“We need to treat this very special. It's an unbelievable privilege and unbelievable responsibility to take a jewel and treat it in a way that is respectful of its past but brings it into the future.” – Bob Iger, interview with Variety, December 10, 20141
The Approach
The big news from the world of Star Wars is the teaser trailer that was released over Thanksgiving weekend. You've probably also seen a lot of reaction to the trailer. The following isn't just a reaction, but an exploration of the trailer that provides a peek into the relationship between Lucasfilm and Disney, and attempts to answer the question: Just how is Disney going to handle the Star Wars franchise?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser. Youtube video from the Star Wars channel.
The trailer is an important event for the Walt Disney Company and its theme parks, as the preview of The Force Awakens gives us a glimpse into the relationship between the two entities. It shows, simply through a series of images, how Disney will bridge the old and the new aspects of Star Wars into its films and park experiences.
Official logo from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” teaser trailer.
The fact that a trailer was released this November is quite telling. The movie is still an entire year away; it's set to be released December 18, 2015—one year from today. Getting a glimpse of a Star Wars movie this early in its production is surprising, as well as risky. Disney had apparently not planned to have a trailer of any kind until later, possibly in the spring. However, Disney CEO Bob Iger addressed the purpose of the teaser's timing in the same Variety article “Disney nearly didn't release a trailer, Iger admitted … But the rabid 'Star Wars' fanbase prompted Disney to come up with the brief introduction of what the new film would look like.”
It is an encouraging outlook to confess that Disney produced the trailer early to appease fans. But how did Disney approach its content to get the reaction that was needed?
First, the risky part of releasing a trailer this early is the challenge to create positive interest in the movie (and the overall franchise) without revealing too much of the movie's content. At the same time, there is a risk to be able to keep the momentum of the hype going. A franchise as popular and as deeply rooted in our culture as Star Wars, seems not to need an exceeding amount of effort to sustain that momentum. The hype, more or less, will happen simply because of the passion from fans. The difficulty for Disney lies instead in not knowing what the response to the trailer would be, since that is simply out of a company's control. Then again, we're talking about Disney, and the company's history shows some fairly good notions about audience response. It has the ability sometimes to see things before they happen. It's a Jedi trait.
Back in the day, Disney took a huge risk with the first full-length animated feature in cinema history with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In spite of the risk, Walt Disney believed it would pay off, and he was right. Later, in Disney parks, Imagineers had a good idea of how people moved and felt based on external stimuli like a great castle in the distance or the sounds of tribal drums coming from nowhere.
Lately, the company has been on a bit of a roll with some big hits, including Frozen and another Disney property, Marvel's The Avengers. These endeavors have not only smashed box office records but also taken old ideas, like love at first sight and heroes working together, and shifted them into a new light for modern senses.
As for Star Wars, Disney seems keenly aware that fans are awaiting a return to form, so to speak, of the groundbreaking original trilogy. Fans want to experience both nostalgia for and respect to those movies that started the phenomenon. Yet at the same time, fans want to discover what new experiences the new stories will bring. And bringing together the ideas of the old and the new seems to be Disney's focus.
Bringing balance of the old and new is a lofty challenge for any creative endeavor. If the emphasis on the Star Wars property is all-nostalgia, then the project could end up with a stale reaction. On the other hand, too many new things could leave fans disenfranchised. The teaser trailer for The Force Awakens connected the ideas of the old and the new successfully.
The Trailer
How does the trailer exemplify Disney's approach to Star Wars? How does it show this mix of old and new that will get a positive reaction?
First, the trailer revealed next to nothing of the movie's plot, so the sense of curiosity, the unknown, the potential for surprise, remain. It did, however, reveal some visual clues to the production design of the new Star Wars.
Official photo from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” teaser trailer.
There was an unmasked man in a Stormtrooper uniform, reminiscent of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo's disguises in the first film. This can relate to Darth Vader's unmasking, which was one of the final visuals from Return of the Jedi, the film previous to the new one, chronologically.
We also saw a rolling droid in the trailer, reminiscent of R2D2.
Official photo from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” teaser trailer.
One setting was a desert planet much like Tatooine, where the saga has much of its roots.
There were actual Stormtroopers with an updated appearance that is an evolution from the old Stormtrooper design, much like how the original films introduced at least one new trooper design in each film. Stormtroopers themselves, another iconic image from the movies, gave us a sense of the story's possible antagonists, which may still be linked to the original enemies.
Official photo from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” teaser trailer.
The X-Wing fighters, easily resembling the original iconic spaceships, were slightly tweaked, harkening to a time when the solo-piloted fighters were a necessary tool in the struggle for freedom. We witnessed a woman on a speeder-type vehicle reminiscent not only of the speeder bikes of Return of the Jedi but also of the pod racers from The Phantom Menace and Anakin's speeder in Attack of the Clones, which he used to locate his mother.
Official photo from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” teaser trailer.
We then saw a black-robed character that resembled previous archenemies the Emperor and Darth Vader, whose outfits were similarly dark and flowing, and whose faces we did not see until late in the original stories. Hidden or shrouded faces, like the unmasking impression mentioned above, is another theme of the saga. Overall, there were a lot of touches of the old and the new coming together.
Official photo from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” teaser trailer.
Some of the new aspects seemed to have an emphasis on earthy settings; in the trailer, we saw characters in deserts and forests. Beyond the characters, the visuals that included spaceships were curiously not shown in outer space. Instead these images were shown over terrestrial landscapes. Low-flying X-Wings formed water spurts in their wake turbulence, and the Millenium Falcon shot through the desert sky, engaging Tie Fighters near the clouds. The ships are more “down to earth” and exemplify The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams's take on creating realistic special effects that he believes will have a positive influence on fans and modern moviegoers.
Bob Iger not only believes in Abrams's approach to using practical effects; he may believe the film's success rel on them. Eschewing computer-generated imagery in favor of practical effects (but not exclusively) will have an impact on the look of the film. Their hope is that the new film will be reminiscent of the original trilogy's aesthetics, not only to the interest of long-time fans, but to present a startling picture for new fans. In the Variety interview, Iger explains:
“That will give the film a look that will be extremely respectful of the look George (Lucas) created in the '70s, and will play well with ardent Star Wars fans and play well with audiences today.' Iger noted how the use of computer-generated graphics has made filmmaking seem 'too easy.' 'There's a sameness to a lot of these films today,' Iger said. 'The wow factor isn't what it used to be. J.J. decided to create the physical wow factor.'”
It is a pointed philosophy to blend the new with the old in terms of the visual presentation of Star Wars, but this philosophy reaches past the films.
The Parks
More Star Wars stuff in Disney parks? So many questions! Would they focus on the original trilogy? Would aspects of the prequel trilogy be included like they have been in Star Tours? Would Disney elect to only draw from the new films that are under their guidance?
Disney's ideas for upcoming Star Wars theme park attractions share the same ideals discussed here, of the new mixed with the old. We don't know the specifics of any possible rides and attractions, but Bob Iger confirmed that a very similar philosophy will guide Imagineers as they form Star Wars park experiences. “What we come forward with [in Stars Wars attractions] will have a blend of the past, present and maybe the future,” Iger said. So, the emphasis will parallel the underlying ideology of the films as portrayed in the trailer; it will indeed be a blend of the old and the new.
Iger stressed that while visitors to the park would not only expect famous Star Wars visuals, they would expect influences from new Star Wars media. He said, “I didn't want someone to say, 'I just saw the movie and there's nothing in that movie in this (attraction).” The newest movie will be fresh on the minds of fans and park-visitors alike. Again, Disney is confident in what they perceive as audience expectations.
Websites and blogs have picked up this quote and overstated that the new park presence of Star Wars will focus solely on the new films, which does not seem to be the case. The approach to the fans, the trailer, and the upcoming film itself is an outcome of Disney's guiding principles for Star Wars, which “will have a blend of the past, present and maybe the future.” This blend must not be overlooked.
The blend of past and present is the right—and seemingly logical—approach. Now that we've seen this trailer, and read about J.J. Abrams's modus operandi with special effects, and Bob Iger's overarching direction toward Star Wars, we can see how Disney will bridge the old and the new to reach out to fans and all people who desire to experience a modern fairy tale in many ways.
