A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a bearded man - who probably wasn't quite so bearded - started up a franchise that quite literally took the film industry by storm. It was ahead of it's time, and spawned two sequels, three prequels and lots of random animated stuff, because let's face it Lucas knows how to make money. And then, said Mr. Lucas decided to give his successful series a happily ever after by...
Selling it to Disney who plan to make three more films? Oh, I kid you not!
This has to be an October April Fool right? In a minute, George Lucas is going to jump out behind me in a Chewbacca mask yelling "Gotcha!". But, to be perfectly frank, it doesn't really surprise me that Lucas has sold the company. It's only a few months ago that he stepped down from his Top Dog position and passed the buck over to his right-hand-woman Kathleen Kennedy, and at the time he was quoted in Empire magazine as saying:
"I'm moving away from the company. I'm moving away from all my businesses. I'm finishing all my obligations and I'm going to retire to my garage with my saw and hammer and build hobby movies. I've always wanted to make movies that were more experimented in nature, and not have to worry about them showing in movie theatres."
And to be fair, there's no blaming him. After all, the guy is nearly 70 and he's been making films since the 1960s so it only seems right that he should sit back and enjoy his money.
So, what do I have a problem with?
Disney!
Of all the companies, in all of the world, why did it have to be Disney? And why are they so convinced that there is big demand for more films? Don't get me wrong, I grew up with Disney and have loved their films since time began, but over recent years, they've been severely lacking and most of their "success" stories have really been at the hands of the companies that they either own or provide American distribution for. A few examples include Pixar, Marvel and Studio Ghibli, all of whom are successful companies under the Disney umbrella, and without whom Disney would be barely anything more than all-singing and all-dancing happy smile fodder.
It seems to me that Disney have lost their mojo, but have a lot of money to throw about so are "trying" to regain their reputation by buying up all of the actually talented companies.
As a Star Wars fan, I honestly think that the franchise has been bled far enough and it's time to put it to bed and appreciate what has been made. Maybe it's a British thing to put something to rest at the height of it's fame (The Office, Little Britain), but I really wish Star Wars would do the same, before everyone gets bored of it and we eventually only remember it for the fact that it wouldn't go away.
