Lucas made the prequels to wow starry-eyed kids, and kids grow up to be nostalgic adults. That move, more than any other, is why Disney laid out 4 billion dollars for the franchise. They plan to sell to those kids, and their kids, and so on until there's not a dime left to be made.

I think Lucas got ripped off, frankly. Disney is going to make their money back on the movies alone.