Peter Mayhew, the real Chewbacca, to be king of 2013 - Nola.com

Peter Mayhew, the towering British actor who played Chewbacca, Han Solo?s curmudgeonly canine sidekick in the original 1970s-80s Star Wars movies, will ride in the 2013 Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus science fiction-oriented Carnival parade on Jan. 26 in the Marigny/Bywater. Chewbacchus co-founder Ryan Ballard said that he trumpeted Mayhew?s participation in the first Chewbacchus parade in 2011 only to disappoint fans when the actor was unable to attend. So, when Mayhew and wife Angie agreed to ride in this year?s parade, Ballard was afraid no one would believe him.

?I?m like the boy who cried Wookiee,? Ballard said.

To dispel doubt, the Texas-based Mayhews produced a YouTube video declaring their plan to preside over Chewbacchus 2013. Meanwhile, Ballard has been busy creating a motorized throne to carry the Mayhews on the parade?s meandering downriver route. The half-finished Millennium Falcon ? shaped float, Ballard said, is being built atop a rugged airport cargo mover chassis that he describes as a ?golf cart on steroids.? The demi float will include a Wookiee fur patio umbrella and experimental lighting system.

During the Mayhew?s four-day Crescent City Carnival visit, the star may make hospital and comic book store visits, Ballard said. The starting time of Chewbacchus 2013 is tentative, pending police permitting, Ballard said. For the first time this year, Chewbacchus may team up with the mini parade known as ?tit R?x. Note that a conflict with another Carnival organization prompted ?tit R?x to change its name last year. Read all about it: "Rex demands that krewe of 'Tit Rex change its name" here.

The first ruler of Chewbacchus was New Orleans actress and artist Cynthia Scott, who played doomed Corporal Dietrich, the first victim in the 1986 ?Aliens? movie. Giorgio Tsoukalos, consultant star of the television series ?Ancient Aliens,? was last year?s ruler.

Read: "Chewbacchus is conceptual artist Ryan S. Ballard's masterpiece" here.

Read: "Chewbacchus science fiction Carnival parade plans move to Marigny" here.

Source: http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2012/10/peter_mayhew_the_real_chewbacc.html

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