based on the success of this achievement, everyone knew Skyforce would quickly go from strength to strength.
1995 proved to be a massive year for Star Walking Inc. With Skyforce running strong, it was only natural for Star Walking Inc. to create the first of what would become a national Star Wars institution, the Force conventions.
Force I "The First National Star Wars Saga Convention of Australia" was the first fan run Star Wars convention to be held in this country - possibly even the world. The convention, which featured a special Cantina themed dinner banquet, was a great success with Star Wars fans attending from all over the country. Force I had Jon Berg (ILM model maker), Nelson Hall (ILM model maker), Steve Sansweet (Lucasfilm Ltd/mega collector), Hugh Fleming (comic book artist) and Don Bies returning for a second time as guests of honour.
With Skyforce running successfully for two solid years, the time had come for Star Walking Inc. to spread its wings nationally. So in 1996 Skyforce Sydney was launched making Star Walking Inc. the first science fiction fan club ever to run a social club meeting interstate.
Skyforce Sydney kicked off its first meeting with around 300 attendees which was just phenomenal! This proved without a doubt that Skyforce really was living its slogan: "a new Force rising..."
1997 was the year Star Wars: The Special Edition films were released theatrically and Star Walking Inc. was right there to hold special screenings for all three movies, both in Melbourne and Sydney. Following on from this, Star Walking Inc. was an integral part of the large Myer department store stage show held in the city where The Special Edition video release was hosted by Tim Ferguson.
Hot on the heels of The Special Edition were two of Star Walking Inc.’s biggest projects: Force II "The Second National Star Wars Saga Convention of Australia", and the Star Wars 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet which was the largest science fiction fan club banquet held in the country.
Force II was a hugely successful convention which was further enhanced by the presence of the Sydney Skyforce team who brought a large amount of energy to the event. Force II featured Kenny Baker (Artoo Detoo) and Jeremy Bulloch, along with Steve Sansweet, returning back to Australia as guests of honour.
The Star Wars 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet occurred during Force II and was so large it needed to be held in an aircraft hangar. Convention attendees were ferried by bus to the unknown location so as to keep the banquet venue a secret. Parked at one end of the hangar was a two-thirds scale Millennium Falcon built by Star Walking Inc. member Justin Dix - who eventually became the Artoo Detoo/See Threepio wrangler in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The night featured a wonderful song and dance number performed live by Kenny Baker which helped make the banquet such a lavish success that it is still spoken about today.
With Skyforce meetings in Melbourne and Sydney being a raging success, Star Walking Inc. believed Skyforce could now occur anywhere. As a result plans were put in place to run a Skyforce meeting in Brisbane in 1998. Skyforce Brisbane was a day long event which was a resounding success, as evidenced by the fact that our meeting had a larger attendance than a locally run Science Fiction convention occurring on the same day.
They say "time waits for no one" and Star Walking Inc. knows all about this, especially as the next major event for Star Walking Inc. to focus on was Force III "The Third National Star Wars Saga Convention of Australia".
Yet before this convention could occur, Star Walking Inc. had to focus on a brand new Star Wars film launch.
The Phantom Menace hit cinemas in May 1999 and Star Walking Inc. was right in the middle holding multiple screenings in multiple states. Then no sooner had the film been released when Force III kicked off.
Force III was not only a very popular and enjoyable convention, it was particularly significant for featuring the world’s First International Star Wars Fan Film Festival which attracted a lot of local and overseas entries. This convention also included our special Phantom Menace themed banquet with pod racing sets built by Justin Dix. Force III featured actor Hugh Quarshie (Captain Panaka), along with Star Wars authors Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole next to Don Bies (now a crew member of The Phantom Menace) as guests of honour.
Both the convention and the banquet saw the emergence of many new fans joining the Star Walking Inc. community for the first time and discovering our wonderful events. Yet September 1999 also became a sad time for Star Walking Inc. as the club's director and founder, Shane Morrissey, along with several members of the executive committee - including co-founder Michael Wilson - chose to retire after 11 very successful years with the club.
Shane's departure allowed for new director Chris Brennan, along with a new committee, to fill the organisational roles needed to run the club.
With a fresh new committee in charge, the way was paved for Star Walking Inc. to not only run the Raiders of the Lost Ark 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet in 2001, which saw Anthony Daniels (See Threepio) joining in on the action, but also to launch its first mini-con Force 3.5. This one-day event was held in 2001 and was a great success, so much so that hot on the heels of Force 3.5, was Force 3.75 held a year later in 2002. This latter event also featured The Second International Star Wars Fan Film Festival.
2002 also saw the release of the new Star Wars film Attack of the Clones, and Star Walking Inc. was right there making many costume appearances and assisting in promotions.
It was also in 2002 where Star Walking Inc. got to bask in the limelight in a rather new and unique way with the launch of a feature length documentary about the club.
Throughout 1998 and 1999, two filmmakers captured moments of the Star Walking Inc. committee as we prepared for the release of The Phantom Menace along with our own supporting events. Their internationally released DVD called The Phandom Menace focused much of its energy on the people who made up the 1999 Star Walking Inc. committee as well the Force III convention, the banquet and the film premiere release of The Phantom Menace itself. To many Star Walking Inc. supporters this documentary (which is now viewable on YouTube) is considered a wonderful time capsule for how the club looked during this highly productive and exciting period.
Whilst there was a lot of Star Walking Inc. activity occurring in Melbourne during the early 2000s, the Skyforce Sydney team continued to do their part for Star Wars fandom with the launch of their own one-day convention Jedi-Con in 2002. This event coincided with the Magic of Myth Exhibition being held in Sydney at the same time. Jedi-Con featured Zak Jensen (Kit Fisto) and Mary Oyaya (Luminara Unduli) both from Attack of the Clones as guests of honour.
Meanwhile back in Melbourne, with two great mini-cons under its belt 2003 saw the new Star Walking Inc. committee take on their greatest challenge, a banquet to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Return of the Jedi.
The Return of the Jedi 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet (which also incorporated Star Walking Inc.’s 15th anniversary) was a resounding success as it featured numerous live song and dance numbers performed by club members – further cementing Star Walking Inc.’s ability to create spectacular events that never failed to please. It was during this period where Karen McGoldrick took over the role of Director of the club from Chris Brennan for a period of six months before retiring. After Karen’s departure, Chris Brennan once again took over the Director’s position.
Knowing Star Walking Inc. still had the magical touch to create great events, the next logical step was to run another convention. As a fundraiser for this event, Star Walking Inc. ran another mini-con called The Day of the Sith which was very successful.
With The Day of the Sith completed, all eyes turned towards this new convention which would coincide with the release of Revenge of the Sith in 2005. Once again, Star Walking Inc. was heavily involved in cinema promotions and costume appearances for the film.
Force IV “the Fourth National Star Wars Saga Convention of Australia” was held in 2005 and hosted the Third International Star Wars Fan Film Festival. Moreover, the convention was very successful in raising over $5,000 for the club’s nominated charity. Force IV had Sandi Finlay (Sly Moore), Matt Sloane (Plo Koon), Sean Williams (author), Nicola Scott (comic book artist) and Justin Dix as guests of honour.
2005 also saw the retirement of Chris Brennan from the position of Club Director for the second time. This in turn paved the way for long standing club member Peter Jordan to step into the top job.
With Force IV complete, Star Walking Inc. kept up its visual presence by continuing to hold successful Skyforce meetings in both Melbourne and Sydney with various members making appearances on television game shows, including Bert’s Family Feud (where the Star Walking Inc. team won) and 1 vs 100.
Star Walking Inc. also received exclusive licensing rights from Lucasfilm Ltd to create a special Star Wars 30th Anniversary Letterman leather jacket. These jackets were only available to Star Walking Inc. members and for this reason became an instant collectors item.
October 2007 saw the running of the highly successful Jedi-Force ’07 Expo which was effectively a two day Force convention with a new identity. This turned out to be yet another successful and well-run Star Walking Inc. event celebrating 30 years of Star Wars in Australia which in turn raised $6,500 for the club’s nominated charity. The Expo featured the outstanding Star Wars 30th Anniversary Celebration banquet which sold out of tickets months in advance, along with a fantastic public exhibition of Star Wars costumes, props and rare collectables that left people in awe. Jedi-Force ‘07 featured Bruce Spence (Tion Medon) and Peter Sumner (Imperial Officer/Pol Treidum) as guests of honour.
Exactly one year later in 2008, Star Walking Inc. held another special banquet, this time to celebrate the club turning 20 years old. The night was a celebration of the club’s finest achievements and included the cutting of the birthday cake by the three acknowledged co-founders: Shane Morrissey, Michael Wilson and Darren Maxwell.
Two years later in 2010, Star Walking Inc. in conjunction with the costuming groups 501st Legion and Rebel Legion ran The Empire Strikes Back 30th Anniversary Celebration banquet which was a great success. Ironically this event was held in the very same hotel function room as The Empire Strikes Back 10th Anniversary Celebration banquet 20 years before.
But there was some sad news to come, in October 2011 Star Walking Inc. saw the retirement of its last co-founding member. After 23 years of service Darren Maxwell opted to depart from the committee and become a normal club member for the first time.
With the Star Wars franchise going through yet another period of 'lean times', it felt as if the best years of Star Walking Inc. were now behind it as things had quietened down considerably. But all that changed in September 2012 when Disney announced it had acquired Lucasfilm Ltd and were putting plans in place to make more Star Wars films.
The impact this unexpected news had on Star Walking Inc. was immediate as a brand new committee took charge of the club. Included in this change was the return of club founder Shane Morrissey after a 13 year absence. Also in the mix was Chris Brennan returning as Director for his third stint after the retirement of Peter Jordan who had served the role for 7 years.
With a new lease of life, the club immediately began to make preparations for the new film release along with additional supporting events. Indeed, the Force was back!
October 2013 saw the milestone of Return of the Jedi turning 30 years old along with Star Walking Inc. celebrating its own silver jubilee 25th anniversary – as highlighted by George Lucas himself in a letter he sent to us!
To celebrate this doubly special occasion, Star Walking Inc. ran a banquet which was held 30 years to the very day (the very night in fact) when Return of the Jedi premiered in Australia. Although this banquet was to celebrate the 30th anniversary release of the film, it also included a special 50 minute photo/video DVD tribute to Star Walking Inc.’s 25 year long history. This presentation covered every aspect of the club's existence from its conception in 1987.
2013 also saw the return of co-founder Darren Maxwell to the Star Walking Inc. committee after a brief two year absence.
To prove Star Walking Inc. was keeping up with modern times, October 2014 saw the club’s quarterly produced paper journal The Force (originally known as The Newsletter), which had served the club for 26 years be upgraded to a monthly, full-colour, digital only publication.
To support this new and exciting initiative, the club’s membership price was then REDUCED by 50% to be cheaper than when the club was first launched in 1988! Surely a first for any science fiction fan club – anywhere!
2015 was a very busy time in the newly reenergised Star Wars universe, with Star Walking Inc. focusing on something particularly special, the highly anticipated premiere release of The Force Awakens.
To prepare for this auspicious occasion, Star Walking Inc. organised a special midnight screening of the film in both Sydney and Melbourne, with the Melbourne premiere being the largest private screening held in the country with a 740 seat Vmax cinema! To further celebrate this monumental event, attendees also received an exclusive, limited edition The Force Awakens one sheet movie poster created especially for Star Walking Inc. by Hugh Fleming. As to be expected, both screenings were a great success as a new era of Star Wars was ushered into the world.
With social media being so prevalent in modern society, 2016 saw Star Walking Inc. branch into a new arena of publicity and promotions by creating its own online monthly podcast. Aptly titled Star Talking, this production was hosted by Deputy Director Peter Sims and supported by club Director Chris Brennan, club co-founder Darren Maxwell and in time club member Catherine Kneen. The first episode was launched in February and was very successful (note Star Talking can be heard from the Star Walking Inc. website and on iTunes).
April 2016 also saw a brand new innovation for Star Walking Inc.’s social club meetings, Skype sessions! Melbourne Skyforce played host to the club’s first ever live Skype session with Star Walking Inc. supporter and mega collector Steve Sansweet in San Francisco USA. The event featured a live broadcast from Steve’s Rancho Obi-Wan as he toured the site whilst engaging in back and forth communication with all the Skyforce participants.
With 2016 drawing to a close and the 40th anniversary of Star Wars on our door, it was time to finish the year on another high note with the premiere of Rogue One. Star Walking Inc.’s special midnight premieres occurred in both Melbourne and Sydney with the Melbourne screening having over 500 people attend.
2017 saw the arrival of Star Wars’ 40th birthday which was an exciting time for all Star Wars fans. To celebrate the great milestone Star Walking Inc. ran its special 40th anniversary banquet which saw over 100 fans from all over Australia come together - many attending a banquet of this type for the very first time. This year also saw Star Walking Inc. create its officially licensed 40th anniversary letterman jackets for club members to compliment the 30th anniversary jackets made 10 years prior.
There was also great joy to be had this year with the elevation of Sydney Skyforce team member Melissa Quinton to a Life Member thanks to her 21 years of tireless work at the meetings (it’s hard to believe she only missed one meeting in all that time!). However, this year also saw some sadness with the second retirement of club founders Shane Morrissey and Darren Maxwell - though as it turned out Shane couldn’t stay away for long, opting to return the following year in his new role as club Secretary.
Another special bonus occurred on the TV game show Family Feud where for a second time Star Walking Inc. fielded a team for a special May 4th episode, and again the Star Walking Inc. won.
Yet 2017 still had one big event left in it, the film premiere of The Last Jedi.
As per The Force Awakens, Star Walking Inc. organised a special midnight screening of the film in both Sydney and Melbourne, with the Melbourne premiere being the largest private screening held in the country with a 740 seat Vmax cinema! Also as per The Force Awakens, attendees also received an exclusive, limited edition The Last Jedi one sheet movie poster created especially for Star Walking Inc. by Hugh Fleming. As to be expected, this screening was a great success.
Then less than six months later in 2018, the premiere of the new Star Wars film Solo occurred with Star Walking Inc. organising midnight screenings for Sydney and Melbourne which were a great success.
2018 also saw a significant change within Star Walking Inc. itself with the retirement for the third time of Director Chris Brennan and the appointment of new Director Luke Sword.
In many ways the club was going to have a different look and feel leading into 2019, not the least of which was the impending change of Melbourne Skyforce venues after 16 years in the one location.
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Aside from the numerous events listed here, Star Walking Inc. has run some wonderful non-Star Wars orientated banquets in its time, as well as assisting other clubs and conventions in running their formal dinner dances too. Alongside this have been many premiere screenings of non-Star Wars films the club has hosted, mainly during the early years.
Star Walking Inc. has also been involved in Star Wars costume appearances, TV/Radio/print promotions and publicity, parades, public library presentations, computer game product launches and assisting and/or advising on product licensee development. On top of this, Star Walking Inc. continues to set up visually stunning display tables at selected conventions and Expos.
Star Walking Inc. is a Star Wars fan club which has a long and proud history, and there is still lots more to come as the Star Wars saga looks forward into the future. This in turn will pave the way for Star Walking Inc. to do what it does best: provide a central outlet for all Star Wars fans to share their love of the Star Wars universe on common ground for many, many years to come.
Indeed, the Force is strong with Star Walking Inc.
Star Walking Inc. is the WORLD’S LONGEST RUNNING STAR WARS FAN CLUB, and to think it all started in Melbourne, Australia. Now that's something we can all be very proud of.
May the Force be with you.
