May the Force Be With You, Truman…Always

First, I have to say, while I am not the most hardcore Star Wars fan in the world, I do think George Lucas pulled off one of the most amazing fetes in entertainment history. He made a movie that was just as relevant, fun and entertaining to my 4 year old son as it was to me 30 years previously. If you think about it, that is really insane and preposterous. It would be equivalent to me being completely engrossed in a movie like The Bishops Wife, Miracle on 34th Street, or Crossfire when I was 4. What will be even more absurd is if Truman’s kids will want to watch it when they are 4 years old. Of course, he will have to find it on brain implant chip since DVDs will be completely obsolete.

So Truman and I went to Disneyland to go see the Jedi Academy. We took the early flight from SLC to LAX and to Anaheim just after the park had opened. We stood in the middle of the Main Street circle and I was in awe at how amazing Disneyland is. I am equally impressed by Walt Disney’s accomplishments as I am with George Lucas but I will save that for a later time.

Truman instantly saw Tomorrowland and made a direct path to see what more was inside. Since it was a Friday morning in February and the daily high was only supposed to be around 60, there were very few people in the park. We got on our first 5 rides in just a matter of minutes. The first ride was the Buzz Blast where not only do you ride through a land of Toy Story characters but you have your own gun in which you get to blast Zurg. Truman looked on with wonder at all the bright lights and brilliant colors. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the day.

We hit just about ever part of the park by 2:00pm we had gone on every ride in the park (ok we didn’t go on Splash Mountain because it was a bit cold and he was a bit to short for the Indian Jones ride but we hit every thing else). Now it was time to focus on Jedi Academy. We had gone once before in the day and watched the show. They called up about 12-15 kids out of the audience and teach them Jedi moves. The master Jedi had a soft English accent, kind of like Alex Guinness as Obi-Won. After they taught the kids, a group of immaculately costumed Stormtroopers, Darth Vader and Darth Maul came out and attacked the kids. These new Jedi had to use what they had learned in a real battle with the villains. It was a very entertaining show and very funny watching the kids as they approached Darth Vader with quite a bit of fear.

We tried another time to get Truman chosen but his is very small and quite reserved without his siblings around to egg him on. So after two failed attempts we had one final shot at getting him in the Academy. As the Jedi Master was picking his pupils he called out for a boy in a gray sweater. Since Truman was wearing a gray sweater I told him, “Hey, they just called the boy in the gray sweater! That’s you!” He hurriedly went under the rope and got into his Jedi robes. It was very fun to watch him. He was one of the youngest kids out there but he kept up very well. When the villains approached, he was in the group that took on Darth Maul. The Darth Maul character was very good, he looked very mean. Truman looked a bit worried as Darth Maul walked up to him but he did most of the moves they taught him. After everything was finished he got a graduation certificate which was what he really needed, proof to show Tally that he was indeed a Jedi.

Once the show was over it felt like a bit of the pressure was off and we could just have a good time. We went on a couple of the rights a second time and paid $20 for an incredibly average dinner but the place we ate has my favorite show that I have seen a Disneyland, a bluegrass comedy show. Truman look completely tuckered out by about 8:00pm but he kept trudging along and we closed down the place at about 10:10 pm. It was an absolutely fantastic day and a great time to be with just Truman.