If you like your robots grumpy, built from spare parts, incredibly loyal, rickety, belligerent and rude, Chopper is the droid you're looking for. Based on the way the Star Wars Rebels people describe him, Chopper's an astromech droid who likes to do things his own way, on his own terms. but he gets the job done, which probably puts him in line with the likes of the beloved R2-D2.
Star Wars Rebels is an upcoming Disney XD animated series that's set to take place during the time between between Episodes III and IV in the beloved sci-fi franchise. Executive producer Dave Filoni, Animation Supervisor Keith Kellogg, Art Director Kilian Plunkett and Concept Artist Amy Beth Christenson are all featured in the video below — via EW — which gives us a look at Chopper, a droid set to be featured in Star Wars Rebels.
As a fan of R2-D2's snappy retorts, the above featurette has me sold on Chopper already, as he seems to take a crankier approach to handling his business. "If R2's your favorite dog, Chopper's a cat," Dave Filoni says of the grumpy droid. And that's not the only comparison that's made between R2 and Chopper. According to what's said in the video, when they were designing the droid, they looked to Ralph McQuarrie's original concept for R2-D2.
For those who want an even closer look at Chopper, the Star Wars tumblr posted some photos. This one gives us a peek at Chopper next to R2-D2, which -- if it's to scale -- would indicate that they're close to the same size…
And this one gives us a better look at his arms:
Of course, by comparison to R2-D2, there's also the difference in coloring to note. Not only is Chopper orange, but he also looks a bit more squarish and… well, like he's been built from leftover parts. And maybe it's the Disney side of him lingering somewhere in there, but I can't help but find myself wondering how he and Wall-E would interact if they were in a room together. Back on topic though, it'll be great to see how Chopper fits into the story when Star Wars Rebels airs on Disney XD.
Here's the previously released teaser trailer for the series, which is coming later this year:
In other Star Wars-related news, check out Bill Hader's hilarious impressions of Jabba the Hutt and a dying tauntaun…
