A new droid has started to appear in many Star Wars stories over the last several years. The droid is named R2-KT, and her origins are connected to paying homage to a young girl named Katie Johnson, who passed away in 2005 due to an inoperable brain tumor. Back in 2004, Katie’s parents observed that their daughter kept losing her balance, and shortly afterwards, her parents received the ultimate tragic news.
After finding out about his daughter’s medical state, Katie’s father, Albin Johnson, had the idea of building an R2 unit for Katie that could watch over his daughter. The R2 Builder’s Club started construct a droid open hearing the family’s story and were going to paint the droid pink, which was Katie’s favorite color. Another astromech builder, Andy Schwartz, created his own and shipped it over the family upon hearing that there might not be enough time for the girl to receive the droid. Upon receiving the droid, she embraced it during her final days.
When Katie passed away, the R2 Builder’s Club made their own droid and presented it to Johnson. David Filoni, who serves as a director of The Clone Wars, heard about Katie’s story and managed to include the droid on the series. R2-KT is now set to make her big screen debut in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. According to Johnson, the droid will make an appearance somewhere in the film:
“Mary Franklin of Lucasfilm asked me to pitch the idea to Kathleen Kennedy, and after hearing the story of our pink ambassador of hope Lucasfilm requested we ship her off to London early last year. Quick repairs were made and off she went for six months.”
It’s not exactly where R2-KT will appear in the movie, but the droid will provide a loving tribute to Katie.
(Via iO9 & My Geeks News)
