Feb. 21st Star Wars land preview on ABC

[DarthMileZ]

George Lucas only half directed the original, so he doesnt deserve as much credit as he receives. its popular knowledge that he had breakdowns on set and had no idea how to direct.

the most popular and successful star wars movie was Empire, written by Kasdan who also wrote TFA and Raiders. so how is that fan fiction? he wrote Empire.

Lucas didnt even direct it either.

nobody calls ROTJ a rehash of new hope, that also has a death star. yet TFA gets hate for having a bigger death star.

TFA also gives us new things, a runaway storm trooper, more advanced storm troopers, a more complex villian etc.

 

[Mike S]

He is not the creator and without that creator, Kasdan likely would not have a career or at least not as successful of one.

The creation of Star Wars was a group effort.

 

[HMF]

The creation of Star Wars was a group effort.

Agreed, but it originated with one man.

 

[DarthMileZ]

Agreed, but it originated with one man.

Ralph McQuarrie..... Star Wars would have been a flash gordon rip off if it wasnt for him.

 

[Mike S]

Agreed, but it originated with one man.

And without the other people it never would've gone anywhere.

 

[HMF]

And without the other people it never would've gone anywhere.

I don't necessarily disagree with that, but the same thing could be said about Walt Disney.

 

[FrankLapidus]

George Lucas only half directed the original, so he doesnt deserve as much credit as he receives. its popular knowledge that he had breakdowns on set and had no idea how to direct.

Not necessarily true.

Lucas did know how to direct, he had just never directed anything that was close to the scale of Star Wars. He did suffer stress-related problems and was not the most communicative director to say the least but he did direct a lot of the film until Fox set a deadline for filming to be completed close to the end of production, at which point it broke into three groups (directed by Lucas, Gary Kurtz and Robert Watts) to finish the shots that were needed. On top of that he also had to step in to oversee the special effects at ILM after problems there. And not's not mentioning the business delas he was able to negotiate with the studio regarding rights to the sequels and merchandise.

So he does deserve the credit, he might have been out of his depth and had help from others who desrve credit in their own right, but it was Lucas' film and by hook and by crook he defied the odds that were against him to produce a film that changed popular culture.

 

[DarthMileZ]

I would agree that it was ultimately his film but he was a poor director, his ideas of course are brilliant, but his techniques as a director were not good.

but yeah, probably just out of his depth.

 

[DarthMileZ]

Also not saying i could do any better xD

 

[FrankLapidus]

I would agree that it was ultimately his film but he was a poor director, his ideas of course are brilliant, but his techniques as a director were not good.

but yeah, probably just out of his depth.

On the strength of A New Hope, and American Graffiti which I think is a very good film, I'd argue he was a good young director, just one whose personality prevented him from communicating clearly exactly what he wanted.

When it comes to the prequels I'd agree with you though, for a few reasons.

 

[MagicGoofy]

And TFA isn't? Last time I checked Abrams did not create the Star Wars Universe. Since it's not by the original author by definition it is fan-fiction.

Go home, you're drunk.

 

[xdan0920]

Believe it or not those EU Books and cartoons had devoted fans. If you consider Abrams' A New Hope retread as breathing new life into a franchise that was never dead to begin with .... well, what can I say.

Oh I don't doubt it. I have friends who were very into the EU books. Same with Clone Wars. I'm happy so "many" people enjoyed them.

However, that is a quite poor place for the greatest cinematic universe of all time to reside. Now it's been brought back to the big screen in a spectacular fashion AND we are getting a Star Wars Experience in both stateside parks. That's a humongous upgrade.

 

[G00fyDad]

The EU was glorified fan fiction.

There is a difference between fan fiction and novels written with the expressed permission of the franchise owner and also vetted for continuity by that same owner.

 

[PhotoDave219]

There is a difference between fan fiction and novels written with the expressed permission of the franchise owner and also vetted for continuity by that same owner.

Yes but some of the expanded universe is some of the worst writing Ive had the misfortune to see

 

[danlb_2000]

I would agree that it was ultimately his film but he was a poor director, his ideas of course are brilliant, but his techniques as a director were not good.

but yeah, probably just out of his depth.

He must have known something about directing, he got a best directing Oscar nomination for only his second major movie, American Graffiti.

Ralph McQuarrie..... Star Wars would have been a flash gordon rip off if it wasnt for him.

And without George, there would have been no Star Wars at all. I think his biggest accomplishment was pursuing his vision when almost no one else believed it in.

 

[FigmentJedi]

The EU was glorified fan fiction.

There is a difference between fan fiction and novels written with the expressed permission of the franchise owner and also vetted for continuity by that same owner.

Yes but some of the expanded universe is some of the worst writing Ive had the misfortune to see

A lot of the Expanded Universe's issues were the lack of cooperation and editorial oversight. Lot of authors more concerned with one-upsmanship resulting in the escalating superweapon of the week plots, rivalries between Dark Horse and Del Rey, cast stagnation in the post-Jedi era. It has a real "making things up as it goes" feeling to it sometimes, especially post-Jedi stuff.

The nice thing about the new Canon under Lucasfilm Story Group is there's a lot more coordination between new projects. Stuff feels a lot more connected. Newer OT stories have been doing pretty well to bridge the gap with the prequels not just with stuff like Rebels, but the newer comics and books with pre-ESB Luke trying to piece together a Jedi education from whatever stuff he can find that the Empire didn't destroy, Leia having visions of Padme while rescuing Alderaanian refugees on Naboo, or just a lot of the stuff that goes on in the Vader comic.

 

[doctornick]

DHS isn't a really alien planet. The conceit is that you're in a movie studio, not actually on Hoth or Tatooine or wherever else. This is pretty obvious when you look at the fact that the AT-AT is hollow, the Ewok village has stage lights, and there's a canvas backdrop by the speeder bike.

I think it's pretty well established that they are moving away from the concept (part of the reason for the name change of the park) and the expectation is that Star Wars Land (and TSL) will be "immersive" and have guests experience being in the movie, not visiting a set.

If they were to go with the movie set ideal, it would be such a horrible mistake and poorly received.

 

[doctornick]

This is just my guess, based on nothing other than what seems logical to me.

Echo lake stays as-is. Star Wars land gets a proper transition barrier from the Hollywood theme (something like modest transitional hills or Hollywood facades that span the area between what is now 50s Prime Time and Indy). Most of the backstage and show buildings of Star Wars are built in what's now the parking lot (and the current entry road gets re-routed around these as needed), with the on-stage areas for guests will replace Indy, the Backlot Express, and the area between them. It would allow Star Tours to be integrated into the land, and even allow for the queue to be rerouted so that the entrance to the attraction would be from within Star Wars land itself.

They could also possibly keep Indy (for a new show?), and just push Star Wars land farther into the parking lot (there's plenty of room for that), which would also eliminate some of the need for a transitional "wall."

This blueprint leaves the entire LMA and backlot area (Catastrophe Canyon) as the perfect staging area for SW and Toy Story land construction, as well as having it free for potential future expansion. I think that's why they're getting rid of Catastrophe Canyon now, to prep for the construction of the two lands.

Again, nothing but guessing here, but it seems like this plan requires a minimal amount of demolition while also keeping a maximum amount of free space available for future expansion.

Here's a painstakingly crafted masterpiece, detailing what I'm envisioning. Yellow would be the barrier (either hills or building facades), blue is the on-stage area of Star Wars land, and white are the backstage buildings (show buildings, restaurant, whatever).

View attachment 131881

This is more or less how I see it as well. I'd probably quibble and suggest it will be pushed "back" (away from Echo Lake) a bit, further east into the parking lot and maybe rotated about 20 degrees clockwise. This will allow more of a gap from the Echo Lake area to allow for a greater transition and "wow" entrance. This would be consistent with the map that @marni1971 drew (Star Wars in red):

This would also be consistent in style with how SW is being set up in Disneyland.

 

[marni1971]

Let me remind you I'm not 100% sure that is totally accurate. It's a real minefield.

 

[bakntime]

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is a famous example of Disney running something into the ground. They flat out killed it with greed.

Oh, please. That was a game show that wasn't that good. It was a trivia show, in which one question was answered every 10 minutes. What kind of staying power should a game show like that have? Disney was brilliant in milking that piece of fluff for all it was worth. They got more out of it than it deserved. All these "modern" game shows die. Deal or No Deal, Weakest Link, ... Minute to Win It ... Duel. They all were kind of weak ideas with limited long term appeal. When the novelty wears off, they disappear.

There's a difference between milking a weak franchise vs. running a good one into the ground.