Since the announcement of Disney's $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm, fanboys (and girls) have been taking over the Internet with overwhelming opinions on the matter.
As a self proclaimed "Star Wars" fangirl, I feel as passionately as the next nerd, but is this change really a negative one?
Everyone and their grandmother knows the Disney name and instantly assumes this change will mean Princess Leia will be sitting between Snow White and Cinderella down at the Magic Kingdom. As well publicized as this change has been, people don't realize just home much property Disney actually owns.
Along with Lucasfilm, they've recently acquired Marvel as well as owning other companies like ABC, ESPN, Pixar, Hyperion Books and Touchstone Pictures. These assets, plus all the channels, resorts, theme parks, merchandising, and more, show that Disney's doing pretty well. All that aside, $4 billion is not a small chunk of change to spend on anything. I'd like to imagine Disney has a plan for the upcoming trilogy if they invested so much money. Seeing how these other assets have fared, Lucasfilms should return to the glory of the original trilogy as a profitable company.
While 'purist' fans might find this acquisition unacceptable, let's just take a look back at what was accomplished under Lucas in the past 13 years.
He brought us a CGI world filled with the universe's most obnoxious character, clunky dialogue that made some truly great actors seem terrible and the worst seem ever worse (I'm talking to you, Mr. Christensen). Don't forget the re-release in 3-D, because nothing makes me truly thankful for a lack of depth perception than Jar Jar Binks in an extra dimension.
Disney has been around long enough to see how Lucas has infuriated every single fan and will probably take a few measures to remedy his mistakes.
If it wants a chance, it should just follow this formula:
-- Start with a story that isn't just a New Hope remake. Lucas claims he planned for six more movies with different characters and worlds, but he's been known to have a very lax grasp on the term "original."
-- Put the right person behind the script and camera. I know Joss Whedon is in an exclusive contract with Marvel, but as it's another Disney property I'm sure they can find a loophole.
-- While developing the newest movies, any director can avoid Lucas's faux pas by combining actual sets with CGI rather than relying on green screen worlds to do all the storytelling. With great technology comes great responsibility.
-- With some, hopefully, new characters, whoever is in the director chair should bring in some fresh talent. Especially after the weak, flat love interest of Padme, I'm sure some actresses like Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway or Chloe Moretz would be able to rock a lightsaber (because there have definitely been a lack of ladies in the Jedi Order, just saying).
-- While there will be a slew of Episode VII merchandise hitting stores around 2015, the best gift would be the original trilogy Blue Ray without the digital enhancements (especially the Hayden Christensen ghost). This would be the final peace offering, helping us all forget that Jar Jar Binks ever happened.
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