A day long remembered

I honestly don't know where to start.

I've been thinking about changing the name of this blog from The Padawan Pause to something more generic for months now. It's been more than a year since I wrote anything about Star Wars here. And it was probably going to be a long, long time before I felt enthusiastic enough about it to write something new. The state of Star Wars just didn't interest me anymore, and while I still loved the movies, there was nothing all that exciting about them anymore.

All that changed Tuesday afternoon.

While my friend Kenny and I were in Nashville enjoying the rare privilege of hearing Ian Anderson perform Thick as a Brick live, the world of Star Wars fandom was being turned completely upside-down.

For those who haven't heard (which I'm guessing is exactly none of you), George Lucas announced that day that he was selling Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Company, putting Kathleen Kennedy into his role as head of the company, and, oh yeah, they're going to release Star Wars: Episode VII in 2015.

Typing that last part still feels a little surreal.

It will be weeks — months maybe — before I can fully wrap my head around this news. It's taken me this long to even figure out how I feel about. But after giving it some thought, and poking my head into some of the talk in the fan community (thank you Weekly ForceCast), I think I'm prepared to put forth a few preliminary opinions.

• I'm pretty sure that Kathleen Kennedy is a great choice to take over for George: I'm ashamed to say I barely knew who Kathleen Kennedy was before Tuesday's announcement, despite the fact that I've seen 32 of her movies over the past three decades. Since Tuesday, I've looked up C.V. on IMDB, and heard some other opinions (hats off, once again, to the Weekly ForceCast). She's not only produced some of the definitive action/adventure films (Jurassic Park, The Sixth Sense, Back to the Future), she's also made critically acclaimed character pieces (The Color Purple, Schindler's List) as well. She's also done some great comedy work, including Noises Off and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. With that kind of résumé, it's hard to argue that she can't find the range for Star Wars. At the very least, she deserves a chance.

• I'm absolutely sure that Disney is the perfect home for the Star Wars franchise: It was bound to happen eventually — George was going to step away from the company. I'd always thought in the back of my mind that when that happened, Star Wars was probably wind up dying a slow, lingering death, living on though its E.U. properties — novels, cartoons, games and the like — while the company itself turned to production work on films by other filmmakers. I must admit, I never could have imagined what actually happened — that George would sell Lucasfilm to the Disney company, and give that company license to the full range of the Star Wars brand — movies, TV show, games, novels, what have you. While this has the potential to be a nightmare scenario, particularly with a company like Disney — I'd really wouldn't want to see a Star Wars musical on Broadway, for example — I'm pretty sure that's not the way things are going to go. We've already seen three similar companies bought by Disney — Pixar, the Jim Henson Studios, and Marvel — and in each case, it's been good for all of the companies involved. Bob Iger, Disney's CEO, has wisely left the creative elements in each company fully in place and empowered do what they do best (Avengers movie, anyone?). I expect nothing less with Lucasfilm. There's already a strong, long-term relationship between Lucasfilm and Disney, including several successful theme park collaborations. Some of the areas that Lucasfilm wants to branch out into — live action television, for example — are areas where Disney already has a strong presence, and resources that Lucasfilm would have to work hard to line up. Plus, to me, it just feels right — I love both companies, and I think Star Wars belongs at Disney. No one can see the future, but I feel strongly that Disney is a much better home than, say, Warner Brothers.

• After giving it some thought, I'm really, really excited about the prospect of new Star Wars movies: People have been talking about new Star Wars movie since A New Hope (or, as we called it back in the day, Star Wars). First, it was twelve movies. Then, for a long time, it was nine. Then, we had George saying it had always been six. And, given George's level of enthusiasm for making new Star Wars movies (i.e., none), I pretty much took him at his word. Before Revenge of the Sith was released, I have always known that there weren't going to be any more Star Wars movies. Suddenly, I'm writing about Episode VII (man, that still sounds weird). And while it would be easy enough to look to the Dark Side for my opinions about how good that movie is going to be, as some are, I refuse to do that. The period leading up, and after, Episode I was one of the high points of my life as a Star Wars fan (in fact, I still like Phantom, unfashionable as that opinion is). So I'm really, really looking forward to the coming months, since I know that at least some of that old magic and excitement will surely be resurrected. Even if the movie is awful (it won't be, since there's too much riding on it, but let's say it is), the process of waiting should be supremely enjoyable. Even more, the fact that the movies are post-Jedi means that we could see Luke, Leia and maybe even Han, as returning characters. What I wouldn't give for that! I wouldn't like to see them as the primary characters — galavanting around the cosmos is a game for the young, to quote another beloved franchise. But I've always wanted to see what General Solo, Chancellor Organa-Solo, and, best of all, Master Skywalker, would look like. Suddenly, unexpectedly, I've now got that chance.

• Tuesday's news means nothing less than the resurrection of Star Wars: I know that there are lots of folks that enjoy The Clone Wars animated series, and that there are plenty who are looking forward to the live-action series. There are probably even those who are enthusiastic about the existing storyline in the E.U. novels, although I am certainly not among them. But the life blood of Star Wars has always been, and will always be, feature films. George said it himself once — the story, for him, are those six films. I quite agree. Star Wars means movies — anything else is merchandising. In order for Star Wars to remain vital and interesting, you've got to have movies as the tall poles that hold up the tent. So when George said there would be no more films, not so long ago, it was the death of the franchise. Tuesday's announcement of more movies meant a complete resurrection. The door has been kicked open, and for the first time in a long, long time, we don't know what the future holds. Uncertainty can be frightening, or it can be exciting. I am choosing to follow the latter path. Starting this week, it's a great time to be a Star Wars fan — maybe even the best time. That remains to be seen. All I know is that I can't wait to find out.