Tag Archives: Disney

Ashley Eckstein Upbeat About Disney Purchase

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Given Clone Wars voice actress Ashley Eckstein’s love of Disney, it should come as no surprise that she’s very excited about the big Lucasfilm purchase and what this means for the future of both companies. Over at the official Star Wars Blog, Ashley talks about her history with Disney.

One could say that I “grew up Disney.” My Dad started working for Disney when I was two years old and my earliest childhood memories revolve around Disney. Growing up in Orlando, Florida, with a parent that was a Disney “cast member” definitely had its perks. I got to go to the Disney parks all the time for free, I got in to advance screenings for Disney movies, my summer camps were at the Disney resorts, and I had special opportunities like going to live tapings of The Mickey Mouse Club. I bring this up because Disney was and always has been a MAJOR influence in my life and has definitely shaped the person I am today.

Be sure to give the whole entry a read!

Thoughts on the Big Frakking News: Disney Flourishes and Just What Is Episode VII?

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“Oh man the Internet is going to explode when you sign this thing, George.”

Earlier today I posted a long and rambling mess of an article looking at my thoughts and gut feelings on what the Big News means for the Expanded Universe as a whole. Originally, this post was going to be part of that article but for the sake of readability, I had to break things up. In any case, here’s the second part of me trying to figure out just what the heck all this news means and how I feel about it all.

A new movie? New ownership? What in the world does this mean for publishing contracts? Is Disney going to put a flourish on Star Wars? Head over to the jump and watch me try to process all of this.

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Thoughts on the Big Frakking News: The Impact on the Expanded Universe

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Well that was a terrible day to schedule a work roadtrip.

To set the stage, I was sitting in a Taco Bell yesterday grabbing a quick bite to eat when I get a text from Nanci. Actually, several texts. Here’s a screencap of how the conversation went:

We are far less wholesome people than you think we are.

I drove home and recorded a podcast in which I didn’t say a whole lot because I was still working out just how I felt about all this. Well, the next day I’m still trying to figure it out, but I think I’m getting there. Originally this post was going to be a collection of thoughts on what I think this all could mean for the franchise and the fandom, but I wound up writing about a thousand words on just the impact on the Expanded Universe. So. Introducing Part 1! How this big frakking news impacts the EU. I’ll have a post up later with a scattering of thoughts on everything else. To the jump!

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Tosche Station Radio #35: Buyout

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It’s an emergency episode of Tosche Station Radio!

The notes are brief, because we’re only talking about one thing: Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm and the announcement of new Star Wars films (our post/Club Jade’s post). Hosts Nanci and Brian are joined by Dunc from Club Jade to try and make sense of the big news and offer insight as to what this might mean for the future of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. What might the new films bring? What does this mean for the Expanded Universe? Will Disney parks get more of a Star Wars-y feel? One thing’s for sure, the future of Star Wars hasn’t been this exciting in a long time!

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of the Solo Sound network. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store or the Zune Marketplace. We can also be found on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with@LaneWinree.

Disney Acquires Lucasfilm

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Bob Iger has just announced that The Walt Disney Company will be acquiring Lucasfilm (including its operating businesses such as Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound) for $4.05 billion.

What does this mean for the Star Wars universe?  We really don’t know yet.  According to the official press release, Kathleen Kennedy will be staying on and become the President of Lucasfilm and George Lucas will be a creative consultant.

There is, however, this:

Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.

The Disney blog says that after Episode 7, we can expect to see new Star Wars films every two to three years.

Obviously all of the details aren’t out there yet but we will bring them to you as soon as we learn something new.

Dear Nanci-

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Please go to the Droid Factory the next time you go to Hollywood Studios and then mail one to me. One with Mickey Mouse ears.

Seriously, though, how did I not know about this? I just have this vision of a shelf full of little astromech droids going up against my friend’s shelf full of Daleks. Hmm. Dalek versus R2-D2. Who wins?

Personally, I’m thinking R2. He’s sneaky.

Disneyland Paris to get Star Wars Land?

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If true, color me insanely jealous. Disney Paris might not be getting just the Star Tours update, they might be getting a whole Star Wars-themed section put into the park.

The plan is not only to bring Star Tours 2 at DLP Discoveryland but also to transform what is now the Captain EO theatre, the Star Traders shop as well as the Pizza Planet restaurant to create a “Star Wars land” and as you will see on the Google Earth screen capture below they not only have plenty of room backstage to do it but probably will even have enough room in the future to add new rides if necessary. The back of Discoveryland already don’t have the same architecture than the front, so this Star Wars land shouldn’t be a problem, esthetically speaking.

While Nanci is Tosche Station’s resident theme park expert and enthusiast, I know I’d love something like this in the American market. Disney World in Orlando is looking for something to compete against the wildly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter over at Universal Studios. They’re giving James Cameron’s Avatar a shot at biting into that tie-in market, but I don’t think anyone expects that to be nearly the success Universal’s Hogwarts and Hogsmeade themed area is.

What’s the one thing Disney could throw out there to actually go toe-to-toe with Potter? Star Wars. It certainly would be neat to see Disney’s Hollywood Studios expand a bit to include a larger Galaxy Far, Far Away theme.

Via Club Jade