Man Uses R2-D2 Replica to Help Sick Kids

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Man Uses R2-D2 Replica to Help Sick Kids



There aren't many things that can cheer a kid up more than a beeping and booping R2-D2 replica.

Maine resident Paul Bussiere [http://www.paulsr2d2.blogspot.com/] was once challenged by a friend to build a replica of Star Wars' R2-D2 to prove that a little man wasn't controlling it from the inside, and he turned the project into a way to cheer up sick kids. After taking four years to construct his own version of the droid, now Bussiere regularly brings it into the Eastern Maine Medical Center pediatrics unit, where it has become a special visitor.

Building an advanced droid like R2-D2 may have been complicated in decades past, but isn't anymore thanks to the internet. Bussiere says "I stumbled onto an R2-D2 builders [Web] page. I've always been a computer person, so I thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool to build something like that? How hard can it be?"

There are multiple groups out there dedicated to building R2-D2 replicas, which is almost a necessity as ordering parts normally requires putting in an order at a machine shop. According to Bussiere: "You need to accumulate 40 to 50 specific parts. Then you use the standardized blueprint and all the pieces fit together."

Bussiere is a help desk associate at the Eastern Main Medical Center, so after he completed his R2-D2 he came up with the idea to use it to elevate more than his own spirits. He now brings his replica into the hospital, where it's first inspected and disinfected, and brings it around to visit sick children, whom usually request a special visit. The R2-D2 has extra safety features as it's used around kids, but it has authentic sounds and plays 90 songs stored in a hard drive.

George Lucas won't be bashing down Bussiere's door anytime soon, because Bussiere says his and other replica R2-D2s are authorized by Lucasfilm "as long as we're not trying to make a profit." On the contrary, Bussiere has spent more than $5,000 to build his R2-D2, and he's not done yet. Bussiere's next goal is to figure out a way to make the droid project a representation of Princess Leia's holographic plea for help to Obi-Wan Kenobi shown in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. I have a feeling his droid might be even more entertaining for kids than Lucasfilm's upcoming animated series [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99265-Lucasfilm-Working-on-Star-Wars-Cartoon-for-Preschoolers].

Source: Maineville [http://www.maineville.com/detail/139149.html]

Thanks for the submission ThaBenMan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/ThaBenMan]!

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SnootyEnglishman

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May 26, 2009
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Using the Force to help people and make happy for all is the way to go. Instead Lucas is using the Schwartz and uses his Star Wars idea just for money. This is why he's called Franchisiside.
 

AboveUp

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May 21, 2008
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Someone help fund this guy so he can finish it! This is the best thing done with Star Wars in years.
 

Bat Vader

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Mar 11, 2009
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Nerds and Geeks helping people, maybe this will show people that we are not a violent video gaming race like so many other think we are.

On Topic: Use the force to help sick kids and not make any profits off of it. That is what George Lucas should be doing.
 

Sparrow

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Feb 22, 2009
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Imagine that. You're feeling like crap, you're parents are getting all worried, you don't know what's going on... then R2-D2 pops in and goes "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope."

Almost as good as all that ice cream you get to eat, amrite kids?
 

ThaBenMan

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Mar 6, 2008
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Paul Bussiere: +50 Light Side Points

This is very cool (and in my hometown, no less! I have to try to go see it sometime). I can't wait to see how the hologram projector turns out!
 
Dec 14, 2009
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Sparrow said:
Imagine that. You're feeling like crap, you're parents are getting all worried, you don't know what's going on... then R2-D2 pops in and goes "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope."

Almost as good as all that ice cream you get to eat, amrite kids?
I can just imagine a number of kids jumping out of bed...
"Screw this illness, the princess needs my help! Maybe Ben Kenobi knows something about this Obi-Wan fellow..."

Hmm... maybe not, but I can dream right?
 

bobknowsall

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Aug 21, 2009
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Okay, everyone say it with me: D'awwww...

This is possibly the most heartwarmingly nerdy thing I have ever come across (and I'm not using "nerdy" in a pejorative sense), and I wish this guy well in his future endeavours. Because, well, what he's doing is just plain brilliant. :)
 

Weaver

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Apr 28, 2008
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This guy is awesome! When I was a kid if R2-D2 visited me I'd be feeling better on the spot :D
 

Onyx Oblivion

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Sep 9, 2008
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RedMenace said:
Eh, the guy is obviously a pedophile. I mean he has been spotted within 10 meter distance of a kid - that's proof enough.

Sorry. I think I read too many articles about people being wrongfully accused of pedophilia for no good reason. I'm making a report on that for my Sociology course.
Message me when its done. I want to read it.

OT: Pfft. C3PO would be so much cooler. He talks and is funny.
 

Kollega

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Jun 5, 2009
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Many people constantly say they "lose faith in humanity". Well what do you have to say about that, huh? HUH?

This is one of those heartwarming things that you simply cannot resist. Just like the Force persuasion.
 

MissGinaKid

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Mar 16, 2010
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Good for him. He turned coming his likes into something to make sick children feal better. He's one of my new heros.
 

The Rogue Wolf

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ThaBenMan said:
Paul Bussiere: +50 Light Side Points
Well, the guy spent five grand of his own money to put it together and then decided that the best use for his investment was to cheer up sick children on his own time... maybe we can bump that up to 100?