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“Right now, their behavior tells us and our industry that the way they want to experience entertainment is changing—and changing fast thanks to technology and the pandemic. We must evolve with our audience, not work against them. And so we will put them at the center of every decision we make.”
— Bob Chapek, CEO The Walt Disney Company
Pablo Hidalgo has been a member of the Story Group at Lucasfilm, the supposed panel that assists creators with developing Star Wars narratives and maintaining canon / continuity. Hidalgo is one of those sorts of characters that really likes to bump elbows with celebrities; if there’s a major scene that was filmed for any Star Wars project, Pablo wants you to know he was there… always… somehow. And though he is truly a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Star Wars, he also has a very acerbic history of being abrasive towards fans of Star Wars with whom he disagrees. Harshly. He’s also hyper-partisan, which is in line with Lucasfilm as a studios for the past decade or more.
https://twitter.com/SWTheory66/status/1343429237018034176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1343429237018034176%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fvariety.com%2F2020%2Ftv%2Fnews%2Fstar-wars-theory-pablo-hidalgo-luke-skywalker-1234875850%2F
There are plenty of examples of Pablo Hidalgo being offensive to Star Wars consumers. But one thing he might not be able to overcome is being offensive to Disney, the sequel trilogy, and/or JJ Abrams. Behold what may have finally been the downfall of Pablo Hidalgo:
Lucasfilm’s Pablo Hidalgo Talks Compromises With Bad Robot On The Force Awakens In Now Deleted Tweet
It may be that Hidalgo is already on a very short leash. It may also be that Disney is looking for a reason to can the Canadian-Chilean Star Wars expert. Or this could all just be overblown online drama. But that said, it’s worth noting that Pablo Hidalgo has scrubbed his Twitter account of any biographical information linking him to Lucasfilm employment. He’s also locked down all of his main Twitter account. Interesting…
Something is afoot, although he’s still active on his secondary account where he reminisces about his participation in just about every Star Wars manifestation you can think of. Seriously, the guy claims to have worked on scenes with Luke Skywalker while claiming he’s worked on video game strategy guides. I’m not saying it’s untrue, but Pablo Hidalgo must be working 23 hours a day on every project Lucasfilm has worldwide. It’s impressive.
https://twitter.com/pabl0hidalgo/status/1486537057623166976
So what’s going on with Pablo Hidalgo? Why has he scrubbed his main account of any references to his employment and protected it? This follows just after he deleted a tweet that was critical of The Force Awakens.
As soon as I figure out what’s happening behind the scenes, I’ll be happy to pass along the information. In the meantime, drop a comment below, and keep checking out That Park Place for all the latest Star Wars information!
Update 5:19 EST, 2/8/2022
Mr. Hidalgo has posted that he is continuing to work with Lucasfilm via a tweet:
https://twitter.com/pabl0hidalgo/status/1491135433841201152
While Mr. Hidalgo is presumably continuing at Lucasfilm, the reporting in this article still stands as accurate:
- Pablo Hidalgo has a history of acerbic contact with fans. This has resulted in a major media incident and apology last year.
- Mr. Hidalgo removed his employment status on his Twitter bio.
- Mr. Hidalgo removed certain tweets that could be seen as critical of The Force Awakens and/or the process by which JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot and Lucasfilm came to agreement on the script.
I do not know if Mr. Hidalgo has faced any further punitive actions beyond a public apology and removal of tweets. However, I would have to think he’s on the hot seat for further infractions of such type.
I don’t normally share private messages, but I thought I would include what I had sent to a contact behind-the-scenes when this information was coming out. Read what I have privately thought:
“I really don’t like him for the way he treats others, and he’s a huge part of the rot at Lucasfilm. That said, this will be devastating to him (if he’s fired) – his life is Star Wars, Lucasfilm… It’s sad that he became so extreme and cost himself the thing that gave him purpose. He just never learned though.”
Does the series of tweets suggest he’s learned? You be the judge.
