Get ready Leia; you aren’t the only princess anymore. Oh, and Darth Vader, you may want to leave your lightsaber at home; weapons aren’t allowed in the Disney parks.
On October 30th, Disney cut a deal with Lucasfilm for $4 billion. With this merger, George Lucas, owner and founder of Lucasfilm, received 40 million shares of Disney.
While Disney and Lucas would be thrilled by the merger, others aren’t as excited.
Junior Sammie Jacob said that Disney and “Star Wars” don’t mix very well. She said, “Disney is meant for movies about princesses and happy endings where nothing too ‘scary’ or bad really happens. “Star Wars” is action packed and not meant for young kids because they may get scared.”
Let’s stop and think about this picture for a second.
Darth Vader killing people with poison apples? Yeah, not going to go over well with die-hard “Star Wars” fans. However, Tinker Bell having her hand cut off by a lightsaber probably would not go over well with the parents either.
It is obvious that this merger will change the face of Disney.
“I think Disney will stop being the land of fairytales, and start becoming the land of action. Their films are becoming increasingly action-packed and I think that they will have to change their image to fit these films that they are producing,” said junior Madeline Harbaugh, “Personally, I like Disney the way it is.”
Junior Katie Gotta also agreed with Jacob that this merger was not the best of ideas.
“George Lucas is an absolute genius. His mind goes to a place that not a lot of people can go to, and not even a bunch of Disney producers are going to be able to recreate the magic he brings,” said Gotta.
With that said, what does this mean for the future Star Wars movies?
Well, I guess we will not know for sure until they come out, but in an article by USA Today, Disney CEO, Robert Iger, said they plan on releasing a new Star Wars film every two to three years.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to a new movie coming out on a regular schedule,” said Harbaugh, “Realistically, I think Disney is being a little overconfident.”
Movies on a “regular schedule” do not really seem like movies, but more like a TV series.
According to Jacob, “Disney is trying to attract more of a teen/ adult audience and they are hoping that these movies will attract them to start watching again and invest more money into the company.”
Jacob may have hit the nail on the head.
Set your DVRs to Disney XD. Iger said in the USA Today article that the cable-satellite channel “will be a great home” for “Star Wars.”
In huge deals like this one, there are always winners and losers.
Gotta said, “Even with Disney making the movie, it will still be absolutely huge at the box office, and they will make millions of dollars easy.”
“Not only will Disney be bringing in the big bucks, Lucas will be too,” said Gotta, “he will make a lot of money from the 40 million shares he owns.”
Jacob also agreed with Gotta that Lucas was a winner in this deal.
“I think George Lucas is a winner because that’s a lot of money he can gain from the company not only because of the possible “Star Wars” movies, but off of Disney’s other films and projects,” she said.
True, but not all sweet-sounding deals end up just as sweet.
“I think that George Lucas will regret this decision,” said Gotta, “I think that Lucas will feel like he wishes he was a part of the future of the movies he made huge.”
Jacob said, “I think if Disney fails they may regret the decision because it’ll reflect badly on their company. Also, Lucas may regret this decision if he ever wants to create another film or oversee one. “
Looking at the glass half-full, Harbaugh said that she did not think that either side would regret this deal because it will help both parties in the long run.
Luke Skywalker and Han Solo will just have to be careful when blasting off in to lightspeed to make sure they don’t smash into someone’s Fairy Godmother.