I have a good feeling about this......

It feels good to be excited about Star Wars again. Like most males my age, and some females, my first experience of Star Wars is indelibly burned in my brain. It was around my 11th birthday so I assume early January 1978. My memory might be failing me, but I believe in those days, movies would often take months to cross the pond. I remember my parents had bought me the novelization and I had devoured that before my dad took me to see it. We saw it in Leicester Square. I think it was playing at the Odeon and i have a strong memory of queuing for hours, along with a bunch of long hair types, you know, sci fi fans. Bizarre side note, but I remember we queued for so long that my dad had to nip to a bakers and get us Cornish pasties to eat.

Like most people, the opening moments of the movie had me hooked on the saga within seconds. The music and that iconic imagery which blew all other cinematic experiences up to that point out of the water. I was in love with Star Wars, big time.

So we all know how the rest of the story goes. I saw all three movies at the cinema multiple times. The first movie we owned on vhs tape was Star Wars. I went and saw the special editions in 1997, and the feeling of disquiet began. Sure it was cool to see the movies on the big screen again, but those changes niggled.

Then the prequels came out and I went like everyone else I knew. After all the rationalization and discussion, I realised, you know what, they're just not that good. The reasons vary but I then began to fixate on the original movies again. I was determined to own the original editions and only watch those. You've heard it all before .

So here we are in a new era in a galaxy far, far away. I've heard a lot of negativity but also a lot of positivity regarding the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney. I'm definitely in the positive camp. I see no reason the believe that Disney will dumb down Star Wars any more than Lucas already had. Star Wars is a fairytale like any other and predominantly will, and should, hold appeal for the young. Disney know how to walk the fine line of appealing to the kids and pleasing the adults. Disney also know how to make money in a variety of ways. Anyone who has been to a Disney park in recent years will have seen the vast range of Star Wars/Disney related merchandise you can get. From Jedi Mickey statues to Clone Wars crossover t-shirts. It's high quality product and does nothing to dilute the brand of Star Wars.

I believe that Disney will bring all of their creative and financial might to bear on making Star Wars Episode VII the biggest and best movie of 2015. Shame that New Hope title has already been used. I'll be in line, as i'm sure most of you will be. What is exciting to me that this looks to be only the beginning of a new chapter in the Star Wars saga. Hopefully I can get past all the bad feeling and disappointment of the last few years and look forward to new adventures which will blow my mind all over again.

Punch it, Mickey.