These ‘Star Wars’ Characters Singing ‘MMMBop’ Are Everything We Need Right Now

Rumor has it there’s another Star Wars movie coming out this weekend. Just kidding — everybody knows that Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the eighth entry in the extraordinarily popular film franchise about a galaxy long ago and far away, hits theaters this Friday, December 15. People are so excited that Disney probably doesn’t really need to do any advertising or promotion for the movie to get anybody interested — the press tours and talk show appearances from cast members feel more like a celebration of Star Wars than they do advertising. Star Wars is just a big part of the conversation right now, something almost everyone can agree on. At any rate, it’s a nice distraction from the news.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon got in on the fun. They’ve got some pretty talented researchers and editors on staff at the late-night juggernaut. These skilled professionals cut together footage of characters from all the previous Star Wars films — the original trilogy, the maligned prequels, and the more recently released The Force Awakens — pitch-shifted their voices, and added in some music to create something truly wonderful. They made it seem like Star Wars characters, both humanoid and alien, were singing Hanson’s inescapable 1997 pop hit “MMMBop.” (This must have taken them forever; did they start working on this when Rogue One came out a year ago?) Editors also combined the “MMMBop” backing track with John Williams familiar Star Wars theme, and they work surprisingly well together.