It is likely by
now you have read through many news outlets that Disney acquired Lucasfilm
today through a cash and stock purchase.
As a Disney fan I cannot be more excited! Star Wars, as we
first knew it was one of the first movies I remember seeing in the theater and
dominated my play as a kid. And
though I walked away from serious fandom as a young adult, Star Wars was always there to entertain me when needed. As a father I have been able to
rediscover the Star Wars universe
with my children. I honestly could
not be more excited about what Disney may do with the Lucasfilm properties,
especially Star Wars.
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| Bob Iger and George Lucas Make History |
The following
are my first thoughts, before we know much of the details of this deal and
Disney’s plans (other than to make buckets and buckets of money):
· Feature
Films: Star Wars Episode VII was
revealed with the announcement of this acquisition for 2015. And it has been confirmed what many of
us initially assumed, Star Wars comes
in threes! Story treatments have
already been developed for a full new trilogy. Kathleen Kennedy will be executive producer for these new
films, with George Lucas consulting.
This will effectively be the first time that canon will be developed
outside of Lucas’ full creative control.
But
there are opportunities for other films.
Captain America: The First Avenger
director Joe Johnston started his career at Lucasfilm. He would like to helm a Boba Fett
feature. Fett is special to
Johnston as he designed the bounty hunter’s armor. With his success for Disney in the Avengers franchise (along
with the cult favorite The Rocketeer),
maybe Disney would green light this dream project. So maybe there are other films in the hazy future.
Of
course other franchises other than Star
Wars will be impacted. The
Indiana Jones property could see new films in the future. But I believe other potential projects
will be killed. To me as a
complete outsider I believe this seals that a John Carter trilogy will never happen. Why would Disney invest in a Star Wars like franchise when they own Star Wars?
Despite the fact that the original Edgar Rice Burroughs books inspired
Lucas, one of the chief complaints was critics felt the Disney film was a copy
of Lucas’ franchise.
One
thing I wonder about is 3D. We got
Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace last
winter. But I have really not
heard any news about Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. At
one time they talked about a yearly release plan. Does Disney shelf this as results with the first release
were good but not great. Or do
they use their experience, that includes winning the weekend war with 3D
animation rereleases, and continue to give us the 3D releases?
I
also think it is important to call out that in the personal history of both
Walt Disney and George Lucas is a shared thread of improving the technology of
movie making. Along with the movie
franchises Disney now owns Industrial Light and Magic, Skywalker Sound and
Lucasfilm’s other business holdings.
I hope the Mouse continues to respect the genius of both men and support
technology improvements, which enriches our viewing experiences.
·
Theme
Parks: Lucas has been working with Disney for decades to provide theme park
attractions globally. In fact he
has stated he believes Star Wars should
have a theme park but he lacked the finances to afford building a park on par
with Disneyland and other Disney parks.
And this deal means Disney fans will see more Lucas in the parks. I believe the park that will benefit
the most in the United States will be Disney Hollywood Studios in Orlando. The area around Star Tours is ripe for
a Stars War Land. Past rumors have
included the Cantina (but can you eat with Greedo) and an expanded Jedi
Training Academy (which Orlando really does need). But what other treasures could there be in store other than
shopping experiences?
At
the Disneyland Park to me the possibilities are more limited. Star Tours is there, along with a large
shop. But would anyone really want
to remove Space Mountain for a Star Wars themed coaster? Though I admit a seasonal overlay for May 4th would be really
awesome. Additionally, would they
remove Autopia for a Pod Racer or Speeder course? I hope not, since it’s really the only opening day
attraction still there in Tomorrowland.
Innoventions would be an ideal location for something Star Wars. But I personally would prefer to bulldoze that and put
either the Stark Expo or an Iron Man coaster in its place!
Of
course, another gate would also be a possibility now. A new theme park in Anaheim has been rumored for years, with
the latest version of the rumor being Marvel Superhero Park. I still think that has more of a possibility
today, as Disney really needs to do something with their Marvel properties also.
I
also believe this means Star Wars Weekends will continue with no hitches. I would say they would only be better
in the future with Disney having contacts in house. But honestly, the cooperation on these events has been
pretty good so I do not know how they could even be done better. But maybe, this could mean an opening
for a California version of the event.
Or maybe meet in greets with Star
Wars characters will happen all year round.
This
acquisition will also keep the presence of Indiana Jones firmly in place in
both U.S. resorts. Indiana Jones
keeps getting lost in this deal, but as good as Star Tours is Indiana Jones Adventure:
Temple of the Forbidden Eye is just as good and for some guests better.
Can
we officially get rid of Avatarland now?
Disney owns Star Wars, can guarantee
that future movies will come out and it is a better property. Can this door be closed?
One
open question I have is what does this mean for the Legoland family of
parks? They have developed Star Wars themed attractions. Will their contracts allow them to keep
them? Will Disney? Disney has a working relationship with
Lego, liscensing for example the Pirates
of the Caribbean Lego game but will this relationship continue?
·
Television: I am a big fan of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
But I think fans can acknowledge that it probably has only two more
seasons beyond this one at the most.
The stories are simply getting closer and closer to Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. One of my thoughts when coming to terms
with this is what happens to supervising producer Dave Filoni. Filoni is a Star Wars fan, a
skilled storyteller, and one of the few to have had Master Star Wars classes with Lucas.
Disney understands story and values storytellers. Could Filoni become a John Lasseter for
Star Wars animation? I hope so. At the last Star Wars Celebration they showed to fans that
had kids samples of a show called Young
Jedi. This program would
feature Ahsoka as a mentor to younger padawans. And it is just the sort of thing that sounds Disney! It easily could find a home on Disney XD. Maybe reruns of Star Wars: The Clone Wars could find a home there too, as we have
seen with some Marvel animated titles.
And they have done a nice
job with original animated title in Disney XD like Ultimate Spider-Man.
It is a match made in heaven!
Of
course Star Wars Detours needs a
home. Honesty Cartoon Network I
did not want you to have it. The
channel may be claiming to be reviving Saturday morning cartoons. But what I have seen in the last year
is taking prime time programming like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Young
Justice and hiding it. Even my
DVR is confused! But Star Wars Detours would look fantastic
on the Disney Channel playing in a block with Gravity Falls.
Then
there are all the other possibilities.
Could Droids and Ewoks show up on Disney Junior? Does ABC Family in the future have
trilogy marathons? How about a Young Indiana Jones reboot? Now that is something that would look
really good on Disney XD!
·
Everything
Else: This is a big deal. These are big rich companies so a lot
of thoughts come to mind. Some of
the other misscelanous include such thoughts as will there be a
Mickey/Pixar/Muppets/Star Wars/Marvel crossover of some type. My guess is maybe someday but not
quickly. To date there has only
been one Disney/Marvel crossover and that was the Avengers and the elves from Prep & Landing. Will Star Wars comics return to Marvel? Will Disney Publishing take over the Expanded Universe? I think those two will be tied to what
current contracts allow and if licensing is more profitable than full
production for Disney. It is not
like Disney is recognized as a publisher of science fiction novels. And we will get the original
theatrical releases on Blu Ray? First
of all, Disney has shown willingness to listen to creative voices in the
past. And George Lucas is not just
a Disney fan, he’s part owner now.
So I am guessing that until Lucas gives the green light, that would be a
no!
Honestly, I am
still stunned. This came out of
nowhere, but is also something I have thought for years would be a great
idea. This may be a bigger day
than Disney’s purchase of Marvel. As
one tweet I saw earlier said, Princess Leia is now a Disney Princess!
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