Why did George sell Lucasfilm?

And why did he sell them to Disney of all companies? And why/how did he get pushed out of the development of VII?

 

Whether the sale itself was initially GL's or Bob Iger's I don't know. I suspect GL wanted to go for one last ride and retire. The attachment of the OT3 resulted in LFL's extra value at that moment in time. The sale of Lucasfilm provided him with an exit strategy.

I'm pretty sure he was blindsided by the falling out. I get the feeling midichlorians and other such plot details were at the heart of Disney's desire to scrap GL's treatment.

 

None of it really makes sense to me. If GL was too burned by the "fans" and just said screw it to Star Wars I could sympathize, but his Netherworld trilogy made it seem like he was ready to buck the "fans" and what they wanted until the very end.

 

I'm not sure I understand what is meant by "buck the fans".

I think the popular response to the PT had a significant effect on GL, but not the extent that he would change his approach to a potential sequel trilogy. I'm convinced GL was building to something that was very special to him, but it was not a vision shared by BI/KK/JJ so that was probably a daily battle and he just got sick of it.

 

Sometimes I think people are simply out to get other people. How could JJ or anyone honestly and truly believe that they were better off without GL?
Is JJ that much of an ego maniac?

 

That's one of the more interesting things about the whole scenario... it certainly doesn't appear they had a specific vision or superior story ready to go. It's one thing for LFL to think they can proceed competently without GL. Its another matter entirely to believe you can pull such a thing off without significant planning, focus and coordination.

 

That's what I'm trying to get at. The entire thing is a giant question mark and the answer pretty much requires someone in the scenario to be a vindictive and/or arrogant subhuman.
Also Disney very clearly paid off critics/tastemakers since the movie is unashamedly not a movie. It's not telling a story of any kind, really.

 

Ah, there it is. The ol' "Question thread actually intended to **** on something". I know it well.