Star Wars Celebration: Watch Moving Carrie Fisher Tribute Video

This year's Star Wars Celebration kicked off in Orlando, Florida with a star-studded look back at 40 years of the blockbuster franchise. The discussion ended with a moving tribute to Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the series and died in December last year.

Star Wars creator George Lucas and Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy spoke warmly about Fisher's impact on their lives, before Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd introduced a video tribute to her mother. Watch it below:

In his tribute to Fisher, Lucas explained what the actress brought to the character of Leia. "She played a part that was very smart, and she was having to hold her own against two big lugs, goofballs that were screwing everything up," he said. "She was the boss. It was her war and when I cast it, I said I want somebody young to play the part. I want somebody very young.

"When Carrie came in, she was that character. She was very strong, very smart, very funny, very bold, very tough, and there really wasn't much of a question. There are not very many people like her. They are one in a billion. For this particular part, it was absolutely perfect... she wore a dress through the whole thing, but she was the toughest in the group.

"At the same time she was fun to be with. She was very challenging in terms of pointing out that certain pieces of dialogue were a little hard to say. She was brilliant and obviously we will all miss her, but she will always be the princess who took command and never backed down. Never was in jeopardy. She was always helping the other guys get out of the messes they created. We'll all love her forever and ever."

The 40th anniversary panel was hosted by Warwick Davis, who played Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi. The event brought together many stars from the original and prequel trilogies, including Mark Hamill (Luke), Harrison Ford (Han), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Billy Dee Williams (Lando), Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine), and Hayden Christensen (Anakin). There were also video messages from Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn) and Samuel L Jackson (Mace Windu).

GameSpot will be at Star Wars Celebration all weekend, so keep checking back for more coverage of the panels and events.