You’re dead if you only aim for kids, Adults are only kids grown up anyway.
– Walt Disney.
The 2020s in the business world can be described as many things. Many negative perspectives could be drawn from them but one word can define the past 4 years that no other comment could, unpredictable.
Who would’ve thought that not only a major company like Disney, would fall from the glory of genius marketing, but also with the most iconic franchise in the world alongside it’s creative studio, Lucas films; Star Wars and backed by the former titan of entertainment Marvel to becoming just another dismal display of company negligence near absolute apathy. Though some signs of the fall could’ve been seen coming back in the 2010’s, for the sake of convenience and straightforwardness , I’ll only be covering the late 2010’s and current times relating to Star Wars, as it was the start of the fall.
The Disaster of The Canon and New Trilogy: The Inability to Grow.
One could imagine the benefits of a major company acquiring a beloved saga with it’s resources and financing towards creative interests that such a property like Star Wars would be in safe hands, but apparently not. While I could get into a variety of issues, I’ve personally selected what I think is the greatest problem. To quote YouTube media critic, Mauler;
Star Wars cannot grow up.
This may seem confusing at first as Star Wars is a property made for kids right? Well, imagine if you were Disney and you wanted to catch the old audience of Star Wars through new perspectives of media like a TV show or a new movie but you also want to attract a new younger audience. It becomes a balancing act between mature and ageless themes that allow your story to become timeless to all audiences. Star Wars is actually capable of maturity and nuance with shows such as Andor while being successful in the case of the first two seasons of the Mandalorian and Rouge One, depicting a less black and white view of the galaxy, but one inhibited by people and their strife’s. And yet, the sequel trilogy fails to capture both, why? Upon re watching the films for this article with a new perspective, I came to understand that not only through poor storytelling and poor execution, but also the treatment of the story and it’s audience is very much done down and by the books to a point where the property is actually harmed. Instead of exploring the ways and creativity of the art of storytelling this universe could offer, most plot points are spoon-fed like a dumb toddler, being explained in an unsatisfying manner. This shallow methodology of storytelling doesn’t allow for personal depth and speculation and while the cinematography may be beautiful, it’s ultimately meaningless. It can be described as “child-like”, and because of such a notion, even the younger audience alongside the older will stray away from being treated in such a matter. To loosely quote the YouTuber, Beghast; “It doesn’t make me feel like a kid, it makes me feel like a child.”
The main point of this block was that even in a seemingly small element of storytelling, balancing audience was a key factor in the original trilogies that allowed audiences of all ages to root for Star Wars, even with the newer mediums such as the video games or even the Clone Wars/Rebels show. The inability to capture this nuance in balance is what in my opinion brought forth apathy towards Star Wars as a whole.
Galaxy’s Edge: An example of a marketing disaster.
Moving to a more, business sided ordeal; Galaxy’s Edge may have not been the continuous success that Disney had dreamed off, but it did in fact attract fans of all kinds and was still considered a success for Disney. The same can’t be said for Galactic Star Cruiser however. From it’s reveal to the public to it’s sudden end, Galactic Star Cruiser was considered to be a logistical and marketing disaster. Although this wasn’t the first marketing disaster relating to Star Wars from Disney such as the whole Star Wars/Fortnite collaboration, Galactic Star Cruiser started to become a headline issue for those against Disney World’s cost as it was considered ludicrously expensive even by Disney’s Standards costing for a $6,000 for a two night stay.
Already, as an average budget person, this is a red flag. $2,500 may not be much separately, but as a couple or a family, this cost can accelerate rather quickly and act as a dissuasion for even fans of Star Wars, going up to $5,000 as a couple to $6,000 for a family of four. If the objective was to appeal to Star Wars fans, all they have done was make a Star Wars themed attraction for rich people when they already have Galaxy’s edge for such an experience. As I said earlier, such a price caused an outcry that has been spreading about Disney for a while before this along the lines of: “Disney is too expensive.” As of now, Galactic Star Cruiser has been permanently closed as of Sept 2023 due to under performing odds. There is a segment in Savantic’s video on Disney’s ethical expenses that details the concern of galactic Star Cruiser at the 23:58 minute mark that describes the Galactic Star Cruiser ordeal in it’s entirety but I recommend watching the full video for more background context (linked below) on how this can be perceived as a massive problem.