Better visit Tomorrowland sooner rather than later. Odds are the space park in DisneyWorld will soon be fully transformed to resemble a galaxy far, far away.
Last week Disney purchased Lucasfilm for 4.05 billion credits. Cue all of the tie-in jokes about Jar Jar Binks and (Disney) Princess Leia walking around the parks.
The deal sparked water cooler talk and Internet chatter about the return of the Jedi to movie theaters. That means new stories, not the 3-D “re-releases” of the previous six films George Lucas promoted.
The 3-D in those films is so real that you can feel the filmmaker reaching into your wallet.
The Star Wars universe is huge, no doubt, and filled with plenty of plots ample for film production. Lucas never had a creative hand in any of them. Let’s hope it stays that way.
But hit the brakes on any film excitement. We should all understand Disney’s purchase has little if nothing to do with producing new (hopefully better) Star Wars movies.
I hate to drive into an asteroid field, but when the new film hits theaters in 2015, the Mouse will be standing at the gate with one gloved hand pointed inside and the other held out expecting admission.
Money. That’s all it is.
George Lucas was sick of making his – he donated the money from the sale to charity – and Disney can now step in and accept the dough of one of its biggest competitors.
Disney’s acquisition of Marvel was different. Marvel Studios’ big-idea plans for the big screen would come at a hefty pricetag. Disney bought the entire hotel, but fortunately Marvel still has free reign to throw some sick parties.
MSN posted a rumor that Disney might acquire toymaker Hasbro next.
Could Optimus Prime sign autographs on your next trip to Disney World?
Free enterprise is perfectly fine by me; companies grow and expand. Stock rises and falls.
It’s just a shame Disney’s the big kid on the block hoarding all of neighborhood’s toys.
All we can do is hold onto hope that new entertainment will spring from these deals between corporate fatcats.
Maybe I’m jumping the blaster. I’d love to be wrong three years from now and Episode VII is a hit; critics and mainstream audiences alike applaud the next generation of Star Wars.
And I’ve heard the same positive rationale from several friends: “But it’s Disney; Disney always does well. The movies will be great.”
That may be true, but I’ll point back to my earlier concern. Disney did not buy Lucasfilm or Marvel (and possibly Hasbro in the future) for the idea of making new and better films.
Sadly, it comes down to money. Disney is a master at masking its business side, too. The company specializes in properties aimed at entertaining children and advertising park packages for families of four.
Though Lucas made the sale so he could fully retire, the deal seems to suggest it’s only a matter of time before all of the globe’s creative minds are forced to work under the same roof.
