A strange thing happened when it was announced that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm and was intent on continuing the Star Wars franchise: people forgot how shitty Lucasfilm has been.
That’s the only explanation for many of the reactions. Our friends at /Film gathered up some celebrity Twitter responses that seemed to be at best cautiously optimistic, though potentially terrified at what could be coming and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why it’s not all ewoks banging drums and fireworks in the sky before a billion tons of metal rains down on the forest moon of Endor.
I think we all did our best to erase the abysmal prequel trilogies from our minds, but some must have done a better job than I. I still remember these films. I know that they exist, and I know that they were terrible. From the wasted awesomeness that was Darth Maul to the cinematic quality genocide of Jar Jar Binks, to the racist character voices (Meesa gonna pick some cotton for massta! or Uhhh Chancerror, that aawass a not the bargain-ah ching chong), from the sloppy editing to the just general pile of shit nature of the films… the prequels are bad. They made me feel bad. Everyone involved should feel bad, from the little kid who played baby Boba Fett (are you kidding me?) to the first AD who didn’t take George Lucas aside and say “Hey man, this shit is weak.”
So now that you know how I really feel, you can understand why I’m happy that Disney bought Lucasfilm – it’s the only way we’re ever going to get another good cinematic Star Wars experience. Don’t take my word for it, just look at the Lucasfilm filmography. Return of the Jedi was 1983. Willow and The Land Before Time in 1998, Indiana Jones and the (almost) Last Crusade in 1989. After then it’s Red Tails and the mess that is prequels and sequels of great franchises.
The one almost saving grace was The Clone Wars animated series which started great as traditional animation, but soon switched over to (to my old eyes) unwatchable 3D animation. Bleh. The point of all this? Star Wars on the screen was dead. It was going nowhere and if George Lucas was the man to take it somewhere, he’d take it back to hell.
So in steps Disney – we should be celebrating. Why would anyone hate that Disney purchased Lucasfilm? Disney is a massively successful powerhouse of a studio. They have the muscle and means to make these films happen. They have experience with gigantic films and successful franchises. More importantly, they have great success with owning smaller studios and putting out great product from them – see Pixar and Marvel.
I think anything bad that could have happened to Star Wars already did. I know I sound harsh so let’s get this out of the way – George Lucas’ original trilogy was a landmark in film history and my life. To this day, I am a Star Wars fan. Lucas deserves all the credit in the world for his filmmaking achievements, but none of that is rose colored enough to make me think the prequels didn’t suck balls. So it is time for a new generation of people to take on the franchise. Fresh blood can explore the entire universe and all it has to offer.
That’s the great thing about Star Wars - it has this massive, sprawling, amazing universe. From comics, to books, to toys, dozens if not hundreds of people have been able to explore it in other media and now, thanks to Disney, we’re going to get to see some of that come to the screen.
This is an exciting time for Star Wars fans. There is nothing to be scared of. There is no need to be frightened or anxious. The franchise will live on. It will continue. It will spread. A massive company like Disney can put Star Wars on television, on the screen, and into new games, toys, and basically every aspect of our lives. I don’t think we’ve been missing Star Wars that much, but hey, it’s going to be everywhere soon.
So put your pessimism aside. The Avengers shows Disney can seamlessly swoop in and put big characters with rich source material right into play. The trailers for Iron Man 3 look fantastic. Pixar continues to thrive with Disney. I fail to see any cause for concern here and frankly, seeing people bitch or worry about the best thing to happen to Lucasfilm in 20 years boggles my mind and pushes me past my boiling point.
Read more Boiling Point to see what else has gotten Fure’s panties in a bunch.