George Lucas: “Girls Go to the Movies Just Like Anyone Else”

[niyad]

(one does wonder about the truly nasty, negative reviews)

George Lucas: “Girls Go to the Movies Just Like Anyone Else”

It looks like the trend of gender-balanced children’s movies might be here to stay.



Today marks the release of Strange Magic, an animated musical by Disney that revolves around the fairytale adventures of two sisters. This latest addition to the growing list of girl-centered kids’ movies comes from an unlikely source: Star Wars creator George Lucas. He may have created a pop culture empire that spoke to the imaginations of young boys, but Lucas has been working on this passion project for nearly 15 years.

In an interview with CBS News he said that while his son inspired him to create Star Wars, his three daughters gave him the vision for Strange Magic. "I did Star Wars for 12-year-old boys. I have three girls, and I used to read Wizard of Oz to my daughter all the time and I just figured I’ll make one of these [children's movies] for girls because you’re not supposed to make movies for girls."
. . . . . .

The Institute also examined the female leads of the top-grossing children’s movies from the past several decades and found that nearly all of the female characters were primarily valued for their physical beauty, and that their aspirations were usually romantic—rather than professional or social—in nature. When young girls are steadily fed this media diet, they grow into women who believe that looks and approval from the opposite sex matter above all else. Having children’s films with multi-dimensional women/girl protagonists goes a long way to ensuring that future generations of women will see themselves as actualized individuals instead of passive adornments.

Lucas is only the latest director to realize that making gender-balanced movies just makes sense (and dollars.) Frozen, a tale that also centered on the love between two sisters, was the highest-grossing animated film of all time, while Brave, the story of a Scottish lass on a quest to change her destiny, was a box office success as well. It’s clear: Children’s movies with fair gender representation resonate with audiences.

. . . .

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/01/23/george-lucas-girls-go-to-the-movies-just-like-anyone-else/

[randome]

1. If he's been working on this 'passion project' for 15 years...

...it's likely going to be another disaster of Jar-Jar Binks proportions.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[Initech]

2. Meesa think thisa gonna be box office disaster.

[msanthrope]

6. It's horrific. I saw it this weekend...and the the 11 and 12 year old girls I took wanted to leave.

We went to go see Into the Woods.

[LittleBlue]

10. Yep

15%
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/strange_magic/

That's Anakin-level failure.

Lucas needs to call it a day. Thank God he's not touching Episode 7.

[Orrex]

3. Everything I've seen makes the film seen punishingly uninteresting

And the soundtrack seems deliberately chosen to be off-putting.

Gorgeous animation, but at this stage of the game that's the bare minimum expectation.

Sorry, George. Your best work is long ago.

[niyad]

4. so you haven't actually seen the movie?

[Orrex]

5. I don't believe that I've claimed to have seen it

Everything I've seen (i.e., trailers, online discussion, critics' reviews, viewers' reviews) makes the film seen punishingly uninteresting.

And the soundtrack seems deliberately chosen to be off-putting.

Gorgeous animation, but at this stage of the game that's the bare minimum expectation.

Sorry, George. Your best work is long ago.

[LanternWaste]

7. No doubt, we often only that which validates our biases, and ignore that which doesn't.

No doubt, we often only that which validates our biases, ignore that which doesn't, and rationalize doing so via specious pronouncements of what is or is not, someone's best works.

[Orrex]

8. Ah, yes. Passive aggressiveness.

Do you go out of your way to watch films that look like garbage from a writer/director with a long history of producing garbage?

Did you beat down the theater's doors in your eagerness to see I, Frankenstein? Or did you, like a functioning adult human being, educate yourself about the film's story and subject matter before you cough up your cash for the privilege of seeing "someone's best works?"

Or did you opt not to see that film? For what possible reason? Surely you wouldn't want to risk validating your biases?

[Egnever]

9. Yay for Girl power movies but

George lucas should never be allowed to direct anything ever again. His movies are god awful.

Star wars was great in its time purely for the special effects the acting and directing was horrendous. I loved it when I was a kid but I watch it now and all I can do is cringe. After the first one it went downhill fast and the first one was cringeworthy to begin with.

[haele]

11. After what he did to Willow, I suspect Strange Magic would be a good movie if....

Lucas had a strong editor who would cut out the distracting "hey, wouldn't it be great/cute/funny if" additions that he always insists on putting in that go nowhere and do nothing for the plot.
Now-a-days, Lucas as a writer/director is like a six year old writing/directing. I suspect his much of early stuff was decent because he was still influenced by his film-school training and approached his films with a more disciplined vision.
Once he started writing/directing for "himself" or because he though his kids would like his product...
...well, methinks a prescription of Ritalin might have helped.

Too much ...Squirrel!

Haele

[KamaAina]

12. They DO? For real?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

13. Yes, but they want to see good movies when they do.

I haven't seen Strange Magic myself, but the vast majority of the reviews imply that it very much isn't one.

If you want to see a decent animated children's movie with a strong female lead, this article lists plenty of others (although sadly not Corpse Bride, which I thought was better than any of them).