Why Did George Lucas Sell Star Wars to Disney?
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- Опубликовано: 24 сен 2024
- Later this week LucasFilm will be releasing The Last Jedi, the newest film in the Star Wars saga, with many more films planned for the years ahead. This wouldn’t have been possible without George Lucas choosing to sell his company to Disney. So today I want to talk about why he picked Disney to sell his company to, and how it all happened.
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Now the more cynical out there will say money. After all, four billion dollars is a lot of money. That wasn’t the case though. He didn’t shop it around to different studios or try to find the highest bidder. When he decided to sell the company he had built over the course of 41 years, he chose Disney. There was a history between Lucas and Disney that played a pivotal role in the sale, and it dates back to as far as Lucas’ childhood.
On a lengthy family trip, his parents Dorothy and George Sr took the family down to Anaheim in July of 1955 for the grand opening of Disneyland. Lucas was eleven years old at the time. His path as a filmmaker was still far off, but he immediately took to the immersive lands and rides the theme park offered. As he later described it, he was “in heaven.” The family would continue to make regular trips to Disneyland over the years as George grew up, planting the seed that would grow over the following decades.
In 1984 Disney was in the middle of warding off a hostile takeover. Part of that attempt included installing new leadership into the company. While not the only one to make the suggestion, Lucas would reach out to Disney’s majority shareholders, the Bass Brothers, and personally recommend Michael Eisner for the position. Eisner would of course accept the position and he would, along with Frank Wells stepping in as president, serve as the new face and direction of the Walt Disney Company.
One of the first things Eisner would do as CEO is, as it turns out, reach out to George Lucas. Lucas, a lifelong Disney fan, jumped at the opportunity. He would have the chance to help create attractions for the very theme park he delighted in visiting all those years ago at the age of eleven.
A few years later Lucas would once against make a connection that would end up playing an important role down the line. In the early 1990’s he began working on a television show based on the adventures of a young Indiana Jones. He would eventually pitch the series to the chairman of ABC at the time, Bob Iger. Iger green-lit the show and it ran for two seasons. When later looking back on the series, Iger said “I wanted it to work very badly. It was George Lucas, come on.” The show would ultimately fail, but Lucas took note of how supportive Iger was of the whole idea.
Star Tours at the Disney Parks was about to reopen with new 3D effects and a new randomized system that took guests to locations from, again for better or for worse, the prequels. Lucas himself was checking in on the ride’s progress every couple of weeks over the years the ride update was being designed. By that point Bob Iger had replaced Michael Eisner and was Disney’s CEO.
The morning the ride was to reopen in May of 2011, Lucas and Iger would sit down to breakfast at the Brown Derby. Without beating around the bush, Iger asked Lucas if he’d ever consider selling Star Wars to The Walt Disney Company. Lucas had just turned 67 years old, and he was already beginning to think about a retirement plan that involved passing the reins of Star Wars on. “I’m not ready to pursue that now,” he told Iger. “But when I am, I’d love to talk.”
It would take another year before Lucas would fully entertain the thought, but when he finally decided he was going to step down from running LucasFilm, he got in touch with Iger and kicked off a five month negotiation process. As it would turn out, Pixar would serve as a major influence for the decision.
You see, one of Iger’s first major decisions as CEO of Disney was to acquire Pixar in 2006, and what impressed Lucas the most wasn’t what Iger did with the company, but what he didn’t do. For the most part, Pixar was left to continue doing what it did best without too much interruption or change.
So without seeking out the highest bidder, Lucas agreed to sell his company to Disney for a total of a little over four billion dollars, with half of that being Disney stock. It wasn’t a quick heartless cash grab from one executive to another. It was a creator who had spent over 40 years building an empire out of his passion passing on his creation to an organization that he had looked up to as a kid and worked with and respected as an adult. So on October 30th of 2012 he would fly to Burbank to meet with Iger and sign the deal. From that moment the next chapter of the Star Wars saga would begin.
In every photo of George I see he just looks depressed
I guess he was struggling with depression throughout his life.
I think the old fans reactions to the prequels probably got to him, I wouldn't be surprised if by selling it he was somehow hoping to give fans a continuation to Star Wars without the "raper of their childhood" behind it all, perhaps he did feel somehow demotivated to carry on with it himself. I'll always think he got way too much undeserved hate, it's not like he had bad intentions, he really cared about the SW universe, and tried to do what he thought was best, perhaps he failed, but it didn't justify the reactions of many people towards him.
Seven Seas yea. Imo the prequels weren't that bad. Sure they weren't the best thing ever but they at least tried to tell a story and not rehash old ideas
Anybody think NWO forced George Lucas to sell his franchise? LucasArts video games I sure miss too. Lucas could of made billions more with microtransactions in video games
Creative people stay that way. They see things differently than most people. Perfection is their standard and thats a standard that will leave you broken hearted at every turn if you cannot keep yourself grounded. Thats the battle of all really gifted creative people..
To quote Padme... "So this is how Star Wars dies... to thunderous applause."
ikr
Keihndeth END OF AN ERA 💫
FEEL the MOUSE. FEEL it.
NOOOOOOO!!! this is only the begining of Disney spin offs and kids shows!
Star wars had to end it can,t be go one fore ever.
I wish he kept the company! : (
Me too.
Yes and jar jar in all the new star war movies
Well a lot of Star Wars fans hated on him
Me to im really sad poor Lucas he is so depressed
Me too.
...and then George Lucas hated everything Disney did with his 'baby'
henkman00 He actually likes "The Last Jedi".
setondriveable He said it in a way that meant he didn’t.
He said it was beautifully done, that's a back handed compliment. Like telling an artist they have great technique. Your basically saying it looks great but has no soul
Lucas was promised he would still have a key function, the ''keeper of the flame'' but when he gave Disney his idea's for the sequel trilogy they kicked him aside and started to make their fan fiction films. Lucas was clearly pissed. calling Disney ''white slavers'' not a classy thing to say, sure, but understandable considering they stabbed him in the back. Disney made a fool of him so he stepped down. that act alone should tell you what he thinks of anything Disney would create from that point forward. (Force Awakens and up)
He really liked Rogue One
I don't even care what happens now in episode nine.
BrianS317 Same here. Not even bothering with seeing it on the big screen.
Same here, I was still moderatedly optimistic after ep 7, gave it the benefit of the doubt on many things, but with ep 8 the bout dissipated and many parts of ep 7 are now clearly flaws, I'll still watch the next movies, there's no point in becoming a grumpy old man fantasizing about the past, but I won't rush to them, perhaps one day while traveling on an airplane I'll watch it in the plane's tiny screen or something. But certainly not going to the movie theater for it.
Kylo is rey's brother;kylo kills snoke that came back throwing him into a pit;the first order builds a new starkiller base, the resistance destroys it;in the end they go to the forest moon of rodne and with the help of porgs they defeat the empire and win :)
And kylo comes back as a force ghost
What about ep14 the last transgender Jedi.
Batata Assada probably true but tlj was nothing like tesb
The backlash from fans and in some cases the Expanded Universe (known now as Legends) was harsh. All of the novels, novellas, comics, tabletop games, and video games were thrown into the Legends category and practically regarded as non-canon, when previously they were personally authorized by George (The Holiday Special being...well, a special case). The assumption by many was that Lucas would hand the reigns over to the fans when the time came, and the Disney purchase along with the Legends categorization made the fans feel betrayed.
One instance in particular being Karen Traviss, the author who literally fleshed out the Mandalorians and the Clones, and was working on making the Mandalorian language an actual language (sort of a parallel to the Klingons of Star Trek lore). She released a statement about being let go from the Star Wars brand after the purchase which wasn't negative, but fans and followers saw the writing on the wall. After all of the work that had been done, the community was officially non-canon in the eyes of the new ownership. Only the movies (Ep 1-6, and any movies made thereafter), tv series' (The Clone Wars, Rebels, and any series thereafter), and novelizations of such are considered canon now. That decision has left a bad taste in the mouth of many fans.
the legends fans hated Disney so much, they treaten everyone, by Spoiling the movie to make sure they all flopped, unless their denands are met.
It also gets me mad that they ended the clone wars so suddenly. They could’ve at least ended it.
+Conrado Javier That disgusts me as a Star Wars fan.
+Kyle Gibb
Which series, Star Wars: Clone Wars (the Genndy Tartakovsky series), or Star Wars: The Clone Wars (that introduced Ahsoka Tano)? The former is non-canon, the latter is canon.
I'v heard the same thing, when Lucas Produce & Directed the Prequels with Rick Berman, "HE RAPED MY CHILDHOOD!".
That magazine cover of a beardless George freaked me out for a second
Ty Burton when?
Batata Assada 0:47
2:47
God, I feel bad that they lured and tricked him into believing they were the light instead of the darkness
Okay you're an idiot.
I'm sure $4 billion would trick you into doing things too.
The money want the selling point, dis you watch the vid? Plus he gave all of the money to charity, he didn't even keep it. He sold it to Disney bec he wanted his creation to be in good hands
Director Kid I do agree with this. What people aren't realizing is that if Disney had control over Star Wars, then they would be doing the same for Pixar and Marvel Studios. As you said, the real problem is the CEO. And now Disney is working on fixing it, instead of leaving it a mess. If I know one thing about Disney is that whenever they hit a low point they keep moving forward and are able make themselves great again.
That's how naïve people are. Political institutions / big organizations only want evil
then disney failed him
Anything else?
TESLA2048 disney just making money for plushies
Mickey Mouse wiggled his sugar stick on Star Wars , and whored it out to everything from shredded lettuce and Nissan.
Yup that's definitely YOUR opinion the Force awakens and the last Jedi was a success!! FACTS!
LiLTailormade please tell me that is a joke
If you hated the Last Jedi - Don't automatically see Episode 9. Fans must send a message to Disney we will not buy everything they put out if they are going to put out garbage. I know I will wait for the reviews from fans.
i have to agree that, like a football team having bad years, that movie studios need new leadership
i use that sports terminology because of the assistants, the owners, gm's, etc
anyways, movie studios like disney need to be willing to stop this nonsense involving trying to capitalize on their takeovers of fox
fox isn't disney, it is a seperate movie studio that Long before disney tried to get their paws on to them, it has a storied history of being buddies with cbs ,
, so i think that disney needs to show a little more respect for fox , and the way they could do so, is if they got rid of iger, and horn, got rid of rian johnson and kept jj abrams, cause it is most likely that people would feel better if he redid the episodes 7 through 9 story under abrams or at least reasonable spinoff stories of those episodes that revolve around poe ,rose and finn, with rey showing up in it too,minus kylo, ignoring rian johnson's attempts to make a seperate trilogy of his, and maybe keep kathleen kennedy still but train her replacement
Force awakens was the last star wars property I ever witnessed and it forever will be the last. I'm done completely. I collect a ton of geek merch (posters, figures, etc) and there is not a single star wars piece in my collection now, that is how thoroughly it has been killed for me
you all bastards and not real fans
To think Disney is going to vomit out cooperate garbage every year like last Jedi... I miss you George Lucas.
No, they always vomited out garbage WAY before the Last Jedi. Look at Flubber.
@@CarloNassar Flubber is actually good compared to the souless new trilogy, at least its original and pushed the technology of the time.
@@hyperrunner8531
Well, not for most people.
Pfffft. Many of the same fanatics who say they miss George Lucas are the same ones who hounded George Lucas over the prequels. This hounding continued long after the release of 'Revenge of the Sith'.
The Rise of Skywalker was good
Did that dude at 1:13 actually fall?
The world shall never know! (Nope, he catches himself on the boat and stands back up. Looks like it was a gag.)
Now that was a cast member riight there man, dang..
Rob Plays SPOILERS
I would've liked to be on that cast member's boat when he was captain :D Looks like a great physical comedian!
Thats awesome!
Worst decision of George’s life. Disney destroyed Star Wars
So damn tired of the prequel bashing. I wish people would just let it go.
Exactly. This shill makes a video trying to tell us Lucas sold SW because of some theoretical childhood love of theme parks, when in reality he probably sold Star Wars because he was tired of getting harassed by people like Rob Plays for 19 fucking years.
Shill? Boy, I wish! That'd be a pretty nice paycheck. Nah, I'm pretty sure he didn't sell his life's work and a multi-billion dollar franchise because his feelings were hurt over the prequels. After all, Disney owning the franchise clearly isn't stopping anyone from making fun of them, so nothing had changed on that front.
“Why would I make any more [Star Wars] movies, when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?” - George Lucas, 2012
Right, but what makes you think the only two binary options are to make more movies or sell the entire company? He had initially planned to give Kennedy the reigns to the franchise and retain ownership of the company. Star Wars was going to continue, he (as he mentioned) wouldn't be making any more films himself, and he'd be making boatloads of money in the process as LucasFilm's owner, while not having to do anything.
I have no doubt the criticism of the prequels turned him away from directing (and honestly, I think that's for the best), but that alone didn't back him into a corner where he had to sell. He chose to sell after Iger approached him at a point in his life where he was thinking about passing on his legacy, and his history with Disney and how he saw Iger running Disney are what opened him up to selling to them.
@@MidwaytoMainStreet how do you sleep at night knowing you and the fans made a man lose hope in his OWNA creation. Ducking bellends
Excellent video Rob. Learned a lot and really put to rest the idea Lucas was only in it for the money. Thanks for this!
Thanks Isaac!
George Lucas even donated almost everything or everything of the money from the purchase!
you just knew that ?
Wotso Videos
is it better to have a legacy that was great and let it die or have it be torn apart and be destroyed
He sold because of all you fans out there that hated him for the prequels. I don't blame him George is old he remarried and he didn't want to go through all the criticism again. He wanted to spend more time with his family, but he also wanted to keep the franchise alive and moving forward in right direction. And he loved Disney since he was a child, and I'm pretty sure they told him how they had plan's to buyout Fox studio's anyway. So he sold it thinking they would do Star Wars justice just wanting to retire, but onr could also argue Fox Studio's would of had a leg to stand had he sold them Star Wars instead. Fox wouldn't have dropped the ball with Star Wars, they would have done that shit right and actually incorporated Lucas in some decision making.
George made a horrible mistake selling the Star Wars franchise to Disney. It killed the franchise.
It wasnt a mistake, it was his revenge against ungrateful fans. He was being bashed and hated for 15 years, just because he wanted to tell a story in his own way. Prequel-hating became so popular, that you cant watch any video about prequels without comments going on "how they sucked". Well, now people will have bigger problems, than Jar Jar....
Its also worth noting that Lucas really liked the brand of Disney. He felt that Disney was the only company that truly was family friendly above all else as opposed to other companies. Notice that all of Lucas's films don't have any sex, strong language, or other mature themes. Disney was the only company that would keep Star Wars pure in that sense.
"all of Lucas's films don't have any sex, strong language, or other mature themes"
Yeah, except for THX-1138 (which had quite a bit of sex and nudity), and to a lesser extent, American Graffiti (which, even though rated PG, isn't exactly family friendly either).
+CinemaBrony Don't forget the entire Indiana Jones franchise.
Actually, I was specifically referring to the films Lucas directed himself.
Ahhhhh mass genocide... charred corpses... cut off limbs... sure....
PG from 40 years ago is way more adult than PG. now.... now wonder kids are such soft pansies now...
and then Disney killed star wars. King Midus had the golden touch, Disney has the fecal touch. The last three star wars releases have been mostly shit. rehashed old ideas, plots that are not fit for made for tv movies. just a fucking shit show. fucking sad
Yeah disney is such a wholesome AMMMMMMMMMMMMMMZING company, that doesn't pressure small theaters into giving them more money, and running their films for longer durations, or cover up shady business practices.
Like Lucas.
Alex Chaudhari no dumb ass
Seemed like a great idea at the time but I can't believe how much The Last Jedi sucked.
I mean to each their own I guess. Saw it for the second time last night and I'd rank it as the 3rd best of the films. Can't wait to see Rian's full trilogy.
The Last Jedi sucked.
Sucked chocolate salty balls
I honestly think The Last Jedi is Luke's best arc and Hamill's best performance. It is in my top 4 of the franchise (been a fan since 1977, junior high)
TLJ is the worst film I've seen in years
I want to thank you very much, for not only choosing interesting topics... but also for having the ability to keep it interesting during your presentation. So many times I find myself bored with stories long before they are completed. Yours, however, are quite the opposite.
THANK YOU.
Russel Mathias W
One of the biggest mistakes in entertainment history.
Yeah, pretty much.
If Disney wanted to do something smart they would had continued Star Wars from the novels, which are Cannon, instead of making it their own ruining it in the process with these lazy writers and directors. And they wonder why people are hardcore fans of anime?
There's such thing as rebooting. And Disney is open to rebooting stuff that's already unsuccessful so there's hope for that.
After seeing the new thing.....the only explanation why Mr. Lucas sold to Disney is this: He wanted to get revenge on those prequel haters so he can say: "See what sort of Micky Mouse poodoo you can get"....
He sold it to the wrong company...
Then wouldn't that be the case with Marvel, which is actually doing really well?
Plus, they can improve by rebooting Episode 7 with George's outline.
Should've sold it to Warner Bros
The logical path was George Lucas had sold Lucasfilm to Fox whose was the original studio with whom Lucas had worked for 35 years (the original "home" of Star Wars).
@@Betin264 Fucking yes.
prequels are great.
Idk why everybody hates them!!!
I think episode two is weak. Episode one could have been better and Episode 3 has its ups and downs but never the less I enjoy watching the whole canon.
"palpatine is evil" "from my pov the Jedi are evil" haha I see where ya comin from
+Merchantrouge84
You don't know anything you're talking about when you repeat "prequels overuse of CGI".
Well, I do since i work in VFX and yes those films are atrocious when it comes to its over use of CGI. Not only did it break the aesthetic that was star wars, but it essentially turned its brilliant realism into a toy story look. Episode 1 had the most authentic look when compared to the OT. The last two are video games with people in them. Sure, I enjoy them as a fan but I am willing to admit that they are extremely poorly made films. The only reason people gave them a second chance in my demographic is due to how amazing the Clone Wars series was. It retroactively made the prequels better, IMO. Anyway, dont troll someone else if you yourself dont know what you are talking about.
Disney is taking over all the good companies!!!!!!!
It is part of their plan for world domination.
Bob Iger will resign soon so the new CEO could sell Fox, which is the only company that may have been unessecary.
We should tell the government to split the conpany so we can get good star wars
Yah but they buy Legal so you can't say this is bad.
How is Disney gonna take over the world?
Disney ruined the franchise
For only TWO movies? That's not as bad as how the earliest Marvel movies turned out until Men in Black.
Carlo Nassar early marvel was the best marvel and i will fight and die by my opinion
*Toxic Star Wars Fans
NO ONE.....NO FAN left the theaters after ROTJ thinking and hoping to see Luke Skywalker again as the way Rian Johnson saw him. NO ONE wanted to see that. Fan? No Rian, there is no evidence that you are in any way a fan. Seriously, where is the evidence that Rian Johnson has any love and respect for the OT?
REPLY
Like with depth and as a flawed human being? Life long Star Wars fan here and I was absolutely thrilled to see Luke written the way he was in TLJ. Moved Star Wars over from a flat 2D black and white morality tale to something with depth and a little more complexity. I actually wish Rian was directing Episode 9.
No matter what, selling star wars to Disney was infinitely better than someone like Sony getting their hands on it.
Thank you for answering my question!!! I been thinking about it for a while now. Great video 👍
And now all true Star Wars fans are asking that question: why did George Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney? They r just destroying the saga 😭😭😭
True Star Wars fan here: Just got back from my second Last Jedi showing and loved it even more the second time around!
true fan my ass to like those abomination =))
I feel like a "true fan" would appreciate the continuing of the story for what it is and not let nostalgia for the original cloud their judgment.The new saga might not be as good as the original but I feel like it stays true to the Star Wars feel. The major issue that was especially evident in the lastest is that there are too many storylines going on and not enough depth to get me emotionally invested in any one charater.
That's right and I don't understand why people hate them so much,they simply tell how it all started,what else did they expect them to be?
You realize Luke had about just as much training as Ray, Luke spent a few days maybe a week with Yoda but we barely see him train, by Return he is a full on Jedi though by his own admission he hasn't gone back to Yoda. The Originals also had crappy dialogue and lord the prequels dialogue. Luke was treated like a war veteran who lost his way no one is immune to life. Luke completely fails restarting the Jedi Order by allowing his own Nephew to fall that's as human a response as possible. Its not the same as Vader as Vader was dark when Luke first met him, but Ben is given to him by his sister and best friend to help and train and he fails completely which would destroy anyone. No man can ever truly live up to Legend
1:12 the cast member almost falls in the water😂
DuctTheStuff hahahah I was praying someone else saw that
5 minutes after they sign that damn paper: Star Wars goes to shit
It isn’t Star Wars without George
So true and i can´t still belive why so many nagged at lucas his the creator of starwars and i bet becouse of this nagging on him is one reason he sold it to disney for the thing in vid above is probely fake news, disney been trying to monopoly on companies for longtime.
Also and another thing lucas was richer then disney he could have bought up disney if he wanted to but never did so this selling to disney could be something more to it maybe even blackmailing to do it...
It's better without that loon ruining his own creation.
"It isn’t Star Wars without George"
Fanatics of Star Wars say the prequels, written and directed by George Lucas, is not Star Wars. Now they want him out of retirement because the sequels are not what they imagined. This is what happened when you get too attached to one franchise/saga.
Creative control... It's a trap!
If Luke handled his mistake like a jedi like you and Mark Hamill would expect from Luke Episode 7/8 would not be a thing because they are based on Lukes strange disappearance. There is literally no way Luke from ROTJ would ever become what Johnson made out of him. Should have listened to Hamill guys
Like I expected? I didn't expect anything from the film, besides a good film, which is what I got. I love that one of the underlying theme's of the film is that Luke ran away from the inevitability of not living up to his legend status (which is brilliant because, Jedi or not, he's still human), and yet one of the main complaints of the film is that Luke didn't act the way they hoped he would as a legend. It's like Johnson hit closer to home than maybe even he expected.
@Rop Plays This favored point of view of yours is similar to why novels reigned over epics and myths. People got sick of the exaggerated lives of heroes and wanted to see through the lives of ordinary people. However, the most misinterpreted notion about reality vs mythical fiction is that you can find more joy and inspiration in the former. Either of them will be uninteresting when used too frequently. Normalization of the characters of Star Wars serves for another taste but apparently not everyone is happy with this. When I watch Star Wars, I know I'm looking into a universe where things ought not to be parallel to mine. So I don't feel the urge to see a legendary figure as human as I am. Because being human and feeling so normal is the reason I became interested in Star Wars in the first place. Disney is trying to merge the reality with Star Wars that they also do it with their hidden political and social ideas in the movies. The very ideas which creates further discrimination instead of healing wounds.
The entire series is about failure and redemption. Luke's arc fit that very well. I think this was Hamill's best performance, and Luke's best story arc.
I personally felt that Luke’s portrayal and the interaction between him and Rey, and kylo ren’s scenes were some of the better scenes in the movie
Congrats George! Your super rich now and Disney fucking ruined Star Wars the last Jedi it was so fucked up , it's like the director and script writer never seen the last movie when making this monstrosity! Not cool Disney making shitty movies for 12 year old kids will destroy Star Wars !!!!
But both United Artists AND Universal Studios turned Star Wars down. It was 20th Century Fox that decided to go with it and let Lucas keep his creative rights. Star Wars wouldn't have existed if not for Fox. If Fox had turned it down, there's a possibility that Disney would have green-lit it, but we'll never know.
I understand and respect George's decision, but I think he should have at least given Fox a chance with Star Wars. After all, they gave him a chance with Star Wars. I think they deserved at least that much.
I think where he failed to make the right decision was giving Lucas Films over to Kathleen Kennedy, who I believe has NO real understanding of the breadth of Star Wars, allowing someone like Rian Johnson to take control, and without going into this new trilogy with any real direction.
After the prequels got savaged I doubt Lucas had it in him to make another trilogy. I think that's almost certainly the case by the time he sold the company. Ironic how the new trilogy has made even the prequels look good.
I wouldn’t be surprised if one day he says he regrets selling to Disney
Can people just admit that George was going to retire from Star Wars at some point? It wasn't like he was going to keep doing it forever. He expressed a desire to retire after prequels before Phantom Menace came out.
sold out to the devil
when George Lucas Sold Star Wars to Disney. he killed SW. R.I.P. SW. He wanted more money . F Star Wars, Disney and George Lucas.
How are you going to insult the guy who created star wars? Be resemble dude 😕
Enterthemind1 he made something so amazing and gave it to Disney to completely fuck up. That's why he's mad^
Disney: Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Lucas, the creator? I thought not. It's not a story the entertainment industry would tell you. It's a corporate legend. Darth Lucas was a gainer of the Finance, so profitable and so wealthy he could use the Fiscal to influence the masses to create....surplus. He had such a knowledge of the merchandise side, he could even keep the ones who invested in him from suffering fiduciary loss.
Board of directors: He could consistently increase compounded interest over 10% on an annual basis?
Disney: The gaining side of the Fiscal is a pathway to many profits some consider to be..unethical.
Board of directors: Well, what happened to Lucas?
Disney: He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was...losing his power. Which, eventually of course he did. Unfortunately, he taught Disney everything he knew, then Disney acquired his lifetime achievement and Robert Iger called it "one of our most lucrative properties". It's ironic. He could save others from debt but not himself.
Board of directors: Is it possible to maximize this mass marketed income producing venture?
Disney: Not from The Last Jedi.
And Disney films are clumsy as they are stupid making the star wars films.
Instead of using the story from the expanded universe to draw upon material for their movies....they discard all of the previous stories like Luke falling to the dark side at the hands of Palpatine only to be saved by Leia to offer their own little twist.......blasphemy I tell you
Thats explain why the new episodes is totality sucks :/
Because George Lucas dont work anymore on Star Wars :/
"Thats explain why the new episodes is totality sucks. Because George Lucas dont work anymore on Star Wars".
Some Star Wars fanatics said the prequels totally suck and blamed George Lucas. Even long after the release of 'Revenge of the Sith' many of these fanatics refuse to stop hounding him over the prequels. Now they want George Lucas to come out of retirement. Just goes to show how many people have short memories.
I never knew all the history of Lucas, Iger, and Eisner. Very interesting. ...and even if he did not shop it around... 4 billion ain't too bad. 😀
Can u imagine if Harry Potter future episodes were to be written by someone else? The stories would have been different from the Harry Potter we all know. Similarly, the moment George Lucas sold off Star Wars, Star Wars is no longer the Star Wars we know. George created Star Wars, and he killed Star Wars himself with his own hands.
Oh, you mean like the abomination that is The Cursed Child?
Looking at Indy 4 and the prequels I am glad he sold it. He lost his movie magic. Sad... but such is life.
Do people realize George didn't do it by himself? Sure he wrote the base story for Empire but the screenplay was written by 2 different people and George didn't direct. The best star wars movie of the original trilogy and yeah probably of all is the one he was least involved with
Completely stupid comment. Do you know anyone who can make a movie alone without anyone else jtport07?
miraclelment No the fans killed it, by over criticizing the prequels and not appreciating what they had.
Why did George sell star wars? Cause all the prequel haters destroyed his interest and enjoyment in telling his own stories.
No not really. You don't have to sell a franchise in order to not make more films. In fact, he was in the process of talking with KK about producing 7-9 when Disney came around with their offer to buy. He just had no plans to direct any of them because of the reason you cited. On top of that, the sale occurred seven years after the prequels were finished. If the hate from those films were going to drive him to selling the franchise, it would have happened a little sooner. Lastly, it wouldn't have even solved anything. After all, he doesn't own Star Wars anymore and he still gets flak for the prequels. The movies still exist and they're still pretty bad, so selling Lucasfilm wouldn't be a solution for that in any real way.
@@MidwaytoMainStreet So, you're one of em. Thanks for helping scare George away dude.
@@chesterfumblenutts6935 If a stranger he's never met simply not liking films scared him off, then he would have thrown in the towel after THX-1138. Anyway, for as great of a producer he is, I don't think I'm going to feel any remorse about him not directing anymore. He lost that spark loooong before Disney got involved.
He sold it because of his toxic fanbase.
So basically he sold it in the hopes that he would still be able to maintain creative control. How's that working George? This is actually a good idea, but from what I've heard they have completely ignored his input.
No, but LucasFilm had control. Kennedy worked with Lucas for years. She was not part of Disney - she was LucasFilms. If you want to blame anyone... blame George for putting Kennedy there. Personally I love the new films, and I have been a fan since junior high school (1977).
@@TitoTimTravels didn't Lucas also sell it because he was too old and pretty much had it with the people who were giving him hell about the prequels
Say what you will about the prequels, they gave us Revenge of the Sith which is a masterpiece. Revenge of the Sith had depth, heart, action, light saber battles, and a coherent compelling story. The Lost Jedi lacks so many of these qualities
I know what you saying but I think many hate Ep3 probably just because of the cast or Lucas. I saw someone gave ep 3 a zero while ep 8 a 10. So it either the cast, Lucas or just the movie.
1:13 dude in the background on the dock just stepped right into the water lmao
Lmaooo i didn't notice that at first
0:11, absolutely heartbreaking, look at his face
We wouldn't end up with disney is the fanbase wasnt an army of Whiny Kylo rens.
Because Disney is the only company that could afford it and Lucas is a sell out.
Nope. All the major studios would have been able to drop $4b easy for Star Wars. It went for pretty cheap.
he sold cheaply for his employees futures as much that disney is a art studio in theory
Twentieth Century Fox should have bought it they great with the trilogy and prequels.
For better or worse mostly worse getting Abrams and Johnson involved was a horrible mistake!
I feel this to the core. After working for or with Disney you learn that everything is about money, nothing is pixie dust and rainbows. I was the biggest Disney fan, I feel forced to watch Disney owned stuff because they're literally taking over EVERYTHING.
Can we go back in time and make it never happen?
1:14 the dude in the back just fell off the dock while stepping onto the boat
1:12 The guy in the blue fell in the water on the right 😂
People destroyed it, people will always HATE, you will not Please EVERYONE...
Next one should be why Disney has the Muppets
1:13 did anyone else notice the guy falling in the background
And it all went downhill from there.
I think of it more like a valley. Downhill with Episode 1 and then right back up again with 7.
Without George Lucas it's not Star Wars to me. So sad. Something like this should never get sold. It's too important to pass around.
1:12 did that guy fall into the water ?😂😂😂
If I was George lucas I would've said " don't mess up my series, if you fuckin do I will take it back FUCKER you fuckin hear me?"
Luckily they haven't messed anything up yet :)
He sold it?
REALLY?
Well,
now I'll gonna build
my own death star.
I will destroy Disney land!
I will destroy
the whole Disney world!
No mercy!
Not again.
I will fulfill my destiny.
~ Mr.K.
Can I help?
he stepped down hoping the fans would be happy with someone else, but turns out the fans hate them more and want George back.
I was hoping you would say this but since you didn’t I guess I’ll say it. The reason Lucas sold Lucasfilm was because he received a lot of undeserved backlash and harassment and hate from the “Star Wars fans”. And now history is repeating but this time, it’s for Disney and Kennedy. But yeah the reason he chose Disney is because of what you said. I was just expecting you to point out why he was selling it.
I didn't make mention of that because it's not really why he sold the franchise. He is quoted saying that the fan backlash is a large part of why he didn't want to direct any more Star Wars films, but that's a separate concept from selling his entire empire as a whole. Like he often does, he has changed up his story many times over the years. There's quotes of him saying he sold the company so he could focus on his family, quotes of him saying it was to protect the legacy of Star Wars for when he's gone, and even quotes of him saying it was just good timing. As usually is the case, it's probably a little bit of all three.
However his distaste for fan backlash had less to do with selling the entire company and more about not wanting to personally direct the films anymore. After all, it's not like him selling LucasFilm was going to (or did, for that matter) stop people from ripping on the prequels. It still happens plenty. So it'd be inaccurate to think he sold it all for that reason. The unfortunate part is that the Vanity Fair interview where he makes that mention is a little disingenuous. He mentioned it within a certain context, and then Vanity Fair painted it as "the reason why Lucas walked away from it all." Made for a good headline, but wasn't totally honest.
Rob Plays oh. I do admit I didn’t know the full story, I just heard some things that I assumed was the whole story from previous videos I’ve seen. I mainly got it from Dave Lee down unders video. I do recommend you see it. Just to make sure you know I wasn’t disagreeing with you.
1:13 anyone else catch the ride attendant miss the bow of the boat with his foot and almost fall in?!
Short answer: MONEY
Nope. This video is about how it wasn't just about money. All in all it's pretty universally accepted that he sold the franchise for far less than it was worth.
Yeah I know but that's a really short and simplified answer
It went cheap. He could've gotten much more especially if he took it public and IPO.
EverythingDisney you can’t be that short sighted
exactly.. and AGE. lucas is old of course,, and his body and brain can not handle 3 a whole new trilogy.. the long hours of filming, and post production..
I was SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO DISAPPOINTED with Luke Skywalker. Thanks Ryan for destroying Luke. :)
Does anyone else see the man falling in the background at 1:13
The second George sold star wars to disney, is when star wars died
Three words, the last jedi. Rip old star wars 2017
Long live the new Star Wars!
I live in Canada and from 90-95 my grandparents took me to Florida for a month every January. I vividly remember Star Tours being my favorite thing about the trip each year. We rode it multiple times each time we visited!!!
Disney destroyed Star Wars with its lame ass tv shows and the new trilogy that they made
I mean, if this new trilogy "destroyed" Star Wars, then Lucas obliterated it with Episode 1-3 years ago.
Prequels are brillant, only idiots don't see it.
Actually, a lot of cartoons in any network should improve.
@@philippealain-art
So people *have* to like Episodes 1-3? Rude!
@@CarloNassar, smart people love Episodes 1 to 3.
that dude in the blue at 1:14, do you think he ever made it on the boat???
Kind of makes me wonder where that post-sale interview with Charlie Rose came from, where George talked about having seller's remorse and made that "white slavers" remark about the studio system. How much do you think he really meant what he said in that interview?
I'm wondering if it came out of bitterness over the fact that they more or less abandoned his story treatments for their own. For a man who valued creative control so much, it was the first time in nearly 40 years he didn't have it.
Rob Plays I guess that was his P.L. Travers moment.
"So this is how liberty dies.. with thunderous applauses"
Another great video Rob! Do you know if there was any truth to the rumors flying around last year about a interview where he seem to “Dis” disney about what they are doing with Star Wars?
Thanks! Yup that happened. In a 60 minutes interview he referred to Disney as "white slavers". Though in the context of the question he was talking about how Star Wars films were his children, and he sold them off. He later retracted it saying something along the lines of the analogy getting away from him. I'm sure it was partially due to the bitterness of Disney rejecting the story treatments for Episodes 7-9 that he sold along with the company.
Rob Plays wow ok that makes a lot of since ! Maybe that could be a new video ... “what direction he wanted to go for 7-9”
Disney got a bargain at $4b considering how much money they are making from the new films, let alone the merchandise! I would have thought LF would be worth what Disney paid for Pixar. LF means more to Disney than other studios, like Pixar was worth more to Disney than the other studios, which is why Disney paid $7b for them.
I always get so happy when your videos pop up. They're so entertaining. Best Disney youtuber.
Great Vid. This needs to be spread around. Many people are mad at Lucas, but for me it boils down to what you've stated here about Disney leaving other properties to continue doing their own thing. I think he sold it in good faith. I remember it was reported Lucas would be involved in new SW films but this Kennedy chick didn't get the memo.
"He didn't shop it around to studios." Who else could have afforded Star Wars?
However he felt about Disney in the past, he apparently thinks they're equivalent to "white slavers" now. You're likely partly true on the Disney nostalgia, but I'm thinking it was more about the $$$.
For $4b? Pretty much every other of the major studios would have easily been able to afford Star Wars.
I always figured Disney was the only studio that had that kind of money "lying around." But you're probably right that Universal or Fox would have killed to have the opportunity. I think it's a mix of two motivations -money and familiarity - we all prefer to do business with people we know and I'm sure it doesn't hurt if your friend is richer than god. Lucas wanted to retire and he probably didn't want to deal with the stress of a bidding battle when all he wants to do now is chill out.
I don't know what the other studios had with regards to "cash in the bank" BUT just pretend for a second that you are Rupert Murdoch: GL comes to see you about selling LF including all SW IP. You go see your bank manager and say "Hi Joe, GL has come to see me about selling LF including SW, and we need some money" the bank manager would say "Here is a blank cheque, we hope that's enough"!
Any bank would have lent money to the studios to buy LF. Just look at how much money Disney are making from the new movies let alone merchandise!
“You go to make a movie and all you do is get criticised, and people try to make decisions about what you’re going to do before you do it, and it’s not much fun. You can’t experiment. You have to do it a certain way. I don’t like that, I never did. I started out in experimental films and I want to go back to experimental films.” - George Lucas "20 years next year I faced a media backlash that still affects my career today. This was the place I almost ended my life. It's still hard to talk about. I survived and now this little guy is my gift for survival." - Ahmed Best - He revealed that the role pretty much ruined his childhood. “Other children were really mean to me," he said. "They would make the sound of the lightsaber every time they saw me. It was totally mad." Furthermore, the article reports that Lloyd “was so upset by the filming process and the subsequent blowback that he decided he would never act again.” Jake Lloyd... my point is.. the rabid fanboys ruined it for lucas and pretty much everyone.. instead of soldiering on lucas said.. you know what? I'm just gonna sell with a company I've worked with and adore. The end.
4 billion is not enough 🙁🚮
Michael Griggs shouldve asked for 10
He could have gotten more - the first 3 movies made over 4 billion already! Disney is going to make a crap ton of money on this deal.
not a star wars fan and never really thought it mended well with disney but hearing the background story and knowing it was more about lucas' relation to disney rather than money kind of makes me like it in the parks a little more
Disney dint ruined star wars
@@ironboywonder2766 The fans ruined star wars
@@ironboywonder2766 it was literally the fans complaining to George Lucas the point that he had to give up and gave to someone else and say that's your problem now
People saying Disney to end...
That would mean the end to Pixar, Lucasfilms, Marvel Studios, 75% Fox, and others. Yea, I don't really want them to end just yet.
Btw, there is bigger companies in the game: Comcast
Disney will never be able to replace star wars they will never be as good as the old ones😭 dissapointing...
He wanted the money, and he'd made such a disaster with the prequels , he thought the franchise was over.
R. I. P. Star Wars
The "fans" who harassed him and the actors for the prequels made George not want to work anymore. He sold star Wars to Disney because Star Wars is for 12 year olds.
This is a interesting topic that I never thought about. You have a good answer with many points. Thank you and keep up the great work. 😀
He chose Disney? The same people he called "white slavers" in an interview. How very curious...
Yup. It was a poor analogy about him selling "his children" that he took back multiple times, but it demonizes Disney so everyone turns to it as some kind of evidence that he hates them or didn't want to sell. Personally I'm not sure why anyone would doubt that someone who wrote the prequels would also be bad at an analogy.
In interviews he's admitted that the only reason he did decide to sell was because his movie ventures were failing, and he had thousands of employees at Lucasfilm to provide for. Apparently, Disney was a successful and smart choice. I don't blame him, I just don't think the sale stemmed so much from a childhood obsession with Disneyland visits, so much as it did with getting old and wanting to pass the torch.
I'd agree that passing the torch prompted the sale, but I would argue that the decision of passing it to Disney, without even shopping it around, stemmed from his experience working with them in the 80s and 90s, which in-turn stemmed from his childhood and young adult years as a fan.
That's not to say "Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney because he liked them as a kid", but there definitely was a path that lead to an endpoint where he had experience with them from one creator to another that ultimately gave him enough resolve that he didn't even look for other potential buyers.
Well marvel and Star Wars is fucked
Joker 102 Marvel being bought is old news. They're on a roll with the movies. So no they're not fucked. Star wars on the other hand can't say for sure.
If Lucas had decided to make anymore more Star Wars saga films after the Prequels, fans would have hated them. Lucas' vision of the Star Wars galaxy had been twisted due to the overwhelming and unexpected success of the original film. He went with the flow and deviated from the path that he had set his mind. Disney is now (or was) making Star Wars films and the fans hate them. There is no win-win scenario on any road travelled. Star Wars WAS great. Emphasis on "was". The Trilogy is a classic saga enjoyed by generations since. The rest, not so much. When Disney acquired the rights, my only concern was that they would "water down" the product. This is what Disney does best and they proved me right. If you never saw the previous Star Wars movies, the Disney made films would be okay. But who in this universe hasn't seen the other six movies? We can look back with hindsight on what Disney/Lucasfilm has done to the franchise and give our opinions and try to look like experts. However, all I'll say is I wish Disney would have tasked Lucasfilm with making just the Star Wars story films and not try to re-invent another trilogy saga. Another saga to try and recapture the Star Wars magic is pure fantasy.