The latest installment from Star
Wars franchise just cannot be ignored this Christmas.
Star Wars: The Force
Awakens will be the first movie since the owner of the franchise Lucasfilm was
acquired in 2012 by Disney for $4.1 billion.
What we see now is something more
than just the revival of a science fiction series that we love so much.
It is
one more example from Disney on how it has progressed in the past decade by
making a number of shrewd acquisitions.
Disney has capitalized skilfully on
the intellectual property of Lucasfilm, Marvel and Pixar by acquiring them. By doing
so, it has gone on to become the market leader in the industrialization of
mythology. Its success has come from the mastery of three elements, tropes,
toys and technology of modern myth making.
Over a period of time, not much
has changed in the internal mechanics of myth, but there has been significant
change in the technology used to impart it. This highlights another expertise
area of Disney.
Back in the days of Homer,
dactylic hexameters were used to pass on the legends, myth makers of present
days give preference to 3D projection, special effects, computer graphics and
surround sound.
Lucasfilm was one of the best
houses for special effects in the business when it was acquired by Disney. This
means the acquisition brought not just the name but also the technology
associated with it.
There was a moment when Disney
found itself left behind in the world of digital animation. It responded
quickly and acquired Pixar, a company master in this field just like Walt
Disney was in hand-made animation.
Along with all this, modern myths
are available in different media formats. Star Wars fantasy is available not
just as movies, but also in graphic novels, books, television series and video
games.
Marvel has its plan well drawn till the turn of 2020.
The modern day myths are also
available in physical formats such as merchandise, toys and theme park rides. All
the merchandising rights belong to Disney and all the manufacturing is done by
it as well.
In the coming years, it is
expected that Disney will make $5 billion alone by selling merchandise of The
Force Awakens. Since 1977, a total of $32 billion worth of merchandise of Star
Wars franchise has been sold till now.
All in All, Star Wars: The Force
Awakens is all set to break some new records and revive many careers along with
starting some new ones. It has already received rave reviews from newspapers;
same is expected from viewers as well.
Source: ECONOMIST
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