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Star Wars – The Galaxy Is Not So Far Away Anymore

Editors Note: Chris has added Star Wars to his beat here on The Disney Blog. His first post is a look at what has transpired since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm.

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It has been very interesting to watch and compare Disney’s acquisition of Marvel and Lucasfilm.

When Disney bought Marvel, not much changed. Marvel kept making comics and movies without much interference from the Mouse and the only cross-pollination that happened was the Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes cartoon that aired on the Disney Channel (oh, how I wish it still did).

Only in the past year or two are we seeing more active Disney-Marvel relations, from the Avengers in the parks to the new Disney Kingdoms comic line.

In contrast to that, as soon as Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm was announced, so was a new trilogy of movies (the fabled episodes VII, VIII, IX) and promises of multiple spin-off movies.

Shortly after that, they cancelled The Clone Wars cartoon in favor of their own animated show, Star Wars: Rebels.

Then, they made two very controversial decisions (though, honestly, both make sense from a business perspective). The video-game division of Lucasfilm was shut down and the Star Wars comic titles were transferred back from Dark Horse to Marvel.

They are moving at a much faster pace than they did with Marvel, probably because Marvel was making more money for them. Let’s be honest, except for its legacy, Star Wars didn’t have much going for it. Other than The Clone Wars and merchandising, their biggest project in the past decade was Star Tours: The Adventure Continues.

A lot of fans voiced criticisms that Disney was going to ruin Star Wars (because apparently Disney ruins everything it touches, like when they ruined Marvel, oh, wait….) and my response was, “Does anyone not think that Star Wars needed a new direction?”

So, that’s my question: how do you feel about what Disney has done with Star Wars so far?

4 thoughts on “Star Wars – The Galaxy Is Not So Far Away Anymore”

  1. I firmly believe that Disney are going to take Star Wars back to its former glory. I mean, just look at what they’ve done with Marvel! Besides, what good has George Lucas even done for the Star Wars saga after the original trilogy?
    Sure, the prequels weren’t ALL bad, there were some pretty good scenes (Darth Maul’s entire fight scene n Episode 1, for example; side note, I also believe that was the best fight sequence in the entire saga.) but as everyone knows the prequel trilogy were, as a whole, awful.
    I’m really looking forward to seeing where Disney will take Star Wars, they’ve really picked up the ball with their recent films.

  2. I was in high school when Star Wars first came out. I have read many of the books but stopped after if seemed the publisher was more interested in multiple book series and not story content. My grandson and I would watch the Clone Wars. I think anything to put life back into the Star Wars universe would be good. I am a yearly WDW visitor so I do have a bias toward Disney but I think they will be just as good or better then anyone else in moving the franchise forward. I also believe Disney has the resources to do a very good job.

  3. I feel Disney will bring the Star Wars legacy to a new life but I think the concern of many true Star Wars fans is will Disney kill that Star Wars magic that the fans experienced all these years. I have been a fan since I was a child and I hope and prey I remain a fan cause if Disney ruins it I’m done with it. I hope the Disney company realized they have a serious legacy they must uphold.

  4. My family was at Disneyland a couple weeks ago and we fit one last Star Tours ride in before having to leave and Disney had Stormtroopers posing with people right before we got on the ride. They were hamming it up directing us on to the ride when the doors opened up. Getting pictures with them rocked! Disney and Star Wars in my perfect Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup.
    Look at the brand protection they’ve managed for Winnie the Pooh and The Muppets. It’s a no brainer.

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