MY THURSDAY VIP ESSAY AT VODKAPUNDIT: Ding-Dong the Witch Is (Almost) Dead.

If Kathleen Kennedy had been made chief of all of Disney instead of just Lucasfilm, she’d have done a “reimagining” of “The Wizard of Oz,” featuring a misunderstood lesbian Wicked Witch, and the Munchkins would all have been genderfluid.

Pause for a moment here, not to imagine 30 tiny trannies dancing around Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, but in silent prayer that the one-woman wrecking ball of beloved movie franchises is finally exiting stage left. “After more than a decade in a galaxy far, far away, Kathleen Kennedy is charting a course toward retirement,” I read in Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday.

Neither Kennedy nor Disney/Lucasfilm have commented.

There have been countless rumors over the years — wishful thinking, really — that Kennedy might finally release her death grip on Lucasfilm. But this week’s reports are well-sourced and widespread enough that I think we can almost breathe a sigh of relief.

But only almost. I’ll come back to that in a moment.

Let’s survey the damage, starting with Indiana Jones.

Much more at the link.