For Star Wars fans, the only thing cooler than watching R2-D2, is being able to drive inside the droid. One kid, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, has had an experience only Kenny Baker has had.This heartwarming project comes to us from Geekologie. Little Mountain Productions built the giant droid for 7-year-old Matthew Grammer, who’s living with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. (The good news is that his parents say he’s responding well to treatment and is due to start chemotherapy soon.)
To keep things simple, the droid is controlled with a simple joystick and large on and off buttons. Little Mountain employees couldn’t resist trying it out themselves, and who would blame them? “After test-driving R2, popping wheelies and leaving tire marks in our shop, we decided it would be best if we slowed down the oversized torquey electric motors,” the company said on their website. No word if they put in a hologram of Princess Leia.
The finished product was revealed to Matthew as a surprise during a high school assembly. Here’s a video of him driving R2 around:
All of us here at Walyou wish him and his family the very best.
If you’ve managed to get through this with dry eyes, you might want to check out our post on an edible R2-D2 cupcake topper and an inflatable RC R2-D2.
