What's In a Name?

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge

So announced today at the D23 Convention this weekend was the official name of what was referred to, for years now, Star Wars Land is the official name of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. Personally not impressed with the name. It has been called Star Wars Land for so long now that the name will probably stick. I can't see a 10 year old telling his parents "I'm going to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge". Most likely it will just be cut short and referred to Star Wars. Just call it what it is.

At Least It's Not Captain EO

Over in Disneyland's Tomorrowland, the Magic Eye Theater (host for many years to Captain EO and Honey I Shrunk The Audience and most recently the preview of Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy) went under refurbishment once again and there was speculation that the badly outdated Captain EO 3D film would make its way back into Disneyland playing to mostly empty houses in the large state of the art theater.

A few days ago Disney put that rumor on hold and announced in Disney Parks Blog that the theater will, beginning September 26, host a special preview for it's latest animated film effort - Big Hero 6 which premieres in theaters November 7. At least it's not Captain EO showing when we arrive for our trip in November (though admittedly outside of seeing one preview - I know nothing about Big Hero 6).

And what of Captain EO? Maybe we have seen the last of the old film. 2015 brings a new episode of the massively successful Marvel's The Avengers as well as the latest installment of Star Wars. Disney could spend a year or more just showing previews of their 2015 sure fire blockbusters in the Magic Eye theater and it might not be a bad idea so long as the extended previews that are shown are high in quality and designed to be crowd pleasers for Disneyland guests. It beats seeing the tired old Captain EO.

Darth Vader - The New Pitch Man For Disney Parks

Show Your Disney Side - the new Disney Parks Promotional Campaign

"Let The Memories Begin" - no, get that out of here. "Limited Time Magic" - the quicker we can get rid of that half baked idea the better. Disney needed to turn to a new source to pitch Disney Parks in a their upcoming promotional ad campaign with corresponding theme park activities. New source? I mean "force". There's a new pitch man in town. The ultimate salesman. When Disney CEO Bob Iger wrote out a check to George Lucas several months back to purchase Lucasfilm, Iger new what he had. Star Wars is one of the most valuable and profitable franchises in the entertainment business and standing in front dressed in Black is Darth Vader, now probably Disney's most valuable character. Mickey.... sorry. Woody and Buzz...sorry, again, there's a new sheriff in these parts. Vader may be the only character that has the ability to pull people into the parks in mass quantities just to get a glimpse. 

Disney knows this so the new Disney pitch man for their newest promotional park campaign begins with the big guy himself. This may not be classic "Disney" but Vader has something bigger. It's called the force. Here is Disney Parks first promotional video.

Next Star Wars Celebration Heads to Anaheim

Welp...... chuck up another one for the home office. Uncovered in my internet reading today was the announcement (again last week) that the next Star Wars Celebration (which recently closed in Germany) will be held in Anaheim at the Convention Center in April 2015 after the previous two U.S. based Star Wars Celebrations were held in Orlando. Star Wars Celebration is the largest official coming together of all things Star Wars related and from what I have heard - quite a geekfest.

Again, Walt Disney World fans may stomp up and down a bit at losing a featured convention in their neck of the woods but since Disney's recent purchase of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise, it only makes sense that the next Star Wars Celebration extravaganza takes place in the Burbank based Disney's backyard. Less travel time for executives. 2015 is also the year Star Wars VII is set premiere under Disney.

Disney Strikes Back - Star Wars Land Coming to WDW

According to Theme Park Insider (link) and now being propogated in various print, web, and TV outlets, Disney plans on adding a "Star Wars Land" to Walt Disney World's Disney Hollywood Studios with opening set for 2018, maybe sooner if they want to throw more money at the project. In addition to Star Wars Land, the plan is for Disney to replicate a version of the massively successful Cars Land in DHS as well. I'll leave the Cars Land rumor alone for now because I'm still in my one month moratorium on writing anything about Cars Land and this news isn't going to make me alter my commitment to that. Star Wars Land? Now that's a different story altogether.

Much like Disney California Adventure a few years ago, Disney Hollywood Studios has been an underachieving theme park for quite some time. Confused themes, a bit of neglect, and constant questioning of what do we do with the place has been on the minds of WDW fans for quite some time. But once a year, DHS hosts the massively successful Star Wars Weekends to prop up the sagging park. I have always thought that if Disney was going to do anything major with park related theming with their recent George Lucas acquisitions, WDW would be the place. Certainly they have the property and space to do things right as opposed to the Disneyland Resorts approach of let's see what we can squeeze in. So a Star Wars Land in DHS just makes too much sense to pass up.

Of course that doesn't make a Disneylander like myself feel any better. Who wouldn't love a Star Wars Land in your own backyard rather than across the country? And what about D23 coming up in August in Anaheim. Walt Disney World has stolen the thunder with the opening of the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train (coaster), now Star Wars Land, and a Cars Land. And whatever happened to Avatarland in Disney Animal Kingdom? Somebody at Disney better get off the schneid and announce something new (and big) for Disneyland. A Monsters Inc roller coaster? Please. You can do better than that. No wonder that, as of today, D23 has a new level of membership, one that costs the applicant nothing at all because they're giving it away just to prop up sagging membership numbers. A convention in Anaheim that features big changes to a park that is 3000 miles away probably isn't the best way to bring in the crowds that Disney wants.

Harrison Ford Returns As Hans Solo in Star Wars VII. He's 70

The young Hans Solo

So there I was eating my lunch yesterday at work while surfing the the internet (life in the 21st century) when the blurb starting hitting various news feeds: Harrison Ford has to agreed to return to the role of Hans Solo in Star Wars VII slated for release in 2015. It was first reported in the Latino Reporter but apparently this source is credible enough and tends to get their Hollywood gossip right to the point that the story was then repeated in the USA Today and Christian Science Monitor. It is unsubstantiated though.

I think the last time we left Hans Solo, he was blowing up a Death Star and being promoted to General. Harrison Ford / Hans Solo is now 70 years old give or take, an age when most Generals have already retired. Can a 70 Hans Solo have a significant role in Star Wars VII? Sure he can. Most fans of the Star Wars saga (espcially episode IV, V, and VI) would welcome the return of Hans but I also remember the elderly Indiana Jones coming back to discover aliens. Ugh! Let's hope that director J.J. Abrams does a better job with a classic movie hero than Steven Spielberg/George Lucas did a few years ago with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. A lot of lessons should have been learned from that weak effort.

A not so young Harrison Ford

Star Wars VII - A New Director of the Force

I'm not really a TV, movie, or science fiction geek so the announcement a few days ago that director J.J. Abrams has been hand selected by LucasFilm chief Kathleen Kennedy, also with the stamp of approval of George Lucas himself, to direct the next Star Wars film doesn't really float my boat one way or another (not that anyone cares). But the people who are TV, movie, and science fiction geeks are saying that Disney and LucasFilm couldn't have selected a better or more capable person to relaunch Star Wars movie franchise and do it the right way. May the Force be with him.

Looking over the work of Abrams in his Wikipedia bio the one thing that jumped out at me was that Abrams directed the very good but under appreciated movie called Super 8. Stupid name for a movie which may have contributed to its fairly weak box office numbers. Not going to have to worry about that with a name like Star Wars. It's 2 years away and Star Wars geeks are probably already making plans.