Wow. Who would have thought that almost 2 years ago, I’d find myself actively watching a cartoon from the DisneyXD cable channel…and I don’t even have cable!?

Daron Nefcy’s series Star vs the Forces of Evil, managed to push my buttons, given it’s weird humor, as well as it’s own take on ‘magical girl anime.’ Because of it’s unconventional storytelling (being written by myriad storyboard artists and writers), the show is often fascinating, in seeing where it’s episodes will lead.

Over the last few years, I’ve heard of Daron and a number of the show’s staff appearing at numerous events, but was never able to be near any of them. This year, there was word that she would be attending the bi-yearly D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. The Expo is a celebration of all things from The Walt Disney Company, and seeing several items related to Star on the show’s itinerary, I decided to check them out!

With the impending release of the 1-hour Battle for Mewni Season 3 special that weekend (actually, the first 4 episodes of Season 3), I expected a few extra events revolving around the series, but everything related to Star, I found to only be happening on the first day of the Expo.

One thing that bugged me about some fan-related events in the past, is that noone was able to record or chronicle most of what had taken place in them (such as the last few panels out of San Diego Comic-Con!). With that in mind, I decided to focus on chronicling what I experienced during this year’s expo.

And so, on Friday, July 14th, 2017, I found myself in an enormous line, snaking around the outside of the Anaheim Convention Center, mere steps from the Disneyland Resort. Some in the line, had been there since the night before, attempting to get into some of the bigger panels throughout the day.

Once I had made my way through the masses of humanity and onto the convention floor, I immediately headed to the D23 Expo Arena, for their first panel of the day: From Screen to Page: “Gravity Falls” and “Star vs the Forces of Evil.” The panel would cover the process of creating books for both of the series.

(Note: while there was discussion about Gravity Falls at the panel, I’m only going to be focusing on the information regarding Star vs the Forces of Evil).

Before I could even sit down, I was already smiling, seeing a number of cosplayers who came dressed up as characters from the show. However, there were no obscure characters I could see, but plenty of Star Butterfly’s and Marco Diaz’s. The majority of Star’s were dressed in her ‘ghost squid’ dress, though one was dressed in Star’s royal Mewnian dress, and one had her green dress from Season 2.

Our panel’s moderator claimed he was a big fan of both series, and first brought out series creator Daron Nefcy, and Dominic Bisignano. While many of us know Daron as the creator of the series, many might not be as familiar with Dominic, but he’s been a part of the series since the beginning!

Along with working on the book Star and Marco’s Guide to Mastering Every Dimension, Dominic has worn many hats on the show, working as a storyboard artist, writer, director, and voice-actor (he voiced the minotaur woman in the Quest Buy segment from Season 1, as seen on the left).

We also heard from several people from Disney Books, who worked on the guide as well. What was great to hear, was that the people from Disney Books, are also fans of these series , and oftentimes, want to put out a great fan-pleasing product!

Also during the panel, Daron and Dominic managed to spill some secrets in regards to some of the show’s episodes:

The segment in Season 2 titled Ludo in the Wild, was originally going to be completely silent, with the little bird-creature never saying a word. However, voice-actor Alan Tudyk watched the piece, and improvised all the dialogue and sounds Ludo makes during the sequence, and it was soon edited to incorporate his ad-libbing.

When it came to the Bounce Lounge’s music from the Season 1 segment Party with a Pony, Dominic said he told composer Brian H Kim, to make it sound like “bad German techno music.” (Personally, I rather liked what Kim came up with).

Upon viewing a layout of Star’s 3-story bedroom that she magicked at the Diaz’s house, Daron and Dominic explained how they didn’t have a fully-realized floor plan, and could often play around with what was on the upper floors.

There were also questions that were asked, that had been submitted via Twitter. Of course, the moderator saved the biggie for last, about making the fanshipping mania known as “Starco,” canon.

Both Daron and Dominic weren’t saying yes or no to that one, but did say that they didn’t believe in ‘forcing’ characters into relationships, reminding me of a line Marco said to Tom in Mr Candle Cares (“You can’t make Star be your girlfriend, unless she wants to”).

When the moderator asked a question about what Daron thinks about the fandom, she made mention of how she was somewhat intrigued by people on Twitter, who created accounts based around the show’s characters. One she made special mention of, was supposed to represent Marco’s parents (Raphael and Angie Diaz). A call was put out into the audience to see if the account’s creator was with us, but there was no response.

We were also treated to two Star-related surprises at the panel.

The first was a short clip from the Battle for Mewni Season 3 premiere, where a younger Moon Butterfly, goes to meet with a monster general, some called “the lizard”…but whom most of us know, as Toffee!

The second surprise, was the announcement that another book related to the show would be coming out at a later time: Star’s Magic Instruction Book!

It looks to follow the same route as the creation of the Gravity Falls Journal 3 book, taking a fictional tome, and filling it out with more material. My one hope is we’ll finally be able to decipher the Mewnian language (something I’ve been trying to do since Season 1!).

When she had come onstage, Daron was carrying something that looked like a copy of Journal 3, but was in actuality, what I assumed to be a physical mock-up of the instruction book! Holding it aloft, it is about the same size as Journal 3, and not the 4-foot tome that almost broke Marco Diaz’s back. Of course, one wonders if there may be a limited edition, with the kind of care and detail afforded to the limited edition release of Journal 3.

In discussing the book and what was inside it, Dominic made note that he felt that when it came to reading books, Star was a ‘skimmer.’ This meant that she would skim a page for some words, but not read through everything. Apparently, there was more to the spell that gave Marco his monster arm in the Season 1 episode of the same name (though I guess we’ll need to wait to find out what more there was, besides “Releasio Demonius Infestica”).

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After the panel, I headed off to the autograph signing for Star and Marco’s Guide to Mastering Every Dimension.

Rules for the event were that no outside material could be brought into the signing area, and that anything signed, had to be purchased from the Expo. What was most bizarre about this rule, was that for a book signing (of which I’ve attended quite a few!), there was noone at the signing area, with books to purchase!

If you wanted the book, you had to walk a ways over to the Disney Consumer Products booth, and purchase it there.

When I got to the Products booth, there were signs near the books saying “get this autographed,” but the message seemed vague. It didn’t explain who would be doing the signing, or more importantly, when and where it was happening! I could imagine someone buying the book, and then finding out they had missed the event.

When I returned to the signing area (see picture on left), I was surprised to find that the line for Daron and Dominic held only a few dozen people, while for the Gravity Falls creators, their queue had been closed off, as I gazed upon several hundred people on the other side of the signing area! Needless to say, I wasn’t going to be getting a copy of Journal 3 signed that day.

While waiting in line, there was still plenty to see and do, given that many of us who were there, were fans of the series. It was exciting to discuss episodes and scenes with some people that were just as crazy about things as I was! One girl was eagerly quoting lines from the film (oftentimes not caring that her voice was escalating in volume, as she excitedly quoted a number of familiar scenes!).

Speaking of crazy, my vote so far for best Star/Marco cosplay at the expo, goes to this couple (right), who dressed up as Princess Star Butterfly, and Princess Marco Diaz, from the St Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses episode! The fact that they went all-out to do these obscure costumes definitely shows they’re pretty big fans. Plus, the woman had custom-made her own Flying Princess Ponyhead!

When it was my turn to finally meet Daron and Dominic, I was pretty excited, and explained how even though I was outside the show’s target demographic, the storytelling kept me intrigued, let alone how Star was the first series that had made me put down money for season passes on iTunes!

While I had their ears, I also decide to lay down a few fan theories I had.

One of them was based on Glossaryck of Term’s rather laissez-faire attitude in recent episodes, which I attributed to him being able to see from the beginning to the end of time. I didn’t get a yes/no answer, but Dominic said I was “on the right track.” Plus, as a bonus, he drew a little image of Glossaryck above his signature when he signed my book (left).

Another theory that I posited to Daron, was regarding Star’s wardrobe, which is decidedly retro when compared to what the other kids in Echo Creek are wearing.

I felt that when the Royal Family -arrived on Earth in the first episode, the King and Queen saw what people in the Earth dimension were wearing, and decided Star needed proper attire to fit in. I imagined that they had stopped at the first clothing store they came to…which happened to be a thrift store, and Star had stocked up on retro dresses from 30-60 years ago.

Daron said she thought it was an interesting theory, though in early ideas regarding the series, she said she felt that Star would have gotten some of her outfits and accessories from a Halloween store. This would have led to Star even using a pumpkin-shaped trick-or-treat basket, as a purse!

Along with her added information about the series, Daron graciously signed my book, AND, drew a little sketch of Star (right)!

I also had to ask Daron, if we were ever going to see the end of the Deep Trouble, 8-issue comic series (that had stopped running shortly after issue #4 was released in January). Sadly, Daron said she didn’t know if we’d get the next 4 issues, with the possibility that low sales and limited availability, might have contributed to Joe Books stopping it’s publication of the title. I did hint to Daron, that I hoped maybe one day, the final 4 issues could be collected in some type of trade paperback (which has currently been done for the first 4 issues).

As I exited the signing area and was putting my book away, I suddenly saw a guy in an aquamarine shirt attempt to enter through the exit.

“Sir, you can’t go in there,” said the security guy nearby.

“No it’s okay, I work on the show,” he replied.

As I looked at the guy’s face, I suddenly realized, I was standing in the presence of Adam McArthur (aka the voice of Marco Ubaldo Diaz)!

I quickly voiced that Adam was correct, and a few seconds later, the guard let him enter the signing area. As he did, I struggled to try and get out my book and a pen, but by then, Adam had sidled up to Dominic and Daron, and become a part of the signing for the rest of those in line.

I was still hoping to get the chance to catch Adam when he left, so I went for a short walk, hoping to be back in time for the signing to end. However, I returned to find the area empty.

After that, my attempts to see the Expo’s big feature animation panel involving Disney Feature Animation and Pixar Animation Studios, were met with bitter failure, as I and many others were shut out due to the huge crowds (many of whom had lined up since the day before to get into that panel!). With nothing else big to wait for, I puttered around, eventually heading outside the front of the convention center, taking a gander at the numerous cosplayers milling about.

As I headed back towards the convention center’s front doors, I suddenly heard someone calling out to me. I turned to my right, and to my surprise, there sat Adam, with a friend of his!

He claimed he had only meant to pop in and say ‘hi’ to his coworker/cohorts, but did say he was willing to spend a little time to talk with me, if I wanted to. I have to say, getting some time to talk face-to-face with Mr McArthur, made the loss of not getting into the animation panel melt away in seconds!

As I sat down eagerly, I first had to thank Adam for giving me a shout-out on my Birthday earlier this year. For those wondering, when the ‘Star-bomb’ of Season 2 episodes hit, Adam did a live Marco Diaz stream, where you could tweet him questions to try and answer. This took place the same day as my Birthday, and I had a huge smile hearing him say my Twitter handle (and even getting my last-name right!).

We talked a bit about those Marco chat sessions, leading me to ask about a hunch I had.

During the chat, someone had asked for the recipe to “Marco’s Super-Awesome Nachos,” and Adam had read off a list of ingredients and directions. When I picked up Star and Marco’s Guide a few weeks later, I noted the recipe seemed the same, and Adam confirmed that he had been reading off an early copy of the book he had on hand during the Q&A event!

It was right after this, that I decided to see if Adam would sign my copy of the guidebook. He gave his signature a little message as well (see left), and I will say, I did eat some nachos the next day at a nearby Rubio’s (any chance to have their super-awesome fish tacos!).

I was also curious, given how Marco can scream and yell a lot, if Adam ever lost his voice after any sessions. I was assured that that hadn’t happened, though when it came to some video game vocal roles, Adam said he had to push himself a bit harder.

My inquiry about his voice, had come about thinking of him screaming in the episode Monster Arm, which I claimed was my favorite episode.

Upon hearing this, Adam related a fun little story. Apparently, when he sometimes encounters voice-actress Grey DeLisle (who voices Jackie Lynn Thomas on the show), she playfully greets Adam with one of her lines from the episode (what that line is, I’ll leave for you to figure out).

I was also curious, if there were any episodes Adam worked on, where he really had a hard time keeping a secret. That turned out to be the case with Running with Scissors, where he was really excited about playing an older version of Marco. We even had a little discussion regarding the mind-bending nature of that segment’s ending.

Eventually, Adam was drawn away by some other people he and his friend were meeting. He apologized for cutting the conversation short, but I was fine with it. He had given me some of his time, and personally (especially at conventions with this many people), I never want to be ‘that fan’ of a series, who monopolizes the time that others can partake in.

By the way, In case you’re wondering, I did not ask Adam about ships or anything top secret (I don’t want him to lose his job, and there’s plenty of other fans who can ask that stuff, and get vague yes-or-no answers). My goal is to usually inquire about some things that I can get answers to.

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So that was my crazy “Star Day,” which went pretty well, considering the helter-skelter insanity of the first expo day.

Both Daron and Dominic were great to talk to (though I probably could have asked more in-depth questions of them for hour!). Originally, Adam wasn’t scheduled to show up, but his appearance was quite a surprise. I and many fans have thrilled to him giving little shout-outs and appearances on social media, and it was nice to see he was just as personable in person! I will admit, much like how Star got distracted by ‘certain things’ in Running with Scissors, I found my brain going on auto-pilot a few times as Adam talked, because his voice just seemed to drift into Marco’s so effortlessly, that I began to imagine it was Marco talking to me at times.

While all of my Star-stuff happened on that Friday, I managed to carry over some of that fandom to the next day, when I and a person at the Airbnb we were staying at, decided to line up 5 hours before the Saturday live-action film panel. Having over 5 hours of time to kill, we began looking for ways to keep ourselves pre-occupied.

Along with discussing pros and cons regarding animated and live-action Disney films, I had mentioned my liking the Star series, and had downloaded some epsisodes onto my iPad for viewing, which we proceeded to watch over 3 hours of (one that seemed most appropriate to our line-waiting, was the Goblin Dogs episode!).

To my surprise, my companion was enjoying them and cracking up, as well as asking some questions about the show.

Later on when we met up for dinner, she said she had gone back to the Airbnb, and looking for stuff on Hulu, saw that the show’s two seasons were available. However, due to the sketchy wifi at the place, she was unable to watch any episodes, but claimed she planned to watch more at a later date!

So yes, we may have another person joining he fandom! She also got a kick out of Princess Smooshy’s “Cameraphone” line in the Sleep Spells episode, and in a Facebook post, included that in a hashtag, giving me a laugh!

Sadly, I had no way to watch The Battle for Mewni that day, but given the Star-related hijinks that I had been a party to those 2 days, I was feeling pretty happy. Though for some of you wondering what I thought of the first 4 episodes of Season 3, my review of them will be coming over the course of the next 2 weeks.

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