How the force of Star Wars revolutionized movie merchandising

Chances are, you or someone you know is going to wake up thisChristmas to findStar Wars loot under the tree.

Disneyhas released hundreds of new Star Wars products ahead of the Dec. 18premiere of The Force Awakens, and at least one industry analyst estimatesthe companywill make $5billion on Star Wars merchandising in the next yearalone.

That's $1 billion more than Disneypaid creator George Lucas in 2012for rights to the franchise, which, by some estimates,has earned more than $37billionover the last 40 years,mostly from licensingand merchandising.

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This might not seem surprising in an era where merchandiseis a key component of movie marketing.Disney's animated film Frozen, for example, has made at least$1 billionin product sales since the movie came out in 2013, and stores still can't keep pace withthe demand.

But believe it or notthere was a time when blockbuster movies didn't have their owntoy lines,video gamesandcross-promotional campaigns with fast food chains.

Then Star Wars came along to change everything.

Star Wars: Hype wars

9 years ago

Duration 3:10

The Force Awakens episode is poised to smash records at the box office and, potentially, for retailers selling related merchandise. Eli Glasner explores the galaxy of Disney marketing behind the latest Star Wars movie.

A long, longtime ago ...

Before Star Wars:A New Hope hit theatres in May 1977,moviemerchandising was rare,saidBrian Stillman,director of the documentary Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys.

Lucas was able to negotiate with Fox to obtainthe Star Warslicensingand merchandising rights, which nobody could have predicted would one day be worth billions.

"Movies never saw the value in having toys, and toystores never saw the value in partnering up with movies," Stillman said."Until Star Wars, no one thought it could be done. And even when Star Wars came out, you have to remember, no one thought it could be done. The biggest toy companies in America turned it down."

Kenner, a mid-range company thathas since merged withHasbro, bought the exclusive Star Wars toy-making rights forameasly$100,000.

"Their attitude was, 'We'll put out a few things, paper products, games, puzzles things that are easy. And then in a week, two weeks maybe, when this movie's gone, we'll have made some money on it," he said.

"Well, Star Wars wasn't going anywhere, and they quickly realizedthis movie is huge.It's a million times bigger than anyone ever expected."

Kids, in particular, lovedthe movie, and they wanted Star Wars toys for Christmas. But Kenner couldn't make them in time for the holiday season.

"So for Christmas '77, kids would get something called the early bird set, which was a cardboard envelope,and in it was a sheet of stickers, a fan club membership card and a coupon that you could mail away for four action figures, and those figures would be delivered in February-March 1978," Stillman said.

"And kids ate it up. Because they got to come downstairs on Christmas morning and get something that said Star Wars on it."

Disney's well-oiled machine

Suffice it to say, times have changed.Star Warsnow belongs toDisney, awell-oiled corporate machine with years of moviemarketing and merchandising experience.

"Disney made it very clear when they bought Lucasfilm that they were spending $4 billion for two things No. 1, the intellectual property rights to make more Star Wars movies, and No. 2, to increase the amount of merchandise," Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm's director of specialty marketing between 1987 and 1996, told CBC News.

Disney unveiledmore than 100 new Star Wars productsin Septemberduring a 24-hour event it dubbed Force Friday. Also, theLego Star Wars: Droid Tales animated TV series premiered in July, and Electronic Arts released thevideo gameStar Wars Battlefront last week.

You can also buylimited edition designer Star Wars jewelry, whileCovergirl has a Star Wars makeup line.

Basically, if you can think of it, you can probably find a Star Wars version of it.

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"This is a really exciting time for Star Wars fans," said Sansweet, who holds the Guinness World Record for biggest collection of Star Wars memorabilia in the world. He houses his more than 300,000 items atRancho Obi-Wan, a non-profit Star Wars museum in northern California.

"I think it's a frustrating time if you consider yourself a completionistcollector," he says, "because there ain't no such thing no more."

Unveiling new Star Wars toys

9 years ago

Duration 2:06

A world-wide 'unboxing' event is underway unveiling the latest toys from the sci-fi franchise

Disney doesn't disclose how manyStar Wars licences it hassold, nor does it reveal the details of its contracts with manufacturers, which range from massive corporationsto individual artisans.

"When you look at thelicensing,there'snot just a wide berth and a wide range and a wide crowd, but the products themselves are moving beyond somebody simply marketing to create an action figure," says PeterHenein, a Toronto-based intellectual property lawyer specializing in entertainment trademarks.

For example, not only does Legomake and sell Star Wars toys, butit'salso involved in theStar Wars Legovideo game and theStar Wars Legoanimatedseries, which is separate from theClone Wars animated TV series, which has its own line of Lego toys.

"So when you talk about the licensing,it not onlygets intricate, but you're getting into, presumably, a lot of sublicencesor very specialized licences to do things that,I think,when you initially thought about it, a toy manufacturer wouldn't be involved in."

Not only does Star Wars have a more powerful marketing force than ever before, but thebrand has a wider appeal.

"We have three generations of Star Wars fans," Sansweet said. "I've joked for years that there's a Star Wars gene that gets passed down.

"Things have changed, the world has changed, but there's enough out there to pick and choose from, and Ithink it's going to be a very Star Wars Christmas for a lot of kids all over the world."