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Rumor: Disney may retire 'Slave Leia' merchandise

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http://toyland.gizmodo.com/rumor-disney-may-be-retiring-slave-leia-merchandise-1740279925

It’s one of the most iconic outfits in Star Wars, and sci-fi in general: The metal bikini Princess Leia is forced into by Jabba the Hutt during Return of the Jedi. But it’s not without controversy—and Disney may be making moves to remove the skimpy outfit from future Star Wars marketing and merchandise for good.

The rumor comes from Star Wars rumor-site Making Star Wars, which has made a name for itself in the past few years by becoming a source for spoilers and speculation surrounding the now-imminent The Force Awakens, claiming that Disney is looking to phase out the “Slave” Leia look from any future marketing and toys, after the company and toy maker Hasbro came under fire for not just having a lack of female Star Wars toys in general, but also for the fact that the Star Wars Black Series line went for several years with just a single female figure in the roster. The fact that it was the scantily-clad Return of the Jedi Leia, rather than any of the several other outfits the Princess wore during the saga, drew even more ire than if there had been no female toys at all.

Usually, a rumor with a single source would be easily dispensable, and even then, it would be best to treat this as speculation in general. But an interesting twist in the tale came in the form of Facebook comments from Marvel comics artist J Scott Campbell, who recently claimed that there is a mandate to avoid the costume in the company’s depiction of Leia—and even, bizarrely, that artists are being advised to avoid depicting Leia in sexualized poses:

[tweet screencap]

It adds a little further credence to the rumor, but it’s still not exactly solid.

It’d be a surprising move for Disney to make—it has had no qualms about the existence of the “Slave Leia” outfit being used promotionally or in merchandise since it acquired the franchise, and it’s appeared in toys, Lego, trading cards, comics, and more in that time. Why the sudden change? And with The Force Awakens so near, it’s not like merchandise and marketing would even be focusing on that particular era of Star Wars—it’ll be about Leia as she appears in the new films.
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a54337dc69a9db390b57b6291f641893.jpg
 
Why was Jabba attracted to humanoid females in the first place?

You'd think he'd have put her in a sexy slug suit or something.
 
Maybe they're afraid sexualised images of her could undermine the character in the new movies for a part of the audience.
 
Star Wars is for kids now?

I don't think they should retire it. Not a lot of kids want to see Luke get
his hand cut off or kiss his own sister
either.

What a way to censor a franchise, especially one of the better western franchises.

Shame on Disney. They milk more perverts with their casting call of female actresses, but they don't want to endorse an older woman in a bikini.
 
Slayven said:
Hutts are hermaphrodites and can fertilize themselves.
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Are they really hermaphrodites or is that a slug joke?

George Oscar Bluth II said:
Ya know how we have furries?

It's probably like that.
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humies

Northeastmonk said:
Star Wars is for kids now?

I don't think they should retire it. Not a lot of kids want to see Luke
his hand cut off and kiss his own sister
either.

What a way to censor a franchise, especially one of the better western franchises.
Click to expand...

There isn't a Luke/Leia makeout toyset, so it sounds to me like perfect justification to retire this version of Leia from merchandising.

Also, slave Leia was clearly proving to be a bigger problem with respect to merchandising of the character, assuming the article's statements are true that after months of no women in a specific set, slave Leia was the first to show up with no other variation of the character.
 
Oh brother. This is stupid. Are they going to CGI more clothes on her in future film releases too?

What ever happened to Disney's promise to respect the franchise for what it is?

but no, boobs are scary and bad. Gosh darn those cosplayers you have to look at.
 
adj_noun said:
Why was Jabba attracted to humanoid females in the first place?

You'd think he'd have put her in a sexy slug suit or something.
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I always that was more of a show of power than anything else.

"Look, here's a powerful political figure and leader of the rebellion in chains and a bikini like any of the other dancers here! Ha ha, I'm so cool!"
 
Northeastmonk said:
Star Wars is for kids now?

I don't think they should retire it. Not a lot of kids want to see Luke get
his hand cut off or kiss his own sister
either.

What a way to censor a franchise, especially one of the better western franchises.
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They're not editing the scene out of the movie.
 
I have no issue with this, but it does make me wonder can Disney release the original trilogy and have Han shoot first and take out all the bullshit?
 
No fun allowed, huh

adj_noun said:
Why was Jabba attracted to humanoid females in the first place?

You'd think he'd have put her in a sexy slug suit or something.
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I think Star wars wiki says that Hutts have those slaves not for personal pleasure but as a sign of power.
 
DrArchon said:
I always that was more of a show of power than anything else.

"Look, here's a powerful political figure and leader of the rebellion in chains and a bikini like any of the other dancers here! Ha ha, I'm so cool!"
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That's definitely what was going on.
 
Always found the Slave Leia get up largely unattractive. I wasn't too big into SW so it's whatever. No real opinion other than the get up was cheesy.
 
The Lamonster said:
Oh brother. This is stupid. Are they going to CGI more clothes on her in future film releases too?

What ever happened to Disney's promise to respect the franchise for what it is?

but no, boobs are scary and bad. Gosh darn those cosplayers you have to look at.
Click to expand...

You're right, they should remove everything besides her slave Leia costume. Because otherwise, they're ignoring the spirit of only using slave Leia for merchandising
 
darscot said:
I have no issue with this, but it does make me wonder can Disney release the original trilogy and have Han shoot first and take out all the bullshit?
Click to expand...

If Disney can make money it will and to be honest I honest doubt the market for trivial matters as someone shooting first or the original trilogy is that big.
 
darscot said:
I have no issue with this, but it does make me wonder can Disney release the original trilogy and have Han shoot first and take out all the bullshit?
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There's currently an issue of home video release rights between Disney and 20th Century Fox for Star Wars (A New Hope), so this might not happen anytime soon.
 
The Lamonster said:
Oh brother. This is stupid. Are they going to CGI more clothes on her in future film releases too?

What ever happened to Disney's promise to respect the franchise for what it is?

but no, boobs are scary and bad. Gosh darn those cosplayers you have to look at.
Click to expand...
What does not marketing or making toys with the outfit have anything to do with what you're talking about?
 
A Link to the Snitch said:
Also, slave Leia was clearly proving to be a bigger problem with respect to merchandising of the character, assuming the article's statements are true that after months of no women in a specific set, slave Leia was the first to show up with no other variation of the character.
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Kids can still undress Barbie. Why don't they just make her clothes attached to her body? She's still naked underneath right?

I think they could make it less appealing, but keep it the same color and a two piece.

Just market her with new clothes on. Do both.
 
The Lamonster said:
Oh brother. This is stupid. Are they going to CGI more clothes on her in future film releases too?

What ever happened to Disney's promise to respect the franchise for what it is?

but no, boobs are scary and bad. Gosh darn those cosplayers you have to look at.
Click to expand...

Jumping the gun there, aren't ya? They are just phasing out merchandise. I seriously doubt they would add in clothes to the Slave Leia scene. Nothing changes the past, or cosplayers doing their thing.
 
The Lamonster said:
Oh brother. This is stupid. Are they going to CGI more clothes on her in future film releases too?

What ever happened to Disney's promise to respect the franchise for what it is?

but no, boobs are scary and bad. Gosh darn those cosplayers you have to look at.
Click to expand...
I doubt they're going to try and recon the outfit, they're just going to stop profit off of it because they feel it now runs counter to the brand.
 
Not really sure why anyone would care if there still making Slave Leia merchandise or not. The movies are old as hell, and shit has changed on so many fronts. It's also not surprising when you have Carrie Fisher, the likeness of the merchandise they would be selling, giving advice like "Don't be a slave like I was"
 
The Lamonster said:
Not seeing it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pri...ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMIouGogfr0yAIVS-djCh0frAXu


slippery slope.
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I like that your argument is "non-slave Leia exists", as if that is a better argument than "literally no female figurines for months, and the first one in the set was slave Leia", as presented in the OP article.

Also, slippery slopes are very often not that slippery. No longer making a slave Leia toy is a proper response to a series that has very serious issues with representation.
 
Oh geez. What's next? Gonna remove the Luke and Leia kiss too?

Or maybe Obi Wan chopping off arms.

Edit. Ok ok. This is about toys.. But it is a slippery slope. Was it Han that shot first or the other way around?
 
In any case this won't stop fanartists or cosplayers from customizing their own thing.

I always thought the sexualization of this outfit was pretty uncomfortable considering its context in the story, anyway.
 
I love how this all started because Hasbro is a terrible toy company, and mismanaged the promising Black Series into an absolute shit show.
 
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