Another Disney employee has come forward about issues at the company and with Star Wars, following a laid-off software engineer who touched on Disney’s internal culture, DEI, and more.
Now former Disney employee and conservative writer Peachy Keenan is blasting Disney’s Star Wars strategy and says the company built the Disneyland Galaxy’s Edge attraction around the wrong version of Star Wars from the start.
Keenan, who says she was at Disney when the land launched and wrote marketing text tied to the rides, hotel, marketing, and website, described deep internal frustration over the direction of the project.
“When I say there was crushing disappointment, almost a feeling of betrayal that the whole thing was on the new IP and not the original IP, I am not exaggerating,” she posted on X.
Disney backed the new trilogy over the original
Keenan says Disney made a deliberate choice to build Star Wars Land around the sequel era instead of the original trilogy icons fans actually wanted, with the hopes fans would forget the originals.
“Disney made the decision to invest this money in order to support the new trilogy, which they thought would erase the old one in the minds of fans,” she said. “The level of hubris around this is one for the business industry history books.”
Her comments go right at the heart of what fans have argued for years about Disney Star Wars and Galaxy’s Edge, that Disney spent huge money on a Star Wars and Galaxy’s Edge where Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia, and Darth Vader were mostly absent while newer characters and Batuu took center stage.
Keenan rips Disney’s sequel trilogy treatment of the legacy characters
Keenan also unloads on the sequel trilogy itself and says Disney wrecked the original heroes in the process.
“They made a trilogy that destroyed the OG characters. They elevated an insufferably annoying mary sue girl boss, added a pathetic loser son of Han, a divorced Leia and Han, a disillusioned and bitter Luke, and then killed Luke, Han, and Leia,” she said.
The post connects the land directly to Disney’s larger Star Wars plans, with Keenan arguing the company tried to push the new trilogy at the expense of the characters that built the franchise.
Disney’s Star Wars era ended in failure
Keenan goes even further and says the fallout hit the people behind Disney’s Star Wars era as well.
“Result: JJ Abrams’ career was finished as a filmmaker. Rian Johnson was wrecked. Kathleen Kennedy is finally out as head of Lucas. Chapek out. Disney movies are garbage,” she said. “The greatest entertainment IP ever created was lit on fire to appease the egos of the geniuses who bought it and thought they could outdo the original genius.”
Her post frames Galaxy’s Edge as part of a much bigger collapse, where Disney bet on replacing the old Star Wars with the new version and failed. Just recently saw it learned that Abrams is closing and downsizing his Bad Robot production offices in LA and moving to NY.
Disney’s latest Galaxy’s Edge changes come too late
Keenan also reacts to Disney now changing course with Galaxy’s Edge and bringing back more familiar original trilogy elements.
“And now it’s too late. No one cares that Darth will be walking around again to John Williams score. The new Leia face character looks like Brenda from HR,” she said.
The comment comes as Disney is set to loosen the old sequel-era setup at Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge, bringing in more classic characters and music tied to the original films.
Lucasfilm is also releasing The Mandalorian & Grogu next month and has Star Wars: Starfighter coming out next year. Plans to continue the Disney Star Wars Trilogy with Daisy Ridley as Rey are in doubt. Also, recently saw the news that Disney passed on a Kylo Ren movie.
