Between Books - Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy

Synergy!

I love it!

It may not be for everyone, but I generally am a fan. And with something as big as the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser it’s all departments on deck as Marvel supports an ambitious new hotel experience!

Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy written by Ethan Sacks with art by Will Sliney takes readers on a historic journey on the fictional galactic starcruiser. We join a grandfather and granddaughter on a voyage when it is stopped by pirates. The space pirates are seeking out a spy for the Resistance, and they hope to be rewarded by the First Order for turning over the agent. During this crisis, the Halcyon’s logistic droid Deethree Ohnine tells the family stories of past events, including one that involved the grandfather. These tales also give Star Wars fans moments with The High Republic, Aurra Sing, Asajj Ventress, Anakin Skywalker, Padme Amidala, Lando Calrissian, Hondo Ohnaka, and many more. The stories together paint a picture of a cruise liner with a long history of intrigue and adventure.

Overall, the story is what you expect for a comic book tale. And it is written clearly and approachable especially for younger fans. I assume that Disney and its subsidiaries did require that the story include a large number of tie-ins…for synergy. The art is well done and gives you the visual reference you need to enter the Star Wars universe.

Huh, so you want to open with a story about the High Republic? I get that the High Republic is a massive Disney publishing program. But do you really want to open with that? To me, this comic has a purpose. Okay, I will agree that Sacks and Sliney had the purpose of creating an enjoyable story. So two purposes. Purpose two, as likely seen by Disney as purpose one, is to get guests excited about Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. I’d also argue that kids are a great target for the comics format. I am not convinced that kids really know anything about the High Republic publishing effort. I’m not convinced as a Disney adult that the High Republic, especially wave two, is successful also. So while I get the references to the newest trilogy, especially how it aligns with Batuu, I scratch my head with the inclusion of an era of Star Wars that is really only on the page at the moment.

To continue to overstep myself, I think if Disney Parks, Lucasfilm, and Marvel wanted to really use synergy this story should have gone a little differently. First, we only get to see Captain Keevan in the story from the actual park experience cast. I think they could have added more current crew to the story. That would have better prepared you for who you will meet on the Halcyon. We really don’t get to see as much of the ship as I wanted. And I still scratch my head that anyone can do lightsaber training after tv has shown us they are super hard to use (nerd alert). Second, I would have rolled into the moments that older Star Wars fans may really have wanted, the original trilogy cast on an adventure. I think this would have been a perfect moment to adapt Princess Leia’s and Han’s honeymoon into comics. They’ve adapted entire Thrawn novels into comics. And this would have been a great moment to give that story some visuals. Now that is synergy and maybe help get Disney some bookings. And spoiler, younger fans like that first group of heroes too!

Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy written by Ethan Sacks with art by Will Sliney is a fine representation of a comic book that can be enjoyed by numerous audiences. I just see the ability to better apply synergy. I think that Disney could have better used this opportunity to get bookings by making guests feel both informed and excited about a vacation of a lifetime. I would have simply recommended sprinkle in more of who we know and who we will see.

 

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Between Books - Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel

 

 

Synergy.

Some people love it, some people hate it, and Disney excels at it.

I needed to read Star Wars: Princess and the Scoundrel to better prepare myself for a future trip to somewhere I have never been, Disney’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and the exclusive Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, the Haylcon, experience.

Readers are dropped into the days following the destruction of the second Death Star on Endor as Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel by Beth Revis opens. Han Solo confesses his love and proposes to Rebel hero Princess Leia Organa. The Rebel Alliance puts on an Ewok Wedding, and the two plan to honeymoon. Despite the Rebel victory, the Empire still stands and is reorganizing. And while the newly married couple should take some time to honeymoon, they instead merge politics and love as they take a very public honeymoon on the recently recommissioned tourist starship, the Halcyon. The two struggle with defining what their new marriage looks like in a new universe where both will have plenty of responsibility and danger. Leia uses this trip to work in some ambassador work and the couple must show the galaxy that the Empire has truly fallen.

Star Wars books and I don't always get along. Mental images at times create frustration for me as the different species distract me as I try to remember what they all look like. However, here I did not have this concern. Instead, sadly, I just found this book a little dull. The plot was not quite galactic trade routes but it was close. Much of the book revolves around what the new galaxy can and will look like. So, lots of talky talky talky. The plot is a bit predictable with no action till nearly 70% into the book. I really preferred Revis’ Star Wars: Rebel Rising which better spaced the action. And let us be honest, Star Wars is an action story and we need a constant stream of incidents to keep the reader’s attention.

Sadly, the text also did not really get me excited about the Halcyon. My understanding is that incidents occurred that tie to visits on the Halcyon today. Though as a reader we really do not spend much time on the Halcyon and exploring the ship. Instead, we spend a lot of moments on two separate moons. And I left the book, not at all excited about the possibility of a future stay on the ship.

Synergy gives, and synergy takes away. Sadly, for me, Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel fails to get Disney fans excited for a resort stay. And I think that those who want to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge should instead look to Star Wars: Black Spire which familiarizes readers with what they may see in the park…but not the Haylcon.



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Between Books - The Making of Disney's The Jungle Cruise

 

In the movie Elf, James Caan’s Walter Hobbs is a publisher who makes a mistake.  He approves a book for printing that is missing pages.  And now children around the world will never know how the adventures of a puppy and pigeon will end.  I mean it is fiction, right?  A publisher would never put out an embarrassing product when they could have stopped it from hitting the shelves.

Looking at you Disney!

I apologize author Michael Goldman.  I am not going to blame you!

Disney Edition’s The Making of Disney's The Jungle Cruise is truly one of the worst Disney books ever offered to the public.  Author Michael Goldman does the job he was contracted for.  He gives his readers the background of the Jungle Cruise ride.  He goes through the production of the movie, with text that is on par with what we would expect from D23 Magazine.  And there is are some interesting tidbits like the filming of Prima a completely CGI character.  And I love the references to Tales from the Jungle Crews, which shows me Goldman went past the Disney archives for material.  But the book is a major failure and Goldman can luckily blame Walter Hobbs, I mean Disney Editions, for this failure.

The Making of Disney's The Jungle Cruise was not sold as a physical book to support the movie.  And I can understand with the pandemic and changing schedules how this decision was made.  However, in producing this as an eBook only Disney has failed us.  The pages are full of colorful pictures and concept art.  And the book was laid out in an artistic presentation that if printed would honestly look great.  But instead in the Kindle app on an iPad, an enjoyable experience is a nightmare.  The text is too small.  The solution is clearly just expand the view and blow up the page.  Too bad the minute you do that the text and images become blurry.  Navigating the blown-up pages led to page skips and jittery page movements where at times I lost entire pages of text.  Sometimes, I would turn the page just to get a big white box until I again resized the page.  It is very hard to keep to the flow of the text when one is just worried they lost a page or had the page skip to a new location. The book was clearly prepared as basically a series of images not formatted for Ereading.  And none of the benefits of reading an electronic book are available like bookmarking or highlighting.  In short, Disney took a book they were maybe planning to print and turned it into a series of images which is mis sized and unreadable.

I love the Jungle Cruise.  I love the movie.  Too bad this book is a true disaster.  If Disney Editions had just put some effort into the user acceptance testing they would have found how horrible of an experience they were providing to their audience.  Maybe then they could have fixed the formatting issues and let readers enjoy the images and text.  This book is a disaster and the only reason I have not returned it is I got it on sale.  Honestly charging full price for this book is a greater price gouging ploy than a family of four staying at the Galactic Starcruiser.  This is a book you can skip over and avoid the frustration that reading it brings.

 

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Between Books - The Imagineering Story

 

It’s a brick!

Don’t get me wrong, bricks are good. Bricks give us firm foundations.  

When I ordered The Imagineering Story, I saw the 700-plus pages and had a thought. It’s an oversized art book? That many pages just have to be filled with a lot of pictures, definitely more than text. It will definitely be artful, fun, and light.

There are five pages of pictures…and all in the front of the book!

Stop thinking art books, and start thinking 700-page fiction fantasy or thriller because this book is just as wild of a ride as any of those! And it is all words my friend!

The Imagineering Story: The Official Biography of Walt Disney Imagineering by Leslie Iwerks is more than a companion to the Disney+ series of the same name. She documents the actions of Walt Disney Imagineering from Walt Disney to the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. She draws a line of artists, creators, and business people who shared a common mission, “to create fun.” Iwerks provides a deep narrative that moves from park to park and milestone to milestone for Disney creatives. While giving us a history of things and events she adds multi-page biographies of Imagineers that often includes how they were recruited by Imagineering and their impact on an important project. The writing is clear, detailed, and consistent. And while it is not an academic press, it is clear that Disney sees this volume as exactly what the title claims “the official biography.”

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty. Iwerks overall keeps a calm tone. It is one that neither gets too high nor too low, it is honest and consistent. So while readers may come up against names that give them internal frustration, Iwerks avoids name-calling and dirt-digging. Everything is neither always good and never always bad. It is just frank here are the facts. It is likely this tone that allowed her to talk about some low points in Imagineering history in both the book and series in a Disney-sanctioned program. Let’s be honest, Disney does have a tendency to paint a rosy at all times picture. And Iwerks does not have to run away from the bad times for employees and the parks. I am still shocked that Michael Eisner was given such a big role in her series, and I am all for it. In the end, Iwerks can go places that maybe Disney marketing may not have preferred because to be blunt she wasn’t looking to flame anyone, she’s just providing facts.

Personally, I really liked her biographies of Imagineers. And yes as expected we get our Tony Baxters and Kevin Raffetys and other well-known figures. But I must admit, I was shockingly under informed of the career of Disney Legend, and guest star of The Mandalorian, Wing Chao. These biographies also answered questions for me about some Imagineers I saw in the program. For example, Doris Woodward was a new to me Imagineer, and Iwerks has time on the page to give us the background on this key leader for Shanghai Disney. And maybe these biographical asides were my favorite part as they allowed me to connect with people.

As Disney fans, we have dreamed about staying overnight in a Disney park. In the United States, we dream of winning an in-park suite for the night. Or we daydream of getting locked in by accident. Internationally, we may have the opportunity to stay in a Disney hotel in a park. But in 2011, 70,000 guests were marooned in Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea after a devastating earthquake and national tragedy. This is not how I would like to be staying overnight in a park, especially with cold temperatures. And Iwerks’ retelling of this incident has stuck with me. It shows that we may not know everything and The Imagineering Story has so much Disney history something that you’ve never read about is going to be in here. And Iwerks’ clear writing creates drama and tension.

The biggest personal issue I have with the book is a lack of an index and a lack of cited sources. Lack of index is likely my biggest future problem. This book is huge. And really one does need a map to go back and find content for future projects. Even writing this review required me to dig to confirm content a little harder than I really wanted to. Have I mentioned this book is huge? The lack of citations I am going to give her a pass on. Iwerks is a filmmaker, not a historian. I have a history background and I like to see the work. Iwerks relied heavily on interviews and internal sources and when quoting someone she always gives you the speaker in the text. She had access to the Disney Archives and most of all the people who lived the creations. We must remember that Iwerks is the granddaughter of Mickey Mouse’s co-creator and the daughter of a Disney film legend. Disney Legend could be the family crest! She is more focused on telling a story of creating fun, and her lack of citations keeps moving the story she’s telling forward of creativity and innovation.

In 2023, we enter the one-hundredth year of the Walt Disney Company. The Imagineering Story is the beginning of a book program to support this milestone. And Leslie Iwerks gives us the first good brick in the magical year’s foundation.

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