Entertainment
The secrets behind 'Skeleton Crew's' suburban planet, the first in 'Star Wars' history
This story contains spoilers for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” Episode 3.
There’s more to At Attin than meets the eye.
The peaceful and orderly planet introduced in “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” is not just the suburban homeworld of Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and KB (Kyriana Kratter). The third episode of the Disney+ series reveals that At Attin is a mythical planet that has been hidden from the galaxy since long before the events of the original “Star Wars” trilogy and the war between the Empire and Rebellion.
Described as one of the “Jewels of the Old Republic,” At Attin is among the “planets of wonder” that were “hidden for their own protection.” According to Kh’ymm (voiced by Alia Shawkat), who was tapped to help the lost kids trying to find a way home, it’s the only one of these planets that wasn’t destroyed long ago.
This means that even though the series, like “The Mandalorian,” is set during the time of the New Republic — i.e. after the events of the original “Star Wars” trilogy — At Attin’s origins are rooted in an era that spanned for thousands of years before it.
The latest revelation is “just the tip of the iceberg,” says Jon Watts, the head writer and executive producer of “Skeleton Crew” along with Christopher Ford. “There’s so many little reveals and twists and turns along the way.”
KB (Kyriana Kratter), left, and Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) zipping through the town on a speeder in “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.”
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
“Skeleton Crew,” which premiered earlier this month, follows a quartet of kids who are trying to find their way home after being unexpectedly flung into the galaxy on an old starship they stumbled upon in the woods in their neighborhood. Accompanying them are a grumpy droid (Nick Frost) that they found aboard the starship and a mysterious, Force-sensitive scoundrel (Jude Law) who they met at a spaceport of scum and villainy.
“We liked the idea of a group of kids that don’t know that much about the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy getting lost in the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy,” says Watts. They’re “experiencing it for the first time [in] the story of their journey home.”
For these specific kids, home is At Attin, where they live in neighborhoods with tract housing and lawns, take the bus or their bikes to school and interact with various service droids. In At Attin, Wim is a latchkey kid who dreams of Jedi adventures with his reliable best friend Neel. Fern is a bit more rebellious, often zipping through the streets on her speeder with her best friend KB.
But it‘s not long after the kids find themselves out in space that there are hints that At Attin is no ordinary place, including how others react to the planet’s name as well as to Wim’s retro lunch money.
Watts and Ford had envisioned the kids’ hometown as a place that they would want to leave “not because it was dystopian or … so desolate” — like Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine or Rey’s Jakku — but because of its “benign conformity.”
“The houses are all kind of the same, it’s safe and everyone has what feels like a boring job,” says Watts. “School is boring and you don’t want to do homework. You know that there’s a bigger adventure out there somewhere. You just don’t know how to get it.”
Concept art for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” by Jama Jurabaev.
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
It was while they were working through the designs and layout of the homes and neighborhoods that At Attin developed into a suburb.
“I wanted the houses to be really cool and ‘Star Wars’-y,” says Ford. “We had a bunch of different designs, but we couldn’t really judge them until we put them in a row. And when you have them in a row, it totally changed how they felt … As soon as you put them in a row, it creates just this immediate quick read of suburbs.”
For At Attin, says production designer Doug Chiang, the “Skeleton Crew” team started with a place “that was somewhat familiar in terms of what ‘Star Wars’ design is, but twisting it a little bit.”
“Suburban Star Wars is something that we’ve never seen before,” Chiang explains. “But the aesthetic was also locked away in time because the planet was hidden.” This meant they were able to lean into the 1970s and ’80s aesthetic of the original “Star Wars.”
The pop cultural touchstones that both Chiang and his fellow production designer Oliver Scholl mention are “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) and “The Goonies” (1985). But beyond these universally recognized neighborhoods, they also looked at real-life places including the retrofuturistic Brasilia, the brutalist architecture at an Armenian airport and the works of architects like Kenzo Tange and Tadao Ando for inspiration.
A view of At Attin in “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.”
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Because the kids being bored on At Attin is key to the story, the production designers had to resist the urge to be overly playful.
“It can’t be too exciting, because we need to transport that idea across to the audience that this is mundane,” says Scholl. “But it’s mundane in a ‘Star Wars’ context. So it has to be exciting, but still carry across [that] they want to see what’s out there beyond the screen in the sky.”
Plus, the design of At Attin had to fit naturally into the ever-expanding world of “Star Wars.”
“The designs have to speak to a broader universe and it has to make sense,” says Chiang. “A lot of the homework that we do is really to make sure that we figure out all the logic in terms of the evolution of each of these places so that there is an inherent internal logic to ‘Star Wars’ that makes sense within the world we’re developing.”
Practically, At Attin‘s design took cues from urban planning, with consideration given to where housing would be in relation to people‘s workplaces, residents’ commuting needs and even water sources.
What’s “really great about ‘Star Wars’ in general is that it’s a lived-in future,” says Scholl. “It’s not this abstract, everything is chic and clean and it doesn’t feel real. You can imagine that [At Attin has] been there for a long time. That many generations of kids have been born there and went to that school there.”
Concept art for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” by Jama Jurabaev.
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Scholl explains that At Attin features a rectilinear grid plan city center, wrapped by suburbia in a more circular pattern that “is recognizable from space.” Without mentioning specifics, he hints that at least some of the design is related to At Attin’s larger mysteries.
When asked about what other secrets At Attin may harbor, Watts teases that “we made choices for a reason.”
“Us choosing to create At Attin the way it is, and it having similarities to suburbs, there’s a kind of a nostalgia to that,” says Ford. “But in a lot of media, a lot of stories, suburbs are also hiding something. There’s a darker side to it, and that’s all intentional.”
Movie Reviews
Jeremy Schuetze’s ‘ANACORETA’ (2022) – Movie Review – PopHorror
PopHorror had the chance to check out Anacoreta (2022) ahead of its streaming release! Does this meta-horror flick provide interesting story telling or is it a confusing mess.
Let’s have a look…
Synopsis
A group of friends heads to a secluded woodland cabin for a weekend getaway, planning to film an experimental horror movie. As the shoot progresses, the project begins to fall apart—until a real and terrifying presence emerges from the darkness.
Anacoreta is directed by Jeremy Schuetze. It was written by Jeremy Schuetze and Matt Visser. The film stars Antonia Thomas (Bagman 2024), Jesse Stanley (Raf 2019), Jeremy Schuetze (Jennifer’s Body 2009), and Matt Visser (A Lot Like Christmas 2021)
My Thoughts
Antonia Thomas delivered an outstanding performance as the female lead in Anacoreta. It was remarkable to watch her convey such a wide range of emotions with authenticity and depth. I was continually impressed by her ability to switch seamlessly between different dialects. I absolutely loved her delivery of the dialogue of telling The Scorpion and the Frog fable.
Anacoreta employs a distinctive, meta-horror style of storytelling. The narrative follows a group of friends creating a “scripted reality” horror film, and as the plot unfolds, the boundary between their staged production and their actual lives becomes increasingly blurred. This was interesting, but at the same time frustrating as a viewer.

Check out Anacoreta on Prime Video and let us know your thoughts!
Entertainment
Todd Meadows, ‘Deadliest Catch’ deckhand, dies at 25
Todd Meadows, a crewmember on one of the fishing vessels featured on the long-running reality series “Deadliest Catch,” has died. He was 25.
Rick Shelford, the captain of the Aleutian Lady, announced in a Monday post on Facebook and Instagram that Meadows died Feb. 25. He called it “the most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea.”
“We lost our brother,” Shelford wrote in his lengthy tribute. “Todd was the newest member of our crew, he quickly became family. His love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away. His smile was contagious, and the sound of his laughter coming up the wheelhouse stairs or over the deck hailer is something we will carry with us always.
“He worked hard, loved deeply, and brought joy to those around him,” he added. “Todd will forever be part of this boat, this crew, and this brotherhood. Though we lost him far too soon, his legacy will live on through his children and in every memory we carry of him.”
A fundraiser set up in Meadows’ name described the deckhand from Montesano, Wash., as a father to “three amazing little boys” who died “while doing what he loved — crabbing out on Alaskan waters.”
According to the Associated Press, Meadows died after he was reported to have fallen overboard around 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
“He was recovered unresponsive by the crew approximately ten minutes later,” Chief Petty Officer Travis Magee, a spokesperson with the Coast Guard’s Arctic District, told the AP. The Coast Guard is investigating the incident.
Meadows was a first-year cast member of “Deadliest Catch,” the Discovery Channel reality series that follows crab fishermen navigating the perilous winds and waves of the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and snow crab fishing seasons. The show debuted in 2005. No episodes from Meadows’ season has aired.
Deadline reported that the show was in production on its 22nd season when the incident occurred, with the Shelford-led Aleutian Lady being the last of the vessels still out at sea at the time. Production has subsequently concluded, per the outlet.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Todd Meadows,” a Discovery Channel spokesperson said in a statement that has been widely circulated. “This is a devastating loss, and our hearts are with his loved ones, his crewmates, and the entire fishing community during this incredibly difficult time.”
Meadows is the latest among “Deadliest Catch” cast members who have died. Previous deaths include Phil Harris, a captain of one of the ships featured on the show, who died after suffering a stroke while filming the show’s sixth season in 2010. Todd Kochutin, a crew member of the Patricia Lee, died in 2021 from injuries he sustained while aboard the fishing vessel, according to an obituary. Other cast members have died from substance abuse or natural causes.
Movie Reviews
‘Hoppers’ review: Pixar’s best original movie in years
“So it’s like Avatar?” one character quips in Disney and Pixar’s “Hoppers,” bluntly translating the film’s high-concept premise for the sugar-fueled kids in the audience. And yes, the comparison is apt. The story follows a nature-obsessed teenage girl who manages to quite literally “hop” her consciousness into the body of a robotic beaver in order to spark an animal rebellion against a greedy mayor determined to bulldoze their forest for a freeway.
It’s a clever hook. The kind of big, elastic idea Pixar used to make look effortless. “Hoppers” does not reach the rarified air of “Up,” “Wall-E,” or “Inside Out,” but after a stretch of uneven originals like “Turning Red” and “Luca,” and outright misfires such as “Elemental” and “Elio,” this feels like a genuine course correction. The environmental messaging is clear without being preachy, the animals are irresistibly anthropomorphized, and the studio’s once-signature emotional sincerity is back in sturdy form.
Pixar can afford to gamble on originals when it has a guaranteed cash cow like this summer’s “Toy Story 5” waiting in the wings, but “Hoppers” earns its place in the catalogue. Director Daniel Chong crafts a warm, heartfelt film that occasionally strains under the weight of its own ambition, yet remains grounded by character and theme. Its meditation on conservation and animal displacement feels timely in a way that never tips into after-school-special territory.
We meet Mabel, voiced with bright conviction by Piper Curda, as a child liberating her classroom pets and returning them to the wild. Her moral compass is shaped by her grandmother, voiced by Karen Huie, who imparts wisdom about nature’s sanctity. True to both Pixar tradition and the broader Disney playbook, this beacon of guidance does not survive past the opening act. Loss, after all, is Pixar’s favorite inciting incident.
Years later, Mabel is still fighting the good fight, squaring off against the smarmy Mayor Jerry, voiced with slick menace by Jon Hamm. He plans to flatten the glade where Mabel and her grandmother once found solace. Mabel’s resistance feels noble but futile. The animals have already mysteriously vanished, the machinery is coming, and her last-ditch plan involves luring a beaver back to the abandoned forest in hopes of jumpstarting the ecosystem.
That’s when the film gleefully pivots into mad-scientist territory. At Beaverton University, Mabel discovers her professor, voiced by Kathy Najimy, has developed a device that can project human consciousness into synthetic animals. The process, dubbed “hopping,” allows Mabel to inhabit a robotic beaver and infiltrate the forest from within. It’s an inspired escalation that keeps the film buoyant even when the plotting grows predictable.
Her new posse includes King George, a lovably beaver voiced by Bobby Moynihan with distinct Bing Bong energy; a sharp-tongued bear voiced by Melissa Villaseñor; a regal bird king voiced by the late Isiah Whitlock Jr.; and a fish queen voiced by Ego Nwodim. As is often the case with Pixar, even in its lesser efforts, the world-building is meticulous. The animal hierarchy, complete with titles like “paw of the king,” is layered with jokes that play for kids while slyly winking at adults.
The plot ultimately follows a familiar template. Scrappy underdog rallies community. Corporate villain twirls metaphorical mustache. Emotional third-act sacrifice looms. At times, you can feel the machinery working a little too cleanly. Pixar, and Disney at large, has grown increasingly reliant on sequels and established IP, and “Hoppers” does not radically reinvent the wheel. In an animated landscape where films like “K-Pop: Demon Hunters,” “Across the Spider-Verse,” and “Goat” are pushing stylistic and narrative boundaries, being safe and sturdy may not always be enough.
And yet, there is something refreshing about a Pixar original that remembers how to tug at the heart without squeezing it dry. “Hoppers” is playful, peppered with cheeky needle drops, and builds to a sweet emotional catharsis that may or may not have left this critic a little misty-eyed. It feels earnest and engaged.
“Hoppers” may not be top-tier Pixar. But it is a welcome return to form, a reminder that the studio still knows how to marry big ideas with a bigger heart.
HOPPERS opens in theaters Friday, March 6th.
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