production and promotion, and reception and participation. The book proposes a well-researched overview of

the impact of the buyout in various areas and is noteworthy for its contributions in corporate production

studies and fan studies..

George Lucas’s prior relationship to Disney and contradictory declarations about a sequel trilogy, arguing

that Disney’s main strategy was “not to rebrand Star Wars by constructing a binary between Lucasfilm and

Disney but, rather, by unifying them in order to instill trust and belief” (11). The editors then announce the

aim of the collection, which is to distinguish “key shifts that have occurred at the level of industry, narrative,

branding operate within the postmillenial mediascape” (12).

Storytelling as Seen on TV” examines the position of televisual productions within the Star Wars universe,

pre- and post-acquisition. It compares the Holiday Special (1978) to Rebels (2014-2018) and shows that the

latter used aesthetics and narrative as another bridge between past and present owners. The brand synergy is

further exemplified in Lincoln Geraghty’s “Rebuilding the Force, Brick by Brick” stressing the role of

LEGO and LEGO-book publisher Dorling Kindersley in the process. Dan Hassler-Forest work on “Fan

Labor and Brand Management” discusses how the promotion of The Force Awakens relied on a form of

immaterial fan labor and collaborative, yet asymmetric, brand management. The film’s promotion rested on

nostalgia for the original trilogy, but also incorporated fan participation: “fan culture’s transformative

creative work is itself transformed into something that can be used to rebrand not only the Star Wars

aesthetic level across different media. Ross Garner’s “The Mandalorian Variation” focuses more specifically

on the limiting impact of Disney’s acquisition on the franchise’s gender identity and dynamics, and more

particularly on the construction of the lead action female character in the TV series Star Wars Rebels.

Douglas Brown analyses the impact of the acquisition on Star Wars videogames in “To Disney Infinity and

Beyond.” Comparing classic Star Wars games with three post-acquisition releases, Brown finds that pre-

acquisition games were bolder in experimenting articulations to the franchise. Finally, Rebecca Williams’s

intertwined before the Disney buyout through the Star Tours immersive rides featured in Disney’s theme

parks since the mid-1980s. She argues the rides completed the transmedia world of Star Wars by extending

repetition, arguing that The Force Awakens’s mode of relation to A New Hope is one of reflexivity. Another

way of redefining nostalgia was to appeal to fans disappointed by the Disney acquisition through subcultural

branding as argued by Emma Pett in “Real Life is Rubbish”, her examination of the promotion and reception

avoid criticisms of gender normativity was to shift toy manufacturer for the Princess toys from Mattel to

Hasbro—a company mostly making toys for boys. Another was to promote Leia to the role of general in The

Force Awakens. But Disney also emphasized the more princess-like attributes of Princess Leia in the Disney-

Marvel’s five-issue comics Princess Leia (2015) which bridged the gap in the character arc from princess to

surrounding Disney’s acquisition of the Star Wars franchise. Jones analyses fan fiction, art, and videos that

mix Disney and Star Wars texts and fan responses to these paratexts to show how they can play a role in fan

reception of the original texts. In “Fans Negotiating Disney’s (De)Stabilized Star Wars Canon,” Michelle

Kent discusses how fans negotiated Disney’s rebranding of the Expanded Universe and announcements of

narrative departures in the up-coming trilogy. Analyzing responses from the two largest international Star

Wars costuming fan clubs, Kent shows that Disney’s changes impacted real-world fan practice. Many fans

use Star Wars as a cultural object to enrich their lives through acts of civic engagement (such as supporting

children’s charities), and the decanonization of the Expanded Universe means disrupting such uses, thus

stereotyped binary between reactionary and progressive fans. Tom Phillips analyzes fans’ reaction videos to

trailers for The Force Awakens and compares them to actors Daisy Ridley and John Boyega’s reaction

videos. He then argues that the film’s promotion used fannish discourses as an act of reassurance for

audiences and a perpetuation of the film’s culture of anticipation. Bridget Kies discusses the economy of

knowledge surrounding film releases and how fans actively manage and engineer their expectations and

access to information prior to release in “Spoiler Culture, Marathon Screenings, and Affective Responses to

The Force Awakens.” Using her own fan experience, Kies argues that such fan activities as accessing or

avoiding spoilers and behind-the-scene information, practicing screening marathons, and sharing energy

through group events meaningfully shape the screening experience, while such experience retains its inherent

power to surprise and affect fans in unexpected ways. Taking the opposite perspective, Lucy Bennett

franchise fatigue and toxic fandom in the wake of the releases of The Last Jedi and Solo, and how the

franchise has lately been ensnared in the new culture wars. Proctor argues that the media’s preeminent focus

on the most virulent elements of Star Wars fandom constructed a biased narrative that dramatized toxic

narratives at the expense of a fan majority.

incisive, and valuable contribution to the study of transmedia franchises. The variety of perspectives,

approaches, and methodologies featured in the collection illustrates the multilayered consequences of the

purchase. One may regret the timing of the publication, with contributions that focus primarily on events

prior to and surrounding the release of The Force Awakens (2015), but this leaves room for future

Disney, Star Wars, Lucasfilm, transmedia, production, promotion, reception studies, fan studies, branding,

merchandising, franchising, media franchise

J. J. Abrams, Michael Arndt, Lucy Bennett, Paul Booth, Will Brooker, Douglas Brown, John Boyega, Peter

Cushing, Gareth Edwards, Matthew Freeman, Ross Garner, Lincoln Geraghty Jonathan Gray, Colin B.

Harvey, Dan Hassler-Forest, Matt Hills, Andrew Hoskins, Henry Jenkins, Derek Johnson, Bethan Jones,

Lorna Jowett, Michelle Kent, Bridget Kies, Dorling Kindersley, John Knoll, George Lucas, Richard