Posted in: Movies | Tagged: death star, disney, epcot, rogue one, star wars

Disney Meets The Empire: Bringing The Death Star Into The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

Published Fri, 02 Dec 2016 23:14:11 -0600

Last updated Fri, 02 Dec 2016 23:16:43 -0600

When my colleague and weapons of mass destruction expert Jude Terror slid this story across my desk a few minutes ago, I thought it was probably worth a quick late night post and a laugh or two. Who doesn't like the Death Star, right?

Then I read the comments. More than a few people are less than thrilled with the notion of temporarily transforming EPCOT's Spaceship Earth — a celebration of mankind's development of communication and the spread of ideas — into the Death Star, which, you have to admit… is pretty much… not that.

Never, ever underestimate the intensity of any kind of fandom. I should know better by now.

It's not just there, either. Amidst plenty of excitement about it, sure, but more than a little angry dissent over the concept here and there on Facebook as well. What's the deal? Lots of nuance, but it boils down to the notion that EPCOT, as conceived of by Walt Disney was to be a "real city that would never cease to be a blueprint of the future."

The Death Star, on the other hand… more or less the opposite of that ideal.

So, there you have it. If you accept the obvious notion that the Death Star can have die-hard fans, it's pretty hard to deny that the ideas behind EPCOT and Spaceship Earth are worthy of equally dedicated fandom. That's actually rather reassuring, really.

The Spaceship Earth fans have their work cut out for them, though. While doing some quick googling for this post, I noticed that not only is the Death Star the size of a small moon, it generates a steady stream of press in its wake as well. As long as people keep buying Death Star xmas ornaments and popcorn poppers, the Empire will keep striking back.

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