On April 28, 2013, at 7:30 PM ET/PT, The Muppets are going to make one of those appearances: stopping by the Duncan family’s home on Disney Channel’s Good Luck Charlie.

I’ve actually watched all of the episodes of the show, because I find its’ brand of humor to be fun, clean, and a welcome change of pace from network TV.  Plus, it’s a positive look at a big family, and the rare Disney property where both the mother and father are present, and involved, in their kids’ lives.  This is definitely one show that I’ll gladly watch with my kids.

Appearing on the episode are Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Animal.  They join series stars Bridgit Mendler and Leigh-Allyn Baker to perform a show-stopping original song, which is described as “Muppet-ational.”

In the premiere episode, the Duncan Family decides to build their dream house after the family home is devastated by termites. Everyone, with the exception of Charlie (played by Mia Talerico), is excited at the prospect of a new and larger home. However, Teddy (Bridgit Mendler) has a change of heart after a dream in which Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Animal convince her that the old family home is really the house of her dreams. (via)

Access Hollywood visited the set of Good Luck Charlie when they were filming the season premiere.  They caught up with Miss Piggy while they were there. “[The Duncans] let me take over their home, which is actually good for them, as everybody knows having a star in your home increases property values,” Miss Piggy said.

I’ve seen most of their films, when they’ve had topics that have interested me, and so far I’ve only skipped one.  Starting with Earth, which was kind of a summary version of the BBC’s Planet Earth, I’ve been captivated by this series of films.  Oceans was a disappointment to me, spending too much time on climate change and not enough time on the strange and wonderful creatures that inhabit the deep.  The narration was lacking as well, with too little talking when we needed some more explanation of what we were seeing.

On Blu-ray, we next watched Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos, which is a fascinating look the very intriguing and unique pink bird.  It’s not been given an American narrator, so the English language is the British English version.  In theaters next was African Cats, which tells the story of Lions and Cheetahs trying to survive on the African savannah.  And finally, last year saw the release of Chimpanzee, which is the one that I skipped.  Many years ago, they announced all of the various films that they had in the works, and that was the one that I just was not interested in.  At all.  Nor was my wife.  We’re just not all that interested in Chimpanzees.

There was another Disneynature film that I have wanted to see ever since I saw the trailer for it on my Blu-ray of Crimson Wing.  I imported the British Blu-ray because, at the time, it was unclear when that movie would be coming to America.  It has since been released here, but the narrator is the same.  Anyhow, there was a trailer for a film called Hidden Beauty: A Love Story that Feeds the Earth.  Researching the film, I found that it was originally called Pollen.  It’s finally coming here, and it’s got a new title.

Wings of Life

When I learned that the next Disneynature film to be released on the big screen wouldn’t be until 2014, I was a bit disappointed, but yesterday I got an e-mail from Disney that changed everything.  This year, they’re releasing Wings of Life.  It’s coming to Blu-ray (a combo pack that includes a DVD), Digital and On Demand.

From the press release:

Spring is in the air—literally—as Disneynature prepares to unveil “Wings of Life,” a spectacular, closer-than-close, high-definition look at the intricate world of butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and bats, and their life-sustaining collaboration with flowers. Directed by Louie Schwartzberg (“America’s Heart & Soul”) and narrated by Academy Award® winner Meryl Streep, “Wings of Life” will be available April 16, 2013—just in time for Earth Day.

“In the chaos and craziness of our day-to-day lives, few of us stop to consider what’s happening behind the scenes in nature that makes our lives possible,” said Streep. “This film is a stunning adventure that literally takes flight alongside all kinds of winged creatures—butterflies, bees and bats—each working hard to pollinate our planet.”

Said Schwartzberg, “For me, the joy of doing this film is to be able to explore worlds that humans can’t easily experience—bats sipping nectar in the middle of the desert at night, orchid bees expertly manipulated by a bucket orchid, exotic hummingbirds flying like airborne dancers, and a clustering monarch colony with millions of butterflies. I hope to share the spectacle of nature and to spark in others the sense of wonder I have about the natural world.”

Employing multiple cameras, both time-lapse and high-speed cinematography and extraordinary patience (while nature took its time unfolding), filmmakers shot on location in more than a dozen areas, ranging from the El Rosario Preserve in Michoacán, Mexico, to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Park in Arizona. “Wings of Life” features extraordinary imagery shot with digital cameras—one capable of frame rates of up to 1500 frames per second, and the use of a pinhole lens, which allowed the cameraman to get within millimeters of an insect subject while retaining a clear view of the background. The resulting imagery—intimate and breathtaking—is brought to life for audiences through spectacular high-definition picture and sound quality.

To celebrate the debut of “Wings of Life,” Disneynature has made a contribution to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF) to protect pollinators worldwide. The DWCF has already supported more than 20 projects across North America focused on protecting pollinators and their habitats. Grants have helped conservationists save endangered butterflies, expand habitat for honeybees and educate children about the importance of pollinators and how they can help protect them.

Next year: Bears

Last September I was excited to learn about the production of the next Disneynature film – which has been shooting in Alaska – Bears.  And if you want to get an early look at it, be sure to pick up the Wings of Life Blu-ray.

The “Wings of Life” Blu-ray Combo Pack includes a sneak peek at Disneynature’s 2014 big-screen adventure “Bears.” In an epic story of breathtaking scale set against a majestic Alaskan backdrop teeming with life, the film, which is currently in production, follows two mother grizzly bears as they impart life lessons to their impressionable young cubs.

After that, who knows?

All I know is, I do hope that Disneynature continues to deliver.  While I’m not a fan of some of the political messages that some of these have, I love the chance to see breathtaking scenery and incredible animals in their natural environments.  It’s part of why I also love going to the Zoo wherever I travel.

My hope is that they do a film called The Outback or something like that, which could focus on Australian animals.  There could also be a great one with New Zealand specific animals like the Kiwi.  What other animals would you like to see in future Disneynature films?

Order Wings of Life on Blu-ray from Amazon

Trailer – Wings of Life on Disney Video

The Muppets

Acquired by Disney in 2004, they started out by creating “The Muppets Studios” and making some mistakes with the characters, creating some very lackluster made-for-tv specials that don’t come close to matching the magical qualities of Muppet Family Christmas and The Muppet Christmas Carol.  Everything changed for the better when Disney assigned a new general manager for the Muppets Studios.  Lylle Breier was the third manager in three years but came aboard with a big difference: she was a life-long fan of the Muppets.  The quality of their work increased since she took the position in 2006.  In 2011, Disney released The Muppets, which was the first film to bring back the Jim Henson magic in many years.  It was a home-run that fired on all cylinders.  Early in 2014 we’ll see the sequel, The Muppets…Again! come to theaters.  We can see that Disney clearly learned from their mistakes, and continued to seek ways to improve, to make sure that their investment actually pays off, eventually.

Pixar

A company that Disney teamed up with on many films prior, it was finally acquired in 2006. Part of the conditions for the acquisition included Pixar running as a separate entity, which has been successfully upheld since then.  In fact, the talented filmmakers at Pixar have since started to help the rest of Disney’s film slate stronger, helping with the story development at the Walt Disney Studios.  It was a great buy for Disney, and for Pixar, as it allowed Pixar to continue developing movies with their characters (such as the incredible Toy Story 3).

Marvel

When Disney bought Marvel, there was an outcry unlike anything I’d seen before.  The Muppets made sense for Disney.  Pixar made sense for Disney.  Did Marvel?  History should have told us everything we needed to know about how Disney would handle Marvel after the 2009 acquisition was complete.  They followed through with phase one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and phase two has just begun.  They’ve been hiring talented people to create the films in the series, and doing something else that was practically unheard of before: having the screenwriters consult with the writers that bring the characters to life on a monthly basis in the comics.  They’ve been getting practically every character right since then.  We can only wish that they’d get all of the Marvel characters back into the fold, as Sony holds Spider-Man and Fox holds Fantastic Four and Elektra.  All of that to say that Disney has proven themselves again, with Marvel, that their ownership proves beneficial, and not detrimental, to the companies and properties that they purchase.

Lucasfilm

This brings us to the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm.  This is probably the one with the biggest weight.  It comes with two massive properties in Star Wars and Indiana Jones.  It also includes Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound, LucasArts, Lucasfilm Animation, Lucas Books, Lucas Licensing and Lucas Online.  Disney’s not going to step on any toes with this, and they’ve already proven that three times over.  Based on what they’ve done previously with The Muppets, Pixar and Marvel, we have no reason to doubt how Disney will handle Lucasfilm.  And so far, they’ve been making some bold moves.  With Kathleen Kennedy at the helm of Lucasfilm, and the Disney machine willing to do what it takes to make their investment a success, they’ve courted J.J. Abrams to direct the first of the new Star Wars films, and have Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg on board to write their own stand-alone Star Wars films on top of consulting.  Plus, Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt is writing the script for Star Wars: Episode VII.

A New Hope

This acquisition has also managed to do something that many felt couldn’t be done.  I’ve known it was possible, but I doubt many would have believed me, because I’m a fan of the prequels.  What Disney has managed to do is restore the excitement around Star Wars.  Fans that had written the whole franchise off are now talking with an optimism not seen since 1999.  There are always going to be the haters.  Just like the prequels, the only thing that will satisfy many of the fans is a re-release of the original theatrical cuts of the original trilogy.  That said, it’s great to see Star Wars being discussed with a sense of hope, the unknown, and excitement once again.

There is one pretty big inconsistency in the Star Wars films that I don’t know the answer to.

How does Leia remember her mother?

It seems there are many theories about why, in Return of the Jedi, Leia says that her mother was “very beautiful. Kind, but…sad.”

The original trilogy never mentions how Padme died, which is probably why Revenge of the Sith had her die in childbirth.  But that doesn’t really make sense with regard to Leia’s memories of her.  There have been attempts to explain it, however.

In The Empire Strikes Back, two important things happen that could help to explain.  First, Yoda says to Luke: “Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future…the past…old friends long gone.”  Second, Leia is Force sensitive, and hears Luke when he’s calling for her help at the end of the film.  These two facts make it possible that she had sensed her mother, or seen visions of her in the past, and not really known the difference.

The only real downside to that explanation is Leia saying “You have a power?  I don’t understand,” to which Luke responds that she has it too, and that in time, she’ll learn to use it as he has.  Leia should have understood at least some of it.  But then, she didn’t really understand how Luke had called to her in The Empire Strikes Back.  So if she had sensed her mother through the Force as a small child, she may have thought she was seeing her mother, or just known that she was seeing her through the Force.  But how those visions became memories that she just recalled without question, we’ll never know.

My concept for how to resolve this is simple, and provides a solution to the entire situation.

Padme doesn’t die.

That’s right.  I feel that Padme should have survived Revenge of the Sith.  She should have gone to Alderaan, and when she got there, given Luke to Obi-wan to hide on Tattooine.

This would help to alter the editing and dialog of the scene in which Darth Vader is first revived in his respirator suit. This scene is suddenly given much more gravity, even as currently written.

Palpatine: Lord Vader, can you hear me?

Darth Vader: [In mechanical voice] Yes, Master. Where is Padmé? Is she safe? Is she alright?

Palpatine: It seems, in your anger, you killed her.

Darth Vader: I… I couldn’t have. She was alive! I felt it! [damages several surrounding objects and droids through the Force. He then breaks the clamps that have been holding him down and takes a few steps forward. Palpatine watches, grinning cruelly.] NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Instead, the conversation between Palpatine and Vader could then have been more manipulative and sinister.  When Palpatine says “you killed her,” Vader would have responded “No, she’s still alive, I can feel it.”  Palpatine could then say, “no, your feelings have betrayed you.”

I would have had the clamps broken off by the use of the Force, and not brute force.  I would also have had things around the room shatter a bit.  Then, as Vader begins to say “NOOOOO…” it cuts to a shot of Padme, on Alderaan.  We continue to hear the “NOOO” as a voice-over in the background.  Padme tears on her cheeks, as she is holding Leia.

It does alter the order of events for the end of the film, as well as some of the conversations that some of the characters have, but not all that much.  Bail Organa and his wife could take Padme in, with the newborn Leia, informing her that her identity would need to be changed to keep her safe.

The one thing it wouldn’t cover would be how Padme eventually dies, because she clearly isn’t around at all for the original trilogy.  This would be one of the mysteries that would go unanswered, that fans would speculate about until it was written about in books that take place between Episodes III and IV.  This is also one of the mysteries that the prequel trilogy needed to leave us with.

While everyone seems to want The Wonder Years, that is at least available on Netflix streaming.  The same, unfortunately, cannot be said of Ed, which is one of the best TV shows ever made.  It deserves a release onto home video.

Produced by Worldwide Pants, this show features Tom Cavanagh as Ed Stevens, a contracts lawyer at a high-profile New York City firm. Around the same time he splits with his wife (she slept with a mailman), he makes a single error in punctuation when going over a contract; and because of the resulting financial loss to the firm, he’s fired. Despondent, he heads back to his (small) hometown of Stuckeyville — ‘Anytown’, USA. There he realizes he’s been missed by a lot of friends whom he’s missed; and he sees Carol (Julie Bowen), the girl he’d adored in high school. Swept up in roiling emotions, Ed buys the local bowling alley on a whim, moves to Stuckeyville, and determines to win Carol’s heart. His horizons broaden as he settles once more in Stuckeyville, and the series itself settles into a charming, funny, often serious slice-of-life series focused not solely on Ed but on the lovable ensemble cast of people who live and work with him in Stuckeyville.

If you need a reason why, watch this clip, Ed’s Decision, from a season 3 episode:

Like Ed on Facebook:

What do we know so far?

February 25, 2007 .. Collider.com published an interview with Tom Cavanagh, the star of Ed and Gray Matters, his movie with Heather Graham. A question about Ed on DVD came up…

Are we going to see Ed on DVD?

Tom Cavanagh: Yeah, I guess they’re talking about it. Last I heard was they were close on season one. The stumbling block as it’s like a lot of the time is the music rights. They were fortunate enough because of the clout they had as the Letterman’s producers to get a lot of great music as one-offs, of course when you put those on a DVD that becomes a whole different thing. I think that’s the difficulty. It would be nice; it would be helpful to have a little something to have a paper weight on the desk.

You’d come back and do commentary and stuff?

Tom Cavanagh: Gosh I don’t know. That might be the death of the DVD. I’d like to hear what the producers have to say, that’s for sure.

March 9, 2007 .. The Futon Critic interviewed Rob Burnett and Jon Berkerman from The Knights of Prosperity, and the interview started with The Futon’s Brian Ford Sullivan, a good friend to our site, asking about the Ed DVDs:

Brian Ford Sullivan: Before we start – I have to ask, who do I have to kidnap, blackmail and/or threaten to get “Ed” on DVD?

Rob Burnett: We’re working on that. [Laughs.]

Jon Beckerman: Yeah, it’s been sort of confusing especially since everything else that’s ever been made for television seems to be on DVD now. But our understanding is that things got kind of tied up in between the different entities that were involved in producing the show. Because it was a joint production of Viacom Productions, which no longer exists, and NBC Productions and I guess Viacom kind of got absorbed back into Paramount and I don’t know, it’s just a whole maze of executives and confusion. But we’ve had a lot of requests for it come our way and so we just want copies for ourselves mostly. [Laughs.] We’d like that to happen.

Rob Burnett: I think that the real reason is that the show is so good they fear that if they put it on DVD people would die of laughter. So it’s really a precautionary measure.

February 11, 2009 .. Tom Cavanagh paid a visit to WOOD-TV8′s “Avi the TV Geek” (a.k.a. Avi Forstein) at the NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the video clip of the interview that you’ll find there, at about 32 seconds in, the TV Geek asks Cavanagh about the possibility of DVD releases for a pair of the actor’s previous television series: Ed and Love Monkey. Here’s the exchange:

TVGeek: I mean, you’re obviously not making any more residuals from Ed, so you know, you gotta find work.

Tom Cavanagh: Uhhh…How do YOU know I’m not? Ummm…

TVGeek: Well, I’ve always wondered. Are they coming out with a DVD of Ed anytime soon here?

Tom Cavanagh: Um, that is in the works as we speak. We don’t want to, like, jam it down peoples’ throats immediately…we’re trying to wait a nice decade before we can present that to the people who want it.

TVGeek: Oh, I see. I’ll see Love Monkey out on DVD in 2030, then. Right?

Tom Cavanagh: You’ll probably see Love Monkey before you see Ed, but they’re both in the works. How about that?

And that was the last update on the DVD until a recent story on AV Club that mentioned Ed:

“There are still shows of relatively recent vintage that cannot be found anywhere, mainly because of obscure legal reasons. That’s the case with Ed, the wonderful 2000-2004 NBC comedy-drama starring Tom Cavanagh as Ed, a New York lawyer who escapes to his Ohio hometown and opens a bowling alley after he gets fired from his high-powered job. He then tries to reconnect with Julie Bowen, the girl he had an unrequited crush on in high school. The show had a fun, easygoing vibe, and it introduced a bunch of quirky characters who quickly became endearing—including Justin Long and Michael Ian Black in supporting roles. But as with most shows at the beginning of the era when third-party pop and rock songs were used in abundance on shows, the folks at NBC and Worldwide Pants didn’t realize they’d need to secure DVD rights to all the fantastic music used in the show. Cavanagh has told reporters that there will probably never be DVDs of the series because those rights are so expensive. So the best we can do is YouTube clips, which we can watch while cursing Hollywood’s shortsightedness in the early years of the DVD era.”

So, the chances that we’ll be seeing Ed on DVD and Blu-ray any time soon are pretty slim to none, but perhaps enough people writing the studio could help persuade them to get the rights.  Perhaps.

Mystery Boxes are those mysteries that occur when you’re watching a movie or TV series brings up a bunch of questions that you feel the need to know the answers to.  They happen very frequently at the beginning of the original Star Wars film, A New Hope.

J.J. Abrams explained it best:

The prequels had a few really great mysteries that could have been much better, and played up to a greater effect.  For instance, the name of Episode I was The Phantom Menace.  That turns out to be Palpatine, but it could have been far more multifaceted, referring to more than just him.  Here are some mysteries that could have carried the prequels forward to a greater effect.

Sifo-Dyas and the Clone Army

When we get to the planet Kamino in Attack of the Clones, we learn about a mysterious Jedi Master by the name of Sifo-Dyas.  Sifo-Dyas was the Jedi Master that ordered the building of the clone army, after being persuaded by Palpatine’s former master, Darth Plagueis, to do so.  When we learn about Sifo-Dyas in Attack of the Clones, we have no idea who he is, and the answer is merely that he was the one that put in the order for the clones.  That was something that books described later on, but with some creativity, it could have become a part of The Phantom Menace.  This would have allowed the start of the clone wars to be revealed toward the end of the first film, rather than merely the end of the second.

Darth Sidious and Palpatine

With the inclusion of Sifo-Dyas, the entire clone army plan would have played right into the the Sidious / Palpatine mystery.  That was an amazing story that was happening behind the scenes (hence the name The Phantom Menace).  The thing is, it didn’t need to be hidden from the audience.  It would have made what is already a good story (seriously) all the more intriguing.  Palpatine was fighting for Naboo, his home planet.  He also hired the Trade Federation to set up a blockade, and put many of the people of the capital city of Theed into concentration camps.  The plan also included using a very inexperienced person in the position of Queen of Naboo.  This allowed him to manipulate her into creating the groundswell that would get him elected as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.

The Supreme Chancellor, Count Dooku and the Jedi

Another very small thing in the opening crawl could have turned out to be a very interesting plot point.  The fact that the Supreme Chancellor had sent the Jedi to Naboo to handle the situation.  It says in the opening crawl: “the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights.”  This meant that the Supreme Chancellor had at least some sway over the Jedi, and is a very big reason for Palpatine to seek out a position where he would have that control.

This could have been played out on-screen with Count Dooku entering the picture earlier in the trilogy.  I think it would have been interesting to have Dooku still be someone that Qui-Gon Jinn looks up to, and perhaps even have him be secretly meeting with Sidious and Darth Maul.  Kind of like Tarkin to Palpatine and Vader in the Original Trilogy.  However, I’d also have him kind of manipulating the events to send the Jedi and Darth Maul to Naboo, which leads to both Qui-Gon and Darth Maul’s deaths.  The betrayal of Qui-Gon, whom he might have known he was sending to his death, as well as the end of Darth Maul, give him room to become the new apprentice Sith Lord.

Another thought that I had would have Dooku killing Qui-Gon Jinn in the film, either prior to the big Darth Maul fight, or during it.  It could have been a scene that sort of parallels the scene in which Obi-Wan and Darth Vader fight in A New Hope.  Only this time the teacher defeats his student in battle.  If it happens earlier in the film, the Darth Maul fight at the end would have higher stakes, like the final part of their original on screen battle magnified.  If it happens at the same location, on Naboo, then Dooku would be cut off from the fight between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul, and would witness Maul’s end himself.  Perhaps the scene where Obi-Wan cuts Maul in half, part of the reason why he’s able to succeed is because Dooku uses a force-choke on Maul at precisely that moment.

In Conclusion

These few things would have likely made for a far more intriguing film saga.  The establishment of the Clone Army earlier in the trilogy, the rise of Palpatine to power, and the path of Count Dooku to Darth Tyranus.  All in Episode I, setting up a much stronger trilogy right from the start.

First, some background on the Expanded Universe

Since 1991′s release of Heir to the Empire, new Star Wars stories have been released pretty consistently.  Books that cover, so far, about 44 years of adventures after the Battle of Yavin (which is the battle that takes place in A New Hope).  This territory includes many adventures with the primary cast from the trilogy, as well as their children, the Empire, and changes to the known universe.  A lot of great adventures that land all over the timeline.  If a character dies in a particular book, any book that happens later on cannot have that character suddenly living as if nothing has happened.  What people that don’t know, or understand, that haven’t looked into the Expanded Universe, is that it all happens on the same timeline. This means that a book that happens on the timeline between two previously written books can’t change things so much that the following story doesn’t make sense, so that there’s a logical progression.

Now, with new Star Wars sequels coming to film, how does that effect the Expanded Universe?

Well, for the most part, at this time, we don’t really know.  One thing we do know is that the new trilogy, Episodes 7, 8 and 9, all happen after Return of the Jedi.  What we don’t know is how much later they happen, and what the films will say happened between the end of Episode 6 and the start of Episode 7.  Each of these things, as well as revelations over the course of the three films, could have a sweeping effect that forever alters the state of the Expanded Universe.

This is what Pablo Hidalgo wrote about the situation in the recently released book, Star Wars: The Essential Reader’s Companion:

Canon and Continuity

Common questions are: How “real” are these stories?  Do they count?  Did they really happen?

The most definitive canon of the Star Wars universe is encompassed by the feature films and television productions in which George Lucas is directly involved.  The movies and the Clone Wars television series are what he and his handpicked writers reference when adding cinematic adventures to the Star Wars oeuvre.

But Lucas allows for an Expanded Universe that exists parallel to the one he directly oversees.  In many cases, the stewards of the Expanded Universe – editors within the licensing division of Lucasfilm Ltd. who work with authors and publishers – will ask for his input or blessing on projects.  Though these stories may get his stamp of approval, they don’t enter his canon unless they are depicted cinematically in one of his projects.

That said, unless something occurs in a canon project to directly contradict a published source, it can reliably be said to have occurred.  Extensive records track the growth of the Expanded Universe, cataloging planets, characters, technology, and events, to allow for a sprawling, believable continuity connecting the published works of the Star Wars universe.  It’s not perfect – when errors occur, the Companion does sometimes call them out.  This is not to diminish these tales in any way, but rather to illustrate that the Star Wars Expanded Universe is a living document that grows…

Quite simply, the Star Wars Expanded Universe is a timeline that happens parallel to the Star Wars Cinematic Universe.

The films and TV shows that come next aren’t going to be (necessarily) based on any of the books that have been written, nor will they be informed by those stories.

For all intents and purposes, the Star Wars film that J.J. Abrams directs first, should he direct any more, will do with the Star Wars Expanded Universe, what his Star Trek did with the entire timeline there.  This time it won’t be a sweeping reboot that plants us in an alternate timeline, in which all of the prior continuity is wiped clean.  This time, it’s the Expanded Universe that is becoming (officially) the alternate timeline.

Personally, I love many of the books that I’ve read in the Expanded Universe, and wish that they’d eventually consider bringing a few of those to the big screen.  However, it all depends on when the new Star Wars trilogy takes place.  What it says happened to some of the characters since the original trilogy, as well as the existence of their heirs, if any, may not leave room for any of, the Expanded Universe stories to happen.

All we can do now is wait and see what the new Star Wars trilogy brings, and maybe read some Star Wars books set on the alternate timeline.

Here’s the official announcement from Lucasfilm, followed by some of my own thoughts on this new development.

Lucasfilm is officially announcing new spinoff films that will expand the mythos and depths of the Star Wars universe in previously unexplored ways.

One of the stand-alone films will be written by Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and co-writer of Return of the Jedi while the other will be penned by Simon Kinberg, writer of Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The movies will be separate from the upcoming Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, on which Kasdan and Kinberg are also consulting, and are expected to be released sometime after Episode VII. Each standalone film will focus on a specific character, and two spinoff films are currently confirmed.

In a call to investors, Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, revealed while the original focus was on the highly-anticipated sequel trilogy, the idea of spinoff films was bandied about early and the additional films are now becoming a reality. “We are in development of a few standalone films,” he said, “that are not part of the Star Wars saga…there are now creative entities working on developing scripts for what would be those standalone films.”

Wow.  With J.J. Abrams directing Star Wars: Episode VII, and these new Star Wars spin-offs coming from some great writers, we’ve got a lot to look forward to.  Seriously, after six live-action Star Wars films, and an animated Clone Wars film, we’re getting no less than five more live-action Star Wars films, starting in 2015 with Episode VII.  According to Bob Iger, the plan is for the new trilogy to be released every two years.  This leaves room in the off years for one of the standalone films to be released.  That would mean that from 2015 to 2019 there would be a new Star Wars film on the big screen, each year.  Another possibility is that there could be a couple of Star Wars film released in the same year.

I think it’s reminiscent of the Marvel projects they have going on. The Avengers is really the main trilogy, with all of the individual films supporting that trilogy, while also being singular stories that may or may not have an impact on the overall story.  That said, it’s very possible that these standalone films will have nothing to do with the new primary trilogy.

Rumors so far include films that follow Yoda, Han Solo and Boba Fett.  Some of my favorite ideas that my friends had are Knights of the Old Republic and a stand-alone film documenting the success of Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes.

Honestly, I have no idea how this is going to go.  The Ewok Adventure and The Battle for Endor were television cinematic gold, and I’m not sure that these films will be able to live up to the legacy of those two epics.  We’ll have to wait and see what they’re going to be like.  My head is spinning with thoughts, including what the music will be like, the start of the movie, how the titles will work, what the movies will even be called, and I can’t wait to see it.

It finds the Muppet repertory company enjoying a triumphant world tour, only to become tangled up with a criminal mastermind named Constantine, who is out to steal an enormous diamond—and who happens to be a dead ringer for Kermit.

“I always loved those classic jewel-heist capers from the ’60s and ’70s, so I was very keen to do a movie that had elements of that [genre] featuring the Muppets and comedy and songs,” says returning director James Bobin, who co-wrote the script with Nicholas Stoller.

Many things have been said about the new Star Wars trilogy, but I’ve not yet read anything that talks about why this isn’t going to be another prequel trilogy repeat.  The reason why it’s different from the prequels will surprise you, because it has nothing to do with the quality of the films, and everything to do with the story.

It comes down to this: we don’t know what is going to happen next.  The sense of discovery that we had with the Original Trilogy unfolding before us will be present.

That was the one (gigantic) missing piece from the prequel trilogy.  We knew what was going to happen in those movies, even if we didn’t know all the details.  We just wanted to see how everything happened.  In fact, Episode III had everything that we wanted to see for the entire prequel trilogy: clone wars, Darth Vader hunting the Jedi, the Jedi purge, Anakin (by then Darth Vader) vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi, the birth of Luke and Leia, etc.  But we knew all of that.

This time, while there’s a horizon to reach, we don’t know where the horizon line is.  We don’t know if everyone will survive.  We know nothing about where the story will take place, or when it will be set.  This makes it all the more exciting, as we go from Episode VII, which will introduce the characters, story arc, and journey that we’ll be following through the trilogy.  We’ll also be introduced to a new threat to the galaxy, or possibly the remnants of the Empire will rise up in an attempt to reclaim their former glory.  It will be very interesting to see how that proceeds, as currently there are no Sith Lords left in the film universe.

This time, we get to discover the story as it unfolds, instead of waiting to see Obi-Wan’s words from 1977′s Star Wars: A New Hope come to life.

We know that it’s not based on any of the Expanded Universe material that has been released since 1991′s Heir to the Empire, though, which has implications of it’s own concerning all of those stories, but I’ll leave that for another entry.

We also know that George Lucas wrote the outline and that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher are possibly going to reprise their roles from the original trilogy.

But that’s it.  And that is exciting.  We have nothing to go from, no pre-imagined pages from a book that a purist will complain about to anyone that will listen, just pure, new, Star Wars.  And it’s about time we get something like this in more than just book form.  For the first time in a generation, we truly have our chance to see a new Star Wars trilogy, for the very first time.