Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Becoming Even More A Part Of The World...

A long time a... oh, just give it up, George...


With each year, Star Wars and Indiana Jones become more and more linked to the Disney name...

There are people who will argue with that, but it's true. And if you ask many kids/teens entering the park and they'd be surprised to find that Darth Vader and Yoda weren't Disney characters. Each year down in Florida, Disney's Hollywood Studios has had a Star Wars Weekends series. And each year they've come out with some clever posters/banners. Here are the 2010 versions:







And as each of these posters gets woven into guest's mental tapestry, you have to wonder when Bob Iger is going to call up George and ask him to sign the adoption papers...

11 comments:

jim said...

It's only a matter of time. Once Disney starts to directly profit from Marvel in a major way the way it has with Pixar, we can all look forward to the next big purchase...

Mola Ram said...

With each passing year, Star Wars and Indiana Jones become more and more exploited and juvenilized. Any artistic integrity they both once had as great works of blockbuster cinema have long since been eroded.

JValdez said...

was loving my very first foray in the star wars weekends last year. super busy in the parks and the waits to meet many characters were just silly, but it added some great fun to our trip. i think we'll go again some day.

oh, and i love the posters, always cracking me up.

Anonymous said...

^Same could be said of Disney. Any vestige of its once unique identity has become further weakened and diluted with each purchase of various lesser entities. And no, Pixar is not what I mean by those "lesser entities". Disney was Pixar's nurturer; it had direct and considerable input and influence over what Pixar is today, so that Pixar's inclusion does not lessen the Disney brand. But when Muppets and the Fantastic Four start running all over Disneyland, then that presents an identity problem. Walt Disney once said "We don't follow trends, we create them." I shudder to think how he'd react to his company's ownership of Kermit the frog and Spiderman. I do NOT want to see more of the same with Star Wars characters. Especially since George Lucas has pretty much crapped them up.

Anonymous said...

I disagree. I think that the original trilogies can stand on their own as artistic pieces, despite whatever bad sequels follow. When you think of Frankenstein, you think the of Mary Shelley's classic, not 'Blackenstein' or 'Jesse James meets Frankenstein's daughter'.

Anonymous said...

On one hand, I've been thinking the same thing for a long time--when is Disney going to purchase Lucasfilm?

On the other hand, Lucas himself is famously independent, and I'm not sure he'd enjoy being gobbled up like that.

It seems as though their partnership is fruitful as it is. Perhaps it'll just stay the same. Maybe when George Lucas dies, the company could be absorbed into Disney or something. Until then, he'll probably want to keep doing it his way.

Doopey said...

So be sure to tune in to "The Clone Wars" on DisneyXD! Oh, that's right, it's on CARTOON NETWORK! I guess they aren't so closely linked afterall.

Anonymous said...

Mola Ram and Anonymous #1, you both are dead wrong as usual and have yet to realize that!

Stop being so danged nihilistic and cynical starting this instant!

Doopey said...

Sarcasm aside, can anyone tell me why Disney passed on "Clone Wars"? It would have immediately done three things 1) forged this closer link with Lucasfilm that Honor is talking about 2) immediately alleviated their perceived "boy problem" that led them to buy Marvel, and 3) given DisneyXD a must-have status. "Clone Wars" has been a big success for Cartoon Network. I'm sure Lucasfilm's demands were outrageous per usual, but Turner Broadcasting was willing to dig deep and Disney wasn't.

As for Indy, "Crystal Skull" was a huge missed opportunity to launch a new attraction.

Anonymous said...

**Mola Ram and Anonymous #1, you both are dead wrong as usual and have yet to realize that!

Stop being so danged nihilistic and cynical starting this instant!**

Sorry, given the actions of the current Disney regime, no can do. So tell me, O Wise One, how does the Disney Company's purchase of characters it didn't create uphold Walt Disney's creative legacy and strengthen his company in any way? Are you stupid enough to believe that The Incredible Hulk and Miss Piggy really belong in the same Disney pantheon as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Dumbo?

The Disney company is being run AND ruined by suits that don't create, don't even buy properties they plan to adapt to the Disney standard but just buy up characters whether those characters are worthy of entrance into the Magic Kingdom or not and then try to force them into the Disney stable like square pegs into round holes. YOU could stop being so naive, shallow and fanboyish. THIS INSTANT.

Ogie Ben-Dogie said...

May The Farce Be With You.