Back in 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm which marked the start of a new era in the Star Wars franchise. J.W. Rinzler, who wrote various The Making of Star Wars books and Executive Editor for Lucasfilm, was with the studio for 15 years. Rinzler begun work on his The Making of The Force Awakens book when things shifted. Now, he has opened up about the transition when Disney took over Lucasfilm, telling what's like to work under George Lucas compared to working under the House of Mouse.
"When Disney came on, and I will say this, I don't think it violates any NDA, I'd been there for 15 years," Rinzler said in a recent episode on The Force Cast podcast. "I worked with George Lucas for all those 15 years. And, I couldn't see a script for the longest time, for The Force Awakens."
Rinzler says it was the "polar opposite of ways of working" since it was all about "control, and fear, and paranoia." That said, while it wasn't like "heaven on Earth" for them, it was "far and away" when Disney took over.
"Like day compared to that night, it was just so much easier, and you know, we didn't torture the licensees," he added. "Some of them could come in and read the script. Not everybody. But like, you know, the head person, whoever needed to read it for that company, could read it. So that they knew what was going on."
Unlike under Disney, he adds that there was "a lot of cooperation" and "autonomy" within the group before. Like if a book was decided to be good to go, it would be done and published immediately.
While Rinzler didn't go into detail, it seems like, under Disney, there was less cooperation with licenses and whatnot. Secrecy seems to be their top priority, having most of the information kept in the dark.
What are your thoughts on Rinzler's comments about the transition when Disney took over Lucasfilm? Tell us in the comments below!
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