Double Dose

So you should be aware of the fact that the Walt Disney Company recently acquired Lucasfilm, the studio that brought you the thrilling Indiana Jones franchise and the beloved Star Wars saga.
Concerning Star Wars, there have been two newsworthy tidbits of well news showing up in articles everywhere.

Firstly, both The New York Times and CNN featured obituaries for Stuart Freeborn, the makeup artist responsible for creating some of your favorite Star Wars characters, such as Yoda and Chewbacca.  Freeborn was 98 and passed away on Tuesday.

As I said, he’s well known for creating the character of Yoda.  The New York Times obituary gave an explanation for how he created the green Jedi Master:

His inspiration for the look of Yoda, a puppet, came when he looked in the mirror and saw the lumps and bumps on his own face. To convey the mental power of this master of the Jedi Order, an ancient monastic peacekeeping organization in the “Star Wars” universe, he hit on the notion of using Einstein’s eye wrinkles. Yoda’s big ears popped out of Mr. Freeborn’s imagination.

According to The New York Times article, “George Lucas, the ‘Star Wars’ director, announced [Freeborn’s] death, calling him ‘a makeup legend.’”

Upcoming Episodes…And More?

The other tidbit of Star Wars news had to deal with episodes 7, 8, and 9 in the works.  Recently, Disney confirmed that J. J. Abrams was set to film episode 7, due for 2015.  Abrams is known for directing two Star Trek films.

However, it seems those three episodes are not the only things on the Walt Disney Company’s mind.

Both Mercury News and Azcentral.com posted articles that refer to the fact that Disney company is planning to create some stand-alone films too, outside of the main saga.

From the Azcentral.com article:

Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said Tuesday that screenwriters Larry Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are working on stand-alone "Star Wars" movies that aren't part of the new trilogy that's in the works.

"There has been speculation about some standalone films that have been in development, and I can confirm to you today that in fact we are working on a few stand-alone films," Iger told CNBC.  

What do you think of this?  I personally thought adding new episodes wasn’t such a great idea (but with Lucas helping, might turn out okay), but I’m definitely not excited about these spin-off movies.  

Make a buck, make a buck.

ttfn!