Chapter 9
Back to the Ranch

George retreated to the new Skywalker Ranch.

The ranch had a huge library under a stained-glass dome that housed thousands of films and TV shows in different formats. It contained a collection of press clippings, ticket stubs, pictures, scripts, music scores, and production reports—over a hundred years of movie history. All of George’s companies moved to Skywalker Ranch, which grew to 4,000 acres.

George loved being a father to young Amanda. He adopted another daughter, Katie, born in 1988, and a son, Jett, born in 1993. Now that George was a father of three, he thought a lot about his own childhood. He’d spent much of it bored in school. He founded the Lucas Educational Foundation in 1991, to find ways to educate children through entertainment.

In 1992, George produced The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles for television. The series starred Indiana as a young boy and a teenager. He traveled the world meeting famous people and witnessing history. Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars trilogy, wrote an episode; Harrison Ford appeared in another.

Hollywood honored George with the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1992, three months after George Sr. died. It was presented by Steven Spielberg, who had won in 1986. George thanked his many teachers and friends, especially Coppola, saying, “Thank you, Francis, for being my mentor.”

I

n 1994, Lucasfilm’s ILM division created effects for Jurassic Park, a movie directed by Steven Spielberg about dinosaurs being “reborn” in the modern world. Jurassic Park was a turning point in moviemaking technology. The film is regarded as a landmark in its use of computer-generated imagery. According to George, the first time he showed test footage of the textured, breathing dinosaurs to Steven and the crew, “everyone had tears in their eyes.”

Looking at the dinosaurs made George think about the special effects he had dreamed of putting in Star Wars back in 1977. Technology and the effects wizards at ILM had finally caught up with George’s imagination.

He was ready to make a new Star Wars film.