Episode 436: George Lucas: From Greaser to Myth Maker
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On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we talk about the creator of a galaxy far, far away, the one and only George Lucas. He’s most famous for the creation of the Star Wars universe, but people forget he was part of the creative force behind Indiana Jones and one of the ultimate pioneers of special and visual effects in cinema. Most love him for his technical advancements, but some bemoan what he did to cinema, moving it from content to spectacle. And then, too, there was Jar Jar Binks…
George Lucas was born in the small town of Modesto, California to a couple of blue collar parents who ran a small walnut ranch and sold office supplies. His biggest hobby growing up was cars and racing, and he even had plans to become a professional race car driver. This dream went up in smoke when he suffered a horrible car crash while racing, and it scared the thrill right out of him. Instead, a friend suggested he follow up with his second biggest passion, which was film.
He attended a local community college and then transferred to the fledgling film studies department at USC, where he met incredible talent, from Francis Ford Copula to Steven Spielberg and countless others. He graduated from USC, got drafted, got booted due to health reasons, and went back to USC as a graduate student. Here, he and Copula had the ballsy decision to create their own indie film studio called American Zoetrope, designed to give upstart directors a chance to make films without big studio money.
His first film was THX1138 which did poorly at the box office, but it was followed by the cult classic American Graffiti, which did incredibly well at the box office and was Oscar nominated. This got him a golden ticket to turn his passion project—a little science fiction serial he’d been working on—into a film. He directed the first Star Wars and released it in 1977. Nobody expected the film to do well, but it became a global phenomenon. He based the film on Joseph Campbell’s notion of the Archetypical Romantic Quest, something nobody had done in Hollywood, but something virtually everyone does today.
This was the start of not just George Lucas’ impact on popular culture, but his climb to become the wealthiest entertainer on earth (which he is as of this recording). It was a fluke, really. He turned down a raise from Fox to write and direct Star Wars in order to retain rights to sequels and merchandising. Fox Studios never dreamed there would be sequels to this strange thing, and nobody made money merchandising, so they struck the deal. Within a year, Lucas was a multi-millionaire.
From there, he went on to launch the Indiana Jones movies and produce more Star Wars. Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were both smashes, as were the Indiana Jones movies, and along the way, he created Industrial Light and Magic to help foster technological innovation in film. From the 80s on, if you watched a sci-fi block buster with crazy effects, odds are it was done by ILM. He also created THX sound systems—the gold standard for movie theaters even to this day—and the company Lucasarts, which created video games, novels, comics, and toys.
All of this led to George Lucas being not just a household name, but a billionaire and a myth maker. He released the notorious prequels to mixed reviews, and he ultimately sold his company to Disney for just over $4 Billion dollars. Not bad for a greaser from Modesto…
Special thanks to guest host Jason Roskam for sharing his knowledge of all things Lucas. He’s co-host of All Things Star Wars, which is part of the Podbelly family of podcasts.
Visit Our Sources:
https://www.biography.com/filmmaker/george-lucas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lucas
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/george_lucas
https://www.forbes.com/profile/george-lucas/#3dd21c736e63
https://www.businessinsider.com/star-wars-george-lucas-net-worth-movies-house-spending-2019-7
https://www.vulture.com/2015/06/oral-history-of-emt2ems-liquid-metal-effect.html
Scared Sh*tless: 1003 Facts that will Scare the Sh*t out of You. Author: Cary McNeal. Perigree Press, 2012.
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