Lucas Cared More About Toys, Says Star Wars Producer

[Withall]

Well... this doesn't really come as a surprise to me.
FANS liked the franschise and Lucasarts found a market that provided an income for them. "See a need, fill a need", to qoute another good movie.

It is only natural for a business to expand to where there is a market.
That said, I'd have liked to have seen Return of the Jedi a bit more "realistic" (such as instead of Ewoks, they would have used the proposed Wookies to beat the crap out of the legion o' stormtroopers), rather than the version we know and love.

While the prequel movies are certainly lacking, the movies themselves are *ahem* "best of both worlds". Fans got their prequel story, and Lucasarts got their toy-market saturation.

In a way, the way Return of the Jedi ended brought a more "final" end to original trilogy- everyone was happy, and the plot threads were, as I could see them, tied up. If the ending had been darker, there could have been something that made people want it adressed in another movie- for better or worse.

 

[Knight Templar]

A sign of the apocalypse: Lucas's Business>Move system improving a movie.

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

I don't like the sound of that original darker ending, I just can't imagine the film ending that way. It would've been like a kick in the teeth to all the viewers who'd been loved the first 2 films over the previous 6 years and were waiting for their happy ending after the tense but hopeful cliffhanger of Empire Strikes Back. So I'm glad Lucas got his way on that. I consider the Ewoks a small price to pay for the proper ending.

On the other hand, I doubt I'll EVER let Lucas live down the prequel trilogy.

 

[Giftmacher]

Well I'm unsurprised, but I do think Jedi's happy ending was the right way to go; I'm not convinced another "dark" episode would have rounded out the OT as well.

As for the new trilogy, they really did suffer in the effort to market toys to kids. Ep.I was particularly bad IMO. Not that I blame Lucas for wanting to turn a profit, we're not talking about a charity here, but I do believe a little more attention to the story would have enhanced any merchandise sales. The way I see it, George has been concentrating so hard on one aspect of the franchise that he's actually become a bit counter productive.

Final thought... I will say Ep.III was better than I & II, probably because it needed to marry up to IV-VI and therefore couldn't be as kiddy/merch friendly. Not that it stopped the inclusion of a bewildering array of potential toys, which no doubt sold well... I hope Lucas takes note for the Live action series.

Gift.

 

[i7omahawki]

To quote Tim Bisley from Spaced

'Jar Jar Binks makes the Ewoks look like fucking...SHAFT!'

 

[Alandoril]

Yes...that would actually have been a better ending.

 

[EmbraAgain]

I'm taking this with a big pinch of salt. It's old news from a slightly bitter individual, whether that bitterness is justified or not.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

I had always suspected...but hearing it out loud...

Realizing that Lucas is actually a money grubbing whore who willingly ruined one of the greatest franchises of all time so he could line his pockets...

I...I....

[HEADING=2]I HAVE FURY!!![/HEADING]

 

[Sam Vimes]

I'm too tired to read all 4 pages of comment so sorry if someone pointed this out before me :

A message for the people who prefer the actual ending. Empire Strike Back was the best Star Wars. Ever. Why ? Because Lucas didn't write it. His friends did, as an experiment (there was a time in cinema when we could actually try stuff on writing, not only in special effects), they wanted to write THE universal epic story based on The Hero Of A Thousand Faces. This book describes the basis of the story of a hero, shared by all the cultures on Earth.
The story of Skywalker was supposed to be this. That's why we LOVED the two first movies. Because the first one was a classic fantasy story and because the second one is mythological. The dark tone of the second one is part of it. It was supposed to be part of the third one too.
And Lucas decided otherwise.
You think you'd prefer the actual one. I think I would have loved the real one.

 

[EmbraAgain]

On a related note, never forget that the merchandising meant that LFL stayed independent of the major studios. Putting aside the films themselves, the results in terms of the tech available to those making film and top-end tv worldwide have been incalculably positive. Look how many films and TV shows use Skywalker Sound, for example. Heck, even Pixar can trace its birth to LFL. Then there?s the work Lucas does to encourage new film makers, largely paid for through those little plastic toys and ?crappy? films so many folks ***** about (but roll out and buy every time). Now, of course, we?re heading towards digital film making, a technology that would never have come through so quickly, and be advancing in quality so strongly, but for the fact that an independent LFL was able to use to make and release a major film. Digital distribution of digital films to cinemas, championed by LFL, will make sure you can watch pristine ?prints? every time. (And I?ll quietly gloss over the fact that it all makes it easier for studios to lumber us with 3D junk?)

So, yeah. I don?t mind the toys so much. Jar Jar?? Well, you take the good with the bad.

 

[VulakAerr]

Lucas still missed a few tricks merchandising-wise.

This guy had the right idea:

 

[WINDOWCLEAN2]

Though to be honest, the sad version might have obliterated some childhoods.

Hell, that 15 second scene where they showed some of the Ewoks dying must have ruined some childhoods.
OT: I agree that it should have been Wookies instead of Ewoks. Otherwise, I think the ending turned out well, although if they were going to kill someone off, I think Lando would have been a good choice. He would have achieved a more complete redemption that way.

Lucas would have got pounded for racism by killing of the only black guy.

OT: This is nothing new, Lucas is a business man (a very clever one) but still a business, He has to make money and isn't afraid of the consequences. I may not agree with his desicions, But I understand that they made him money.

 

[felixader]

I think the plot was ok and as Thaius says;

There was already a bittersweet element with Luke having turned his father back from the dark side right before his death: allowing everything else to be a celebration balanced that bittersweet ending perfectly.

Ending on a downer would have sucked, especially if there was no continuation to the story planned. Then again, I've always felt that the Star Wars universe is fundamentally tragic, especially as the universe was expanded and we learned that 1) technology used to be better but there was still pointless petty conflict and titanic evil forces in equal measure and 2) that there was no happy ending for anyone, just more hardship, invasive aliens and megalomaniac types causing trouble.

Now it sounds like Warhammer 40.000. X-P

 

[MercenaryCanary]

Hell, that 15 second scene where they showed some of the Ewoks dying must have ruined some childhoods.

Some of the Ewoks died?!?!

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

While there's no shortage of people ready to criticize Lucas for the rather disappointing prequel trilogy, it's debatable whether Kurtz's darker ending would really have been a better way to end the trilogy. For what was effectively a series of fantasy movies in space, ending on such a somber note just seems incongruous.

Not really. Watchmen ended on a fairly downer note, and it's one of the more renowned stories within comic fandom. As Manhattan said himself, nothing ever ends. I think that a more grim ending to the trilogy would have done great at sending that same sort of message.

Personally I liked the way Return of the Jedi turned out. If we had the darker ending then who knows how the Expanded Universe would have been. Then again I'm one of the few people who actually cares about the books.

The expanded universe would have done just fine. Sure it would have probably yielded different stories, but the fans follow the stories despite them being unofficial cannon because there are talented authors writing the books, not because one of the movies ended in a specific way.

 

[unlikely]

A somber ending definitely would have placed the trilogy in a more significant sphere as a work of film-making, and would have allowed some of the philosophical points that Lucas was supposedly trying to express gain a bit of maturity and relevance.

However, much as I'm not impressed by them now, I doubt my childhood would have been quite the same without the ewoks cartoons. Anyone who doesn't love them clearly never saw them at the right age, the traveling Jin-Da's and the Blase Tree Goats in particular will stay with me always.

 

[are.you.the.god.its.me.vader]

And I second the hate for Hayden Christen in ROTJ......................

10% of his fan base is teenage girls, the rest is himself.

Anyway, Lucas is a buisnessman, he's in it for the money and nothing else.

 

[Carlston]

Don't forget the real ending of Jedi where the Falcon does not make it out of the death star in time, killing Lando and breaking the ship into bite sized chunks. But that when over so badly with test audiences, not cause Lando died...you just don't blow up the Falcon.


That's what happens....but it's also how the man made Billions....

 

[uppitycracker]

I'm actually disappointed that Return of the Jedi ended how it did now, lol. I can dig a darker ending, and it seems like it might have fit more naturally with how it all started out.