Image source @ Visual China
Wen 丨 Children's IP Workshop
When you see your favorite brand discounting the promotion, but walk into the store only to find that what you see is the original price, you will probably complain like this:
"It's a trap."
When you have just handed over the design that has been changed to five versions, and the boss tells you to come back to the office, the first thought that flashes through your mind is most likely: "I have an ominous premonition." ”
When you're struggling and hesitating to try something, your friends who are encouraging you are likely to say to you, "Do it or don't do it." Didn't try it. ”
......
Seeing this, some people may have guessed that the classic lines that appear in these virtual scenes above are from the world-famous "Star Wars" movie series. If anyone can say exactly which line came from, and can clearly say which movie character said it from and under what circumstances, then he is undoubtedly a die-hard fan of the Star Wars movie series.
As an epic SERIES FILM SERIES, Star Wars has created a myth in film history since the day it was born. Unprecedented science fiction themes, space scenes, and complex galactic struggles have been called "the most magnificent 120 minutes after Moses opened the Red Sea", and have long become one of the symbols of American culture.
The Star Wars series of movies is over, but Disney's new story is just beginning. As one of the most profitable movie series in the world, how could Disney be willing to give up the opportunity of "Star Wars" to "circle money" around the world. That's why Disney has partnered with seven Japanese animation production companies to present a star wars "new story" that is completely different from the past for fans around the world.
Star Wars: The Phantom
On August 18, Disney's Star Wars: Visions officially announced a new news: Disney's Star Wars IP will cooperate with seven Japanese animation production companies, including Kamikaze Animation, Trigger, Kinema Citrus, Science Saru, Geno Studio, Studio Colorido and Production I.g, to launch a new animated short series "Star Wars: Illusion". It will be available on Disney+ streaming on September 22.
It is worth noting that Star Wars: Illusion is not a sequel or spin-off of Star Wars, but tells several Star Wars stories through the concept of Japanese manga style. Star Wars: The Phantom is a new collection of Star Wars short stories created by Lucasfilm that includes nine Star Wars short stories, and was produced by seven different Japanese animation companies to introduce the Star Wars genre to different cultural perspectives. Judging from the trailer, Star Wars: Illusions was a success in terms of visual effects, and many viewers also thought that its visual presentation was better than the Marvel Star Wars spin-off series Manloda.
According to james Watt, the show's executive producer, the story showcases the unique main colors of Japanese manga, expands everyone's understanding of Star Wars, and celebrates a parallel universe. This has a positive development effect on Disney's sci-fi series and the MCU superhero series.
Will the fusion of American sci-fi blockbusters and Japanese animation look good? This is the real reaction of many Star Wars fans after learning the news.
Since George Lucas presented the first Star Wars film to American audiences in 1977, this space opera science fiction film about the growth of youth has attracted generations of audiences from all over the world with its grand worldview and ups and downs. Today, Star Wars has long since become popular culture around the world.
The Star Wars film series
Although the Star Wars films pioneered by Lucasfilm have had a huge impact all over the world and achieved brilliant results at the film box office, as Disney took over the last few of the Star Wars series, the reputation of Star Wars movies also began to decline and caused some controversy.
In 2012, Disney spent $4 billion to acquire Lucasfilm, restarted this classic IP, and produced a new sequel and sequel movie, but these film works were criticized by "Star Wars" fans for not being as grand as the previous game, the narrative was not clear enough, and the plot concept was rough.
Although the Star Wars follow-up series that Disney took over has been criticized by fans, this IP still brings immeasurable value to Disney. In 2021, wikimili summarized the world's 50 most profitable IPs based on the financial data of listed companies and the global third-party authoritative data statistics platform. Star Wars came in fifth with about $68.7 billion, followed by Disney's Winnie the Pooh ($80.3 billion), Mickey Mouse and its friends (about $80.3 billion).
Even after being criticized by fans, such as Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, which is considered "the worst in the series," the film still ranks 7th on the 2019 global box office list. Obviously, the cultural influence and commercial value of "Star Wars" are worthy of Disney's continuous full exploration.
Star Wars Episode VII: Rise of Skywalker
On the one hand, it is the decline in reputation and fan criticism caused by Disney's restart of the Star Wars series of movies, on the other hand, the continuous improvement of the public's aesthetic has prompted Disney to re-think about the problems of the Star Wars series of movies from the perspective of the audience. As an animation production power, Japan has always been willing to learn Western culture and is good at interpreting Western culture from the perspective of Japanese culture, and it is natural for Disney to seek a breakthrough and choose to cooperate with many Japanese animation production companies.
For a long time, Asians have had some stereotypes of Hollywood, believing that the Star Wars genre of the East only cares about visual effects and does not care about social themes. Westerners also have stereotypes about Eastern films, and they think that Asian films only stay at the level of the narrative of "The Story", and they can't make big-screen works. Therefore, the cooperation between Marvel and Asian Pictures has worked well, and this effect can allow audiences of different cultural backgrounds to break stereotypes.
Nowadays, Hollywood blockbusters, especially Hollywood blockbusters supported by big scenes such as stunts and special effects, are far less appealing in Asian markets such as China than they were twenty years ago, and audiences no longer blindly value grand scenes, but are more and more concerned about the movie telling a good story. For example, "Fast and Furious 9", which was released some time ago and has gained countless Chinese fans, has received unanimous bad reviews from the audience after its release in the mainland, which also means that no One in Hollywood blockbusters with no good stories but only big scenes is no longer willing to pay for it casually.
In short, as powerful as Disney, the world's largest animation film and television giant that has been standing high in the clouds, has also begun to actively seek change, which can be called "for the world's star fans", but in the end it is still for the sake of energy to continuously take money out of the pockets of the audience.
On August 13, Disney announced its fiscal third quarter earnings, as of July 3, 2021, Disney's streaming platform Disney+ has reached 116 million paid users, exceeding market expectations of 113 million; in the third quarter, 12 million new paying users, doubling its total subscribers from 58 million a year ago. In the post-epidemic era, especially the rapid expansion of Disney+, the power of streaming media is getting stronger and stronger.
How important is Disney+ streaming to Disney? Take, for example, the Marvel blockbuster Black Widow, which was released in North America in early July, which grossed $215 million worldwide in its opening weekend, including $80 million in North America, $78 million in overseas and $60 million in streaming revenue. After the first week, the theatrical box office of "Black Widow" began to fall sharply, and the next weekend fell by as much as 67%, which is caused by the hot pay-per-view on-demand on streaming media that greatly diverted the audience of the theater. Even, because the theater network synchronously affected the box office share, the film starred "Black Widow" Scarlett Johansson and Disney in court, staged a "superhero" single-handed "gold lord daddy" Disney drama.
In April 2020, Universal Pictures' "Magic Genie 2" was released for the first time on the waters, and it received more than $100 million in on-demand revenue; in September 2020, Disney's "Mulan" movie starring Liu Yifei also tried to be broadcast simultaneously in theaters and streaming media, and the on-demand price of $29.9 refreshed the single-film pricing of the model; in December 2020, after the successful mixed distribution trial of Warner's "Wonder Woman 1984", Announced that all 17 theatrical films in 2021 will be released in the same way. This shows the importance that film and television giants attach to streaming media platforms.
Disney's "Star Wars: Illusion" is a nine-episode short film series, which chose to be broadcast online on the Disney + streaming platform, which is also an important move for Disney to focus on opening up a new position on the Disney+ streaming online platform at this stage. Therefore, when Disney wants to let the audience gradually shift its attention from traditional platforms such as TV stations and big screens to streaming media, Marvel superhero spin-offs, live-action dramas of various fairy tales, and spin-off content of "Star Wars" are obviously the focus of Disney+ film library expansion.
The cultural influence and commercial value of "Star Wars" are worthy of Disney's continuous full exploration. Whether it's a Japanese comic style or a new cultural perspective, or disney+ streaming, it's still unknown how long the new Star Wars: Phantoms can last for disney's Star Wars franchise. But it is also a good thing for Star Wars fans, after all, you can see a completely different Star Wars story from before.