Jecki Lon Memorial Star Wars Thread
- Thread starter zitothebrave
- Start date
zitothebrave
Connoisseur of Minors
striker42
Well-known member
Yep. The cartoons are so good they made the prequels better.
Tales of the Jedi is perhaps my favorite. There's nothing child oriented about it.
zitothebrave
Connoisseur of Minors
My ranking of Star Wars Cartoons (whihc mind you can change) goes.
1. Rebels
2. Clone Wars
3. Tales of the Jedi
4. Visions (some days I could argue it up to the top, depends on the second season)
5. Bad Batch
6. Resistance - I don't hate Resistance, it's just not must watch to me IMO.
7. Ewoks
8. Droids
striker42
Well-known member
I'll put this here as it's Star Wars related. Once again we have rumors swirling that Kathleen Kennedy might not be long for LucasFilms after the release of Indiana Jones 5. I've read several different explanations behind why she might be gone.
One explanation is that she only wanted to run the studio until the release of Indiana Jones 5 and that she intends to step down but still produce movies.
I've read elsewhere that the writing has been on the wall for her for a while and that Disney was just waiting until Indiana Jones 5 to jettison her.
Another place says that there's a fight going on at Disney over whether to blame Kennedy for the disappointing showing of Indiana Jones 5. That some inside Disney say it's a bad movie and as such is Kennedy's fault while others say the marketing was terrible and Kennedy shouldn't be blamed.
Still another rumor says she's already been fired it just hasn't been announced yet. This one appears to be proven false at this point.
It's all unconfirmed rumors at this point and we've seen such rumors about Kennedy come to nothing before. Still, it makes some sense. This Indiana Jones movie is a big deal for LucasFilms and it has disappointed. There's no doubt about that. Also, now is not a great time for people inside Disney to deliver disappointing results. They've been reorganizing and letting people go left and right. Iger might also want the head of LucasFilm to be someone he picked. Kennedy was picked by Lucas.
Kennedy should have been fired after the Star Wars sequel trilogy. It was her decision to launch the trilogy with absolutely no unified storyline and to just let different directors do whatever they felt like. It ended up being a jumbled mess with things that didn't even make sense. It was an absolutely inexplicable decision by Kennedy that doomed that trilogy.
One explanation is that she only wanted to run the studio until the release of Indiana Jones 5 and that she intends to step down but still produce movies.
I've read elsewhere that the writing has been on the wall for her for a while and that Disney was just waiting until Indiana Jones 5 to jettison her.
Another place says that there's a fight going on at Disney over whether to blame Kennedy for the disappointing showing of Indiana Jones 5. That some inside Disney say it's a bad movie and as such is Kennedy's fault while others say the marketing was terrible and Kennedy shouldn't be blamed.
Still another rumor says she's already been fired it just hasn't been announced yet. This one appears to be proven false at this point.
It's all unconfirmed rumors at this point and we've seen such rumors about Kennedy come to nothing before. Still, it makes some sense. This Indiana Jones movie is a big deal for LucasFilms and it has disappointed. There's no doubt about that. Also, now is not a great time for people inside Disney to deliver disappointing results. They've been reorganizing and letting people go left and right. Iger might also want the head of LucasFilm to be someone he picked. Kennedy was picked by Lucas.
Kennedy should have been fired after the Star Wars sequel trilogy. It was her decision to launch the trilogy with absolutely no unified storyline and to just let different directors do whatever they felt like. It ended up being a jumbled mess with things that didn't even make sense. It was an absolutely inexplicable decision by Kennedy that doomed that trilogy.
zitothebrave
Connoisseur of Minors
Eh, when Kennedy finally retires or steps down I'll believe it. Disney I cannot see firing her anytime soon.
Kennedy did her job with the sequel trilogy, which was make Disney back the moeny they used to buy the rights to Lucas Film. Part of that was Indy 5 (as I understood it Ford wouldn't be Solo without one more Indy film)
Kennedy's metric I bet is Disney plus related. I wouldn't be shocked if a healthy chunk of disney plus is people subbed primarily for Star Wars. If you think about hyped Disney+ shows it's basically all been star wars. My hunch is that they view her success to streaming stats of Ahsoka more than how Indy 5 does in the box office.
Kennedy did her job with the sequel trilogy, which was make Disney back the moeny they used to buy the rights to Lucas Film. Part of that was Indy 5 (as I understood it Ford wouldn't be Solo without one more Indy film)
Kennedy's metric I bet is Disney plus related. I wouldn't be shocked if a healthy chunk of disney plus is people subbed primarily for Star Wars. If you think about hyped Disney+ shows it's basically all been star wars. My hunch is that they view her success to streaming stats of Ahsoka more than how Indy 5 does in the box office.
striker42
Well-known member
I'll believe the rumors when it happens too. It was just the disappointment of Indiana Jones 5 that made them more interesting this time and there's not much to talk about until Ahsoka drops next month.
However, I could see Disney showing her the door at some point. The sequel trilogy made money but it also didn't go over well with fans. Fan engagement is a metric Disney cares about. There was also the big disappointment that was Solo. It was enough to make Disney shelve other Star Wars movies and now there hasn't been a Star Wars movie released since 2019. Hardly a ringing endorsement of Kennedy's handling of the franchise.
If Indiana Jones 5 continues to disappoint I could see Kennedy's seat getting real hot. Maybe it wouldn't in more stable times for Disney but we're in a pretty turbulent period. Disney has been hemorrhaging money, especially from its movies. Indiana Jones 5 was being looked to as a tent pole movie for the summer. Instead its gotten mixed reviews and looks like it will struggle to make Disney much. Considering the other areas of Disney that have seen shakeups, it's not a reach to think Kennedy might be forced out.
The question about the Disney+ stuff is how much credit Kennedy will get for that. Favreau and Filoni have been the miracle workers there. I don't know how much credit Kennedy is getting for their work. She might be getting plenty but then again there have been a lot of rumors of friction between Favreau and Kennedy. She might be seen more as an obstacle to the Star Wars Disney+ successes than a reason for them.
zitothebrave
Connoisseur of Minors
you're literally proving why she won't be fired. She's blamed for everything bad and given no credit for everything good.
I'd love to see what fan engagement metric Star Wars is failing at. You could argue the sequel trilogy struggled that's fine. But Star Wars is as big if not a bigger IP than it ever has been. It's merchandise is multibillion dollars a year. They are a theme park attraction, etc.
Again, when you realize Indy 5 was done to get Ford to be Han Solo, you'll realize Disney doesn't really care. They made way more money from Han Solo action figure sales in the last 7 years than they'll lose on this movie.
The absolute minimum Kennedy is, is a Roger Goodell type, someone to take the heat away from the people who're actually running the show. Kennedy can do so much but she's given tight deadlines by Disney. That's why Solo was a mess, because Lord and Miller couldn't stick to a budget or Timeline and Howard had to come in and cobble something together.
The rumors about Friction between Favreau and Kennedy are the same sources who said Pedro Pascal would be quitting after season 2 because he hated the armor. Disney's fan rumor mill is buckwild. I feel like Disney just drops mad fake leaks to get people talking about their content online.
striker42
Well-known member
One thing that is solid fact is Mangold is working on a Star Wars film. It has me worried. It's being set at the beginning of the Jedi order which is a good idea because you don't have to link up with existing events.
However, I don't trust Mangold with it. He talked a lot about deconstructing Indiana Jones and trying to put him in a different light. He's already lashed out at people criticizing his treatment of the character.
In his discussion of his Star Wars movie he's excitedly discussed how he likes the time period the movie is set because he won't have to worry about upholding existing lore. That really worries me. While we have no real stories from that time, there's still A TON of lore that his movie will have to fit in with. You can't make a movie about the Jedi Order or the Force without having to make it work with a lot of existing lore.
A director who likes to deconstruct existing icons and who does not seem to be bound by existing lore is perhaps not the best choice for a Star Wars movie.
Kennedy doesn't only get blamed for the bad. It's that a lot of the problems with LucasFilm have been directly attributable to her poor leadership. How she let Abrams and Johnson play tug of war over the sequel trilogy is baffling. There was also no leadership keeping Solo on the rails. Then she lets Mangold mess with Indiana Jones.
I think her problem is she turning over established products to directors and without keeping them beholden to the existing product. You don't let a director try to make Star Wars or Indiana Jones their own. What you produce has to fit with what is already there.
However, I don't trust Mangold with it. He talked a lot about deconstructing Indiana Jones and trying to put him in a different light. He's already lashed out at people criticizing his treatment of the character.
In his discussion of his Star Wars movie he's excitedly discussed how he likes the time period the movie is set because he won't have to worry about upholding existing lore. That really worries me. While we have no real stories from that time, there's still A TON of lore that his movie will have to fit in with. You can't make a movie about the Jedi Order or the Force without having to make it work with a lot of existing lore.
A director who likes to deconstruct existing icons and who does not seem to be bound by existing lore is perhaps not the best choice for a Star Wars movie.
Kennedy doesn't only get blamed for the bad. It's that a lot of the problems with LucasFilm have been directly attributable to her poor leadership. How she let Abrams and Johnson play tug of war over the sequel trilogy is baffling. There was also no leadership keeping Solo on the rails. Then she lets Mangold mess with Indiana Jones.
I think her problem is she turning over established products to directors and without keeping them beholden to the existing product. You don't let a director try to make Star Wars or Indiana Jones their own. What you produce has to fit with what is already there.
But mandoverse Is a clone of marvel-verse
It’s not original. Same game plan just different names
striker42
Well-known member
I'm more talking about needing to take the in universe story and fixing it. The prequels had problems that largely stemmed from trying to tell too much in two little time. Clone Wars fleshes out things like why you should care about the civil war and Count Dooku, why Anakin fell so hard that he started killing children, why Anakin falling to the dark side was such a big deal. After Clone Wars, the story of the prequel trilogy is significantly better.
Mandoverse is trying to do the same thing. The sequel trilogy is a mess. You had no unified story from start to end. It was a tug of war between directors that has left a ton of loose ends and poorly explained things. They're clearly working to rehab the story in the Mandoverse. From the cloner trying to get Baby Yoda's blood to the Shadow Council bridging the gap from the Empire to First Order. They're working to try to make the sequel trilogy make more sense.
striker42
Well-known member
He's the guy who did his voice in the show. Lars Mickelson. Seeing other things he's been in he could be really good.
zitothebrave
Connoisseur of Minors
He's perfectly cast. The opposite of the GRand INquisitor issue. Grand Inquisitor in Kenobi should have been Jason Isaacs.
striker42
Well-known member
Jason Isaacs would have been brilliant.
But I agree, Lars Mickelson is perfect. Thrawn isn't a Thanos-like bad guy. He's a thinking man's villain. Mickelson can give the understated, nuanced performance required.
I'd also argue Thrawn isn't a true villain. I actually wonder if the show will end up with Thrawn defecting from the Empire and going back to the Chiss Ascendency. There's a strong implication in the books that Thrawn is only with the Empire so long as it serves the interests of the Chiss Ascendency.