Can the EU, DISNEY and CANON/NON-CANON live happily together. Think creatively and its a possibility

Where the EU is concerned, the following is what I would love to say to DISNEY and LUCASFILM. Obviously this will never happen; nor would they probably listen if I could say something. But I just don't like the idea of a portion of the Star Wars history being simply thrown away. Regardless if this wasn't part of George's vision (the EU that is), the right thing should be done by the fans. Because if DISNEY would just think creatively, then the EU could be drawn into the so-called CANON material and we can do away with this rubbish of CANON vs NON-CANON. For me, anything that has ever been released bearing the STAR WARS trademark logo should be CANON material as its release would have required some sort of approval or endorsement from LUCASFILM (or associated companies) so that it did not break any company law/copyright acts.

The following is what I would love to say and see happen. Pardon any spelling mistakes..........


Having just seen the full trailer for ‘The Force Awakens’, I feel the same sense of excitement that was created in me when my grandfather took me to see my first feature film (in a cinema) in the early 1980’s; that being Return of the Jedi. It is the same excitement I felt when my sister purchased Timothy Zahn’s fantastic post-ROTJ novel series and gave them to me for one of my birthdays during the mid-1990’s. It is also the same level of excitement I felt leading up to every one of the prequel movies; longing to see how all of the events of the past led to that iconic scene of a Star Destroyer chasing Tantive IV above Tatooine in A New Hope.

And I am not an isolated example. You see WALT DISNEY company, I am typical of the type of fan you inherited when you purchased the rights to Star Wars a few years ago; a generational fan - someone who was too young to board the train in 1977, but who got on in the early 80’s and who welcomed many more fans aboard at each respective stop during the last 38 years (depending on the material or character they fell in love with or identified with). I’m a generational fan who brings so much feeling, passion, history and fondness to a story that they have loved for such a long, long time. Having created so many fine pieces of art and story-telling yourselves, you, the WALT DISNEY company, must understand and experience the same level of feeling and passion from your fans. Children may grow into adults and mature and act “all grown up” (whatever that means), but DISNEY, they never stop loving the stories (your stories) that were read to them by the mums and dads leading up to bed time. Stories of this kind and magnitude have such profound effects on people that without being too melodramatic, they have the potential to be life-altering. Stories like Star Wars, like your stories WALT DISNEY company, become part of a person and make up one of the many strands that form a person’s being.

So although I feel such great excitement and anticipation and I have faith that J.J. Abrams will deliver an exceptional showing, I also can’t help but feel slightly dismayed and betrayed at the thought of the EXPANDED UNIVERSE being thrown into the trash bin. Before anyone rolls their eyes and starts, yes I know this subject has been thrashed out considerably through online blogs and forums for some time now and yes, I have read the vast range of opinions from people stating they will boycott the new film on principle of the discarded EU; through to people saying that us older fans just simply need to “get over it”, stop hanging onto the past, certain characters or material was ridiculous and that they are glad its/they’ve gone, or that the Expanded Universe just plain ***ks. I have also read the quotes from various high-profile people saying that anything post-JEDI was never part of George Lucas’s vision; hence the classifications of material to be canon and non-canon. Furthermore, I also realise that now as the owner of the rights to the Star Wars franchise, WALT DISNEY company can do whatever they like with the story.

But regardless of opinion or ownership, it just isn’t right. Surely the moral obligations to fans must be accounted for when deciding what is “Star Wars” and what isn’t. Because please correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t there been various post-JEDI merchandise (such as figurines, etc) based on the stories that followed JEDI that George Lucas would have profited from. If this is the case, to me, on some level, this equates to an acceptance by George of these EU characters and associated material. And so to me, anything (material, stories, etc) approved by LUCASFILM or associated companies, or is profited by George Lucas, must be canon material; regardless if George wrote it or not. Applying that same logic to the entire EXPANDED UNIVERSE, anything post-JEDI must all be Canon material as profiting from the content equals acceptance in my view. And again, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I am led to believe that Lucasfilm (or whatever subsidiary that controlled post-JEDI material) was always careful to ensure that all of the works were sequential, fell into a time line and did not contradict each other.

So WALT DISNEY company, when you purchased the rights to the Star Wars franchise, you also purchased the moral obligation to the fans to honour the stories and other material that form the entire franchise; stories and material that fans have spent so much hard-earned money on thinking this was the on-going evolution of the story they love with so much passion. This is not just any other story, this is a cultural phenomen boardering on religion. You do not have to look very far to find its influence in parts of Western Society and/or the continual references to the story through many other unrelated works of art or media over the last 38 years. To me, it borders on sacriledge to change what has evolved post-JEDI and represents the same level of betrayal if you (DISNEY) sold the rights to your company and the purchaser transformed Mickey Mouse into some kind of normal house mouse that just squeaked in the corner; or if they changed the endings to some of your most iconic stories and recreated any of their sequels in a completely different form to what is known. Very basic examples I know, but this represents how such an act would create an up-roar and fuels resentment in the fans that know a story in a certain way. The ideology behind what I am trying to get at is best summed up by no other than J.J. Abrahams himself. In the October 2015 issue (no. 175) of EMPIRE magazine on page 066, the EMPIRE magazine paraphrases a quote from J.J.Abrams. This is as followed;

“Being the temporary captain of the ship that George built is an honour but the ship is larger than the man who built it,” says J.J.. ”When he created something as powerful as Star Wars, while it began with him, it became the world’s”

This ship is bigger than George, bigger than WALT DISNEY, bigger than any one contributer or any owner. You WALT DISNEY now, despite shelling out 4 billion for the rights, are the Star Wars universe’s temporary captain and it is my view that the story must still be about the people; the fans who made it what it is now. The profits will still come because you have a massive generational fan base.

So touching on that and without sounding too hypocritical in my views, I know Walt Disney company that you have two halves to your business. One half is the creative side which produces some of the most treasured and brilliant pieces of work/art in the history of mankind (yes I know, a big statement). The other side is that you are a business and need to make money and produce returns for people such as the shareholders. To do that, you need to have access to all of the iconic Star Wars characters. The timeframe for when The Force Awakens is situated would allow this except for one character; Chewbacca – who was set to die (or who was already dead) around this time. Chewie, being one of the most loved characters in the Star Wars universe, would be essential in driving the Star Wars train into a new frontier (no Star Trek pun intended). You need him, but the events surrounding this one character seems to be the biggest sticking point in the discarding of the old and the acceptance of the new.

How do you resolve the stalemate??? How does everyone get what they want and be happy with how the “story” evolves Well that is easy, both versions exist and are canon; just one is not in the same way as us Star Wars fans know now. Let me paint the picture;

From all reports and rumours, Luke is in isolation leading up to the events of The Force Awakens; possibly leading a Ben Kenobi-like existence. So in his isolation, like Obi Wan, Luke would obviously keep up his Jedi training; which would involve many prolonged bouts of meditation.

So in a two to three minute scene at the beginning or end of The Force Awakens, or at the beginning of number 8 at the most, there is a voice-over from Luke reciting words similar to how Yoda would have said them to him on Dagobah. Words like “The force is always in motion. People, places you will see. Some events will happen, some will not. Hard to tell what will be, etc, etc, etc.” Luke recites these words and more throughout the two to three minute scene (similar to a movie trailer) as images of the most iconic Expanded Universe characters ( Mara Jade, Ben Skwalker, Jacen and Jaina Solo, Anakin Solo, Cade Skywalker, the Jedi and Sith of 1000s of years before, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Talon Karrde, etc, etc) and some of the major battles of the EU material flash before our eyes.

BECAUSE THEN, INSTEAD OF THERE BEING CANON AND NON-CANON MATERIAL, INSTEAD OF DISCARDING THE ENTIRE EXPANDED UNIVERSE AND INSTEAD OF LUCASFILM AND DISNEY SAYING THAT THOSE EVENTS DON’T FIT IN WITH WHERE WE ARE HEADING, IT BECOMES MESHED AS ONE. INSTEAD OF THE POST-JEDI MATERIAL BEING KNOWN AS THE EXPANDED UNIVERSE, FROM THAT POINT ON, THIS MATERIAL IS NOW KNOWN AS “THE MEDATATIVE VISIONS OF LUKE SKYWALKER IN SECLUSION OR ISOLATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or something like that. The idea is to incorporate everything under the one Star Wars banner using a particular event where the possibility can exist.

The events or people post-Jedi then did not even have to happen. They now represent one possible future that the force presents to Luke whilst meditating in isolation/seclusion without evening occurring; particularly if Luke went AWOL straight after Return of the Jedi on some quest. A two to three minute scene pays respect to what had been previously produced in the EU, pays respect to the massive fan base by not just discarding the material, allows fans to see those EU characters they love on the big screen, allows for the events of The Force Awakens without leaving a sour taste in one’s mouth and more importantly to yourselves DISNEY, allows you to take the “story” where you want without fan resentment; as the EU is now incorporated into your continuation of the “story”. This two to three minute scene ends with the iconic EU moment where we watch Chewbacca plunging to his death in the ball of fire; the major sticking point between acceptance and rejection. Again, it does not need to have happened, it is one visionary possibility presented to Luke by the force. But adding this pays huge amounts of respects to the fans who will dearly love you for it DISNEY.

And furthermore, here is the real kicker; the add-on effect that doesn’t just hit the ball into the crowd, but instead hits it right out of the ballpark. If you want to be truly creative DISNEY with Star Wars, you would want to have access to all of the characters (EU included). Again, from what I said before, Luke’s visions don’t even have had to happen. But the two to three minute scene of this magnitude allows you DISNEY to introduce a character later if you choose to because as much as Luke’s visions may not occur and be true, some may actually be. This would be your choice as to what. This two to three minute scene allows choice and opportunity for you DISNEY and allows acceptance by fans as being possible for any future introductions. And lets be frank DISNEY, surely a scene of that length won’t cost a lot to produce. The benefits far, far, far outweigh the cost. That DISNEY would be true creativity!!!!!!! And as a generational fan I would accept and be happy with this kind of idea.

 

Redundant thread is redundant. This is already being covered, in a pinned thread as well as the Legends Defense Force Fanclub.​

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