Discussion Lucasfilm "dramatic downsizing"

We have a thread to talk specifically all things EU. If you refer to it in the broad sense that's fine. But we should be discussing are the things they have downsized.


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I think the EU and oversaturation is part of it, but as I said earlier the reality as of right now is that Lucasfilm Animation is being shut down. That does not mean that Lucasfilm as a whole has declined and was ripe for acquisition.

Lucasfilm Animation had one active show being created (TCW) and one being planned (Detours). Both of them got cancelled recently, and Disney not surprisingly probably thinks they can handle future animated TV shows. But there have been six highly successful SW movies, a slew of successfully merchandised products, successful divisions like ILM, successful spinoff companies like THX, and other franchises like Indiana Jones all from Lucasfilm. Disney may be in control, but they know which parts of their acquired company have a history of high performance.

 

That's fine, of course, PrincessKenobi, but the main things being downsized (that we are currently aware of, at any rate) are focused in the animation division; if we stick with that solely, the inevitable result is that you're going to have to come here to keep us on track again, only it'll be because of a divergent discussion about the TCW rather than the EU. It's simply too limiting a discussion to confine ourselves to discussing Dave Filoni having to pack his suitcase, etc. All of this is a textbook-perfect case of LFL's chickens at last coming home to roost, and those chickens have more than just "animation division" written on their flanks. The sale and the downsizing are the culmination of at least fifteen years of missteps and alienating behavior on the part of LFL; if anything, the animators were probably the least responsible for all this.

 

I really think (as I have stated, along with others and I believe you did) a huge problem is with Lucasarts for several years now...the quality of material has just NOT been there, and shelving 1313 is just a sign of that and should not be seen as a negative. I don't think I could stand seeing another poor Star Wars video game released. A major housecleaning was needed. Something was rotten....

 

Detours was a huge sign for me that something wasn't right with the animation department also. I saw the trailer and cringed, to me Star Wars was truly jumping the shark (although ironically I thought that episode of Happy Days was pretty awesome when I saw it in the 70s...The Fonz on waterskis! lol). I was thinking Star Wars is on the verge of death. I was SO happy to hear Disney shelved it. Sure the Robot Chicken Star Wars episodes were fun, but an entire series of Star Wars satire (and not even quality humour), that basically shows Star Wars is now a huge bloated beast that is satisfied with devouring itself. No thanks.

 

It's easier for me to accept an Eopie farting in front of Jar Jar than have something like Detours...at least the former is in a MOVIE, as juvenile as that humour was

 

I was going to post KEVMP 2 times with this picture, but now you've ruined it by editing out you quoting yourself.

 

My ability to edit and quote in a forum is pretty poor lol

 

kevmp : On a posting spree there, huh? I agree, though, about Lucasarts (I should have mentioned them in my post above where I singled out Lucas Animation). And definitely agree about Detours. It just looked stupid, and there is something slightly off when a company makes a satire show about its own product as opposed to satire being done by others (such as Robot Chicken, Family Guy, etc.).

 

Ask Billy D for help.

 

Exactly. To me that is a sign that the end is near...when you become a parody of yourself, you lose all credibility. It happens in rock all the time eg: Kiss and Ozzy Osbourne. Leave the satire to the people who know how to do it (yes I know Seth Green was involved in Detours, but producing your own self-satire show...that just seems really off to me).

 

Ah, good old Jimmy Two-Times... "I'm going to get the papers, get the papers." LOVED that guy.

 

Billy Dee knows something was rotten at LFL

 

Billy Dee hates Jar Jar Binks. Billy Dee says when he put on the cape, he KNEW he was Lando.

 

Yes, that's a Lando.

 

Has Dave packed his suitcase though, I thought he was being put on the new show Disney are working on

 

Honestly, I have no idea what Dave will be doing now, if anything. I think he's a valuable resource that Disney may want to take advantage of, if only because he's proven to me that he has a solid handle on what makes the franchise work; but who's to say there aren't people at Disney already who also would have that kind of understanding, even if it hasn't yet been put to good use? I made the suitcase remark mostly as a reaction to certain people wanting to see pictures of him weeping and lovingly caressing a photo of Ahsoka in a heart-shaped frame, but truth be told, his fate is as big a mystery to me at this point as Ahsoka's is now. They should at least think about making use of him for this new series they're "considering."

 

It's funny you mention that. Years ago, Mel Brooks approached ILM and Lucasfilm to help him with Spaceballs and they politely declined. Their reasons were it was too close and they would rather someone outside do it.

edit: I hope Disney can find a place for Filoni,as well as many of the other artists as Lucasfilm Animation, even something SW-related.

 

It's certainly a shame that all those people are getting the boot, but if it's necessary to put all the focus on Ep7 then I guess I can't blame them.

 

In all honesty, even if there were never to be an Episode VII, it's simple common sense that a slimmer, healthier organization is better equipped to do any job than a larger, sicker organization crammed with bureaucratic speed bumps. We can go over this until we're blue in the face, but it's still always going to come down to that.

And even if we can't accept that, we have been dealt a fait accompli; the downsizing is a fact, and facts are stubborn things. All this mourning, this hand-wringing, eventually becomes tedious and achieves nothing. We can mourn the loss of this or that Star Wars project, we can regret the firing of employees, we can feel sad about all this - but only to a point. After that, it becomes unhealthy, for ourselves and for others. I may be on record as not being the biggest prequel enthuisiast, but I'll credit it for one of the central points it was trying to make: that to hold onto things for their own sake, just for the sake of finding fulfillment in keeping them, is foolish, because life isn't like that. It wouldn't be life at all, in fact, if there were not temporality, and with that, the inevitable loss of that which is valued. It's the very thing the Buddha is said to have heard having reached illumination under the bodhi tree: "All is impermanent." And if there's one thing we know, it's that Buddhism was an influence on the philosophical underpinnings of Star Wars. And if there's any truth to that idea, then we need to heed it, and at some point walk away from whatever pain this has caused us. If there's any comfort, it lies in the fact that at least LFL now has a direction, a purpose, and a future.

Is that enough? Perhaps not; but it will have to be.

 

TCW was making Disney's own programs look bad in comparison. No animated Disney shows (including the Marvel and Tron ones) ever looked as good as TCW or could ever hope to match it in ratings. With TCW axed, Disney can make new Star Wars programs using cheap 2-D animation and since nobody will watch it, it will then get cancelled after one lackluster season.

 

TCW's was cost prohibitive once Disney bought the franchise. They would have wanted to take it off of Cartoon Network, which would have hurt their revenue stream due to the deal that they had. And, it was an expensive show to produce.

This is what happens when a new company takes over, priorities get changed.