The Art of The Mandalorian Season One

The fine folks over at Abrams & Chronicles were kind enough to send us a copy of the recently released The Art of The Mandalorian. Written by Phil Szostak, the book charts the evolution and progress of the first season of Mando from the original idea and concepts to the images we saw throughout the eight episodes.

During Episode 106 (The Art of The Mandalorian Season One), we headed to Gloucester Park in Basildon to check out the book together and record our main segment of the episode. I’d love to say it was a bright, sunny Essex day but…it really wasn’t! It was cold…very cold. Alas, a couple of Greggs coffees and a sausage roll would help ease the Hoth-like temperatures (hey, it felt that cold anyway). Whilst discussing the content that we had researched prior to recording, we earmarked certain images and areas of the book and references these during the episode.

To enhance what was already a spicy listen, we’ve added the images below so you are able to visualise (and understand) what we’re looking at and discussing during the episode.

Of course, we covered more than just the above images and the book itself is packed with so many incredible factoids and tidbits of information from Doug Chiang, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and all of the amazing artists that contributed to the project. It may have been cold, it may have been wet but we had a blast having a bark in the park. We absolutely loved this book and urge fans of Star Wars, The Mandalorian, or even just concept art to track down a copy and soak up all of the goodness inside this.

In addition to covering the book, we also had a little (COVID-safe) field trip around the wonderful town of Basildon. No Sessions…session can begin without a cheeky trip to Greggs for some mochas, lattes, classic sausages rolls and a selection of delectable pastries (a four-pack of donuts…) – it’s what we consider our fuel to provide such ace content. From the majestic sights of the bus station through the eerily-empty Eastgate shopping centre, we shot the galactic breeze and, as listeners of E106 will know, some of those conversations made it into the episode to create a sense of bringing you all along for the fun.

As would be expected, we headed to the toy aisle in ASDA (the only shop that was open that had any products!) to check out the Star Wars figures and collectibles. Keeping things on point and to show we can…stay on target, Matt spied some Mando season one Funko’s, specifically (our boi) Moff Gideon and The Mythrol. Surprisingly, there was a lot of Mando-related content to buy including Baby Yoda animatronics and a boss Mando keyring which I now wish I had bought. Fancy a Qi’ra Funko? Kenner retro original trilogy figures? Some Galaxy of Adventures toys? Watermelon, cucumber and mint toothpaste? ASDA has you covered (other supermarkets are available…)

We are just relieved, pleased and grateful that we are able to meet up, follow guidelines and record content on-the-fly once again – our Patrons are used to that with the awesome exclusive monthly Pubcast. Its been a tough year for everyone and we’ve been fortunate to be able to keep the Essex Falcon flying, but it is great to link up in person again. Great snacks, great company, great listeners, not-so-great weather but hey, after all, as Luke will tell you…This is the Way/Whey.

MTFBWY.

The Art of The Mandalorian is published by Abrams, written by Phil Szostak and is available from book retailers and online.