Disney is taking over Star Wars: CALM DOWN

I was going to write about this then decided against it, but now I've changed my mind. This is what makes America grand: choices.

Anyway, not sure if you've heard but Disney bought Lucasfilm (or Lucas Film, I can't decide). In case you don't know what Lucasfilm is, it's George Lucas's production company. If you don't know who George Lucas is, he is one of the creators of a little known Sci-fi film saga called "Star Wars." If you don't know about Star Wars... stop reading because this blog isn't going to make much sense.

Disney says they will release three more movies in the Star Wars series (competing with Star Trek much?) related but unconnected to Episodes 4-6.  There's been a lot of whining about this whole thing, mostly people asking Disney not to ruin Star Wars.

BECAUSE GEORGE LUCAS DID SUCH A BANG UP JOB WITH EPISODES 1-3, RIGHT?!

Who can forget the lovably racist Jar Jar Binks, the stunning performance by Hayden Christensen, or such witty dialogue as "Ani, I'm so in love with you." "No, I'm so in love with you." Never mind the fact that 4-6 were ruined with extra CGI cutscenes and sparkly explosions with rings around them for God knows what reason. Need I remind you of Lucas's contribution to the Indiana Jones series in the form of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Ugh.

*deep breath*

As you can see, the bar of expectations has been lowered almost to the floor for these films.

Another complaint is the concern that Disney will make Star Wars more for kids or more childlike.

*clears throat*

1. Pretty sure all 6 Star Wars films are family friendly. Pretty sure I remember watching them when I was kid.

2. Disney makes films for grown-ups. Ever see anything by Touchstone Pictures (Pretty Woman, Con Air, The Royal Tenenbaums, Calendar Girls)? They happen to be owned by Disney.

3. A children's Star Wars animated series (that wasn't very good) already came out in 2008-- there's no harm in another one.

4. While Disney is known for commercializing the hell out of everything they do... too late. Star Wars has made bank off action figures, costumes, collectibles, video games, etc etc for DECADES.
In terms of Disney, George Lucas already took care of that years ago when he allowed Disney to build Star Tours, a Jedi Training show for kids, the Indiana Jones stunt show, and an Indiana Jones ride. So it's business as usual over at the Disney company.

Many people are scarred from the Michael Eisner let's-make-a-sequel-to-every-classic-animated-film" reign at Disney (or as I like to call them "The Dark Days"). And to be honest, I really liked Cinderella 2 and The Little Mermaid 3: the stories were good. Hey! Don't knock it til you try it (except drugs-- don't try those).

Even after The Dark Days, Disney has released its fair share of crap-- like any major film studio-- but there has been a collection of entertaining films as well. Besides anything by Pixar, I thoroughly enjoyed The Princess and the Frog, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, POTC: The Black Pearl, and A Christmas Carol, to name a few. And you already know how much I adore the Tinker Bell films.

The final thing I want skeptics to remember is the success of the Marvel purchase. While I haven't loved every Marvel film (okay... I HATED Wolverine-- but the video game was solid), they're far better adaptations of the comic series than the DC Comics films I've seen (excluding Batman-- simmer down).  Let's not judge until we see something. Disney knows how to do adaptations and with the detailed Star Wars mythology, I think this will be a successful film venture.