Re: What franchise has had the closest cultural impact since Star Wars
It'll be interesting to see how Rowling, her publishers, and WB manage Potter over the decades to come.
Well it's not like the 8 HP films can be remastered to 4k or 8k UHDTV. The VFX were rendered and the digital intermediates were done at 2K resolution.
Potter, back in theatres, now in 4D Holovision!
The difference between Harry Potter and Star Trek or Star Wars is that JK Rowling isn't milking the franchise the way Roddenberry or Lucas did.
That's what I was getting at upthread, yes. I wouldn't see it as milking though; that has a negative connotation that isn't necessarily justified. I'd see it as managing the brand/franchise to find the sweet spot between income vs quality. Sure, both ST and SW have had a lot of valueless merchandising each, but they've also both put out a lot of
good material over the decades. If you want to create a lasting cultural impact, I think that managing the franchise in this way is important.
Whether Rowling wants to do this is, I suppose, the question. I'm sure WB, Bloomsbury, et al would not be averse to extending the franchise where possible.
I think the Marvel universe could be argued as being bigger than Star Trek, Star Wars or Potter. Why I would put it ahead of DC is because Marvel has marketed the the universe through the latest movies, all tied in and leading to the Avengers, which DC didn't do. The universe is a coherent whole even in minds of the casual viewer.
I'd disagree with the way the last sentence is phrased. I don't think the casual viewer necessarily sees the presence of characters from other movies as meaning they're all part of a grand universe. More "Hey that's cool, they got Iron Man (or whoever) into this one too". Slightly different emphasis to yours, though it doesn't take away from the good point that comics have had a big cultural influence beyond those who read them with any regularity.
Love it or hate it, I would say that "The Simpsons" has had a significant cultural impact. Hell, a few years ago they even added the word "D'oh" into the Merriam Webster Dictionary.
That's a good addition to the thread. Plus, the Simpsons has been around long enough to have stood the test of time in terms of impact. While we're on the subject of cartoon franchises, the impact of the Looney Tunes and the Disney characters has got to be worth considering in the context of the thread too. Who doesn't know who Bugs or Mickey are?
There's also a wider point to be made about the difference between Brand Recognition and Cultural Impact, though obviously there's an overlap between the two. Star Wars influenced not just its own genre but the whole nature of a blockbuster action movie in some fundamental ways that were carried forward by others.
It would be interesting to consider whether/how some of hte other brands being discussed have done so e.g. Potter, Marvel, Simpsons, etc.
