How Disney Destroyed Star Wars | Video Essay

In this video Disney Star Wars Video Essay, we take a look at how Disney destroyed Star Wars. Starting with the disconnected Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, to the slate of mediocre Star Wars Shows on Disney Plus, that have aided in plummeting George Lucas' beloved franchise into the depths of obscurity. This isn't another Disney Star Wars hate video, this is a video from a frustrated fan who wants this franchise to command the respect that it used to.

The Acolyte (2024)
Ahsoka (2023)
The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The Last Jedi (2017)
The Force Awakens (2015)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
The Mandalorian (2020)

[DdHenley]

It's absolutely insane that they didn't have a plan for the sequels. Anyone in their right mind would fire everyone who approved it to be made that way. Billions of dollars and these people just wing it. Incredible mix of arrogance and idiocy

[ericlondon]

My wife cancelled our Disney+ subscription after watching the 2nd episode of The Acolyte.

We miss loving Star Wars.

[darkroninmarvel]

you know it's bad when EA treats Star Wars with more respect than Lucasfilm itself!

[purefoldnz]

The success and the maturity of Dune is everything we wanted from the new Star Wars films.

[blueshattrick]

Just considering the sequels alone, Kathleen Kennedy has cost this studio (at least) *$1B* in lost profits.. and that doesn't even take into account all the terrible TV shows, the Solo movie (the biggest SW flop, so far), merchandising, the failed hotel, Galaxy's Edge, etc
Her still being gainfully employed is one of the most baffling business decisions in the 21st century

[bshann]

I’m 48 years old when I was two years old the first movie I ever went to my parents took me to see the original Star Wars in 1977. I am too young to remember that so obviously I’ve seen it many times since then I remember when the Empire back came out, my dad took me eight times to see it because I loved it so much when I was a kid. And so on and so on. when Disney first got Star Wars, I was extremely excited about it being that I have been a lifelong fan. I liked the force awakens and I loved Rogue One. Then The last Jedi came out, I walked out of the theater about halfway through that’s when Star Wars died for me. Star Wars ended in 2005 with the revenge of the sith.

[samuelmackenzie]

I don’t know how Lucas did it, but he understood how to release his movies by releasing 4 through 6 and 1 through threes years apart from one another. He understood how to make Star Wars feel special which Disney does not.

[AngelColeman-ch]

I said Disney would kill marvel and Star Wars years ago and I was right They should've stuck with kids animation. Now even their kids movies suck

[Jammsbro]

Finally Star Wars and Star Trek fans can come together. We both detest that soulless cash grabbing ideologs destroyed our beloved worlds.

[jimbeaux]

I haven’t seen a single Disney “Star Wars” since TLJ.

I’m just done with it, and I never EVER thought I’d ever feel that way.

It’s such a damn shame

[wickdaline]

SW is glorified fast food now. While stuff like Andor is chicken salad with dressing. A show that was made lucky. While everything else was lucky to be made. And that's all coming from a modern SW neutralist and apologist. Make that what you will.

[josephpe]

Disney SW isn’t canon. End of discussion

[wynonasbigbrowndragon]

They turned it into content, not productions.

Also, forcing fans to watch multiple shows to follow one storyline is greasy stuff

[josharnoldy]

Disney had a once in a generational opportunity to create their own “Lord of the Rings” trilogy in the sense of creating one cohesive story and filming all at once. This could have been the one trilogy to surpass LOTR in regards to cinematography, filmmaking, passion and respect for existing lore, and THE AUDIENCE WAS ALREADY THERE. They acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 and still could have released the movies in 2017, 18, and 19 or something.

Instead, they opted for the quick cash, knowing people would see them no matter what, and put little to no effort in them.

[ArwenUndomiel]

You’re being WAY to kind towards this shitty Disney trilogy. And this isn’t Star Wars, it’s DISNEY Star Wars.

[derekknowles]

George Lucas should've never sold Star Wars to Disney episodes 1-6 are the real movies still have the 2004 and early 2000s DVDs

[DainRiffgin]

Another big issue with TLJ was that it whipped the media into a frenzy, with them going after the “toxic man-babies”, which typified the “blame the fans” movement. “Star Wars fans are so entitled! They are never happy! The complain about everything! No one hates Star Wars like Star Wars fans!”

Fast forward to today, and what do they have to show for it? Toy sales down by over 60%, with pallets of them rotting for years at discount stores, news that the Disney Star Wars films only earned 1.2 Billion in profit at the box office (meaning Disney is still 2.8 Billion in the hole from a box office stance) from their $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm 10 years later, no new Star Wars movies in nearly 5 years, $1 billion marketing push for The High Republic (which has gone nowhere), another billion into the Galactic Starcruiser Hotel (which closed in a year and a half), expensive live action series that get terrible reviews (and viewer ratings so poor that Disney doesn’t show them anymore), animated shows that are all but forgotten, and now three trailers for upcoming Star Wars projects are all massively downvoted. You have dozens of projects announced then abandoned, directors switched out and having most of their films reshot, and worse still the film starring the character nobody wants is being directed by a woman who has only done documentaries and was quoted saying “I enjoy making men uncomfortable”.

Years from now Lucasfilm will be used in business schools as a cautionary tale of what happens when you alienate your customer base. It truly is a tragic fate: what was once seen as a pinnacle of modern entertainment, a proverbial golden goose, has been destroyed, choked to death, with only the memories of better days and stories to comfort us. It breaks my heart.

[BigBreadBoi]

As someone who grew up in the prequel era, I can safely say that the kids just don’t like starwars these days. The kids don’t talk about it, it’s just not a part of the culture it’s just another franchise now.

Disney has turned the name of Star Wars into budget sci-fi, a lot of people palm the criticism off as nitpicking… but that’s what made it STAR WARS the details, rules, world building, aesthetic we’re all super specific and important to long time fans. The more and more you change established lore you start to distant yourself from the audience that cares the most.

Starwars is being actively made for a casual audiences and that’s really really sad.

Just imagine the kotor trailers with disneys unlimited budget and resources, that’s how badly they had fumbled the opportunity. They cancelled all their movies after making a trilogy without a plan and now they are just pumping out daytime tv to keep Disney + alive.

[qty]

Why did they keep on hiring people who didn't like or didn't know Star Wars? Seems like a really weird decision.

At the very least they could have been like "If you want the job, LEARN."

[ATKT]

For me Revenge of sith is end of Star Wars. I literally watched every show and movie until Ashoka and decided that the only way I can keep loving star wars is if I limit star Wars to first 6 films.