For Star Wars fans, Calif's Yoda statue is a mecca

By GARANCE BURKE - Associated Press
From http://news.yahoo.com/

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  In this Aug. 2, 2011 photo, a life-sized replica of Yoda, George Lucas’ master of …

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  In this Aug. 2, 2011 photo, Matt Tolosa, left, who is dressed like the Star Wars …

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Within sight of the Golden Gate Bridge lies another landmark cherished by a small but fervent group of travelers: a full-size replica of Yoda, George Lucas' master of the Force.

Since the statue of the Jedi sage went up amid the Presidio's landscaped lawns in 2005, Star Wars fans have made a pilgrimage to take pictures with their beloved character and take in Lucasfilm Ltd.'s sleek headquarters.

Given the franchise's huge impact not only on pop culture but on the tourism industry, the diminutive Yoda fountain is just one of dozens of location shoots and special sites visited by Star Wars acolytes. Others include Luke Skywalker's desert home in Tunisia, Guatemalan pyramids and a Tuscan lakefront villa.

For the Van Zweiten family of Oploo, Netherlands, a stop to see the pointy-eared master was a key part of their summer holiday in the United States.

"The Dutch guidebook said 'Love it, you will,' and we decided we had to come," said Tom Van Zwieten, a tax attorney who has also visited another shoot site in Tenerife, and who brought up his children watching the trilogies.

In "The Empire Strikes Back," Yoda builds Luke's confidence to harness the Force, an energy field that Jedis use to perform supernatural feats. "You must unlearn what you have learned," he tells Luke. "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you."

Some visitors to this corner of the park, flanked by towering palms and eucalyptus groves, hope to absorb such lessons through sheer proximity to the statue, poised atop a rushing fountain.

"Yoda is the source of wisdom and gravitas for the whole trilogy," said fan Dale Tolosa, 37, an underemployed actor who often dresses as a Star Wars biker scout with his chapter of the 501st Legion, an international, all-volunteer costuming group. "It's almost like he's a religious symbol or the Statue of Liberty, or a representation of all the positive fantasy that George Lucas has brought to the world since 1977."

Tolosa and his older brother, Matt, who dons the tunic of Luke's father Anakin Skywalker, also have visited numerous other location shoots, and are planning a trip to Death Valley, where R2D2 cruised the sand dunes.

Gus Lopez, a Star Wars collector in Seattle who runs an online memorabilia museum, has already been there, as well as to the Yoda fountain and to nearly every major Star Wars location shoot the world over, including sites in Norway and the Arizona desert.

Lopez's favorite? A redwood grove near Crescent City, Calif. where Lucas filmed the speeder bike chase scenes for "Return of the Jedi".

"It took friends and I a year to research and find the location because the forest that got logged looks so different today," said Lopez. "For all of these sites, it's about how you connect with the movies and how you actually feel like you're closer to it by being in a place that was involved in making them."

Some passionate fans choose to get directly involved at the locations they visit.

Belgian fan Mark Dermul has been raising money to visit the Tunisian salt lake Chott El-Jerid, which Lucas transformed into the desert planet of Tatooine. So far, nearly 400 donors have contributed $10,994 to repair the weather-worn plaster, wood and chicken wire holding together the iconic "Lars Homestead" where Luke Skywalker was raised and fans plan to do the restorations next summer, Dermul said.

Along with an entree into the fantasy world, other filming sites offer tourists special services and accommodations.

On the sweeping grounds of Villa del Balbianello, visitors can get married in the setting overlooking Italy's Lake Como where Queen Padme Amidala married Anakin in "Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones".

The epic film series has spawned a franchise including collectables, books, television series, video games, and comic books that Forbes magazine estimated in 2007 had earned more than $22 billion.

Lucasfilm is among several businesses and nonprofits that have relocated to the Presidio, the one-time military base turned national park overlooking the bay and the Pacific. Run-of-the-mill fans, however, aren't invited past the plush company lobby without invitation.

"The Yoda fountain is the public face of Lucasfilm, the one picture-taking opportunity that they have with something from Star Wars," says Steve Sansweet, a fan relations advisor to Lucasfilm who houses a trove of collectables on his land in Northern California, dubbed Rancho Obi-Wan.

Jay Shephard, a manager at an online testing company in Baltimore, went a step further, calling the fountain a mecca for fans.

"Yoda's like what I would like to aspire to be in the way that I live my life and the way I raise my kids," said Shephard, who founded a fan site called Theforce.net. "Here's this little guy who's really unassuming, and you think 'how could this little creature be a warrior'? But the messages he shares with Luke in the movie really resonate with all of us."

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Follow Garance Burke at http://twitter.com/garanceburke

Lucasfilm Animation’s New Building is a Sandcrawler

From: http://furiousfanboys.com/

Lucasfilm Animation, who produces The Clone Wars, is located in Singapore and they’re receiving a brand new building designed to look like a Sandcrawler. Lucasfilm broke ground on the eight story building this week that will include Star Wars decor, a 100-seat theater, and state of the art production facilities.

The 10 Best Pieces of Star Wars Music

From: http://furiousfanboys.com/

There’s no doubt that Star Wars has the best movie soundtracks of all time. There’s really no debating that actually. But if you were to burn a Star Wars “mix tape” CD to listen to in your car, what are the ten tracks that absolutely should go on it? Below we’ve collected the ten pieces of Star Wars music that are an absolute must on such a CD.

Star Wars Main Title

Um, duh? Does this really need an explanation? The only real decision is which track version of it to use as on the soundtracks each movie has a different ending to the main theme as it transitions into the first scene. Personally, I always use the one from A New Hope, but the decision on this one is up to you.

The Imperial March (The Empire Strikes Back)

No Star Wars CD would be complete without what has become Vader’s theme. It’s one of the best things to come out of the amazing Empire Strikes Back soundtrack, and with it Williams gave the Star Wars saga yet another classic theme that will last for all eternity.

The Throne Room (A New Hope)

When I die, this is one of the pieces that will be played at my funeral. The finale to A New Hope is an amazingly powerful piece and another one of the themes that Williams crafted for the saga that will be immortal. As with the Main Title and the Imperial March, this is one of those themes that you see popping up in unexpected places; such as NFL highlight reels.

Clash of Lightsabers/Escape from Cloud City (The Empire Strikes Back)

The entire finale to Empire is epic, and is probably the best of all six movies; the Endor battle included. There are two tracks on the soundtracks that are specifically good. The first is this one which covers the Luke/Vader battle and the escape by Lando, Leia, Chewie, and the Droids. The second one is…

Rebel Fleet/End Title (The Empire Strikes Back)

Anyone who played Star Wars Galaxies at beta and launch will have this track burned into their head as the first part is what is used on the character select screen of that game. This is the finale of Empire with Luke & Leia on the medical frigate, and then the end credits. The Empire credits are great as they give you the major themes of the movie from Vader’s to Leia’s and Yoda’s.

The Forest Battle (Concert Suite)

This one isn’t actually in Return of the Jedi. It’s a concert version of the Endor forest battle that was done just for the soundtrack, but it’s by far the best version of it. Lucasfilm likes to use pieces of this a lot in trailers, specifically the last bit of it, and it was used in trailers and commercials for Episode II.

Leia’s News/Light of the Force (Return of the Jedi)

This is the part where Leia tells Han that she is really Luke’s sister, thus Han’s confused look as to why they were sucking face on Hoth. The awesome part of this track is actually the Vader funeral pyre. The bit from the movie is there, but the official soundtrack actually has an extended version of it where the Force theme flares up to full.

A New Hope & End Credits (Revenge of the Sith)

While the track above is just a fraction of it; the full version of this on the soundtrack CD is an epic 13-minute goodbye to Star Wars that was seriously cut down in the actual film’s end credits. Yes, Williams revisits the Throne Room here, but that’s his way of saying goodbye to Star Wars. This track is also the only time in the prequels where we heard Princess Leia’s theme, but the epic Throne Room finale (with the Force theme in there) is what makes it amazing.

Anakin’s Betrayal (Revenge of the Sith)

The only Prequel track on this list, and while some may have wanted me to include Duel of the Fates or Battle of the Heroes, if I had to pick only one Prequel track; this would be it. The Order 66 scene in Revenge of the Sith is where that movie set itself apart from the Prequels that people thought were somewhat childish as the Jedi Purge began.

Yoda’s Theme (The Empire Strikes Back)

Finally, I had to include Yoda’s theme on the list. After the Imperial March, it’s one of the more memorable themes in the entire saga and it also came from Empire. Williams made Yoda’s theme the perfect fit for an aging Jedi Master who saw the time generations ago when the Jedi were at their prime. Before the dark times. Before the Empire.

'Star Wars: Episode I' 3D Gets Theatrical Release Date From Lucasfilm, Fox

By Pamela McClintock

From: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/

Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images

George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic is supervising the 3D conversion.

Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox will release the 3D version of Star Wars: Episode I:The Phantom Menace on Feb. 10, 2012.

George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic is supervising the 3D conversion, with an eye for both technological considerations and artistic intentions.

Lucasfilm believes Star Wars is perfectly suited to be seen in 3D.


The Hollywood Reporter first reported that Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace would be converted to 3D.

Lucas hopes that releasing the film early in the year, outside of summer blockbuster season, will give it an open run at the box office and also set up the opportunity to sell merchandise through the balance of the year. The plan under discussion would make the release of the subsequent films in the series an annual event on the film calendar.

If the first in the series meets with success, the remaining five films would follow a year apart on comparable dates. However, depending on how the first release performs, the companies could also decide to open the subsequent entries in different spots on the calendar.

When the new special-edition version of the original three Star Wars movies were re-released in 1997, that cycle began with a re-release of Episode IV: A New Hope on Jan. 31, followed by Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back on Feb. 21 and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi on March 14.

Launching the movies during the first quarter of the year would also give Lucas Licensing the opportunity to launch new licensing programs that could run throughout the course of the year.

These aren't the beers you're looking for: Leia Gets Luke a Beer

by Nattyb

from: http://unrealitymag.com/

I don’t know about you guys but this might be one of the best Star Wars clips I’ve seen in a very long time.    I mean when you really think about it, it’s gotta be tough going up against that Death Star day after day.  Guys must be parched by the time they get back.

However, something tells me that this is before take off so what the hell man?  Are we to believe that Star Wars was promoting drinking and flying?  Not cool Mr. Lucas.  Not cool at all.

Harrison Ford goes on Conan while completely drunk

From: http://furiousfanboys.com/

Harrison Ford appeared on Conan last night in a surreal interview that left many wondering just how many trips to the bar the two made before sitting down, but towards the end the talk went to the possibility of Indiana Jones 5, and once again he reiterated that Lucas was working on a script and he conversation then went into hilarity when Ford said making Indy 5 would be “More than fun” while making “money” motions with his hands. Right now there’s no word as to when Indy 5 may hit, but you can check out Indy himself lushing it up in the video below:

'Star Wars' saga set for 3D release starting 2012

Films will roll out in order, starting with 'Phantom Menace

By Jay A. Fernandez and Kim Masters

From: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/

"Star Wars"

Big news on the 3D front.

Sources indicate that George Lucas is set on rereleasing the "Star Wars" franchise in new 3D conversions beginning in 2012. Although 3D versions have been rumored for some time, Lucas purportedly was waiting until there were enough screens available to make the release a sizable event.

Fox, which released all six original "Star Wars" films, also would release the 3D versions.

Episode I, "The Phantom Menace," would be first out of star-dock during early 2012. After that, each film would be released in order at the same time in consecutive years, depending on how well the first rerelease does.

Each conversion takes at least a year to complete, with Lucas overseeing the process to make sure each is as perfect as possible. He has said that the "Avatar" experience convinced him that "Star Wars" is ready for the state-of-the-art 3D treatment.

Starting with "Phantom Menace," Lucasfilm would use several higher-end conversion houses to work on the project. By late winter or early spring in 2012, the exhibition industry should have all the 3D screens anyone could want for such a release.

At present, pics are limited to 2,000-2,500 3D locations owing to an insufficient installed base of projectors and screens. Movie theaters are adding 3D screens at a clip of 500 a month in the U.S. Foreign exhibitors also are pushing into 3D as quickly as possible now that financing for the installations is flowing.

Also pushing the timetable is a potential breakthrough in 3D TV technology. With Samsung penetrating the market with 50,000-plus 3D-equipped sets and Sony recently sending its version to market, the home-viewing experience could be primed for 3D DVD versions of the films by the time the new 3D theatrical releases have run their course.

Lucas purportedly is lining up the theatrical rereleases as a lead-in to the ultimate home-viewing experience. Beyond that, the property would launch to other 3D media.

In the meantime, Lucas plans a comprehensive Blu-ray Disc set of the six films next year, which would include upgraded picture and sound quality, new deleted scenes and special features.

Alex Ben Block, Carl DiOrio and Borys Kit contributed to this report.

‘Star Wars’ Is Coming To Blu-ray!

‘Star Wars’ Is Coming To Blu-ray!

Posted by The Movie God From: http://geeksofdoom.com/

Earlier today at Star Wars Celebration V, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox announced something fanboys have been wanting to hear for what feels like a millennium: the beloved Star Wars saga will be finally coming to the realms of high definition Blu-ray.

A bit of a wait is still in your future as the set isn’t marked for release until the fall of 2011, but the wait sounds like it will be worth it. The Blu-enhanced Star Wars box set will consist of all six films, bathed in the highest possible visual and audio formats. Also included will be a wealth of special features including documentaries, unseen footage from the Lucasfilm archives, retrospectives, interviews, and rare behind-the-scenes moments.

While speaking about the exciting announcement, the creator himself George Lucas said “Blu-ray is the absolute best way to experience Star Wars at home – in pristine high definition. The films have never looked or sounded better.”

It’s unclear at the moment if the only available set being released next fall will be the above-mentioned six-film package, or if all movies will be offered individually as well. It’s obvious that the individual films and separate trilogies will likely get a Blu-ray release at some point, but a little more waiting may be involved there.

[Source: Lucasfilm]

Untouched is impossible: the story of Star Wars in film

By Ben Kuchera
From http://arstechnica.com

Last week saw the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, and along with it came discussions about the best way to watch the film and what we can expect from future re-releases. Michael Kaminski wrote the exhaustively researched and illuminating book The Secret History of Star Wars, so he knows damn near everything there is to know about the film stock used to shoot the film. George Lucas famously said that the original film "doesn't exist" anymore, but is that accurate?

How exactly does Star Wars exist now? What are the challenges and possibilities involved in re-releasing a perfected original cut? How do the bootlegs stack up? Let's find out.

Many prints exist

We asked Kaminksi about the master copy of the original Star Wars. What does it look like now? "The term 'master copy' is slightly vague, because there are various kinds of print masters of different generations," he told Ars. The original negative is conformed to the 1997 Special Edition, meaning the physical copy has been cut and edited with CGI "improvements." With sections of the film being too damaged to work with, parts of that print were taken from other sources. "You never throw away your original negative, so I must assume that any pieces or shots that were removed are in storage somewhere at Lucasfilm or Fox," he explained.

Kaminski points out that a duplication of the original negative—commonly printed for the sake of protection—doesn't seem to exist for Star Wars. Something better was created, though: separation masters. "These are special silver-based copies that do not fade, and in theory should be almost identical in quality to the original negative itself, so even if the negative was destroyed you still have a perfect copy (which is the point of making the separation master)." Duplicates from these prints were used to replace damaged sections of the negative during the restoration before the release of the Special Edition.

That's not all, however. "There are also Interpositives and master prints. Interpositives (and Internegatives) are the color-corrected masters that theatrical prints are duplicated from, and were used in the past to make the home video telecines from 1985-1995." Another common practice is keeping print masters, which are high-quality, fine-grain prints kept in the eventuality that no other higher-quality copies or masters are available.

What this tells us is that Lucas wasn't lying—the original copy of Star Wars is, in fact, gone. What exists in its place is a composite film that has been restored and spliced together with Special Edition scenes and sections from other, later prints. There exist enough film copies and back-ups to re-create the film, however, so nothing is impossible in terms of a more classical high definition re-release.

Why film? Shouldn't this all be digital?

It's unclear how the film exists digitally within Lucasfilm, but Kaminski does know one thing: the scanning done in the past has become obsolete. "The 1997 SE scans were done in 2K and the 2004 Special Edition was done in 1080p, but now the standard is 8K (4 times the 1997 SE and about 7 times the quality of the 2004 SE), and the color reproduction is better too," he says.

While it may seem counter-intuitive, the original film remains important as the most robust way to store this information. Hard drives fail, and data is vulnerable to time. "This may seem silly because everyone always talks about how fragile film is, but film is the most robust, durable image technology we have ever invented. There are reels of film that date back to the 1920s that still look pretty good." He claims that color Eastman Kodak film has a half-life of around 50 to 60 years. Oddly enough, the negative film used in the 1970s to shoot Star Wars is less stable than the film used before or after. We'll get to a point where all we have left are digital copies, but technology has only recently allowed digital copies to rival the original celluloid in quality and detail.

Time to talk bootlegs!

In 2006, an official re-release of the original trilogy was brought to DVD without the annoying CGI updates seen in the Special Editions. The quality was impressive, but the film is shown in non-anamorphic widescreen, a major annoyance for fans of cinema. This is where the fans have stepped up to improve upon Lucas' official releases with high-quality bootlegs.

"Any bootleg made before 2006 is lesser than the 2006 DVD because they were made from the Laserdisc, while the 2006 DVD was made from the master tape that the Laserdisc was derived from and thus is one generation higher in quality," Kaminski tells Ars. "For a 20-year-old analog tape, it does look pretty decent." Bootlegs created after 2006 have used the DVD transfer for better quality video.

"There is a new 2010 bootleg by a guy named Editdroid (who did two previous ones from 1999-2005) that hasn't yet leaked onto the Internet that is quite astounding, and another version called LFL PWNAGE edition; both use the 2006 master," he said. "These bootlegs reduce the amount of grain that came from the use of the duplicate film, smoothed out the aliasing issues, [and] used the original subtitle font from the theatrical release. The aspect ratio has been corrected for true anamorphic widescreen, and the sound mix has likewise been improved."

"Unfortunately, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are not yet available in any of these. Empire is available in a theatrical reconstruction that is mostly accurate and made by the guy who did A New Hope Revisited (it was just released this week) and uses a color-corrected 2004 master with original shots re-composited in to very good effect."

Is there hope for a definitive release of the original films?

Kaminski says that he's fairly sure Lucas is done with large, sweeping changes, but we should expect a CGI Yoda in Episode 1 instead of the physical effect shot on the set. The inevitable Blu-ray copy of the movies will likely be safe from further meddling.

The thing he stresses is that a perfect, uncut version is possible with the film left from the edits, and there is money to be made there. "It's certainly possible to do a new, high-quality transfer from original 35mm material. You could totally restore the original films from their original negatives for a few million dollars, and the 2004 release sold $100 million in a single day, so that pricetag is meaningless."

We're not asking for much, here. "Even films like Revenge of the Nerds have new transfers from 35mm prints. It costs nothing, and there are fine-grain masters and Interpositives that would only require mild clean-up to be presentable, even if the transfers were grainier and a bit damaged."

Kaminski is not convinced that we'll get a classic version of Star Wars on a high definition format, at least not for a while. "I've been trying to organize a letter writing campaign to Lucasfilm and get websites to promote the importance of having the original versions in high quality," he said. "I really don't have any need to pay money for another release of the films unless the originals are restored and available, and I don't want to sound like a disgruntled fanboy. I just don't think the 2004 master is something I would pay money for again; I would rather just watch the bootlegs of the original versions."

What George Lucas does love is money, however, and the hunger and enthusiasm for the non-fussed-over releases is going to be impossible to ignore. "Which is a great—but callous—business practice on their part, because you get people to buy the same thing over and over again."

Why is this important?

The story of Star Wars is the story of film, and of how we keep our past to share with the future. George Lucas does have the legal right to change and adjust his own work any way he'd like, but Star Wars existed in a very specific way for its original theatrical run. Those memories, and those scenes, have a very real value and meaning to fans. This isn't just a science fiction film anymore—it's an important piece of culture.

Star Wars is always going to be an ephemeral thing, changing and shifting as the film adapts to the technology of the time. As the film gets older, digital copies will become more important, but fans are always going to yearn for a version of the film that may exist mostly in their imaginations. Every time George Lucas or a fan takes another crack at the film, it's a new interpretation of the past, and as the film ages and our viewing technology changes, it will continue to look different from how each of us remembers it.

How Much Money Will Converting the Star Wars Films to 3D Make?

From: http://www.swtorstrategies.com/

Apparently, LucasFilm has decided to covert the Star Wars Trilogies into 3D. This is not exactly a surprise, as Hollywood is an a rush to make every movie 3D. But how big of a money maker will it be for the franchise?


The cost to convert a traditional 2-D movie into 3D can range between $50,000 and $100,000 per minute. If you split the difference, and say the cost would be $75,000 per minute, then the total price tag to convert all six films would be around $59 million.


In 1997, George Lucas released the special editions of Episode IV, V and VI into theatres. Star Wars opened in January and sold $138 million worth of tickets. The Empire Strikes Back opened a month later, but only had $67.6 million in tickets sales. Finally, Return of the Jedi opened in March, and ended its run with $45.5 million in sales.

Now, if you assume that the Original Trilogy films bring in exactly the same money in tickets sales for a re-release in 3D, then LucasFilm would stand to bring in $250 million in ticket sales on a $37 million investment. My guess is that if they do the 3D right, and do it quickly, then they are looking at tickets sales much higher than $250 million for this new release.

Clearly Lucasfilm will make their money back and then some, but is it worth doing? Does anyone care to see this or is it just another case of Lucas screwing around too much with the franchise?

A Star Wars Fan’s Collection of Action Figures

Just what the hell are you looking at here? Why that would be a collection of roughly eighty billion Star Wars figures, which I actually think features more characters than the actual movies had in them. The dude could man a 1/12th size Death Star with that compliment of Stormtroopers alone!

There are a ton more pictures of the details of this collection, which you can find here. Good God.

The George Lucas Underground Volcano Lair Alternative - Skywalker Ranch

by: Kevin Kelly

Every evil genius needs a lair from which the run all of their daily affairs: everything from selecting the color of the company letterhead to plotting world domination. Usually these are hollowed-out mountain fortresses, secret inactive volcano lairs, or undersea secret bases. Because if you’re going to do something on such a massive scale, why not it with a little style and panache?

Now, I don’t know if I’m going to call George Lucas an evil genius. A genius? Definitely. Evil? Well, the jury’s still out on that one, but his last few movies have certainly been tipping the scales in the wrong direction. Still, it’s hard to fault the guy that’s been responsible for American Graffiti, Star Wars, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Let’s just hope he ands some new franchises in there and stops tinkering with the old stuff.

Even though Lucas may not be an evil genius just yet, he’s still forged his own sprawling, secret base from which he conrols his empire. With the Skywalker Ranch-centric Fanboys opening (finally) this weekend, we thought we’d take a brief peek behind the scenes and tell you all about the secret lair of Lucas.

52 Park Way, San Anselmo, California

Lucas attended college at the University of Southern California, although he grew up around the Bay Area of San Francisco, and returned there not long after he finished school. He’d return to Hollywood frequently to work, and in 1973 after the huge success of American Graffiti (it cost $1.25 million dollars to make, and grossed over $115 million), Lucas found himself with $4 million dollars in cash and spent $150,000 of that on his first secret lair: Park Way.

This was a home found by Lucas’ first wife Marcia, who dubbed it ‘Parkhouse’, and was located in Marin County, in the tiny city of San Anselmo. It was a sprawling Victorian house, designated as a Marin landmark, and Lucas turned the house into a complete workstation: the bedrooms became offices, they installed an editing bay in the attic, and had a screening room built in the back. It was only a short drive from Lucas’ much smaller house in San Rafael to Parkhouse, and it became a refuge for both him and his friends. A place to work without interruption, and the de facto offices for Lucasfilm, Ltd, which was established in 1971.

Lucas had a “writing room” built at the back of Parkhouse, and he holed himself up for eight hours a day there writing Star Wars. Once that became a surprise smash-mega-ginormous hit, he had enough money to begin building his real empire.

Skywalker Ranch

Once he was flush with cash from Star Wars, Lucas purchased a significant amount of land in Marin County. His first purchase was a large ranch called Bulltail Ranch, and he assembled the rest of it piece by piece over the next several years. In 1979 he submitted plans to Marin County for a “sprawling creative retreat where Lucasfilm and their filmmaking colleagues can meet, study, collaborate, write, edit and experiment with new filmmaking ideas.” Which admittedly sort of sounds like a clubhouse for filmmakers. Lucas himself called it “a sort of cinematic yacht club.”

Over the next several years, while making Star Wars sequels and working on Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lucas kept quietly putting things together at the ranch, now dubbed “Skywalker.” Although what’s interesting is that he almost never bought the property. When he was originally looking at sites, he didn’t like the fact that the road leading out to it was called “Lucas Valley Road,” and thought that it would be a beacon for fans to follow to his front doorstep, especially since it has its own freeway exit. The road was actually named after a rancher who lived in the 1880s, and Lucas eventually came to terms with it. After all, who wouldn’t want to live on a road bearing their own name?

The process took time, however, and Skywalker Ranch didn’t officially open as a working facility until 1987, nearly ten years after Lucas had submitted the original plans. Lucas worker bees were busy constructing an entire working set of buildings, disguised as ranch houses, barns, and so forth. A vineyard was set up on the property, animals were brought in, trees were planted, and Lucas supposedly wrote out an entire fictional history for the people who had built the property. Does that mean there’s a Skywalker Ranch: The Movie possibly coming some day? A change of genres and settings might be good for you, George.

As Lucas acquired neighboring ranches and pieces of land, he also scooped up Big Rock Ranch (seen above) which was used to expand the working space at Skywalker. Last year members of the press (including yours truly, who was lucky enough to be included) were flown out to Big Rock which at the time was housing the Lucasfilm animation department, who were all busy working on The Clone Wars. You can check out my Flickr photo album from that trip here, which includes a photo of the original door to The Kerner Company - Optical Research Lab. This was a fake name to keep people from trying to pry secrets out of Industrial Light & Magic.

However, Lucas has been making an enormous effort over the past few years to push Lucasfilm and its various other divisions off of the Ranch and into new offices in an effort to return the place to the filmmakers’ retreat he’d envisioned year ago. In 2005 he took out a lease on the Letterman Medical Building inside The Presidio in San Francisco, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars upgrading it and preparing it to house Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts, the animation team, and so on. Most of the teams have already been moved over there, with the lucky animation division being some of the lone holdouts. Although as one employee said, “Spiritually, it’s a great place to be, but not exactly conducive to business efficiency.”

Skywalker Sound

Skywalker Ranch also houses Skywalker Sound, which is one of the main reasons most filmmakers take the time to trek out to Marin County to work on the the sound design for their films. Skywalker Sound originally started as Sprocket Systems and was based in San Rafael in shared office space with ILM, although they changed their name after The Empire Strikes Back came out, and eventually moved out to the Ranch once the buildings were complete. They occupy the entire Technical Building on the Ranch property, which is 155,000 square feet. They’ve won 18 Academy Awards, and probably don’t come cheap.

Highlights

As you’d expect, Skywalker Ranch is a pretty amazing place, with tons of amenities besides the picturesque views and rolling hills. Check out the list and fun other stuff that you’ll run into on the ranch.

• Besides all of the work buildings, Lucas also constructed an observatory on-site to house a large telescope sent to him by a Star Wars fan.
• In additon to the working building, there’s also a motel, four restaurants, a day-care center, and fitness center on the property.
• In case you were wondering, there’s a free continental breakfast provided daily. Although I imagine if you can afford to book Skywalker Ranch, you’re not worried about the price of a muffin and a glass of juice.
• The Ranch also has its own fire department, whose trucks are emblazoned with the word “Skywalker” on the sides. They often help with fires in the Marin County area.
• Lucas went to great length to make sure that it’s difficult to see the buildings from the main road, and has also hidden most of the parking structures underground.
• As you’d expect, Lucas has an on-site security team with extensive surveillance over the entire property. Supposedly he’s extremely terrified of being kidnapped. Probably more so after the invention of Jar Jar Binks.
• The Ranch has it’s own screening room, a 300 seat state-of-the-art theater called “The Stag.” It’s one of the most sophisticated theaters in the world.
• One of the coolest places on the ranch is the Skywalker Library, which is a two-story research center that provides archives and research to filmmakers.
• Lucas’ inner sanctum at the Ranch, located in the main Victorian-style building, houses artifacts like the original lightsabers from Star Wars, Indy’s battered and dusty fedora from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and… Howard the Duck’s electric guitar.
• Currently, the Ranch sits on almost 5,000 acres, most of which is undeveloped.

Although Skywalker Ranch might very well be Lucas’ Xanadu, he still considers it “a nice, contemplative environment, which I need to think.” Which probably makes it one of the most expensive writer’s retreats in the world. It’s estimated that Lucas has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the Ranch, and if or when he’s ever finished with it, what will happen to it? In all likelihood, he’d donate the property to a local college, or maybe gift it to USC as a film center. Lucas have been very generous in giving USC money since graduating, and in return they named the George Lucas Instructional Building after him.

For now, the entire place remains one man’s empire. Hopefully it will start being used for more good, and less evil.