News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I'm sorry, but fans are looking SO HARD for a reason to hate Kathleen Kennedy that it becomes absurd. You're even trying to denigrate Andor, universally critically acclaimed and clearly better written, acted, directed, and produced then anything Star Wars has produced since the OT, because it fails "from a general audience buzz standpoint" - however you're discerning that. You're also treating a franchise that was an absolute pop culture joke after the derided PT and is chock-a-block with risible garbage in the vast majority of the EU as though it has been consistently successful, praised, and beloved for most of its existence. It hasn't been. It is in a better state right now, today, then it has been since 1983.

Certain fans are so desperate to hate Kennedy, one of the most successful producers of the last 40 years whose resume is absolutely full of modern classics, and blame her for everything wrong with the ST, rather then blame Iger, the guy who has destroyed Disney parks and has PUBLICALLY ACCEPTED RESPONSIBILITY for the problems with the big-screen franchise. The hatred towards Kennedy has little to do with reality and what the franchise is actually producing and a lot to do with other factors.

In all honesty. We’re in Jar Jar territory here.

 

[CastAStone]

I'm no bleeding heart liberal, but I would say - show some leadership, do something that will rock the corporate world, and increase the minimum wage for hourly Disney CMs to $15.

Disney’s minimum wage increased to $15/hr in 2021. Ask any DVC owner, they can go on for days about the impact of wages on dues. And they do.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Disney’s minimum wage increased to $15/hr in 2021. Ask any DVC owner, they can go on for days about the impact of wages on dues. And they do.

Are they annoyed that there is a direct correlation between wage rises and dues, or are they annoyed about the wages going up?

 

[Tom P.]

I hereby grant you full and unrestricted permission to have terrible opinions.

Finally! Now I can become active on Twitter!

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Finally! Now I can become active on Twitter!

Do you have eight dollars?

 

[Tom P.]

As does holding up a middle finger to it. I get not liking the man, but we’re not schoolchildren!

Agreed. Also, I dislike Chapek's business decisions. I don't hate the man personally. I don't even know him personally. For all I know, he's a perfectly decent guy who's just a bad choice to lead Disney. But I do not wish him ill.

 

[BobPar]

Again im no fan of Chapek and thought he was awful but what has he done that Iger literally wasnt doing or on the verge of doing next… Iger was better with the media and “hiding” what the company was doing vs Chapek outright saying it? Heck i rather someone being upfront with me than try and play me for a fool by making believe they care… as far as CM goes i truly think social media hate towards Chapek enhanced their hatred towards the guy personally and Josh still
Getting a pass? Iger gets to start fresh? After the avalanche he started?!?

 

[erasure fan1]

I'm sorry, but fans are looking SO HARD for a reason to hate Kathleen Kennedy that it becomes absurd. You're even trying to denigrate Andor, universally critically acclaimed and clearly better written, acted, directed, and produced then anything Star Wars has produced since the OT, because it fails "from a general audience buzz standpoint" -

You really don't need to look that hard. I personally liked Andor I didn't denigrate it at all. I see no real excitement outside of the bigger fans. I've said many times, my circle isn't the end all be all. But no one in my family or friends or people I work with have watched. And they all watched Mando, Kenobi and Fett. That doesn't make it bad but is that what Disney wants?

You're also treating a franchise that was an absolute pop culture joke after the derided PT

Sorry, but I went to star wars weekends multiple times. In no way was star wars a pop culture joke. That's the statement of someone desperate to defend Kennedy. The prequels had their issues for sure. So when the sequels make the prequels look like oscar winning material, that says something.

and is chock-a-block with risible garbage in the vast majority of the EU as though it has been consistently successful, praised, and beloved for most of its existence. It hasn't been. It is in a better state right now, today, then it has been since 1983.

I've never been a supporter of the EU as a whole. There was a lot of trash in it just like with marvel comics. But within it, there was some absolute gems. The knights of the old republic story is better than everything in the Disney era. No chance that star wars is in the best shape since the OT. That's just nonsense.

Certain fans are so desperate to hate Kennedy, one of the most successful producers of the last 40 years whose resume is absolutely full of modern classics, and blame her for everything wrong with the ST, rather then blame Iger, the guy who has destroyed Disney parks and has PUBLICALLY ACCEPTED RESPONSIBILITY for the problems with the big-screen franchise. The hatred towards Kennedy has little to do with reality and what the franchise is actually producing and a lot to do with other factors.

So if people thinking Kennedy is not right for star wars is not based in reality, then what is it based in? What are these other factors? Personally I blame her and Iger. They both stink. But Kennedy is the head of Lucasfilm. Iger might have taken responsibility for the solo release debacle. But I never heard him take responsibility for the terrible story decisions that Kennedy approved. It was her plan, it didn't work. And people don't like her because she's been an absolute dill hole to the fans.

 

[LittleBuford]

The prequels had their issues for sure. So when the sequels make the prequels look like oscar winning material, that says something.

I’m a casual Star Wars fan at best. In fact, I’d never seen any of the films until my partner, who’d grown up watching them, showed them to me ten years ago. I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that I’m not burdened by nostalgia when it comes to the franchise; it’s all relatively new to me. To my mind, the sequel trilogy is considerably better than the prequel films. (My partner agrees, for what it’s worth, though he absolutely hates The Rise of Skywalker.)

 

[UNCgolf]

I’m a casual Star Wars fan at best. In fact, I’d never seen any of the films until my partner, who’d grown up watching them, showed them to me ten years ago. I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that I’m not burdened by nostalgia when it comes to the franchise; it’s all relatively new to me. To my mind, the sequel trilogy is considerably better than the prequel films. (My partner agrees, for what it’s worth, though he absolutely hates The Rise of Skywalker.)

I think the sequels are better films in terms of general quality (acting, direction, etc.), but the prequels have a better underlying plot. The prequels feel like they had the potential to be good if Lucas let someone else write the scripts and direct them based off his plots, whereas the sequels are relatively well-made films (although they still have flaws/are far from perfect) that are just kind of meh overall and don't really feel like they had the potential to be better than what they are.

 

[TwilightZone]

Iger, am I right?

 

[LittleBuford]

I think the sequels are better films in terms of general quality (acting, direction, etc.), but the prequels have a better underlying plot. The prequels feel like they had the potential to be good if Lucas let someone else write the scripts and direct them based off his plots, whereas the sequels are relatively well-made films (although they still have flaws/are far from perfect) but are just kind of meh overall and don't really feel like they had the potential to be better than what they are.

I think this is astute.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

You really don't need to look that hard. I personally liked Andor I didn't denigrate it at all. I see no real excitement outside of the bigger fans. I've said many times, my circle isn't the end all be all. But no one in my family or friends or people I work with have watched. And they all watched Mando, Kenobi and Fett. That doesn't make it bad but is that what Disney wants?

Sorry, but I went to star wars weekends multiple times. In no way was star wars a pop culture joke. That's the statement of someone desperate to defend Kennedy. The prequels had their issues for sure. So when the sequels make the prequels look like oscar winning material, that says something.

I've never been a supporter of the EU as a whole. There was a lot of trash in it just like with marvel comics. But within it, there was some absolute gems. The knights of the old republic story is better than everything in the Disney era. No chance that star wars is in the best shape since the OT. That's just nonsense.

So if people thinking Kennedy is not right for star wars is not based in reality, then what is it based in? What are these other factors? Personally I blame her and Iger. They both stink. But Kennedy is the head of Lucasfilm. Iger might have taken responsibility for the solo release debacle. But I never heard him take responsibility for the terrible story decisions that Kennedy approved. It was her plan, it didn't work. And people don't like her because she's been an absolute dill hole to the fans.

Andor is terrific. I loved it. It will sell exactly zero toys and hasn’t exactly made much of a deep cultural penetration. Sadly, those things are what motivates much of Disney’s handling of IP.

Does she get credit for the D+ era Filoni/Favreau work? Sure. But she also has to take the blame for having about a 20% success rate at getting films to achieve liftoff (and the Rogue One production was highly troubled and very expensive).

 

[_caleb]

I think Iger prefers to make decisions one step at a time, where Chapek didn’t seem to have the same level of leadership intelligence; he was more of a “stick to the plan”-sort of guy.

So when fans reacted badly to something, Iger would rethink and adjust–sometimes by changing direction, sometimes by throwing the fans a bone, sometimes just by changing how they talked about something.

Was this “hiding” the company’s plans? I don’t think so. Because Iger was genuinely open to changing course. So while we got a version of Genie+ that was no doubt planned on Iger’s watch, it wasn’t the only option, but likely one of several. Iger would have responded to the negative reactions in some way, while Chapek basically plowed through regardless and frustrated everyone in the process.

 

[larryz]

Also does anyone know if Chapek kept the breastfeeding stations open? I actually chestfeed my baby but was curious if they have a place where I can chestfeed in privacy?

Pretty sure you can do that at the first aid office.

 

[bcoachable]

Possibly THIS was the announcement the board was keeping Chapek from making?

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I think the sequels are better films in terms of general quality (acting, direction, etc.), but the prequels have a better underlying plot. The prequels feel like they had the potential to be good if Lucas let someone else write the scripts and direct them based off his plots, whereas the sequels are relatively well-made films (although they still have flaws/are far from perfect) that are just kind of meh overall and don't really feel like they had the potential to be better than what they are.

As someone who's never particularly been a fan of Star Wars, I feel the Sequel Trilogy is competently executed but poorly conceived, whereas the Prequel Trilogy has the inverse problem.

Meanwhile, the Original three movies are simultaneously nowhere near as good as people would have you believe and also somehow better than both the Prequel and Sequel Trilogies.

 

[OrlandoRising]

The announcement that Illuminations would be replaced with a new show happened in September 2018 when Iger was still fully the CEO. So I don't know how much blame you can put on Chapek for that. Unless someone has information to the contrary.

Yes, the creative designer said Chapek gave input on it. Lots more credit than he probably deserves. But it's well known that Chapek had his hand in that one.

Chapek was head of the parks when "Harmonious" was in serious development. Some people forget that when trying to pin blame on Iger for anything pre-Feb. 2020.

The hatred towards Kennedy has little to do with reality and what the franchise is actually producing and a lot to do with other factors.

Gee, I wonder what makes Kathleen Kennedy different from many studio heads in Hollywood that gets internet trolls so riled up.

I don't hate KK, but she's had a lot more misses with SW than not. She has not been a good shepard for that franchise. That alone is worth her termination. She's been in the lead for quite some time.

Everything SW-related since Rise of Skywalker has been largely well-received, if you're looking at real critical and audience reviews and merchandise. And the sequel trilogy still produced three $1 billion+ films, despite all the legitimate debates about Rise of Skywalker. Compare that to the financial performance that got Chapek fired.

 

[UNCgolf]

As someone who's never particularly been a fan of Star Wars, I feel the Sequel Trilogy is competently executed but poorly conceived, whereas the Prequel Trilogy has the inverse problem.

Meanwhile, the Original three movies are simultaneously nowhere near as good as people would have you believe and also somehow better than both the Prequel and Sequel Trilogies.

I think this is a much more succinct way to make my point regarding the PT and ST; I agree completely.

I love the OT, and they're far better than the PT or ST, but they're really just fun escapist fantasy. They're among the best in that category -- better than the HP films but not as good as the LOTR trilogy, e.g. -- but they're not really all-time classic great films.

As an aside, the HP films have a wild progression. The first two are essentially children's films, the third is a legitimately good movie on its own, the fourth has some issues but is well done overall and probably the second best film of the bunch, the fifth and sixth are terrible films that don't even really make sense without knowledge of the books, and the seventh/eighth combo are an improvement over 5/6 but still bland and unimaginative for the most part. They're just all over the place from a quality standpoint.

 

[TalkingHead]

Only 12 hours until Iger’s town hall meeting? Here’s hoping the YouTubers go live with the pre-game at 6 am like it’s Disney’s Super Bowl Sunday.