Since the announcement that Disney bought Lucasfilm, there has been a wide range of reactions to it, from the very optimistic and positive, to the stunningly negative and outrageous. There are many reasons to be optimistic though, and I feel there are no valid arguments against Disney at this point. Within the last few years, Disney has made some pretty smart moves with their acquisitions. Let’s take a look at that to see why Star Wars is safe in the House of Mouse.
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.
Disney can actually do good things when they put their hearts into it. This could be good for SW.
Yes, it could go either way but I’m getting the vibe that the new Star Wars stuff is going to turn out good.
See the problem with the prequels is that the plot makes no sense, the characters are dull and boring, bad acting, CGI everywhere just everywhere, JAR JAR BINKS, and the list goes on and on. My friend asked me to explain the phantom meanace and I honestly couldn’t because it dont make sense. Um… jedi’ are sent to negotiate because um… Jedi are apparethem Master negotiators…? So then Mr. I’m the bad guy hologram orders them to be killed even though it wont help his plan at all… infact he should have just sent them back to corascaunt to tell everyone about the Naboo crisis… I mean isn’t that what he wanted. And why is something called the Trade Federation trying to block trade…? To create a crisis on Naboo? Why… oh because a hologram told them to… Wait why is it such a crisis for Naboo? Can such a lush planet with giant power generators not survive one day without trade? So anyways they decide to kill the jedi not by poisioning the tea they just gave them but by releasing gas into the room which Qui Gon automatically knows what gas it is without smelling it somehow. And after about 5 sec. the bad guy says one of the dumbest lines ever “they must be dead by now, destroy what’s left of them”…. What??? I would have left them there for days to make sure the died. Must I continue?
I respect the prequels and what George Lucas was trying to do but that doesn’t mean I like them.