Southern Spice Layer Cake

This southern staple from our friends at The Chew is sure to make your mouth water! For more recipes, visit TheChew.com.

Servings 8-10

Ingredients

Southern Spice Layer Cake

  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Cream Cheese Icing

  • 2 packages cream cheese (softened, 8 ounces each)
  • 1 stick butter (softened)
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease three 9-inch cake pans with butter lined with parchment. Grease parchment with butter and dust pans with flour, shaking out any excess.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add light and dark brown sugar and butter and cream until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add oil and mix to combine. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
  3. In a large bowl add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and salt and whisk to combine. Add the flour to the butter mixture, alternating with buttermilk and ending with the flour. Allow to mix until just combined. Divide evenly between three prepared cake pans.
  4. Place in the oven and allow to bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Remove to a baking rack to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Turn out onto the baking rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the cream cheese icing.
  5. For the cream cheese icing: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cream cheese and butter and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the powdered sugar gradually, beating until well combined. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
  6. To assemble the cake: Trim the layers of the cake. Spread icing between each layer and stack the three layers on top of each other. Ice the outside of the cake evenly and serve.
  7. Tip: Use the spices that are on hand!

Mashed Potato Casserole

From our friends at The Chew, enjoy this mashed potato casserole that’s to die for!

6–8 Servings

Ingredients

Mashed Potato Casserole

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 pounds potatoes (peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces)
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup sharp white cheddar cheese (shredded)
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup store-bought fried onions
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Brush a casserole dish with the olive oil.
  2. Place a large pot of water over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Season with salt. Cook until tender, then drain well and return to the pot. Add the butter and, with a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth. Fold in the milk and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the potato mixture into the casserole dish and smooth the top.
  3. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the cheddar cheese, panko, and fried onions. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese mixture in an even layer. Place in the oven uncovered until golden brown on top, about 25–30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
  4. Tip: Perfect make-ahead casserole. Assemble the day before, keeping the topping separate from the mashed potatoes. An hour before the meal, just mix the topping, sprinkle over the casserole, and bake.

Fans and Luminaries Pay Tribute to Walt Disney

By Jeffrey Epstein

Yesterday, December 15, to honor the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s passing, “Memory Boards” were set up on the Walt Disney Studios lot and at Disney parks around the world for fans to pay tribute to the man and his enduring legacy.

A guest places a memory on a Walt Disney memory board
A guest places a message on the Walt Disney World “Memory Board” with her family and Walt Disney World Ambassadors Nathaniel Palma and Caitlin Busscher.

The event was the culmination of “Walt Week,” during which D23 celebrated Walt’s boundless creativity, vibrant imagination, and constant desire to innovate. Guests at Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland, as well as at the Studio, wrote messages to Walt and shared favorite Disney memories on Mickey-shaped notecards.

Richard Sherman writes for the Walt Disney memory board
Disney Legend Richard Sherman writes his message for the “Memory Board”.

“I remember watching Walt Disney on television and his work inspired me to be an artist!” wrote one guest. “Thank you for reminding me to work hard to reach my dreams!” wrote another. Even Disney Legends and luminaries got in on the act when they visited the Studio. Animator Eric Goldberg and Disney Legend Andreas Deja took the time to write messages, and Richard Sherman wrote a heartfelt note before sitting at Walt’s piano and playing some beloved Disney songs. “Dear Walt,” Richard wrote, “I’ll never forget our time with you. All my love and admiration!!”

Walt Disney memory board
The “Memory Board” at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Hundreds of heart-felt messages were written, and they will be on display at next year’s D23 Expo 2017, July 14-16 at the Anaheim Convention Center. See photos from the “Memory Boards” around the world below.

For more stories about Walt, visit D23.com/WaltWithWalk.

Making Movie Magic in Any Language

By Beth Deitchman

When the adventurous 16-year-old heroine of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ hit film Moana sings her iconic “I want” song, “How Far I’ll Go,” the emotion behind the ballad would be palpable in any language. Don’t believe us? Check out this brand-new video of the song, sung in 24 languages by the actresses from all around the world who have voiced the role of Moana.

Disney’s Character Voice department, begun in 1988 by Roy E. Disney to ensure character consistency across all divisions of the company, happily takes on the challenge of overseeing the translation of every Disney film into as many as 45 languages—via dubbing or subtitles, depending upon the film. You might remember the multi-language video of international singers (including Idina Menzel) singing “Let It Go,” which, since its debut in January 2014, has received more than 63 million views on YouTube. Their work extends into theme parks, television, and consumer products, so not only will Maui sound like Maui, whether he’s speaking in English or in Tahitian; but characters like the Golden Girls, Tony Stark, and, of course, Mickey Mouse, will strike the same (vocal) chords in every part of the globe.

It’s not about simply finding sound-alikes, Rick Dempsey, senior vice president, Disney Character Voices, tells D23. “It’s embodying the spirit of the character that’s more important to us,” he says. “There’s a fine line and a balance that we have to strike to ensure that the voice is similar but that the personality is there—and is the personality that the filmmakers always intended.”

hercules

But sometimes, a wonderful opportunity presents itself, for a local—or international celebrity—to lend his or her voice to a role. Ricky Martin famously voiced the role of Hercules in Hercules; and in the case of Moana, the young actress who was cast in the title role is an up-and-coming pop star. “We’ll find local talent who are known, but we make a very specific effort not to cast just anybody. Our films live for 100 years or more, so we need to make sure that the people we cast are truly the right talent for the character,” Dempsey explains.

Big Hero 6

And sometimes, Dempsey shares, an international celebrity will take on additional languages. For Big Hero 6, Fall Out Boy’s lead singer Patrick Stump carefully and painstakingly mastered singing “Immortals” in Italian. “He’d sing every phrase again and again and just change the pronunciation just a little bit until the person listening —who spoke fluent Italian—said, ‘That’s it!’” Stump proved to be such a quick study that he was invited back to record “Beyond the Sea” for a Navajo version of Finding Nemo. Dempsey reports, “The president of the Navajo Nation came up to me after the premiere and just said, ‘I can’t believe you got that guy to sing in our native language. We’ve never heard anything like that before.’”

Toy Story

The script translations, Dempsey explains are “idiomatic adaptations” of the film that take into account slang and cultural nuances. “There’s always the traditional way of saying things, which would be a straight translation, but we don’t talk that way,” he points out. “We need to make sure that the translations embody the culture and that the slang that is used in the English version gets translated in its slang in the international versions.” The team will also oversee the re-animation of text that appears on screen so that it reads in the local language where the film is being screened. Dempsey points to the scene in Toy Story, when Buzz Lightyear is reading how he is described on the toy’s packaging: “All that Buzz is saying is a direct lift of what’s on the box, so we took that English text and replaced it with the local language text.”

As the man who oversees as many as 45 versions of every film The Walt Disney Studios releases, Dempsey—who has been with Disney for more than 25 years—has a unique perspective on why Disney films resonate in any language. “Quality is a key factor,” he says, “and we see that in the enthusiasm of the talent that are involved—whether it be our translators, our music directors, our local teams, or the talent themselves who are voicing the characters.” And his own enthusiasm remains high, whether he’s overseeing the first translation or the 44th. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Moana at this point, in so many different languages, and yet I’m not tired of it,” he says without hesitation. “I’m still excited about watching it, and that says a lot about the film.”

New DuckTales Cast Revealed

By Nicole Nalty

It’s an exciting time to be a DuckTales fan! First, we found out that the show will debut summer 2017 (and watched this teaser trailer over and over), and now we have even more news to share from Duckburg! The cast of the upcoming Disney XD show has been revealed––and, dare we say, the talent is filled with top-billed actors…

The trio of troublemakers, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, will be voiced by Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz, and Bobby Moynihan, respectively. David Tennant joins the cast as Scrooge McDuck, with Beck Bennett voicing his pilot, Launchpad McQuack. Mrs. Beakley (Toks Olagundoye) and Webby Vanderquack (Kate Micucci) are back, and DuckTales devotees will be happy to know that favorite characters like Donald Duck, Flintheart Glomgold, Gyro Gearloose, Duckworth, Gizmoduck, Magica DeSpell, Gladstone Gander, and Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys will also take part in the wacky, quacky adventures.

Watch the cast sing the iconic theme song below, and let out a little woo-oo!

Richard Sherman Performs Classics in Walt Disney’s Office Suite

(From left to right: Chairman and CEO Bob Iger, Disney Legend Richard Sherman and wife Elizabeth Sherman, Disney Legend Karen Dotrice,Disney and Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation President Ed Catmull, Disney Legend Dick Van Dyke and wife Arlene Van Dyke, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production President Sean Bailey, Walt Disney Studios president Alan Bergman, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, Disney Animation Studios President Andrew Millstein.)

By Jeffrey Epstein

Today, December 15, marks the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s passing, and to commemorate Walt’s enduring legacy of creativity and innovation, Disney Legend Richard Sherman visited the Walt Disney Studios lot and performed a selection of his timeless songs. Like visiting an old friend, Richard sat down at the grand piano in Walt Disney’s office suite—the very same one he and his brother, Robert, frequently would play on for Walt over the years.

Disney luminaries in attendance included Chairman and CEO Bob Iger, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, Disney and Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation President Ed Catmull, Walt Disney Archives Director Becky Cline, frequent Disney contributor Leonard Maltin, and Disney Legends Dick Van Dyke, Karen Dotrice, Dave Smith, and Tony Baxter.

Guests couldn’t help but get emotional as Sherman sat at the keys playing “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow,” “The Whimsy Works” (an original composition Richard wrote about Walt and working on the Studio Lot), and “Feed the Birds” from Mary Poppins—one of Walt’s favorite songs.

As a tribute to Walt, Bob read from a message Walt’s brother Roy O. Disney sent to all Disney employees on December 15, 1966. “There is no way to replace Walt Disney. He was an extraordinary man. Perhaps there will never be another like him,” Iger read. “It was Walt’s wish that when the time came he would have built an organization with the creative talents to carry on as he had established and directed it through the years. Today this organization has been built and we will carry out his wish…”

Watch Richard sing “Feed the Birds” and “The Whimsy Works” below.

Winter Wonderland Wreath

Deck your halls with this wonderful wreath!

Materials

  • Foam floral wreath (available online or at craft supply stores)
  • Hot glue gun
  • Ornaments in various sizes, caps removed

Directions
1. Use a hot glue gun to attach ornaments to the foam wreath, applying first to the inside circumference of the wreath. Apply hot glue between the ornaments as necessary in order to stabilize them. Clean up hot glue “strings” as you work.
2. Continue to apply ornaments to the wreath in layers, filling in gaps with smaller ornaments until the foam wreath is no longer visible.
3. Remove any remaining hot glue strings. Your wreath is now ready for display!

Reliving One Man’s Dream in this Walt Disney World Attraction

by Greg Ehrbar

One sunny day back in high school, just as your humble author finished presenting his report about Walt Disney, a classmate offered this comment: “That was so interesting! I didn’t even know Walt Disney was a real guy.”

Hopefully, this is an isolated case. Nonetheless, it’s good to know that Disney’s Hollywood Studios still makes it possible for millions of guests—particularly kids—to experience One Man’s Dream. This exhilarating walk-through wonderland of memorabilia, visual displays, and rare artifacts brings everyone a little closer to Walt as a living person with a family, friends, and a genius for making dreams come true.

Among the items reflecting early Disney studio productions are a Mousecar award, title card art for Three Little Pigs (1933), and animators’ models from Fantasia (1940).
Among the items reflecting early Disney studio productions are a Mousecar award, title card art for Three Little Pigs (1933), and animators’ models from Fantasia (1940).
A more recent addition to One Man’s Dream, this is one of Disney Legend Hayley Mills’ costumes from Summer Magic (1963).
A more recent addition to One Man’s Dream, this is one of Disney Legend Hayley Mills’ costumes from Summer Magic (1963).

Thank goodness it didn’t remain a “temporary” attraction!
As part of a massive 2001 Disney Parks “100 Years of Magic” celebration, One Man’s Dream was designed and installed by Walt Disney Imagineering in Florida, and featured historical material and assets loaned by Disney Legend Dave Smith and archivist Robert Tieman from the collections of the Walt Disney Archives.

This historic “dancing man” figure, created as part of “Project Little Man,” would eventually lead to the introduction of Audio-Animatronics® figures.
This historic “dancing man” figure, created as part of “Project Little Man,” would eventually lead to the introduction of Audio-Animatronics® figures.
A bust of president Abraham Lincoln among a display of 1960s WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering) materials.
A bust of president Abraham Lincoln among a display of 1960s WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering) materials.
The original Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronics® figure from Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, created for the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair.
The original Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronics® figure from Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, created for the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair.

“It was my first project,” recalls Jackie Herrera, curator lead at WDI, who worked on the attraction from its beginning. “My favorite memory was when I had the opportunity to go to Disneyland park to pack up Walt Disney’s working office, which had been on display at Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.”

What did Jackie bring to Florida from Walt’s office?
Some of the personal items included portraits, pillows, framed photos—even bronzed baby shoes! “I think you can tell a lot about a person from the things they surround themselves with,” says Becky Cline, Director, Walt Disney Archives. “You can see how sentimental Walt was about the gifts he was given by family, friends, and visitors, but more importantly, you can see how much he loved his family.”

The iconic Dumbo, from the Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction.
The iconic Dumbo, from the Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction.
A model of Sleeping Beauty Castle for Disneyland Park.
A model of Sleeping Beauty Castle for Disneyland Park.
A model of the exterior to it’s a small world at Disneyland Park.
A model of the exterior to it’s a small world at Disneyland Park.

One Man’s Dream sparkles with delights from Disney film, TV, and theme parks, including scale models of Disney attractions and displays of Audio-Animatronics® technology. But one of the most astonishing items on display was handcrafted by Walt himself…

This miniature diorama of “Granny’s Cabin,” hand-built by Walt Disney, helped inspire the concept for Disneyland.
This miniature diorama of “Granny’s Cabin,” hand-built by Walt Disney, helped inspire the concept for Disneyland.

Big parks from little cabins grow
In addition to his love of railroads, Walt took great joy and relaxation in creating and collecting miniatures from all over the world. As a personal project, he built an elaborate miniature farmhouse that he called “Granny Kincaid’s Cabin,” inspired by one of his favorite feature films, So Dear to My Heart (1949). Walt built and furnished the miniature cabin from floor to ceiling, right down to its electrical wiring. It was this kind of artistry, passion, and attention to detail that eventually led the “real guy” to make Disneyland a “real place.”

Walt’s final appearance on film—for the EPCOT project—is recreated inside One Man’s Dream.
Walt’s final appearance on film—for the EPCOT project—is recreated inside One Man’s Dream.

In addition to all the archival clips from Walt’s life and work, the attraction finale is a big-screen presentation. Depending on when you visit, it might showcase Walt’s own story or one of the latest wonders from the company Walt founded—wonders that, in one way or another, are rooted in the fact that one man had lots of dreams and never stopped believing in them.

Becky, Jackie, and their fellow cast members try to refresh One Man’s Dream as often as possible, so you can experience a variety of treasures on different visits. “People tell me that they never miss it when they visit the Park—and how close they feel to Walt when they are there,” Becky adds. “I’m so grateful that Disney’s Hollywood Studios has hosted this exhibit, and so glad that our guests have held it so closely to their hearts.”

So Much to Celebrate at Disney California Adventure this Holiday Season!

By Beth Deitchman

Disney parks are always a special place to spend the holidays, to be sure, and this year Disney California Adventure park has looked to cultures all around the world to inspire a celebration that fills the park with more holiday magic than ever before. Festival of Holidays is a feast for all of the senses, with Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas/Navidad, Kwanzaa, and Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes) being celebrated through music and dance, food and beverages, and creative crafts.

Festival of Holidays

It’s best to bring a healthy appetite, because the new Festive Foods Marketplace will tempt you with delightful delicacies from around the world as you stroll through the park from Carthay Circle to Paradise Garden. Enjoy traditional Hannukah-inspired fare, like the Reuben Potato Smash and Sweet Spiced Noodle Kugel at Nosh & Nibbles; mango lassi and chicken and potato curry at Spice Salutations, in celebration of Diwali; green or red chile posole, for la Navidad, at Fiesta en Familia; or you can toast the season with holiday eggnog cocktail at Mistletoe Morsels or with wine-tasting flights at Making Spirits Bright—to name just a few of the 14 mouth-watering marketplace locations.

Festival of Holidays

No need to worry about holiday calories, though, since you’ll be dancing your way from bite to bite. Every day during Festival of Holidays brings nearly 50 performances of nine unique shows, from the Bollywood party presented by Blue13 Dance Company to the catchy, bilingual song stylings of the Grammy®-winning Mariachi Divas, to the a cappella vocal group RAISE, lending an R&B spin to holiday favorites.

Viva Navidad

But the most festive fiesta might be found at Disney ¡Viva Navidad!, located once again at Paradise Garden. The Holiday celebration, which began in 2013, is “a rich, glorious celebration based on Hispanic culture,” according to Carla Carlile, show director for Disney ¡Viva Navidad! and Princess Elena’s Musical Grand Arrival—new to Disney California Adventure for this year. Beyond the beautiful decorations, seasonal food specialties, and crafts for the kids, Carlile stresses that fans won’t want to miss the Viva Navidad Street Party—hosted by the Three Caballeros: Panchito, José Carioca, and, of course, Donald Duck. Guests will enjoy seeing large mojiganga puppets, Mickey and Minnie joining the celebration in their festive folklórico outfits, and—not to be left out of the fun—Santa and Mrs. Claus. “It is so much fun and you will smile when you see the show,” Carlile promises.

Elena of Avalor

Paradise Bay is also the setting for Princess Elena of Avalor’s Musical Grand Arrival several times daily. Disney’s newest princess arrives on a beautiful, majestic float, accompanied by royal court dancers and her friend Skylar, a flying jaquin. She shares stories and songs from the Disney Channel series Elena of Avalor before moving into the Paradise Garden Gazebo to greet fans and pose for photos.

The “grand finale” of Disney ¡Viva Navidad! comes after the new year, from January 5–8, with the celebration of Three Kings Day, or El Dia de los Reyes, as it is known in Mexico, Central, and South America. At Disney California Adventure, this 12th day of Christmas is celebrated through storytelling about what the holiday means in cultures around the world, with kids’ crafts, and with a traditional bread, Rosca de Reyes—which is said to bring good luck for the year to those who happen upon a baked-in surprise. “It’s a great celebration, and for people who don’t know about Three Kings Day, it’s a great way to learn about it,” Carlile says.

Santa at Disney California Adventure

Elsewhere at Disney California Adventure, there’s lots of holiday fun to be had at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, which has been transformed into a jolly playground where the young—and the young-at-heart—can greet the man of the hour at Santa’s Holiday Visit.

World of Color: Season of Light

And far be it for us to say that the creative team at Disney California Adventure saved the best for last—there’s truly something for everyone to love at the park this year—but the all-new nighttime spectacular World of Color—Season of Light makes for a magical end to a holiday visit. The lagoon is brighter than ever before, as the new World of Color show features five newly installed barges that erupt in a brilliant lighting effect that creates a show-stopping moment during the grand finale. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Creative Entertainment Director David Duffy told us, “When the team put World of Color in [to Disney California Adventure] about seven years ago, they really gave us this incredible toy box. It has an incredible set of tools of light and water and sound and fire, and they continue to make new discoveries.”

The show consists of heartwarming moments, Duffy explains. “This is the fourth World of Color that we’ve done, so this time Steven Davison—our lead creative on this show—chose to take a different approach of taking beloved music that we know from the holidays and combining that with Disney imagery that evokes memories of home and family and romance,” he details. They put those two things together and ended up with an amazingly heartfelt show.

These iconic Disney images from films like Dumbo, Finding Nemo, and Inside Out are set to beloved Christmas standards like “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole, “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies” by Pentatonix, “Mele Kalikimaka” by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters, and “Wizards in Winter” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra—which becomes a breathtaking display of the sheer wizardry that the Imagineers are able to execute as they re-imagine the nighttime spectacular. And one of the most dazzling displays of the innovation on display in World of Color—Season of Light is also one of the simplest. In a beautiful effect near the end of the show, heart-shaped bubbles rise up, at first subtly, but then fill the sky over the lagoon. “Instead of blowing it [the bubbles] with air, when you blow it out with helium it rises up. It’s kind of simple when you think about it,” Duffy says, “and nobody has done it before.”

There’s, of course, so much more to see at Disney California Adventure, from the “snowcar” that welcomes guests to Cars Land, to the oversized lights and ornaments of a bug’s land, to the towering 50-foot tree that stands at Carthay Circle. Festival of Holidays continues through January 8, 2017, so give yourself the gift of a trip to the park. It’s a celebration you won’t want to miss.

7 Things You Need To Know Before You See Rogue One

By Jim Frye

Strap in, pilots, because Lucasfilm’s brand-new Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens this weekend with more aliens, spaceships, and adventure than you can shake a hyperdrive motivator at. And you don’t need to rewatch all your favorite Star Wars moments to prepare for this new chapter in the history of the Death Star (but we did!). To help get you ready for your journey back to that galaxy far, far away, here are seven things you should know to make the trip easier.

1. First and foremost, Rogue One is not a sequel to Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Rather, it is the very first Star Wars stand-alone movie, separate from the main “saga films” that deal with the Skywalker family. The next saga film, Episode VIII, comes out next December. Rogue One focuses on all-new characters. “Until now, Star Wars has focused on the Skywalker Family saga,” says Bob Iger, Disney’s chairman and CEO. “But as the first stand-alone film in the franchise, Rogue One opens up a whole new universe for Star Wars storytelling, and we’re thrilled to see audiences as excited about it as we are.” That leads us to our next point…

 2. The timeframe of Rogue One is right before the beginning of Episode IV: A New Hope. What exactly does that mean? It means that if you were to put all the films on a chronological timeline, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith would be placed approximately 30 years before Episode IV: A New Hope, whereas, the action of Rogue One is tucked right up next to Episode IV. And that’s the next thing you should know…

Rogue One

 3. Rogue One is all about the mission to steal the original Death Star plans. Fans of the original Star Wars fondly remember the first time they saw the “crawl”—the prologue words that “crawled” up the screen at the beginning of the film. To fully understand what Rogue One is about, all you need to do is read the crawl from Episode IV: A New Hope, which says:

“It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire’s sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy.”

Rogue One is the story of those Rebel spies and how they stole those plans.

4. Tuck the term “Kyber Crystal” into your memory bank. Why? Because Kyber Crystals were once used by the Jedi and the Sith to power their lightsabers. Fans of Disney XD’s Star Wars Rebels are familiar with these rare crystals, which are valued for their ability to focus energy. It’s this ability that also makes them a hot commodity for the Empire, which seeks them out for nefarious purposes. And speaking of animated Star Wars TV shows…

Saw Gerrera from Rogue One

5. The character of Saw Gerrera, from season five of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, shows up in Rogue One. He is the first character to make the transition from an animated Star Wars show to a live-action Star Wars film. Played by Forest Whitaker in , Saw is a war-hardened veteran who fought alongside Anakin Skywalker in the Clone Wars and has no love for the Empire—he wants nothing more than to see it destroyed.

Darth Vader from Rogue One

6. Darth Vader is back. Yup, that’s right—the big, bad Lord of the Sith, Dark Vader, is back and badder than ever. This makes sense, considering that Vader is intimately involved with the events surrounding the Death Star. Fans got their first introduction to Vader’s imposing black helmet, cape, and deep mechanical breaths back in 1977’s A New Hope, where Vader supported the efforts of Grand Moff Tarkin (played by the incredible Peter Cushing) to make the Death Star fully operational. And since we’re talking about characters who “are back…”

Mon Mothma from Rogue One

7. Mon Mothma makes her triumphant return. As one of the leaders of the Rebellion in 1983’s Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, it is Mon Mothma who famously utters the words, “Many Bothans died to bring us this information.” Bail Organa, the Senator of Alderaan and adoptive father to Princess Leia Organa, was an ally to Mothma in the early days of the Rebellion. In Rogue One, Mothma demonstrates the wisdom and grace that defines her character and makes her such an important leader in the fight against the Empire.

BONUS: Although this isn’t a “need-to-know,” there is one more little tid-bit you might want to be on the lookout for: Blue milk. And that’s all we’ll say.

Be “one with the Force” with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in theaters now.