POLL: What do you think of Disney swallowing up Star Wars? Plus a heartwarming video to put you at ease…
Surely you’ve heard of the latest Disney acquisition by now. Yep, it seems the House of Mouses’s neverending quest to capture the attention of young males just extended to A Galaxy Far, Far Away. I, for one, think it’s a damned fine move for Star Wars, and that’s saying nothing of Indy (Blu-ray is on sale at 50% off BTW!) and who knows?! Maybe even games like Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle! Either way, this adorable video sure as shit didn’t bring me any less confidence.
Georgey haters already seem positive Disney can do no worse for the franchise, including a newly announced Episode 7 for 2015, but Lucasfilm and Disney already have a fairly acceptable relationship (within the Disney parks anyway) that should give every fan a reason to be optimistic. Not only that, Lucas has a history of creating some of the most unforgettable entertainment with another company Disney scooped up this decade: The Muppets! Lucasfilm was involved in some of Jim Henson’s most visually astounding work, such as Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, plus some flimsy arrangement between those two visionaries spawned some of the most memorable moments in all of cartoon history, Muppet Babies! Which now stands a much better chance of getting a DVD release than ever before, since both properties reside under Mickey’s deep-pocketed umbrella.
Laser Time’s spoken of the warning signs in our Star Wars episode, Muppet episode, and at least one Cartoon episode, but we wanna hear what you think. It’s inevitable that the Disney/Star Wars marriage will be discussed at length in some upcoming episode of either Laser Time or Cape Crisis, so give us your feedback and be a part of the show!
CAPE CRISIS RECOMMENDS:
Anything is better than Lucas having control. Seeing what Disney has done for Marvel, I have high hopes for the future of the franchise. Maybe I’ll learn to love it all over again.
I don’t see how this could be a bad thing. No seriously, what is the fucking downside?
That’s what I was thinking. It couldn’t get any worse.
While its true that for most people it seems that Disney (aside from some SW cameos in their cartoons) could do no worse, I at least keep in mind that Disney also owns many other franchises with ‘sacred’ so to say material and most people don’t know any the wiser since its not readily apparent that Disney actually owns them such as Marvel, ESPN, (pulp fiction?) a bit of hulu- in which case I think peoples fears of some rediculous Activision-esque milk fest are relatively unfounded.
….But then again Disney did make BLAM!…
If there’s a greater chance for the Original Trilogy to be released on Blu Ray UNTOUCHED then I am all for it.
I’m kind of worried what will happen to Dark Horse since so much of it’s output is Star Wars based, and all of that will be going to marvel. That being said I don’t think things can get any worse then they have been, and I think Disney is more likely to release the original cut of the classic films.
Star Wars finally found where it belongs.
The decision just seems like a successful outcome in a years-long hostage situation. At the very least nobody can claim that the structural integrity of the franchise is going to be ruined. What would the new trilogy be about? A new Jedi, either implicitly or explicitly trained by Luke, taking on the new leadership of the remnant Empire and coming across essentially the same character archetypes but with twists that make the story familiar yet unique. Not sure who could bring that story to life. Maybe Spielburg since he doesn’t have to be under Lucas’s thumb… maybe even Whedon? If it’s Kevin Smith, I’ll have no hope.
A Whedon star wars film? Can I even dare to hope that could be possible? Whedon would be the perfert director for a star wars film or three. He’d be an awesome choice.
Pixar can make a Grim Fandango film, of course this is a good thing
This was some of the best news I’ve heard as a star wars fan. I’ve been hoping they’d make a third trilogy and now it is happening with a fresh set of people at the helm writing and producing it. Disney is one company that can do this right and can properly handle the blockbuster. Plus the potential for some cool animated series (such as an animated young jedi knights series) would be awesome. Love the future for star wars!
It’s not that I don’t give a shit, I’m just not sure how to take this. Am I excited for a new movie? Yes. Am I confident in Disney? Yes. But 2015 sounds like a short time for them to hammer out a quality Star Wars film. Believe me, I will gladly eat my words if it is nothing short of fantastic. I just worry we’ll see the next generation Jar Jar.
I am seriously concerned about Disney owning everything and one day we’ll get another Eisner in charge and everything they own will go to shit
Sora meeting up with Indy in KH3? Yes please.
Disney buying Lucasfilm: Good
Star Wars VII: eeeehhhhhhhhh… I’m not holding out much hope.
No worries, since Disney doesn’t always put their spin on the stuff they own, and we REALLY need a change of the guard if the films are to continue. It may have been you guys who pointed out that Pulp Fiction was a Miramax (aka Buena Vista aka Disney) film, and that Pirates of the Caribbean had the highest body count of any PG13 in history. Yes, they can do intense films. Hell you can even get drunk at their parks now.
One more aside, seems the internets have blown up with the inevitable parody memes, Death Star with mouse ears, Luke Mickey, etc… but it’s all been done!
http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/07/13/check-it-out-new-disney-star-wars-mash-up-toys/
This can only be a good thing. Lucas is gone, and Disney has a track record of respecting the properties they buy. They also have history with some of the best creative minds in the entertainment industry right now, like Whedon and Brad Bird. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.
Holy crap, I forgot about Brad Bird. Disney does have a lot of relationships with amazing directors. We could see another awesome Star Wars movie as long as Disney avoids another Andrew Stanton situation.
I DIDN’T EVEN THINK ABOUT MUPPET BABIES! THAT’S SO AWESOME! Anyway, I’m firmly in the camp of “Disney couldn’t possibly fuck it up more than Lucas”. And something else I just thought about: LucasArts is probably gonna get mad funding, because I’m sure that Disney wants to get a better foothold in the games market. I’m willing to bet that we see a lot more stuff (hopefully good stuff) from them in the future.
Disney has an opportunity to work with the expanded universe.
Does that mean we’ll get some really weird Sith Kingdom Hearts of the Old Republic?
Who can do mopey evil overlord better: Sephiroth or Vader? (money is on Vader)
Incidentally, a local fashion brand called Black Milk released a Star Wars themed spandex collection for those of you who are into those kinds of things –
http://blackmilkclothing.com/collections/star-wars
get fer yer gurlfriendz! get fer yerselves!!! I’M NOT JUDGING!!! (I also got myself the R2D2/C3PO leggings and the Death Star Dress… because…yes)
I think it’s good. It was clear that George was done/fed up and obviously the fans have been wanting him to give up control for along time. So now we get to see what other people can do with star wars. Who knows maybe now we will get the original theatrical releases on blu-ray?
And MUPPET BABIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe we might even see a Star Wars Battlefront 3 now?
Honestly, I’m kind of suprised to see Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound go too. Hopefully Disney won’t be laying off a bunch of the people working at these companies. Otherwise, I can’t see a downside at the moment, esp. with Disney proving themselves with Marvel.
I don’t play the video games, but anything else named Star Wars in the last 15-20-25 years has been nothing short of dogshit. they were bound to make more movies eventually, so yes it’s a fucking awesome thing that George has less creative control than ever.
if I wasnt pissed at Marvel getting swallowed up what chance does this have?
I never thought I would see another star war because of George Lucas. That made me both happy and sad. Now that Disney Bought Star Wars from Lucas, I’m happy because now I get to see one, and soon. Plus, Sora can now wield a Lightsaber Keyblade!!!!!!1!1!!!!
Maybe, just maybe, they’ll update Disneyland Kinect Adventures and add the Star Wars and Indiana Jones logos.
The absolute best thing to come out of this will be Princess Leia now being a Disney princess. Now future generations of girls will have a kick ass role model. Oh, and Star Wars in Kingdom Hearts. Hell fucking yes.
I was gonna say she would be Disney’s first intergalactic jew princess, but alas, her mother was not Jewish, her father was, and was raised protestant.
Wait! Portman is jewish. That means…. this… ahhh-ummm… im getting confused…
…
OKOKOK She Disney’s first forcefield princess 🙂
damn that smiley face…
Disney can’t ruin Star Wars because Lucas already did.
All I can say is that I think Disney will take better care of Star Wars and the other licences than Lucas did. Also Disney also owns Marvel now and that hasn’t shown any bad signs yet so I think we’ll be safe.
Disney acquired Marvel and they’ve done a fantastic job of maintaining it and allowing Marvel to continue it’s great work and legacy (such as the great Avengers film we got this year). I feel confident that they’ll do just as well with Star Wars. This news made my day yesterday (Oct 30) and I can’t wait for Episode VII, though admittedly I’m being cautiously optimistic about it, but we’ll see. Hopefully it’s for the best and my confidence is not betrayed. Way to go Disney and Lucas!
I hope they have a good script stowed away somewhere, cause I for one am so tired of all these star wars.
this is absolutely a great thing because george lucas is giving up control of the movies to someone else so it cant possibly get any worse.
RUMOUR: Disney to buy Laser Time next.
I’ve already made them my offer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXXIyUuAkrI&feature=g-all-u
whut? did that really happen?
hm… i guess it’s not a bad thing. I mean, they get access to a lot of forward thinking cinematech, and yah I’m looking forward to some serious muppet babies dvd sets finally.
i mean… what is lucas gonna do with the company anymore, i think he feels like he’s done and he really just wants to sit back and live out the rest of his life. disney isn’t as bad as they used to be during the eisner term, and i think some good might come out of all this.
except its odd that everything is drifting into these conglomerates
but i suppose its been like that for a while with so many companies over the history of business.
anyway, i find this news kind of funny, because i just watch the original yesterday morning on a random whim. ha!
that’s all i really care about. I stopped being super die hard a looooong time ago.
I got my own shit, my own set of stories and universes to care about and make fuss over.
also… chris, if you’re reading this… and you want a muppet babies fix go tombfan07’s YT channel –> https://www.youtube.com/user/mbfan07/videos?flow=grid&view=1
all the eps, untouched. it’s awesome.
It’s better than Lucas having full control (seriously, the best movie in Star Wars wasn’t even directed by him), but I doubt it will get much better. They know it makes money even when they re-release the worst film in the series back into theaters, so I doubt they’ll care too much about quality. They may just throw money at it.
I’m glad, as i feel this will further delineate the original Trilogy from everything else. I figure some of the new movies are bound to be good, and we will be able to look back and say, “The original Star Wars trilogy was great. Many years later they made a boatload of new movies, some of which were good.”
Does this mean that Leia is a Disney princess now?
I feel Star Wars will be like Family Guy, when people talk about it I’ll always say you know the old ones, not the new ones.
I can’t believe people are actually complaining about this on the internet.
Have they seen the prequels? Have they seen that Disney doesn’t interfere excessively in cash cows they buy?
How can anyone be mad at this?
Disney knows how to treat a franchise Like a lady. Take her out, get her a new dress, give her a manicure, and show her off to the world. Please God please, let Disney but star wars a new dress.
All I can hope for is that George Lucas is using his money to build a real Millennium Falcon.
As for the franchise, anything could happen really. Disney is a large compnay with many creative sectors: we could get an epic, action and story driven reboot, all the way down to Jar Jar Bink’s Star Adventures VII straight to DVD by 2020.
Jedis in Kingdom Hearts anyone?
I like how the video in the article shows Darth Vader in a family theme park and instead of bringing Luke and Leia, his only family, he brings two random storm troopers. Awesome.
As for Disney and Star Wars, I’m excited and curious to see where this will go.
I see absolutely no downsides here. DARTH GOOFY BRINGS DA FUNKY.
script:
max hammers away at lord goofy’s lightsaber, pummeling it until his father falls to the ground. the emperor scowls “yesss, young goofy, strike him down, use your angerrrr.” max tosses aside his lightsaber and begins to sing
IF WE LISTEN TO EACH OTHER’S HEARTS
WE’LL FIND WE’RE NEVER TOO FAR APART
AND MAYBE LOVE’S THE REASON WHY
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER WE’RE SEEIN’ IT
EYE TO EYE
(SEEING IT EYE TO EYE-IIII)
I mentioned this on twitter when you announced this, but mark my words, the new trilogy will be as good or BETTER than the original trilogy. It can’t get any worse!
I hope this ends well, Worst case scenario they give it to the High school musical guy and we get 4 Jar Jar movies. Best case, every 3 or 4 years a different director gets one and we get something drastically differ each time. I can finally reactivate that part of my brain that cares about star wars that I killed via subconsciously inducing an aneurism .
Given Disney’s litigious history with copyright lawsuits fan films are probably going to die out though.
I read somewhere today that Fox holds the distribution rights to episode 4 IN PERPETUITY, but that the distribution rights to Episodes 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 will eventually go to Disney. How could this separation affect the series?
I actually like the prequels (I just try not to watch them as much as i get older). However, while being young allowed me to forgive all the missteps of the prequels, now that i am older i am legitimately scared that seeing a bad star wars movie as an adult could ruin part of my childhood.
I’m still worried about green screens but if they can get past that, it may be the greatest moment of my younger self’s life.
I’m honestly in love with the idea. I don’t understand the hate for this acquisition at all. Star Wars is free from Lucas’ tight grip, leaving the floor open to fantastic directors like Brad Bird and Joss Whedon. And look, Marvel and Disney games can only benefit from having Star Wars and Indy at their side. Literally, Kingdom Hearts III on the Death Star, think about it.
If this means that we can get either Battlefront 3 or Republic Commando 2 (given that disney also get LucasArts) then i’ll be happy
The deal is mind boggling first of all. The deal i feel like will be the right one in the long run. I can definitely see a spin-off live action tv show since they already did that with marvel already. I am also excited to see what how they will continue after the 6th movie. But the one thing i am really excited for is that Indiana Jones was also included in the deal. After the disappointment of the 4th I can not wait to see the new direction they bring it in because the first 3 were so great, and Harrison is on record saying he wants to do a 5th. Maybe the 5th could be passing the torch to Shia Labeouf
Nothing but good things can come from this.
My gut reaction at first was “Ugh… why must you keep beating a dead horse? just let the franchise rest and leave the first trilogy alone, the prequels did enough damage as it is.” But like Brett correctly pointed out in the podcast, this was the cynical part of me that had formed in recent years.
Of course, after a bit more thinking about it, I started to get more and more excited, and convinced that this really IS good news. George Lucas is no longer in complete control, Dinsey has proven that it can handle newly acquired properties more than well, and if recent track record is anything to go by, I’m sure they will go to great lengths to find someone that truly knows his shit, loves and cares for the star wars universe of old to handle the newly announced trilogy.
Mind, the cynical part of me refuses to die off completely, so there is still the fear that they could get them horribly wrong, and screw the star war franchise further. But that’s honestly a very minor part of how I overall feel about this now.
As my name suggests, I’m a fanboy. Like most people I could not concentrate for the rest of the afternoon when the news came out. I am looking forward to finding out who will write and direct these new movies and don’t really care how much they tie into the other movies and would rather they start far in the future so that only a few references are possible.
This is nothing but a good thing
Weighing up everything this is definitely a good thing, but I definitely have concerns. Movies can only be good, as can re-releases, but what about the other sides? Videogames are my main concern, since Disney have shown no interest in anything but social titles. I desperately want an Uncharted-style Indiana Jones or a re-release of Grim Fandango, but will Disney do that? Highly unlikely.
Then there’s the comics and Clone Wars. CW is going from strength to strength so I hope it continues, but what of Dark Horse? Star Wars Legacy was an amazing series (like KOTOR but in the far future instead), as was the recently wrapped up Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison. I hope these guys will be allowed to continue.
I’m cautiously excited, but I don’t hope for things to get better in the areas that already suck. Seriously LucasArts, Battlefront 3 and KOTOR 3 goddammit…
It’s going to be really weird seeing the Disney logo before Star Wars movies rather than the iconic 20th Century Fox one from now on. To me, that was just as much a part of the intro as the “A Long Time Ago…” and the opening title crawl.