Discussion Lucasfilm "dramatic downsizing"

There are far more reasons than just that. Clone Wars lasted five seasons, it had a good run as it was. The idea of Detours was awful, and 1313 I can live without even though it looked pretty cool. In return for losing that, Disney is letting LucasFilm chose the director and have control over filming and writing. Don't forget, they did this to Marvel as well. Who makes the Marvel TV series on XD? Disney, the same people they're going to give the next animated Star Wars television operation.

If TCW and Detours has to go to get a good quality SW film, I'm fine with that. There's absolutely NO evidence to suggest Disney is about to micromanage the sequels.

 

I don't really see the big deal. Lucasfilm animation is rather extraneous if they aren't making anything in the pipeline. I wouldn't be terribly shocked if the division is removed all together.

Bob Iger said that LucasArts, as well, is probably going to be no longer going to developing anything serious in house. Lucas licensing will probably be the main division that deals with games from now on. Honestly, that won't change much since LucasArts has developed very little over the years.

ILM, Skywalker sound, etc are going to be completely untouched. The production side of Lucasfilm is actually expanding at the moment.

 

George Lucas may not have much control anymore, but he will have some control. As a Disney shareholder he will have a voice in what happens to his creation, again maybe not much. Disney shutting down the Clone Wars is not such a big deal, we'll see what other changes they have in store for Lucasfilm before we can say with any clarity that the sky is falling.

 

NOOOO! I want tons of episodes of jedi endlessly swing their lightsabers around with characters spouting recycled dialogue from earlier,better stories. Forget the new movies. We must complain about unsubstantiated rumors and pine for the days of Filoni steamrolling continuity.

 

Quiet you! We must jump to conclusions and bash Disney for decisions they might or might not be making. But lets not let that stop us. Please bring back the days of Jar Jar and the prequels.......when the fan base was truly united over Lucas' creative decisions...............

 

Lol! Don't worry about it, guys. TCW was a fairly good cartoon for awhile, but now it's being cancelled to make room for other things. Since the show is being cancelled, then of course they have to let some people go who were working on the show. Writers and such. I wouldn't call that massive downsizing, I would call it normal television production business.

 

Actually that's not the case at all. The ST has been in development well before the Disney purchase, and its pretty clear those 2009 rumors from inside Lucasfilm that sequel films were on the way was true. Fox would have been more than happy to distribute further films.

I'm already done with Disney's ownership of Lucasfilm, and Bob Iger's vision for the franchise. They've effectively shut down Lucas Arts, now Lucas Animation... Sorry not interested any more. It was a great 35 year ride.

Yancy

 

Lucasfilm "dramatic downsizing"


hopefully Carrie Fisher will do the same (sorry, couldn't help myself)

 

Or maybe Leia ate lots of Bantha and Rancor.

 

Han would've made sure she stuck to small portions of grilled skinless Mynock as soon as she couldn't fit into her gold bikini. No way Han would end up with a "plus size" woman. If she doesn't get in shape I wonder if he'll be making any wisecracks about it? If she'd been that hefty in ANH he definitely would've mentioned it in their arguments.

 

MOD WARNING ​

Guys, we locked the Carrie thread for bashing on her. If anymore of it goes on we will start handing out bans.​

 

Optimism is great, but is there any appropriate time to question Disney at all? I know most people are "black and white", either it's "Whatever Disney does will be great because EP7 will be great for it". Then there is the other side "Everything is doom and gloom". When the buyout first happened, I was against it. But I let the optimism get to me and I tried to accept that this might turn out ok. However since the buyout, there has been little to anything "I" find optimistic about this deal. Again I guess it's all opinion based. It seems some people believe Disney basically shutting everything known to man except the production of EP7 is a great thing. I disagree. It's putting all your eggs in one basket. Everyone is gambling that EP7 will be the second coming of whatever god you believe in. If that doesn't happen, then we are basically bankrupt with our SW...

Again, opinion based:
1313 on hold
Battlefront 3 on hold
Detours on hold
TCW cancelled
Del Rey and Darkhorse contracts expiring
Lucas Animation team being disbanded

Even if you think all those things sucked ^^^ we are naive enough to believe those things are the "make" or "break" for EP7? If so, that means we already have little faith in the production of EP7. Also I find it odd that SW going "dark" for 3 years is welcomed by the fans, again, all in the name of EP7 being "epic". So 2 hours of Star Wars in 2015 is worth 3 years of nothing? I'll save some of you the time of replying by saying "it is worth it". I disagree.

Disney could have just as easily allowed ALL of these projects (that were already in the works) to naturally come to completion. TCW already started work on Season 7 and 8. Airing those seasons would take us up to 2015 where TCW could have ended naturally. 1313 could have been released in time for the holidays. Detours which was already recorded could be aired.

For the cynics, they are happy that Star Wars is going dark. I guess the masochist in them believes that's the only way they can have "good Star Wars" again. Maybe they'll be so "starved" for SW, that no matter what Abrams and Disney puts out, it'll seem epic.

Honestly these moves to me don't seem "optimistic", they actually seem "desperate". I'm just being cautious. I'm not going to follow Disney off a cliff like a mindless lemming. As a fan I feel it's right to question them about the franchise. And why not? We are the patrons that are supplying the $$$$$...

 

Well to be fair your list is a bit inaccurate. Battlefront 3 has been on hold for over 6 years at this point, well before Disney ever bought LFL.

 

It's just way, waaay too early to make any judgements, pro or con, about the new Disneyfied LFL. Especially with regard to Episode 7.

All we really know so far about Episode 7 is: Lucas did the story treatments, Arndt is writing and JJ is directing. These are all good things in my view. And oh yeah, it's looking more and more like the OT cast is returning. I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

I'll accept that correction, but any chance of it going forward is completely on hold now. Also one could say TCW had a limited lifespan since it is set after AOTC and before ROTS. That still doesn't mean Disney prematurely canceling it isn't "wrong" just because "it couldn't last forever".

Dark times are here folks, litterally. Nothing new until EP7. And if I remember it right (back in 1999) everyone's anticipation was so high for TPM, that ultimately they were let down. I know everyone will "Monday morning quarterdeck" and say "well Lucas sucks, that's why the PT failed". But I think the same thing will happen with EP7. Everyone is putting all their faith in Disney and Abrams to deliver the "rebirth of SW". I say that's a recipe for disaster. Like they say in business: DIVERSIFY. Disney is doing the exact opposite..

 

I think the canceling of TCW had more to do with issues with who really has rights to it and the legalities of it all with Warner Brothers. But that's just my personal thought on that.

 

The work on the treatments went into high gear in preparation of the sale. That is a matter of record. The only reason any movies are getting made is because of this sale. Lucas doesn't want any part of big picture making anymore. He has his mind on small projects, philanthropy, and his museum. He's done with the world of blockbuster film making.

People here are in denial.

 

Granted, there is a big danger some fans will get their hopes up sky-high about Episode 7 and there is no way the film can live up to their expectations. That's an occupational hazard of being a hard-core fan.

Actually. "diversify" is a cardinal rule of investing, not running a business. There are always exceptions of course, but most businesses tend to do better when they streamline and specialize in one type of product or service. Over-diversifying by putting the corporate finger into too many pies is exactly what gets a lot of businesses into deep trouble.

 

While this is no surprise, I do feel a little sad. Not for the Clone Wars being cancelled...honestly after Maul's 'resurrection' they lost me. While there were several good, thought-provoking episodes, the rest were just canned morality lessons with a Star Wars flavor.And six seasons for a three-year period with Ahsoka still alive? Eee-yeah. Can someone say 'plot hole'? That show has gone on too long and it's about time it was laid to rest. (Sorry!)
But it's not the Clone Wars thing that bothers me. What bothers me is Lucasfilm may be losing that 'small company' feel. It treats its' employees like gold, by all accounts, and Disney is notorious for outsourcing. I'm not saying that's going to happen or it will make any of the coming content bad, but if Lucasfilm's employees are downsized by Disney with no logical reason, well....that would be a real shame.

 

Star Wars Hipster!