Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Creatives Panel

[tirian]

But without the starwars name, a Disney sci-fi series would immediately be labeled a star wars rip off and fail hard. I have no idea if Iger was to blame for the slight on the OT and prequels. But it's not out of the relm of possibilities that Disney would want a focus on "their" star wars.

That’s another issue altogether. Judging from his recent interviews, he really imagines he’s responsible for the successes from Pixar and Marvel, and he thinks the company has never been more creative than it is now.

Someone believes his own press.

 

[Kram Sacul]

You know I was just thinking the other day there wasn’t enough anti-GE threads. The 5 people just haven’t been heard enough.

 

[RobWDW1971]

You know I was just thinking the other day there wasn’t enough anti-GE threads. The 5 people just haven’t been heard enough.

It's as if millions of full price paying guests suddenly cried out "meh" and were suddenly silenced.

 

[Kram Sacul]

It's as if millions of full price paying guests suddenly cried out "meh" and were suddenly silenced.

Wait a minute. I thought GE was a ghost town?

 

[RobWDW1971]

Wait a minute. I thought GE was a ghost town?

Nope, just a complete disaster in terms of driving incremental attendance on both coasts. A billion dollars well spent indeed....

But hey, it's September, Dorian, auto sales, recession coming, Haley's Comet...

If only all of the energy of complaining about the complaining was spent actually explaining how SWGE actually is the game changing theme park experience they promised. It's not. So I get why people don't attempt to defend it.

Bright Suns!!!

 

[TalkingHead]

I'm rejecting the biased narrative from yet another nameless "insider" who is using the very real, multi-faceted disappointment of SWGE's opening to advance the Fandom Menace crap that he personally believes in.

For the millionth time: TFA and TJL are among the top 10 highest-grossing films ever. Both critically acclaimed. You're of course allowed to dislike them, but to act like anywhere near a majority of the fanbase dislikes them ignores so many evidence to the contrary that the only explanation is willful ignorance.

But obviously those films could never have the emotional resonance with Star Wars fans as the original trilogy, and that's a crucial mistake on Disney's part with Galaxy's Edge. The disappointing reception to the Galaxy's Edge opening not be pinned on any one factor, but it does not mean the Fandom Menace crowd has been right all along or that the majority of the fanbase agrees with them.

I don’t know what “Fandom Menace” is, but it sounds like you’re preaching to your choir, so carry on.

 

[Kram Sacul]

I never said I did?

The lack of OT content probably is part of the reason for the disappointing opening, along with overhype scaring people off, price hikes, opening with one lackluster ride, and bad early word of mouth.

BUT wanting more OT content does not mean people have actively avoided the land because of this imagined widespread antipathy towards the new trilogy and Last Jedi in particular.

The Fandom Menace crowd is using its disappointing opening to push their agenda and claim victory, because they live in a separate reality.

This never would’ve happened if they would’ve based Star Wars land on a pretty and inviting planet that isn’t full of sand colored buildings, random junk and seedy shops... Yeah, it’s basically Tatooine.

 

[WDW Pro]

According to her LinkedIn, she’s only worked at WDI since April 2018. Is that accurate?

Yes. She was brought in to implement the supposed interactive elements throughout the land. Unfortunately she failed at basically every single one of them. She's not connected to the Lucasfilm crew, she was just completely in over her head.

 

[mikejs78]

This thread is laughable...

 

[The_Jobu]

I never said I did?

The lack of OT content probably is part of the reason for the disappointing opening, along with overhype scaring people off, price hikes, opening with one lackluster ride, and bad early word of mouth.

BUT wanting more OT content does not mean people have actively avoided the land because of this imagined widespread antipathy towards the new trilogy and Last Jedi in particular.

The Fandom Menace crowd is using its disappointing opening to push their agenda and claim victory, because they live in a separate reality.

So your contention, if I have it, is that some people avoided the land because it dosent have enough of what they like, and not at all because it has stuff they dont like? To expand further, you're arguing that SWL lacks content with a positive attraction (the OT) but does not contain any negative repulsion (as no one would stay home because they hate the ST), essentially arguing the land (and/or ST) are mostly neutral or at best mild attractors? Forgive me for saying so, I do not want to devalue your opinion (it may be correct), but to me that just sounds like semantics that aren't the focus of OP's discussion of the executives.

I would think the two concepts are not mutually exclusive, they could both (postive and negative forces) be contributing to the lower than expected crowds. If you believe that the negative appeal of the ST is not a very large contributor to the dissapointing early crowds, then I would agree with you, but I can not agree that it does not exist at all. That reduces us to debating the very subjective matter of what percentage of the SW fanbase actively dislikes the ST (or TLJ), which, naturally, is an abyss of a conversation topic.

I dont know who the Fandom Menace is but it sounds like a personal annoyance you have with him and the divisiveness of TLJ?

 

[mikejs78]

So your contention, if I have it, is that some people avoided the land because it dosent have enough of what they like, and not at all because it has stuff they dont like? To expand further, you're arguing that SWL lacks content with a positive attraction (the OT) but does not contain any negative repulsion (as no one would stay home because they hate the ST), essentially arguing the land (and/or ST) are mostly neutral or at best mild attractors? Forgive me for saying so, I do not want to devalue your opinion (it may be correct), but to me that just sounds like semantics that aren't the focus of OP's discussion of the executives.

I would think the two concepts are not mutually exclusive, they could both (postive and negative forces) be contributing to the lower than expected crowds. If you believe that the negative appeal of the ST is not a very large contributor to the dissapointing early crowds, then I would agree with you, but I can not agree that it does not exist at all. That reduces us to debating the very subjective matter of what percentage of the SW fanbase actively dislikes the ST (or TLJ), which, naturally, is an abyss of a conversation topic.

I dont know who the Fandom Menace is but it sounds like a personal annoyance you have with him and the divisiveness of TLJ?

The idea that this is because of the ST vs the OT is completely ridiculous on its face. The vast majority of people don't know, they only know SW land is open (and they only found out about that recently, as Disney was.foolish enough not to start advertising this a year ago). The OP just has a personal vendetta against Kathleen Kennedy and LucasFilm and is using wild conspiracy theories to try to push his own agenda.

 

[Stripes]

Yes. She was brought in to implement the supposed interactive elements throughout the land. Unfortunately she failed at basically every single one of them. She's not connected to the Lucasfilm crew, she was just completely in over her head.

I wonder, did the droids that were supposed to roam the land have interactive features planned?

 

[The_Jobu]

The idea that this is because of the ST vs the OT is completely ridiculous on its face. The vast majority of people don't know, they only know SW land is open (and they only found out about that recently, as Disney was.foolish enough not to start advertising this a year ago). The OP just has a personal vendetta against Kathleen Kennedy and LucasFilm and is using wild conspiracy theories to try to push his own agenda.

I agree the slow start isn't entirely due to the reception of the ST, or even mostly, but to say it has no effect at all, that seems illogical to me. I'm open to the discussion of the decisions of these executives and their self-congratulatory statements.

 

[Jones14]

I will say that I don’t find Batuu to be uninviting as a place (at least the WDW version, which is the one I’ve been to). It’s no less colorful or inviting than the Caribbean plaza in Adventureland, and the areas that are a little more rundown or threatening-looking are the exception, not the norm.

 

[Joesixtoe]

I agree the slow start isn't entirely due to the reception of the ST, or even mostly, but to say it has no effect at all, that seems illogical to me. I'm open to the discussion of the decisions of these executives and their self-congratulatory statements.

Your right, as time went on the ST story elements did have me less and less excited about star wars and GE... doesn't mean I wasn't excited cause I was, but I wasn't nearly as excited as I was 2 years ago.. However I do like the land and am glad I went.

 

[erasure fan1]

The idea that this is because of the ST vs the OT is completely ridiculous on its face. The vast majority of people don't know, they only know SW land is open (and they only found out about that recently, as Disney was.foolish enough not to start advertising this a year ago). The OP just has a personal vendetta against Kathleen Kennedy and LucasFilm and is using wild conspiracy theories to try to push his own agenda.

What's the wild conspiracy theory? That people are staying away because of ST vs. OT? While it isn't the only reason, or really the main reason, there is an entire segment of fans who have ZERO desire to see a star wars land based off the sequels. I'm not saying it's right but to think that had no effect is a bit naive in my opinion. Disney was expecting the hardcore star wars fan to make this pilgrimage and flood the parks, and it didn't happen. I also don't think you need to have a vendetta against Kennedy to think she's been terrible for the franchise. There is no chance, in my opinion, that Iger puts Feige onto a star wars movie, taking him away from the golden goose of Disney at the moment. Unless he felt the same way about Kennedy.

 

[doctornick]

And wouldn’t that be your opinion? I don’t think they’ve made “terrible, terrible decisions”

This. I'm still not seeing exactly what "terrible, terrible decision" the creatures have made in either the land or the new movies. But I'm just one of those folks who've enjoyed the Disney made SW stuff in addition to my love of the classic movies. Even the "contentious" design decisions for the land (e.g. music, using a new planet, not using an OT timeframe, etc.) are all defensible and have a logic to them. Maybe they aren't the "best" decisions, maybe other ideas would have been embraced more, but it's difficult for me to see anything Lucasfilm has done under Disney that is objectively awful. It's more just that some people prefer chocolate and others vanilla.

The more objective "problems" with Galaxys Edge that are widely agreed upon are stuff related to the sharp pencil guys, not the creatives. Where is the interactivity? The live performances? Roaming droids and aliens? Drones? Where is the full service restaurant with entertainment that was promised. Those are things that pretty much everyone agrees is missing and it wasn't the Lucasfilm story group who left them out.

Regarding Disney's handling of he franchise, the only Disney thing I've thought was lacking has been the Resistence cartoon but that's more because its aiming for kids too much unlike Rebels and The Clone Wars. But I would say the same about the Ewoks and Droids cartoons from years ago.

 

[RobWDW1971]

This. I'm still not seeing exactly what "terrible, terrible decision" the creatures have made in either the land or the new movies. But I'm just one of those folks who've enjoyed the Disney made SW stuff in addition to my love of the classic movies. Even the "contentious" design decisions for the land (e.g. music, using a new planet, not using an OT timeframe, etc.) are all defensible and have a logic to them. Maybe they arent the "best" decisions, maybe other ideas would have been embraced more, but it's difficult for me to see anything Lucasfilm has done under Disney that is objectively awful. It's more just that somepeople prefer chocolate and others vanilla.

The only Disney thing I've thought was lacking has been the Resistence cartoon but that's more because its aiming for kids too much unlike Rebels and The Clone Wars. But I would say the same about the Ewoks and Droids cartoons from years ago.

Creating a billion dollars "Star Wars" land that does not have significant wandering aliens, droids, Jedi, bounty hunters, characters from all eras of the 40+ year history of the brand, and its iconic music are terrible, terrible decisions.

 

[doctornick]

That’s a story aspect that I actually agree with. Sabers are sacred thing in the lore. They don’t want the dark side/first order knowing about the rebellion building them. Sure they maybe could pull you aside and “whisper” how to find them instead but I’m not completely against this aspect.

I don't have a problem with that view, but I do think that it leaves a huge gap by not having the Force and Jedi being a big part of the land. Even without having it "out in the open", having a Force sensitive area to the land to me would be a no brainer.

Star Wars without the Force and light sabers renders it a much more generic sci fi franchise.

And, to bring it back to this silly thread, to the extend that the Lucasfilm folks have been pushing an "agenda" in the new films, there is the suggestion that anyone can (potentially) be a Jedi, which would mesh nicely with a theme park land.

 

[doctornick]

I don't understand how SW:GE specifically reads socio-political one way or another.

Say what you want about the films or lore or studio but the land ITSELF comes across as an open-ended adventure. Call it rushed, call it sterile, call it expensive, but I just can't see the """SJW""" angle.

What am I missing?

Absolutely. Again, people can not like the land for a multitude of reasons, but the idea that there's some SJW aspect that is making it disappointing seems like an odd angle.

But of course...

The removal of the original and prequel trilogy heroes (minus a Wookie) because those movies were viewed as fundamentally flawed.

Ahh, see that's rub. We're just supposed to take this person's personal interpretation of other people's motivations as fact. Got it.

This reads just like Spirit's old rants. Sure, he gave us some nice insider information at times -- and then would constantly put out his own personal opinion as fact or express his biased thoughts and expect everyone to accept them at face value.

I'm not saying any of these claims are false - I have no idea - but I don't have any reason to accept them as true either just because someone on the internet says them.