I'd Watch This . . . Or, Star Wars That's Cool

So, it's not often that I get excited about Star Wars anymore.  I'm interested to see what Disney has to offer, but I'm not excited.  This short anime by a fan makes me feel the same visceral pleasure that I experienced during my teens for all things Star Wars.  If Disney could reproduce this, I'd watch it.

Mickey Mouse, You're My Only Hope . . . Or, Use the Force, Disney

By Steven McLain

Star Wars VII is in a pretty bad way.  First, J.J. Abrams said he wouldn't do it.  And now, Guillermo del Toro turned it down as well, saying he's way to busy making remakes of classic 80s cartoons.  Word is even Brad Bird won't touch George Lucas's world with a ten-foot pole.  And it makes me wonder just what the heck happened to turn Star Wars from the most critically acclaimed space fantasy of all time, a perennial favorite with viewers and the basis of rabid fan enthusiasm, into something that the best directors of our age don't even want to associate with.  It sort of has the feeling of that popular kid in high school who ten years later got fat and calls you up around midnight to come score chicks with him at the bar. 

I don't actually Episodes I through III on the debacle.  Yeah, they were pretty bad, but they didn't ruin the franchise as much as all those Clone Wars cartoons, licensed action figures and midichlorians did.  I don't want to get too deep into the muck with this, but George took a bold leap with his franchise; and sometimes bold leaps just turn into belly-flops.  The crass commercialization of the franchise, however, sunk it completely (to mix metaphors).  What used to be something original and compelling became just another gimmick to turn a buck--and people caught on.  Especially the people who like to make original and compelling cinema (though del Toro's recent Voltron remake makes me wonder). 

That's beside the point.  The point is that Star Wars isn't a franchise that people want to get behind anymore.  It's too restrictive, too puerile (case in point: Han shot first).  It's too childish (but once more, Peter Jackson seems to be doing okay making childish adaptations of beloved stories).  Regardless.  If Disney want to turn the ship of Star Wars around, they need a serious marketing coup.  They need to address the silliness of the franchise so that it appeals to the hard-core fans, while accruing new fans along the way.  I think they should start pounding out the books again, leverage some of their capital into fan films, or maybe even a series of webisodes that could boost interest and drive sales.  Somehow, Disney has to make us all believe in the Force again.

When You Wish Upon A Death Star

Disney today announced the $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm, including the apple of George Lucas's eye, the Star Wars franchise.  According to USA Today, the acquisition concludes a year-and-a-half pursuit by Disney of the lucrative franchise.  Disney announced that they would begin production of a new Star Wars film immediately, with a release date sometime in 2015, with subsequent films every few years.  Three years turn-around isn't that much in the high-stakes world of multi-million films, and the expectation of something staggeringly good has created a surge of interest among fans.

io9 has already speculated about the possible direction future films could take, and have offered several thoughtful ideas.  Among the ideas for Star Wars VII are stories set in the Thrawn universe, following the exploits of a fledgling New Republic battling the deeply embedded forces of Admiral Thrawn.  The books offer ties to the Clone Wars, and having the benefit of a pre-existing story, are a strong bet for future films.  Written by sci-fi master Timothy Zahn, they're also the first foray by Lucasfilm into the Star Wars universe post-Jedi, what's come to be called the Expanded Universe.  I think this is the best bet for Disney story-tellers if they're looking for something quick and easy, with the benefit of "canon" status.

Other avenues, of course, are available, and speculation ranges from a Darth Vader centered movie, to a Boba Fett spin-off.  While I would love to see something featuring Mara Jada (Luke's eventual wife in the Expanded Universe), I can't imagine that anything set within a few years of Jedi would have the appeal of later stories.  An Old Republic movie might be appealing.  Seeing the Jedi in their prime sounds fun on paper, but stories of political intrigue are dubious at best.  Lucas already tried that route and it failed miserably; trying to recapture the grandeur and opulence of the Old Republic might be beyond Disney's grasp--although, they've surprised me before.

While I'm excited to see Star Wars go off in a new directions, I'm of two minds about the whole thing.  First, we know that Star Wars without George at the helm is not a bad thing.  In fact, neither Empire nor Jedi were directed by him and Empire is considered the strongest of the three.  But George represents a locus of vision; it's his world and we're all just playing in it.  Although he's said that he'll stay on as a creative consultant, the machinations of corporate greed will play a much stronger role.  Maybe we'll get something good, maybe we'll get Episodes I, II, and III.  But the fact that Empire and Jedi didn't have George at the helm gives me hope that something good will come out of this.  I've been saying for years that a Star Wars absent George, given the love and attention only a true fan can give, would make for better Star Wars films.

*Update:  According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lucas is donating all that money to education.  Who would have thought?  I wasn't really expecting that.

What do you think?  Excited, worried, irritated?  I've got room for rants in the comments section.