Lucasfilm - Disney merger vis-à-vis Young Indy

Demitasse

Member
Hmm, nothing new or interesting to report, but I wonder what, if anything, Disney's purchase of Lucas's studio will mean for the Young Indy legacy. Disney also owns ABC and the Family Channel which both ran the Young Indy series and movies. (Although I think Young Indy aired before both were owned by Disney?)

Disney now also owns the Lucas sound studio which gets discussed every once in a while on these boards in the music thread.

I dunno-- all the archived Young Indy stuff, deleted scenes and unreleased music will probably continue to languish, unloved and unappreciated as it would have under Lucas...

Anyway, just thinking aloud. Thoughts?
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Demitasse said:
I dunno-- all the archived Young Indy stuff, deleted scenes and unreleased music will probably continue to languish, unloved and unappreciated as it would have under Lucas...

Anyway, just thinking aloud. Thoughts?

There's a lot of archived Disney stuff, including unreleased music, that continues to languish, loved and appreciated by only a few as well. Stuff they could make a decent pile of spare change with, like a Music of EPCOT Center set. There are a few things they've thrown onto iTunes without giving them a disc release, however, so nothing's impossible.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Demitasse said:
Disney also owns ABC and the Family Channel which both ran the Young Indy series and movies. (Although I think Young Indy aired before both were owned by Disney?)
Yes, Disney bought the Family Channel only in 2001. I think they bought ABC c.1996 but, in both cases, Young Indy aired before they were owned by Disney.

As for how this acquisition will affect the series: If Indiana Jones is so low on their priority totem pole, Young Indy might be ever lower. Who knows?:confused:
 

InexorableTash

Active member
Can I see Disney rebooting Indy? Absolutely. They'll milk Star Wars indefinitely until it's just part of the standard accounting, then look around for how they can goose the numbers a bit. Oh, look, a dormant franchise... The 5-year timeframe mentioned elsewhere sounds reasonable to me.

Can I see Disney rebooting Indy and having him fight Nazis? No.

Can I see Disney casting a 50-year-old for stories post WW2? No.

That leaves... stories in the 20s and 30s, with a 20-something Indy, appealing to a younger audience.

I don't know if that's a reboot of Young Indy, but it's the time frame that has been discussed many times in this forum as where we wished the series had gone.

...

In the mean time, maybe everything being in temporary limbo for the fine folks at Lucasfilm will be an opportunity for pet projects (like, say, releasing the scores... *cough*) to get some attention before the Mouse's marching orders arrive and everyone is sent back to the galleys.

I'm not holding my breath, though.
 

Faleel

New member
Well, Intrada did release a CDs of The Avengers (Silvestri), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Smith), and UP (Giacchino), so its not too unlikely that the Intrada/Disney deal could yield something.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
InexorableTash said:
Can I see Disney rebooting Indy? Absolutely. They'll milk Star Wars indefinitely until it's just part of the standard accounting, then look around for how they can goose the numbers a bit. Oh, look, a dormant franchise... The 5-year timeframe mentioned elsewhere sounds reasonable to me.

Can I see Disney rebooting Indy and having him fight Nazis? No.

Can I see Disney casting a 50-year-old for stories post WW2? No.

That leaves... stories in the 20s and 30s, with a 20-something Indy, appealing to a younger audience.

I don't know if that's a reboot of Young Indy, but it's the time frame that has been discussed many times in this forum as where we wished the series had gone.
That's a very sound & agreeable prediction, Tash.:hat: It's the perfect & most tasteful avenue to pursue and, personally, the only scenario I would want/accept.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Lucas said about 5 years ago in a Young Indy DVD interview that a program like Walt Disney Presents would have given the show a family friendly time slot and more support. Maybe that's his hope for Star Wars Underworld.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Faleel said:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Smith)
Great soundtrack!(y)
Moedred said:
Lucas said about 5 years ago in a Young Indy DVD interview that a program like Walt Disney Presents would have given the show a family friendly time slot and more support. Maybe that's his hope for Star Wars Underworld.
I don't remember this, Moe. Which DVD is it on?:confused: Yeah, I agree that Sunday evening at 7:00pm would have been a perfect time-slot for the show and it's very easy to imagine: "The Wonderful World of Young Indiana Jones".

However, would Remy's dialogue: "F*ck off, b*stards! F*ck off! F*ck off! B*stards! B*stards!", in French, have made it past Disney's censorship back then? How will they deal with this now/in the future?:confused:

---
Something else to consider: The TV series was also a Paramount release and the DVD versions still begin with their logo. So the fate of the show is probably hanging in limbo...just like the state of the theatrical films.
 
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Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Stoo said:
Which DVD is it on?
It was an extended interview around about the release of Volume One.

You should upload the video of Remy's quote, with or without subtitles...
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Demitasse said:
...but I wonder what, if anything, Disney's purchase of Lucas's studio will mean for the Young Indy legacy.

Part of me thinks that the Young Indy Collection (and the Complete Adventures) was released ahead of the eventual sale, because Lucas knew it would get "lost" in the acquisition given Disney's excitement over the Star Wars license.

They were, in effect, Lucasfilm's coda. What happens now will be something akin to their handling of the Marvel rights -- Indiana Jones will be aggressively positioned to the youth market. In short, "Young Indy" may be the only Indiana Jones to grace the silver screen or teevee in the future. It won't even be Shia LaBoeuf; they'll bring in somebody younger, and grow the brand from there. This goofy looking bastard could be your next Young Indy.

There might even be a token feature film featuring an Old/Adult/Mature Indy, but they really want that 9-14 year-old market. They buy toys.

These things are cyclic in nature, but since... oh, '99 the thought has been that kids will only watch kids; they don't want to watch Batman, they need to be Batman. They can't "identify" with somebody out of their age bracket, and the popular franchises are reflecting this thought. It's how you got Side of Beef in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Peter Parker's marriage to Mary-Jane Watson was scrubbed from history. No, they didn't get divorced. It never happened.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Le Saboteur said:
Part of me thinks that the Young Indy Collection (and the Complete Adventures) was released ahead of the eventual sale, because Lucas knew it would get "lost" in the acquisition given Disney's excitement over the Star Wars license.
Sabo, without knowing how long Lucas had the idea (to sell) in his mind, I personally don't think the future Disney acquisition had anything to do with the when the DVDs were released. Of course, neither of us are in the man's head but George's grand plan for the Young Indy DVD volumes (& the previous, "Complete Adventures", VHS releases) can be traced back to c.1996/7...and perhaps even earlier.

If Disney eventually does bother to do anything with Indiana Jones in film or TV, I certainly hope it will be "Young Indy" and NOT the post-1935-Harrison-Ford phase of his life.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Stoo said:
Sabo, without knowing how long Lucas had the idea (to sell) in his mind, I personally don't think the future Disney acquisition had anything to do with the when the DVDs were released. Of course, neither of us are in the man's head but George's grand plan for the Young Indy DVD volumes (& the previous, "Complete Adventures", VHS releases) can be traced back to c.1996/7...and perhaps even earlier.

Thus, the "part of me" comment. While I don't realistically think it played a part in Lucas' eventual decision making, it lingers in the back of my mind given the press that comes out here in the Bay Area. This leads me to believe that the talks about selling were being bandied about long before the '08 mention.

But now that I have finally acquired the first series on deeveedee, I'm looking forward to wading through all of the special features. The last time I tried, the significant other got irritated.

Stoo said:
If Disney eventually does bother to do anything with Indiana Jones in film or TV, I certainly hope it will be "Young Indy" and NOT the post-1935-Harrison-Ford phase of his life.

I believe they eventually will. The nearly a billion bucks in Box Office is very hard to ignore for the increasingly bottom-line oriented Disney. See: Pirates of the Caribbean 5.

I bear no real affection for Harrison Ford, so I wouldn't mind Disneymountfilm adding a few adventures up to 1940. Or, rather 1 September 1939. I'm so sick of Natzees. Ideally, though the Interbellum Period provides the best time period for continued adventuring!
 
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