Unless you’ve had your head in the cosmic dust, you’ve probably heard that the next movie in the “Star Wars” series is due out this August. And, you’ve heard of the two potentially controversial decisions made by creator George Lucas.
First, he’s decided to make the films animated. Second, he’s going to be bringing future sequels to the small screen. These are two dramatic departures which will either be hailed by a new generation or criticized by those of us who grew up on “Star Wars” as, well, “Star Wars.” I for one believe “Star Wars” is so much more than a TV cartoon and I hate to see the franchise end up this way.
To me, the genius of the original “Star Wars” was its use of real actors in real sequences and real settings that combined with the story to create an authentic world of future and fantasy and a clarity between good and evil. Even the laser beams and light sabers looked real. This is one franchise which was well ahead of its time.
When the computer enhanced versions of the first three films came out, it was kind of interesting, I guess, but it looked a little too fake for me. The first two of the second set of sequels really lost me, though, because the computer animation required had a comic book feel that got away from the original. Jar Jar Binks just never was as real as Chewbacca.

So to hear that the entire series will be animated, to me, means that it will be called “Star Wars,” and it might be good, but it won’t be the “Star Wars” I grew up with, and that even my kids have loved and treated as classics. And when the biggest big screen thrill ride of all time ends up on the small screen, well, then we know its over.
Perhaps a whole new younger generation will love the new generation of “Star Wars” shows. But if they do, they’ll be loving them just a bit more than whatever’s on the other channels, and “Star Wars” will no longer have that epic status that separated it for so long.