Star Tours: The Adventures Continue is a popular attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, especially during early summer with Star Wars Weekends. As Guests enter the spaceport terminal, they encounter various droids performing jobs along the cargo bay and boarding areas. Often times, many will sit back and think, “Where have I heard that voice before?”
Yes, you probably have heard the voices of the Star Tours droids before, so no, you’re not going crazy. Let me do a few introductions for you that are long overdue.
Here are the main droids and their famous voices:
C-3PO (and R2-D2) – Both of these original Star Wars characters can be found as Guests first enter the Star Tours Travel Agency. These droids are doing routine checkups on the StarSpeeder that Guests will boarding later on in the attraction. C-3PO is voiced by Anthony Daniels, who provides the original voice for the droid in all six films. This time, Daniels has a larger role when he becomes the unintentional captain, trapped within the StarSpeeder 1000’s cockpit as it takes off.
G2-9T – G2-9T loves to gossip and tell stories, so he doesn’t always pay attention to what comes in on his security scanners: WALL-E, Mickey’s Sorcerer Hat, Stormtrooper armor, a Buzz Lightyear action figure, various droids and Lando Calrissian’s effects are just a few of the items that G2-9T scans in passengers’ luggage (Side note: G2-9T usually absentmindedly lets threatening weapons through, while destroying or quarantining the non-threatening items). Guests may also hear some inside jokes that reference Star Wars or Disney films.
This droid is voiced by Tom Fitzgerald, veteran Disney Imagineer. Disney commonly places their own people in their attractions, often as a nod to their great work. Fitzgerald was the creative executive on the reimagining of this attraction when it reopened in 2011. He is Executive VP and Senior Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, and was recently named Creative Director at Epcot. He is also currently head of WDI at Disneyland Paris, where he is overseeing the upcoming Ratatouille attraction.
G2-4T – Before entering the boarding area, Guests pass through a series of security scanners operated by security officer G2-4T. This droid makes jokes about how much he dislikes his job and the strange tourists who pass through his security gate. Guests may see this droid, as well as G2-9T, get shut down temporarily as these two tend to bicker and gossip quite frequently. G2-4T is voiced by the amazing Patrick Warburton, who also hosts the pre-show for Soarin’ over at Epcot.
His deep voice is instantaneously recognizable and usually accompanied with deadpan delivery. In addition to his theme park roles, he has also voiced Yzma’s henchman Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove, as well as Buzz Lightyear on the Disney Channel’s Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. He has also provided numerous other small roles in Disney films such as Home on the Range, Chicken Little, Sky High, and Underdog. Guests may also recognize him as David Puddy from Seinfeld, Joe Swanson from Family Guy, Jeff Bingham from Rules of Engagement and The Tick.
Aly San San – This droid, modeled after the WA-7 droid from Episode II, is known as the “spokesbot” for the Star Tours Travel Company. She provides helpful information about departure times, boarding and safety (in both English and Spanish)! She is voiced by actress Allison Janney.
Janney is an actress who is best known for playing C.J. Cregg on West Wing. She has also acted in films such as American Beauty, Juno and 10 Things I Hate About You. Guests may recognize her unique voice from Disney-Pixar’s Finding Nemo as the starfish Peach, and she can also be heard in this role on the Seas with Nemo and Friends at Epcot. She has also voiced Charlene Doofenshmirtz (Heinz’s ex-wife) on several episodes of Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb.
Captain Rex (RX-24) – The droid from the original Star Tours attraction can still be found in the current queue line. As Guests enter the cargo bay, to the left, RX-24 can be found in his packaging, with decals that read “DEFECTIVE” and “RETURN TO FACTORY”.
Since the reimagined attraction actually occurs in the timeline before the original Star Tours, some Guests may find this little reference quite humorous, since Captain Rex was the original StarSpeeder pilot (and not a very good one). Guests may hear this RX-24 speak a few choppy lines from the original attraction before he shorts out. Paul Reubens was the voice for this original character and is most famous for his role as Pee Wee Herman.
As always, these droids perform to the best of their capabilities to provide a safe and positive experience for all Guests flying Star Tours, so give them a nod next time you see them!
Don’t forget, Paul Reubens also voiced Max in the Disney movie Flight of the Navigator!