With the surprise announcement today that Disney has purchased Lucasfilm, it essentially set the Internet on fire with many, many people in a panic and others reserving judgment. And then you have people like myself.
Like many people my age, Star Wars when it first came out was something that completely changed who I was and what I was interested in at the tender age of seven. My father was enamored with that first movie and the whole trilogy, the Alan Dean Foster and Brian Daley books expanded on it for me and then I get a hold of those old Marvel Comics with the green jack rabbit and oh so much more. Toys upon toys, coloring books, action figures, weapons, light sabers and all the rest. Even the audio dramas were amazing works for me as I heard them on the radio and eventually got them in a cleaner form years later.
Star Wars is a foundation for me when it comes to cinema, books, comics and more. It’s not the end all be all by any stretch, but it’s something that got me into movies in a big way and how they’re made. And through thick and thin, good novels and bad prequels, great games and expensive props, the thing that kept me coming back was that seven year old boy in me that it always brings forward with that sense of wonder. It’s the kind of thing that I’ve never let go of, something that unfortunately a lot of people do as they get older, and it’s made it easier to enjoy a great many things because of it.
So with the news today, there’s obviously quite a few people that are all angst filled over it for a number of reasons. In watching some of the footage out there with George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy being interviewed, the main thing that got me was that Lucas is in essence making sure that his legacy is secure. And that’s certainly understandable as he knows that what he created (with the help of many others) will long outlast him. There’s a massive, sprawling universe that’s been created and built upon by a great many people since then in books and comics and games. And what he’s doing here is the hand off to the next generation, one where he’ll be serving as a creative consultant, something that he’s largely been doing from my view for several years now since Revenge of the Sith completed.
What I take away from all of this is that Lucas is ready for the cinematic vision of the Star Wars universe to take a new shape. And it desperately needs it. As much as a fan as I am of the original trilogy and much of the material since, things were a bit more hit or miss with the prequel trilogy to be polite about it. But there were things that I really liked in some areas and it opened up more areas that definitely needed exploring -a lot of which has been dealt with in the Clone Wars CG series that is far better than many Star Wars fans really know. Between that and the comics and books and what Lucas has said he has with a treatment for three more movies and suggesting that all the other media is fair game, it really opens it up wide.
In listening to Kennedy, she definitely comes across to me as someone who has shepherded Lucas’ vision for quite some time and is now at that stage that many fans wish they were in; she’s got the keys to the kingdom and a real desire to do what Lucas has never really felt like he could really do in making a lot of movies. Lucas was a visionary with his original trilogy (for the most part) but he did not keep up with movie making over the years, unlike Spielberg. So when he returned to it with the prequels, it felt awkward as moviemaking had progressed since what he had last done in the 80’s. And it definitely showed in a lot of ways because there was always that sense that he had lost his way with what made his first movies so much fun for all ages yet not childish. Ewoks excluded.
With Kennedy now in control and reporting directly to the Disney chair, Lucasfilm gets to be in the enviable position similar to Marvel and Pixar. They have their plans, they get to cross germinate ideas within the larger Disney world (and Disney is going to get a lot of access to what Lucasfilm has as well for deals, contracts and connections) and Lucasfilm is about to reclaim the film part of their name. They’re going to make movies again. And that’s a lot to be excited about because there’s the potential for them to look at what the other mini’s within the Disney umbrella are doing and mirror that to some extent. Cohesive storytelling was already one of the defining elements of the franchise and they are able to really expand on that even more here. I don’t expect an R rated feature. At least not for quite some time. But the potential is there. And the potential for the long wished for TV series to really take flight now, what with there being this little TV network that Disney owns.
Star Wars has always been bigger than Lucas and he’s known that for a long, long time and he’s simply done what he’s wanted to do. But now the universe is going to be opened up to more creative minds, most of which have grown up with that influence to their own movies and foundations in cinema, being of the same generation that I am. If Lucasfilm now follows the Marvel model for bringing in talent and the Pixar model for story pitching and creation, the stars are the limit for what they can do. There’ll be those who would never want to touch that universe, but you can imagine there’s a number of writers, directors and actors that are making calls and itching to get involved in taking Star Wars to the next level.
With the original movies being my introduction to “real” comic books, it’s because of Star Wars that I got into Marvel Comics. And seeing how Disney has handled the world of Marvel, its comics, merchandise and more, I can’t help but to feel that things are safe here. Many from Marvel have stated for quite some time that what they do in the comics has not been changed due to Disney being above them. And Marvel Studios has made it clear that they’re definitely doing what it is they want to do. And Disney has learned that having these mini fiefdoms within the company with this kind of independence has made them stronger as there are clear visionaries working there. Seeing that Lucasfilm will be the next piece of the puzzle just brings something to a place where yes, it will be well marketed, merchandised and exploited in a big way. Similar to what Lucas has done himself over the years. But it’ll also be treated right at the core, something that I can’t say I feel the same about when it comes to other studios.
I can completely understand all the negativity that comes from a lot of fans. Both in how they feel that the franchise has fallen in so many ways to their view of Disney itself. That aspect is what I find to be the most problematic though since the company has reworked itself hugely in the last few years, but in ways that a lot of Star Wars fans may not realize. They’ve largely finished off the “princess movies” with Tangled being the last of those for awhile going by their plans. They’ve begun to change how their TV channels are worked as they realized they swung too far towards young girls with Hannah Montana while missing out on the boys market almost entirely, hence the big push towards Marvel which has resulted in the emphasis on the cartoon blocks and other areas to strengthen it. They fell so far into what people viewed as the “Disney” model that they realized it was crushing them. And the moves they’ve made have been working in expanding their presence and utilizing what they have, both in existing and new properties. When they bought Marvel, the doom and gloom was intense. Now it’s like the second coming as fans are getting movies that they never dared to dream that they might one day get. And to be treated as crown jewels at that.
And really. Star Wars: Episode VII and Avengers 2 in 2015 for starters? This is one seven year old that is supremely excited that he’s going to get to see all of this.
