KilroywasNOTHere
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In an Alternate Universe, Pixar stays as a part of Lucasfilm, and decides at some point to buy Dark Horse comics. Could they have become a Hollywood Titan that could compete with the likes of Disney and Time Warner?
What If Lucasfilm Owned Pixar and Dark Horse Comics?
- Thread starter KilroywasNOTHere
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Skallagrim
Well-known member
The problem is that Pixar can't become Pixar if it remains part of LucasFilm. Initially, it was just "the Graphics Group". The "Pixar" was the name they settled on for their new graphics computer (initially the "Picture Maker"), pretty shortly before they were sun off into a separate company. And then the name, which was catchy, became the name of that entire company.
Why did they spin off? Because by '83, Star Wars was done, and George Lucas got divorced. This meant a huge drop in revenues, paired with a big financial hit for Lucas. (It also severely impacted his creativity, so LucasFilm was on low burn for a while there.)
How did they spin off? Steve Jobs provided the capital, in exchange for a majority share. That's how Pixar got off the ground.
At the time this happened (1986), computers weren't good enough to produce computer-generated films -- which is what Lucas and the (to-be-)Pixar team ultimately imagined. Jobs knew it, too. So to "tide them over", they functioned as a hardware cormpany. They marketed their Pixar Image Computer (and similar) to all sorts of buyers (government, medical, but also entertainment).
Disney bought the thing, along with Pixar software. They used it in creating The Rescuers Down Under (1990). Things really got off the ground when Pixar was subsequently hired by Disney directly, leading to a new little project called Toy Story. That was a smash hit in '91, and after that Disney became Pixar's most important partner. Ultimately, this led to Disney purchasing Pixar altogether.
Okay. The thing is, LucasFilm subsidiaries (like ILM) did a lot of work in OTL, where they were brought in on external projects. Loads and loads of special effects in major films were done by ILM. If Pixar (let's assume it still gets thst name) remains under the LucasFilm umbrella, then that's going to be their future, too. Without Jobs investing, they have a lower profile and a smaller budget. They don't get the Disney deal. They keep working in-house on whatever LucasFilm does, and their tech gets farmed out to Spielberg projects and the like. That makes money for Lucas, same as ILM did in OTL, but not the vast amounts of money that being partnered up with Disney to co-create whole films did in OTL.
The best case scenario is that Lucas gets major investment cash another way, and the only plausible way to do that is to offer more Star Wars. In OTL, Lucas realised he would almost certainly have to sell the Graphics Group (future Pixar) in '83 already. He wasn't hapy about it, but he was also tired and (after his divorce) pretty burnt out.
Let's suppose that Lucas, at this point, gets together with Steven Spielberg or James Cameron or Ron Howard, or even all three... and he lays out his idea for more Star Wars films. He's not going to direct them, or even write them. These guys declined to make the prequels in OTL, but if '83 burnt-out Lucas is clear that he just wants to produce, and not really be involved, they may be way more interested. So a year later, Lucas can announce that either prequels or sequels will be made, the first to be released in '88 (with two more to follow in '91 and '94). Star Wars fandom doesn't die down during the '80s. Instead, it keeps going like a train. You get more EU stuff earlier.
This easily rakes in the investment money, and Lucas doesn't have to sell anything. He can actually expand. ILM and Pixar are of curse instrumental in doing the spectcular effects for the new SW films, but (being in quite different hands), these ATL films don't yet become a CGI smorgasbord.
Lucasfilm Games (became LucasArts in OTL) produces the tie-in games for these films, raking in way more money than in OTL, too.
Under these circumstances, it's possible for LucasFilm and its susidiaries to grow into a real giant. For starters, they'll be the go-to production partner for all major digital-effects-heavy films. Guys like Spielberg and Cameron won't use anybody else. With ATL major Star Wars games coming out in the early '90s, Lucasfilm Games can become a much bigger player, too. (And Lucas is pretty smart with deals, so I expect he'll make sure that his game company will get to make the game for every major film that ILM and/or Pixar is heavily involved in. An obviously, also every major film for which LucasFilm is simply the producer.)
As for buying Dark Horse Comics: I could see that, if an earlier Star Wars EU gets off the ground, and Lucas wants to consolidate the comics branch off that. Dark Horse already did a lot of comic adaptations and tie-ins, so he could craft a deal where he buys out the majority share, and under his purview, they get the exclusive rights to all tie-ins and adaptations of films in which LucasFilm/ILM/Pixar is a major partner. (Potentially, he can bring Spielberg in on that, and those same exclusive rights for Amblin / DreamWorks features, too.)
This would at least make LucasFilm a much bigger player. But if you want to evolve it into a real industry giant, I think you need to have them merge with Amblin and DreamWorks (which keeps DreamWorks Animation, then). If you can get the people involved to join forces, you can end up with the "hollywood titan" that you envision.
Why did they spin off? Because by '83, Star Wars was done, and George Lucas got divorced. This meant a huge drop in revenues, paired with a big financial hit for Lucas. (It also severely impacted his creativity, so LucasFilm was on low burn for a while there.)
How did they spin off? Steve Jobs provided the capital, in exchange for a majority share. That's how Pixar got off the ground.
At the time this happened (1986), computers weren't good enough to produce computer-generated films -- which is what Lucas and the (to-be-)Pixar team ultimately imagined. Jobs knew it, too. So to "tide them over", they functioned as a hardware cormpany. They marketed their Pixar Image Computer (and similar) to all sorts of buyers (government, medical, but also entertainment).
Disney bought the thing, along with Pixar software. They used it in creating The Rescuers Down Under (1990). Things really got off the ground when Pixar was subsequently hired by Disney directly, leading to a new little project called Toy Story. That was a smash hit in '91, and after that Disney became Pixar's most important partner. Ultimately, this led to Disney purchasing Pixar altogether.
Okay. The thing is, LucasFilm subsidiaries (like ILM) did a lot of work in OTL, where they were brought in on external projects. Loads and loads of special effects in major films were done by ILM. If Pixar (let's assume it still gets thst name) remains under the LucasFilm umbrella, then that's going to be their future, too. Without Jobs investing, they have a lower profile and a smaller budget. They don't get the Disney deal. They keep working in-house on whatever LucasFilm does, and their tech gets farmed out to Spielberg projects and the like. That makes money for Lucas, same as ILM did in OTL, but not the vast amounts of money that being partnered up with Disney to co-create whole films did in OTL.
The best case scenario is that Lucas gets major investment cash another way, and the only plausible way to do that is to offer more Star Wars. In OTL, Lucas realised he would almost certainly have to sell the Graphics Group (future Pixar) in '83 already. He wasn't hapy about it, but he was also tired and (after his divorce) pretty burnt out.
Let's suppose that Lucas, at this point, gets together with Steven Spielberg or James Cameron or Ron Howard, or even all three... and he lays out his idea for more Star Wars films. He's not going to direct them, or even write them. These guys declined to make the prequels in OTL, but if '83 burnt-out Lucas is clear that he just wants to produce, and not really be involved, they may be way more interested. So a year later, Lucas can announce that either prequels or sequels will be made, the first to be released in '88 (with two more to follow in '91 and '94). Star Wars fandom doesn't die down during the '80s. Instead, it keeps going like a train. You get more EU stuff earlier.
This easily rakes in the investment money, and Lucas doesn't have to sell anything. He can actually expand. ILM and Pixar are of curse instrumental in doing the spectcular effects for the new SW films, but (being in quite different hands), these ATL films don't yet become a CGI smorgasbord.
Lucasfilm Games (became LucasArts in OTL) produces the tie-in games for these films, raking in way more money than in OTL, too.
Under these circumstances, it's possible for LucasFilm and its susidiaries to grow into a real giant. For starters, they'll be the go-to production partner for all major digital-effects-heavy films. Guys like Spielberg and Cameron won't use anybody else. With ATL major Star Wars games coming out in the early '90s, Lucasfilm Games can become a much bigger player, too. (And Lucas is pretty smart with deals, so I expect he'll make sure that his game company will get to make the game for every major film that ILM and/or Pixar is heavily involved in. An obviously, also every major film for which LucasFilm is simply the producer.)
As for buying Dark Horse Comics: I could see that, if an earlier Star Wars EU gets off the ground, and Lucas wants to consolidate the comics branch off that. Dark Horse already did a lot of comic adaptations and tie-ins, so he could craft a deal where he buys out the majority share, and under his purview, they get the exclusive rights to all tie-ins and adaptations of films in which LucasFilm/ILM/Pixar is a major partner. (Potentially, he can bring Spielberg in on that, and those same exclusive rights for Amblin / DreamWorks features, too.)
This would at least make LucasFilm a much bigger player. But if you want to evolve it into a real industry giant, I think you need to have them merge with Amblin and DreamWorks (which keeps DreamWorks Animation, then). If you can get the people involved to join forces, you can end up with the "hollywood titan" that you envision.
KilroywasNOTHere
"BEEP!"
Overall do you think it'd be a better or worse timeline than the OTL?
Skallagrim
Well-known member
Considering how Disney churns out dreck these days, it can hardly be much worse.
KilroywasNOTHere
"BEEP!"
True but how do we know lucasfilm wouldn't do the same thing? What kind of Star wars films be likely to create in 88, 91, and 94?
Bear Ribs
Well-known member
Probably relatively better. This was well before Hollywood degenerated into its current post-creativity era and original stuff was still being done. In 1988 alone, f'rex, we got Die Hard, Beetlejuice, Big, Coming to America, Willow, Twins, Rain Man, and A Fish Called Wanda. There were a wide range of genres being made rather than follow-the-leader and a lot of original ideas rather than endless sequels and remakes, and a lot of exceptionally good movies came out in that era.
Granted there was also plenty of dross, Sturgeon's law did exist back then, but I don't think you could point to 2018 and point to that many classics (or at least cult classics), all of them original franchises and of such a wide range of genres. Creativity was alive and well then.
Skallagrim
Well-known member
Well, regardless of whether they're prequels or sequels, they'd be made before any CGI bonanza became a viable option, so that particular point of audience dissatisfaction would be nixed. With Lucas himself only producing, and (probably) having overall story input, but not writing or directing, the films will probably end up being better overall than the prequel trilogy.
Since they're getting made at this time, that automatically means the Special Editions get pushed back a bit. Lucas did those to get people 'warmed up' for the prequels in OTL. With new films already coming much sooner after RotJ, that's not really needed. Instead, he'll wait until the CGI he's working on gets better. Instead of being released to co-incide with the 20th anniversary of ANH's release in 1997, they could easily be released at the 30th anniversary in 2007. You'd have much better CGI, at least, so they may be less reviled.
(I say 2007 because I think Lucas would still want to make a fully CGI series, but OTL demonstrates that releasing that before 2008 just wasn't possible. They had to make really hard to make it happen. A 2007 release of ATL Special Editions would then serve to get audiences ready for Lucas's upcoming 3D-animated SW series.)
...and if the new films actually tank completely and audiences hate them, then the major consequence is that all the people who blamed Lucas for "ruining their childhood" will instead call him their great hero, who made "the good ones", before others "took over" and ruined it.
I think even in the end Disney buys them so they end up not just owning Dark Horse comics but also Marvel.