L
uke, George is no longer your father. Last Tuesday, George Lucas announced his retirement, and the sale of Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion to the Walt Disney Company. The corporate giant now controls LucasArts, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Skywalker Sound, most of “Indiana Jones”… and all of “Star Wars.”
The controversy among the fans is almost as bad as “who-shot-first.” Disagreement abounds as fans wait, wonder, and worry about what will become of their beloved epic tradition. The fate of “Star Wars” remains uncertain, and while fans are right to worry, perhaps there’s no need for sheer panic— yet.
Some fans despised Lucas. A number of “Star Wars” veterans believe (somewhat paradoxically) that the “Star Wars” universe will be better off without the creator who chopped the Ewok song and hired a furless frog-rabbit to stand next to Liam Neeson.
Others consider the new owner of “Star Wars” to be a wretched hive of sap and insipidity, and, remembering the “Disney treatment” given to cherished traditional folklore, shudder at the thought of what may happen to one of cinema’s greatest fairytales.
Disney’s announcement that they will be releasing a project billed as “Episode VII” in 2015, with a new sequel to be released every few years after that, hardly improves matters. The epidemic of sequel-itis has spread to almost every film Disney has made, and when the 19th episode they reach, look so good, they will not.
But not all of Disney’s previous purchases have turned sour in its hands. Pixar, minus a few hiccups, has been delighting and inspiring audiences and artists alike since its inception. Marvel’s first film under Disney became the third highest grossing film of all time.
Of course, many attribute the success of “The Avengers” not to Disney, but to the directorial talent of Joss Whedon. Some of the best lines in “Star Wars” came from Harrison Ford’s improvisation, and not Lucasfilm’s script. The skill of the individuals involved, not the company, makes the movie great, and Disney has a knack for bringing in strong talent for its partnered projects. For the English dubbed version of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Ponyo” alone, Disney brought in the voices of Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, and an obligatory Jonas brother.
But the stars also bring in money with talent. Disney CEO Bob Iger said, regarding the Lucasfilm acquisition, “This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including ‘Star Wars,’ one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”
If that’s all he has to say, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. But if following the money means not disappointing fans, Disney will continue down the path that those who know it best have created. The “Extended Universe” of “Star Wars,” made up of books, graphic novels, fan fiction, and an entire subset of Wikipedia (known as Wookieepedia), will hopefully keep fans happy for a long time.
But not only must Disney please the generation that waited in line for “Return of the Jedi,” but it must also please the generation that watches the “Clone Wars” television series every Saturday. And the old canon is unrelenting in not only its complexity, but also its gritty maturity, something Disney will inevitably have to reconcile with its squeaky-clean, singing chipmunks image.
But if Disney wants to force “Star Wars” into its trite but child-pleasing mold, Leia just might become the next Disney Princess…and Mickey will witness the firepower of a fully armed and operational fan coalition.