Boy, is my face red.
Last week, I reported that Disney’s hot new attraction Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge had banned cast members from using the word “younglings.” The source of the story was park guest @JennyENicholson on Twitter, who said that upon her using the word, a cast member explained that there had been an order from up high to “scrub” younglings from the vocabulary. Their reasoning is that the word has become irrevocably associated with the scene in Revenge of the Sith in which Anakin Skywalker slaughters a room full of children.
That story went around the world, picking up enough steam that Disney has now been forced to issue a clarification, saying the following about it:
Our cast members use that word daily in the new land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, as part of the interaction with guests. Children in Black Spire Outpost are referred to as ‘younglings.’ Or possibly ‘padawans’ if they are particularly strong with the Force. The littlest ones travel via ‘youngling transport’ — or what we on Earth would call a stroller.
Well, I’m glad we’ve got that cleared up. I have to admit, the original story struck me as plausible, especially as the most prominent use of the word in the franchise comes when Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Padme of Anakin’s fall, explaining that he’s seen “a security hologram of him killing younglings.”
But hey, maybe Disney and Lucasfilm are trying to reclaim the word for all that’s good and wholesome. Perhaps they can trust parents won’t associate it with their kids being massacred dying at the hands of a crazed fallen Jedi (which doesn’t really fit with the whole ‘happiest place on Earth thing’).
Regardless of this little farrago, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has proven the monster hit everyone assumed it would be. Early bird reservations sold out very quickly, and it’s currently the hot ticket in California. If you’ve been, we’re jealous as hell, but let us know what you thought in the comments section below.