INTRODUCTION: A NAVAJO HOPE
vii “When I heard the title: George James Sr., author interview, July 3, 2013.
ix “We’re know-it-alls now,”: Manuelito Wheeler, author interview, July 3, 2013.
x “I used to have to just ask: Christine Erickson, author interview, September 16, 2013.
x “I’ve had people say: Natalia Kochan, interview by Daniel Terdiman of CNET, May 4, 2013.
xii “I know it’s out of order,”: Jamie Yamaguchi, interview by Daniel Terdiman of CNET, May 4, 2013.
xiii “I know the big reveal,”: Tami Fisher, interview by Daniel Terdiman of CNET, May 4, 2013.
xvi “I am the father: Total Film Magazine, April 2008.
xvii “That’s when I realized,”: Andrey Summers, author interview, February 13, 2014.
xvii “If you run into somebody: Andrey Summers, “The Complex and Terrifying Reality of Star Wars Fandom,” Jive, May 31, 2005.
xviii “The Navajo must be: Anthony Daniels to the author in the corridor at Star Wars Celebration Europe II, July 25, 2013.
xx “We call for strength: Thomas Deel, author interview, July 3, 2013.
xx “Good was trying: Annette Bilgodui, author interview, July 3, 2013.
1. MARS WARS
2 never heard of Verne’s book: H. G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon (London: Newnes, 1901), Chapter 3.
2 show me the Cavorite!: Basil Davenport, Inquiry into Science Fiction (New York: Long-mans, Green, 1955), 7.
2 “that place just over the hill”: Michael Pye and Lynda Myles, The Movie Brats: How the Film Generation Took Over Hollywood (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1979), 133.
3 idea of a fantasy Mars was rescued: See Richard A. Lupoff, Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005), Chapter 3, for the argument that Barsoom descended directly from Arnold’s book.
5 “effervescent giddiness.”: Aljean Harmetz, “Burden of Dreams: George Lucas,” American Film, June 1983.
7 say, Buck?: Patrick Lucanio and Gary Coville, Smokin’ Rockets: The Romance of Technology in American Film, Radio, and Television, 1945–1962 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002), 35.
10 “When I went home in the evening: Kinnard, Crnkovich, and Vitone, Flash Gordon Serials, 34.
2. THE LAND OF ZOOM
13 “He’s a behind the scenes guy: “Is George Lucas Returning to His Modesto Roots?,” Modesto Bee, November 4, 2012.
13 “A nerd, but: Modesto quotes from “For Many, Parade Is Drive Down Memory Lane,” Modesto Bee, June 7, 2013.
14 “impeccably polite and implacably distanced: Peter Bart, “Godfather, Starfather Eye New Galaxies,” Variety, July 27, 1998.
14 “the small one,”: “George Lucas Talks to the Bee’s Marijke Rowland,” video interview, June 7, 2013, http://www.modbee.com/2013/06/07/2752579/video-george-lucas-talks-to-the.html.
15 The Gallo winery: Ernest and Julio Gallo, with Bruce B. Henderson, Ernest and Julio: Our Story (New York: Times Books, 1994), 55.
16 “on all the coffee tables”: Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 19.
16 “I like to say Star Wars: Cole Horton, author interview and talk at Star Wars Celebration Europe II, July 2013.
16 “no matter where they go: Duck and Cover description and quote from Watch the Skies! Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us, directed by Richard Schickel (Lorac Productions, 2005).
17 “frightening” and said he was “always on the lookout: Pollock, Skywalking, 15.
17 $30,000: John Baxter, George Lucas: A Biography (New York: HarperCollins, 1999).
18 “I was in heaven,”: Pollock, Skywalking, 21.
18 “His dad was stern,”: Patti McCarthy, author interview, April 19, 2014.
18 the boy detested having to mow the lawn: The lawnmower anecdote is in Pollock, Skywalking, 20.
18 “My first mentor was my father,”: Lucas to Bill Moyers in The Mythology of Star Wars, PBS, 2000.
18 only one God, but so many religions: Lucas editorial in Edutopia, the magazine of the George Lucas educational foundation, July 1, 2003.
18 “I liked to build things,”: Melece Casey, “George Lucas: Behind the Scenes with Modesto’s Movie Mogul,” Stanislaus Magazine (Summer 2013).
19 pictures of “space soldiers.”: Samuel G. Freedman, “Taking a Lightsaber to Tired Old Teaching,” New York Times, August 31, 2005.
19 Once upon a time: “Slow Poke” manuscript from Patti McCarthy, Department of Film Studies, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California.
19 “He was bored with school: McCarthy, author interview.
19 “It was very critical to him: Mel Cellini interviewed in The Unauthorized “Star Wars” Story (Visual Entertainment, 1999).
21 “EC Comics had it all,”: Lucas, foreword to The EC Archives: Weird Science, vol. 1 (York, PA: Gemstone, 2006).
21 “Mad took on all the big targets,”: Lucas, foreword to Mad About “Star Wars,” by Jonathan Bresman (New York: Del Rey, 2007).
22 Edward Summer: Edward Summer, author interview, June 24, 2013.
24 Charley Lippincott: Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.
24 Howard Kazanjian: Howard Kazanjian, author interview, September 10, 2013.
24 Don Glut: Don Glut, author interview, July 9, 2013.
24 “The original Universal serial: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 93.
24 The serial was the “real stand-out: Alan Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of “Star Wars” (New York: Ballantine Books, 1980) 220.
26 Lucas picked up a 1955 copy of Classics Illustrated: Summer, in Star Wars Insider 141, July 2013), 26.
26 “He was really taken with it,”: Cellini, interview from The Unauthorized “Star Wars” Story.
26 “stay in his room and draw: Randall Kleiser, in “George Lucas: Creating an Empire,” Biography, Arts & Entertainment Network, January 27, 2002.
3. PLASTIC SPACEMEN
27 Star Wars was the last thing: Albin Johnson details and quotes from author interview, October 11, 2013.
31 “The big invasion: Lucas at the Tournament of Roses Parade from Star Wars: Star Warriors, documentary (Los Angeles: Prometheus Entertainment for Lucasfilm, 2007).
32 Mark Fordham was a sniper: Mark Fordham details and quotes from author interview, October 9, 2013.
34 “It kind of reflects the films,”: Suzy Stelling, author interview, July 27, 2013.
34 I’ve heard guys say: Ed Da Silva details and quotes from author interview, June 21, 2013.
36 When I met Ainsworth: Andrew Ainsworth details and quotes from author interviews, April 26 and September 2, 2013.
38 “viewing events through his own: Quote from Mr. Justice Mann and other details from transcript [2008] EWHC 1878 (Ch) Case No: HC06C03813, High Court of Justice of England and Wales (Chancery division).
38 didn’t stop Muir from taking to the Internet: Brian Muir, forum posts, therpf.com, December 5, 2010, http://www.therpf.com/f45/original-anh-stormtrooper-helmet-armor-just-facts-102219.
39 “actually doesn’t matter”: Brian Muir, email exchange with author, September 2, 2013.
4. HYPERSPACE DRIVE
41 drove around like cars: Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 154.
41 “dumb little car”: Pollock, Skywalking, 24.
41 always jabbering about a story: “George Lucas—Allen Grant,” YouTube video, 1:13, July 13, 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMxhdiVQv0w.
41 lure local toughs: John Baxter, George Lucas: A Biography (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), 33.
42 quieter and more intense: Mel Cellini interview from Unauthorized “Star Wars” Story.
43 “It gave me this perspective on life: “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” OWN, January 22, 2012.
43 “no longer a lot of mythology: John Seabrook, “Letter from Skywalker Ranch,” New Yorker, January 6, 1997.
44 an “echo” of Lipsett’s film: Steve Silberman, “Life After Darth,” Wired 13, no. 5 (May 2005).
45 Wexler said he would have gotten: Michael Rubin, Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution (Gainesville, FL: Triad, 2006), 8.
45 “It’s supposed to be easier than P.E.,”: Lucas, interview with American Film Institute, 2004.
45 “For God’s sake, watch this kid.”: Pollock, Skywalking, 35.
45 millionaire before I’m 30: Pollock, Skywalking, 38.
46 “I had this idea for doing a space adventure: Kerry O’Quinn, Starlog, no. 47 (June 1981).
46 “Conditions were crowded: Howard Kazanjian, author interview, September 10, 2013.
46 bearded and strange: Melece Casey, “George Lucas: Behind the Scenes with Modesto’s Movie Mogul,” Stanislaus Magazine (Summer 2013).
46 Don Glut: Don Glut, author interview, July 9, 2013.
48 stay in and draw star troopers: Randall Kleiser, in “George Lucas: Creating an Empire,” Biography, Arts & Entertainment Network, January 27, 2002.
48 run circles around everyone else: Pollock, Skywalking, 56.
50 friends with the guy who made it: Walter Murch, interview, THX 1138, Two-Disc Director’s Cut Special Edition, DVD extras, directed by George Lucas (Warner Home Video, 2004).
51 “too fascist,”: Pollock, Skywalking, 61.
51 take any shit: Pollock, Skywalking, 63.
51 “That damn movie: Kerry O’Quinn, “Star Wars Memories,” Starlog, no. 127 (February 1988).
53 “erosbods and clinicbods.”: “Trends: the Student Moviemakers,” Time (February 1968).
53 not of this earth: Pollock, Skywalking, 69.
53 “It’s a chase film,”: Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.
54 “As corny as it sounds,”: Kerry O’Quinn, “The George Lucas Saga,” Starlog, nos. 48–50 (July–September 1981).
54 cheap, behind the scenes documentaries: Pollock, Skywalking, 70.
55 “stinky kid.”: Stephen Farber, “George Lucas: The Stinky Kid Hits the Big Time,” Film Quarterly, Spring 1974.
55 “George broke the rules: Kazanjian, author interview.
55 Lucas was captured on documentary: Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola TV interviews in “Indies,” YouTube video, 2:05, December 19, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhfY4LvpevI.
5. HOW TO BE A JEDI
57 “There must be something independent: Deleted scene quoted in J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 18.
57 Lucas feared: Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 224.
57 “Knowing that the film was made: Pollock, Skywalking, 288–289.
58 “The more detail I went into”: Laurent Bouzereau, “Star Wars”: The Annotated Scripts (New York: Ballantine Books, 1997), 35.
59 “When I was 12: Jennifer E. Porter, “‘I Am a Jedi’: Star Wars Fandom, Religious Belief, and the 2001 Census,” Chapter 6 in Finding the Force of the “Star Wars” Franchise: Fans, Merchandise, & Critics, ed. Matthew Wilhem Kapell and John Shelton Lawrence (New York: Peter Lang, 2006), 101.
59 “The theme that emerges: Jennifer Porter, author interview, March 6, 2014.
60 In 1977, Frank Allnutt: Frank Allnutt, The Force of “Star Wars” (Van Nuys, CA: Bible Voice, 1977).
60 “I devoured that book: Albin Johnson, author interview, October 11, 2013.
60 trying to do God’s bidding: Pollock, Skywalking, 141.
61 that’s one way to describe it: Orville Schell, “George Lucas: ‘I’m a Cynic Who Has Hope for the Human Race,’” New York Times, March 21, 1999.
61 “We are trying to encourage people: New Zealand email quoted in Porter, “‘I Am a Jedi,’” 97.
62 “For a group to be included: Hugh McGaw in emails to Australian writers Bernhard O’Leary and John Stevenson, April 9, 2001, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/aus.bicycle/fOAEYGAZGMU/N_YklxE8P_EJ.
62 Some seventy thousand Australians: Census numbers in this section are from Porter, “‘I Am a Jedi,’” and numerous news media.
63 In 2006, Labor’s Jamie Reed: Carole M. Cusack, Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith (Farnham, Surrey, UK: Ashgate, 2010), 127.
63 the Daily Mail couldn’t resist: “Jedi Knights Demand Britain’s Fourth Largest ‘Religion’ Receives Recognition,” Daily Mail (London), November 16, 2006, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-416761/Jedi-Knights-demand-Britains-fourth-largest-religion-receives-recognition.html.
63 “It states in our Jedi: “Jedi Religion Founder Accuses Tesco of Discrimination over Rules on Hoods,” Guardian (London), September 18, 2009.
63 “All religions are true: Joseph Campbell to Bill Moyers, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, PBS, 1988.
64 “There was an ideological power struggle”: Jennifer Porter, author interview, March 6, 2014.
64 “All of it is rather crap: Alain Bloch, author interviews, September 11–12, 2013.
67 “I was just goofing around: “10 Years Later, Star Wars Kid Speaks Out,” Macleans, May 2013.
69 Waxy.org got remorseful: Donations listed at http://waxy.org/2003/05/finding_the_sta/.
71 “It’s certainly been true in my own life,”: Bouzereau, Annotated Scripts, 286.
71 Here’s something I learned: Lucas, speech to the Academy of Achievement, July 3, 2008, http://vimeo.com/19153918.
6. BUCK ROGERS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
73 “I bleed on the page: Larry Sturhan, “The Making of American Graffiti,” Filmmaker’s Newsletter (March 1974).
73 $150 weekly checks: Lucas’s contract in the Hollywood Reporter, September 18, 2013, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/early-george-lucas-contract-reveals-649370.
73 “You can’t write.”: Lucas quoting Francis Ford Coppola in interview with Jon Avnet, chair of the American Film Institute Board of Directors, 2004, http://www.afi.com/members/features/lucas.aspx.
74 the script was as much as 70 percent: Paul Scanlon, “The Force Behind Star Wars,” Rolling Stone, August 1977.
74 Mona Skager: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 2.
75 “A Japanese film: Marcus Hearn, The Cinema of George Lucas (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005).
75 lifted verbatim from Richard Nixon’s: Lucas, commentary, THX 1138, Two-Disc Director’s Cut Special Edition, DVD extras, directed by George Lucas (Warner Home Video, 2004).
76 “It is probably the most beautiful location: Pittsburgh-based developer Thomas Frouge quoted in John Hart, “Saved by Grit and Grace: Wild Legacy of the Marin Headlands,” Bay Nature, July 1, 2003, http://baynature.org/articles/saved-by-grit-and-grace/.
79 only movie I really enjoyed: Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 92.
79 “It’s like a sci-fi scene.”: “The Stones at the Speedway,” Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2010.
79 “It’s a kind of therapy”: Sturhan, “Making of American Graffiti.”
80 “For low budget pictures, that was perfect,”: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.
80 “We had these huge heads,”: Bill Wookey, author interview, April 10, 2014.
81 “probably just dropped his name to be silly.”: Terry McGovern, author interview, March 23, 2014.
81 masturbation or a masterpiece: Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 98.
82 “But I mean, it hurts.”: Stephen Zito, “George Lucas Goes Far Out,” American Film, April 1977.
82 “Some talent, but too much ‘art,’”: “Goings on About Town,” New Yorker, October 7, 1972.
82 “We need the money,”: Marc Norman, What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting (New York: Random House, 2008), 392.
82 “Because it’s a fairly straightforward action: Kurtz, author interview.
83 I’ll just invent my own: Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Saul Zaentz in “A Long Time Ago: The Story of Star Wars,” BBC Omnibus, season 33, episode 10, July 7, 1999.
83 “Flash Gordon is like anything: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 4.
84 “Why don’t you do something warm?”: Scanlon, “The Force Behind Star Wars.”
84 “Those who know George Lucas: Judy Stone, San Francisco Chronicle, May 23, 1971.
85 “I’ve been toying with this idea: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 5.
85 “You can imagine how many meetings: David Picker, author interview, January 7, 2014.
86 “The discussion about [the title] was: Kurtz, author interview.
86 “The name, before it came out: Patrick Read Johnson, author interview, September 11, 2013.
86 no one else dared to go: Lucas, interview with Gene Roddenberry Jr., in Trek Nation, directed by Scott Colthorp (Roddenberry Productions, 2010).
87 wasn’t action-oriented: Lucas, interview with Roddenberry Jr., Trek Nation.
87 “If I went to a strange planet: Gene Roddenberry, “Star Trek Still Has Many Fans,” Associated Press, March 14, 1972.
87 “To not make a decision: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 108.
88 “A large technological empire: Lucas notes quoted in Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 17.
88 a big, brassy, Cinemascope-style graphic: Kurtz, author interview.
89 second picture: Document in Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 6.
89 “The way we solved that was by saying: Kurtz, author interview.
90 “The set was very wild, very loose,”: McGovern, author interview.
91 “It sounded great to me,”: Starlog, #120 (July 1987): 42.
91 “I need R2, D2.”: Pollock, Skywalker, 141.
92 “whipping up this treatment: Jean Valelly, “‘The Empire Strikes Back,’ and So Does George Lucas,” Rolling Stone, June 12, 1980.
7. HOME FREE
94 “That’s kind of cool,”: Hal Barwood details and quotes from author interview, May 21, 2013.
95 “Science fiction movies ran roughly: Edward Summer, author interview, June 24, 2013.
95 ounce of taste for crazy humor: “Screen: Wonderful Trip in Space; ‘Forbidden Planet’ Is Out of This World,” New York Times, May 4, 1956.
96 Anthony Daniels, seeing his first: Anthony Daniels on Dermot O’Leary Show, BBC Radio 2, March 21, 2009.
97 “To see somebody actually do it: Lucas quote in Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001, Blu-Ray (Los Angeles: Warner Brothers, 2001).
97 the Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky: The story of Jodorowsky’s Dune film attempt is from Jodorowsky’s “Dune,” directed by Frank Pavich (Sony Pictures Classics, 2013).
99 “The 1970s was a perfect storm: Summer, author interview.
100 “They’re these angelic creatures: Barwood, author interview.
8. MY LITTLE SPACE THING
102 Lucas began by scribbling a list of names: Names list and first two pages of treatment in J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 8.
103 “totally unreleasable.”: John Baxter, George Lucas: A Biography (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), 138.
104 Joseph Gelmis loved it: Baxter, George Lucas, 147.
104 he offers the faint praise: Lucas, interview, Hidden Fortress, DVD extras (Criterion Collection, 2001).
105 Lucas’s second treatment: Treatment text on scifiscripts.com, cross-checked with extracts in Laurent Bouzereau, “Star Wars”: The Annotated Scripts (New York: Ballantine Books, 1997), and Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars.”
107 “Disney would have accepted: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 12.
107 “I understood completely,”: Alan Ladd Jr., author interview, March 26, 2014.
109 tapping into the collective unconscious: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 16.
110 “a small independent country: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 16.
110 “I thought, ‘well, why the hell: Charles Platt, Dream Makers: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers at Work: Profiles (London: Xanadu, 1986), 74.
111 “The Star Wars is a mixture: Lucas interview in Chaplin [Swedish Film Institute] (fall 1973).
111 the first script of The Star Wars: First draft on scifiscripts.com, cross-checked with extracts in Bouzereau, “Star Wars,” and Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars.”
113 “It was a universe nobody could understand: Willard Huyck in Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 25.
113 “You beat your head against the wall: Dale Pollock Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 142.
114 “George approached me: Hal Barwood, author interview, May 21, 2013.
114 “You go crazy writing,”: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 26.
114 a gold-embossed folder: The folder is in Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 27.
114 “And in the time of greatest despair: Second draft on scifiscripts.com, cross-checked with extracts in Bouzereau, “Star Wars,” and Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars.”
115 “That’s not true,”: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.
118 “the first multi-million-dollar Flash Gordon: Lucas to Esquire, quoted in Brian J. Robb, A Brief Guide to “Star Wars”: The Unauthorised Inside Story of George Lucas’s Epic (London: Constable & Robinson; Philadelphia: Running, 2012), e-book, Chapter 3.
118 “That was definitely a finger-in-the-wind time.”: Kurtz, author interview.
119 “The Star Wars corporation shall have: Legal document quoted in Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 25.
119 absolute gobbledygook: Baxter, George Lucas, 165.
120 “Absolutely 100 percent not,”: Anthony Daniels, author interview, July 25, 2013.
120 “ratty little guy”: According to McQuarrie understudy Paul Bateman, author interview, August 30, 2013.
120 “fascist white uniform”: From the second draft, scene 18.
120 “They were done as a substitute: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 32.
121 The third draft still opened: Third draft on scifiscripts.com, cross-checked with extracts in Bouzereau, “Star Wars,” and Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars.”
125 “it really straightened some of them out,”: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 63.
125 “more man against machine than anything else,”: Scanlon, “The Force Behind Star Wars.”
126 “the whole idea of Star Wars as a mythological thing,”: Kurtz, author interview.
126 “Star Wars is a sort of compilation,”: Stephen Zito, “George Lucas Goes Far Out,” American Film, April 1977.
127 “She was fairly quiet about the whole thing,”: Ladd, author interview.
9. SPOOF WARS
128 “He acts now like: Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.
129 “This is one of the first things: Interview with Jon Stewart, Star Wars Celebration V, August 15, 2010.
129 “I laughed all through: Ken P., “An Interview with Mark Hamill,” IGN.com, May 2004, http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/02/03/an-interview-with-mark-hamill?page=2.
130 “That’s a powerful aspect: Albin Johnson, author interview, October 11, 2013.
130 Sean Goodwin looked at them: Sean Goodwin and Anjan Gupta, author interviews, April 3 and 5, 2013.
132 the White House responded: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking.
134 probably contracted to build the Death Star: Lucas, Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones, DVD commentary (Twentieth Century Fox, 2005).
134 “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry: “Hardware Wars: The Movie, the Legend, the Household Appliances,” Salon, May 21, 2002.
135 “Special Oscars should be awarded: Lucas letter to Mad quoted in Jonathan Bresman, Mad About “Star Wars” (New York: Del Rey/Ballantine Books, 2007), 32; Roffman quoted on 23.
136 “It should have been made several years: Roger Ebert, review of Spaceballs, Chicago Sun-Times, June 24, 1987, http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/spaceballs-1987.
136 “I couldn’t do a serious piece,”: Kevin Rubio quoted in Backyard Blockbusters, directed by John E. Hudgens (Z-Team Productions, 2012).
137 who sent Nussbaum an approving letter: George Lucas in Love, directed by Joe Nussbaum (Mediatrip.com, 1999).
138 “He’s like the most evil guy: Jack Sullivan, author interview, April 21, 2014.
140 just Robot Chicken neutered: Devin Faraci, “Seth Green, George Lucas, Pixar Piss on the Ashes of Star Wars,” Badass Digest, August 24, 2012, http://badassdigest.com/2012/08/24/seth-green-george-lucas-pixar-piss-on-the-ashes-of-star-wars/.
141 “We didn’t think it made any sense: Seth Green, “Ask Me Anything,” Reddit, September 17, 2013, http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ml9cw/seth_green_here_actorproducer_writer_director/ccaba64.
141 “somehow do a Jedi mind-meld”: President Barack Obama, White House press conference, March 1, 2013.
10. STAR WARS HAS A POSSE
142 “I’ve loosened up a little bit,”: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 97.
143 very happy if you came up with ideas: McQuarrie in Star Wars Insider, no. 50 (July/August 2000): 63.
143 “like bubbles in champagne,”: McQuarrie as recalled by Paul Bateman, author interview, August 30, 2013.
143 “If I had a hundred people: Bateman, author interview.
144 “We did have long discussions: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.
144 “Immediately, I could see this: Burtt details and quotes from interview with Pablo Hidalgo, Star Wars Celebration Europe II, July 26, 2013.
145 “George just asked me to come along: Fred Roos, author interview, February 27, 2013.
146 Lucas offered Mifune: Mika Mifune made her comments in a Japanese history quiz show called Sekai Fushigi Hakken!, quoted in “How Star Wars Might Have Had a Different Darth Vader,” Kotaku.com, January 14, 2013.
147 “Good God, it’s science fiction!: Alec Guinness diaries quoted in Piers Paul Read, Alec Guinness: The Authorized Biography (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 503–504.
147 20 hours a day: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 106.
149 “think of a flying saucer”: Laurent Bouzereau, “Star Wars”: The Annotated Scripts (New York: Ballantine Books, 1997), 52.
149 “I’m trying to make props: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 97.
150 “compromising left and right”: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 160.
151 “there weren’t a lot of people there: Kurtz, author interview.
152 “depressed” and “desperately unhappy.”: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 160.
152 like a second home: “George Lucas Praises British Film Industry at Windsor Castle Event,” Yahoo! News, April 5, 2013, http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/george-lucas-praises-british-film-industry-windsor-castle-143700635.html.
152 “80 percent of the crew: Carr quoted in The Making of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” ed. John Philip Peecher (New York: Ballantine Books, 1983), 12.
153 “A bit late: Guinness diaries quoted in Read, Guinness, 505.
153 The dialogue changes came courtesy: Huyck and Katz contributions to the script noted in Laurent Bouzereau, “Star Wars”: The Annotated Scripts (New York: Ballantine Books, 1997), 5–120.
154 “It’s not what I want it to be.”: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 190.
154 “George came back from Star Wars: “Spielberg on Spielberg,” Turner Classic Movies, 2007.
155 “My life was collapsing: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 218.
155 “This is where you’re shooting: Rob Lowe, Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography (New York: Henry Holt, 2011), 54.
155 “The originals were a little too: Phil Tippett, author interview, April 11, 2014.
156 “No applause: Viewing story according to Kurtz, author interview.
156 “It wasn’t particularly the movie: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 224.
157 “It’s the At Long Last Love: Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 334.
157 “It’s kind of a bubble gum movie,”: Edward Summer, author interview, June 24, 2013.
158 “Thirty years in Los Angeles: Quotes and details from Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.
159 “I heard you’re making a movie: Don Glut, author interview, July 9, 2013.
159 “I’m watching a movie in my head: Alan Dean Foster, author interview, June 26, 2013.
162 Gary Meyer: Coronet story quoted in “Star Wars and the Coronet in 1977: An Oral History,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 27, 2013.
11. THE FIRST REEL
164 “Star Wars: Magic Ride,”: John Wasserman, San Francisco Chronicle, May 25, 1977, 51.
165 “If you hook the audience: Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 99.
166 “Thank goodness: Allen Ginsberg quoted by Wired journalist Steve Silberman, who was with him that day, to the author.
167 Rice found herself at ILM: Details from Suzy Rice, author interview, May 15, 2013.
168 “war drums echoing: Quoted in the script, per Laurent Bouzereau, “Star Wars”: The Annotated Scripts (New York: Ballantine Books, 1997), 5.
169 “chickened out”: Lucas quoted in Seattle Times, May 1980.
169 “Fox wouldn’t let me.”: Lucas, Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, DVD commentary (Twentieth Century Fox, 2004).
169 “We were toying with the idea of calling: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.
170 “What’s all this Force shit?: De Palma quoted in J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 256.
170 It is a period of civil wars in the galaxy: Crawl text on scifiscripts.com, cross-checked with extracts in Laurent Bouzereau, “Star Wars”: The Annotated Scripts (New York: Ballantine Books, 1997), and Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars.”
172 seven or eight hypotheses: “The Den of Geek Interview: John Dykstra,” Den of Geek, November 2, 2008, http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/13733/the-den-of-geek-interview-john-dykstra.
173 “model!”: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 275.
175 a seven-year-old in Philadelphia: Philip Fierlinger, author interview, January 2013.
176 “When Vader came out of the darkness: Todd Evans, author interview, August 17, 2013.
176 “it was an invitation: Kurtz, author interview.
177 “sort of knew”: Paul Scanlon, “The Wizard of Star Wars,” Rolling Stone, August 25, 1977.
177 “We see Carrie Fisher: Hal Barwood, author interview, May 21, 2013.
178 “When it was first released”: Lucas, Episode IV, commentary.
178 “The whole thrust: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 300.
178 “Star Wars was a joke: Jody Duncan, “Star Wars” Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of “Attack of the Clones” (New York: Ballantine Books, 2002), 218.
179 “Full marks for the creation: Piers Paul Read, Alec Guinness: The Authorized Biography (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 507.
179 “You’ve vaporized the audience: Biskind, Easy Riders, 334.
179 “Who’s the hero?”: Don Glut, author interview, July 9, 2013.
12. RELEASE
183 “My father had this wonderful: Christian Gossett, author interview, August 15, 2013.
184 “Old people, young people: Al Levine quoted in San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 1977.
185 “I was a Star Trek fan: Dan Madsen, author interview, August 12, 2013.
185 “two people arguing about: Kerry O’Quinn, Starlog, no. 7 (August 1977).
185 A cartoon published in a Trek zine: Star Trek cartoon in “The Sehlat’s Roar #5,” Spectrum, no. 34 (1977), quoted in “Star Trek and Star Wars,” Fanlore, January 12, 2014, http://fanlore.org/wiki/Star_Trek_and_Star_Wars.
186 “We’re working out a policy: Craig Miller quoted in Hyper Space, no. 3 (1977).
186 “The word has come down: Maureen Garrett letter quoted in Alderaan, no. 15 (1981).
186 “I really learned to watch it: Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.
188 “Hi, kid, are you famous yet?”: John Baxter, George Lucas: A Biography (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), 237.
189 “We were dismissing the lines: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.
189 “There could be a 21st Century Fox: “Off the Screen,” People, July 18, 1977.
190 “Star Wars was like they struck gold,”: Alan Ladd Jr., author interview, March 26, 2014.
191 “send money.”: Coppola telegram in Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 186.
191 “twerp cinema.”: Coined by Coppola’s friend Dennis Jakob, quoted in Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 346.
192 reinstate high adventure: Janet Maslin, “How Old Movie Serials Inspired Lucas and Spielberg,” New York Times, June 7, 1981.
193 “I’m an introvert: “Off the Screen.”
193 “They don’t know exactly: “Summer Blockbuster,” Star Wars Insider, no. 140 (May/June 2013): 51.
193 “more than anything else,”: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 306.
193 because he “cut corners”: Paul Scanlon, “The Force Behind Star Wars,” Rolling Stone, August 1977.
13. THE ACCIDENTAL EMPIRE
196 “Star Wars,” Lucas mused: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 224.
197 Sansweet is snarky and avuncular: Steve Sansweet quotes from author tour and Steve Sansweet, “Introducing . . . Steve Sansweet,” Star Wars Blog, July 2, 2012, http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/2012/07/02/introducing-steve-sansweet.
199 “Basically I like to make things: Quote and Cukor anecdote from Stephen Farber, “George Lucas: The Stinky Kid Hits the Big Time,” Film Quarterly, Spring 1974.
199 “followed from the general idea”: Claire Clouzot, “The Morning of the Magician,” Ecran, September 15, 1977.
201 “$50 and a handshake.”: Mark Boudreaux, author interview, September 22, 2013.
201 “He thought he should have had: Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.
201 “Okay, we sold a piece: Mark Boudreaux, author interview, September 22, 2013.
202 “Where are the guns?”: Steve Sansweet, “Star Wars”: From Concept to Screen to Collectible (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1992), 65.
202 “If you do something I don’t like: Sansweet, From Concept to Screen, 123.
204 “tacky pilgrim mementos: Jennifer Porter, author interview, March 6, 2014.
205 “About 75 percent of our fans: Derryl dePriest, author interview, September 4, 2013.
207 “I told George: Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, February 28, 2008.
208 “We used to play cops: James Arnold Taylor, author interview, June 18, 2013.
209 “It will be a separate story: “The Day the Droids Invaded Hollywood,” Washington Post, August 4, 1977.
209 “either we make this deal: Alan Ladd Jr., author interview, March 26, 2014.
210 “I want Star Wars to be: Starlog, no. 9 (October 1977).
211 “showed there was twice as much: Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 344.
211 “We’re fucking being blown off: Smith and Friedkin quoted in Biskind, Easy Riders, 337.
213 “The only thing it cleaned up: Steven Bach, Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of “Heaven’s Gate” (New York: New American Library, 1985), 68.
214 “a talky melodrama: Roger Ebert, review of Black Hole, Chicago Sun-Times, January 1, 1979.
214 “I stole it from everybody.”: David McIntee, Beautiful Monsters: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to the Alien and Predator Movies (Prestatyn, Denbighshire, UK: Telos, 2005), 19.
215 “Hollywood is like a bunch of lemmings,”: Ladd, author interview.
215 “They wanted to follow through: Dan O’Bannon and David Giler quoted in Tom Shone, Blockbuster: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004), 86.
217 “was to bring attention to our: Barry Ira Geller, “The CIA, the Lord of Light Project, and Science Fiction Land,” 2013, lordoflight.com/cia.html.
218 “the ambassador and the young prince: The Making of “Tron,” directed by Robert Meyer Burnett (Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2002).
219 “I told Dino: Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.
221 “Star Wars was fun: Isaac Asimov, “Science Fiction Is More Than a Space Age Western,” Knight-Ridder Newspapers, September 17, 1978.
221 “Glen Larceny.”: Harlan Ellison, The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay That Became the Classic “Star Trek” Episode (Clarkston, GA: White Wolf, 1996), end-note 1.
221 “the most blatant rip-off ever: “Small Screen Star Wars,” Time, September 18, 1978, 98.
221 “The characters are given more: Newsweek, September 11, 1978.
222 Outraged fans protested: “Boy Kills Self After TV Show Is Cancelled,” Associated Press, August 26, 1979.
222 “raised genuine issues of material fact: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation v. MCA, 715 F.2d 1327 (9th Cir. 1983), http://openjurist.org/715/f2d/1327/twentieth-century-fox-film-corporation-v-mca-inc.
223 “Wookiees have litters.”: Star Wars Insider, no. 141 (July 2013): 39.
223 “but we can’t say that.”: Quoted by Lenny Ripps, as interviewed by Bonnie Burton and told to the author.
223 “That’s one of those things: David Itzkoff, “Tale from the Dark Side,” Maxim May 2002.
224 “The only sound they make: “The Han Solo Comedy Hour,” Vanity Fair (December 2008).
225 “In the long run, it wasn’t necessary,”: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.
15. HOW TO EXCEED IN SEQUELS
227 “I created Darth Vader,”: Vernon Scott, “The Real Darth Vader Is Unmasked,” Daily Chronicle (London), December 5, 1977, 18.
227 “I was confronted with what: “May the Sequel Be with You,” San Francisco Examiner, July 24, 1978, 4.
229 Prowse had no memory: David Prowse, author interview, September 5, 2013.
229 “vaguely” remembers “something: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.
229 “had inadvertently leaked story points: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”: The Definitive Story (New York: Del Rey, 2013), 100, emphasis added.
231 In November 1977, Lucas sat down: Lucas-Brackett story conference quoted in Rinzler, Making of “Empire”: The Definitive Story (New York: Del Rey, 2010), 23.
233 “During pre-production on Empire: Howard Kazanjian, author interview, September 10, 2013.
234 “I felt very flattered,”: Kershner in Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 36.
234 “I think George had it in mind: Kurtz, author interview.
234 “What we’re doing here, really: Raiders of the Lost Ark story conference posted at http://maddogmovies.com/almost/scripts/raidersstoryconference1978.pdf.
234 It contained some intriguing: Brackett’s draft posted in full at starwarz.com, cross-referenced against extracts posted in Rinzler, Making of “Empire.”
235 “I liked her a lot,”: Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 70.
236 “I found it much easier: Alan Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of “Empire Strikes Back” (New York: Ballantine Books, 1980), 144.
236 the dialogue of the sequel’s: Lucas’s second draft quoted in Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 49.
237 “When you’re creating something: Star Wars, Definitive Edition Laserdisc (Industrial Light & Magic, 1993).
237 “The problem of the hero: Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (New York: New World Library, 1949), 125.
238 “Suddenly Dagobah is full of: Michael Kaminski, The Secret History of “Star Wars”: The Art of Storytelling and the Making of a Modern Epic (Kingston, Ontario: Legacy Books, 2008), e-book.
238 “finger in the Star Wars pie,”: Don Glut, author interview, July 9, 2013.
240 “I was desperate,”: Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 207.
240 “challenged everything: Ringler, “Making of “Empire,” 65.
243 “I tried to rein Kersh in a bit,”: Kurtz, author interview.
244 “after the success of Star Wars: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 247.
244 “I’ll guarantee that”: Lucas to the Starlog Salutes Star Wars convention, 1987, as recorded in Starlog 127.
244 “It turned out he hadn’t,”: Spielberg in Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy documentary on Indiana Jones Trilogy, DVD, 2003.
244 “I’m willing to take a risk: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 172.
245 “I’ve caught him looking: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 162.
245 Ford: I think I should be: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 139.
246 “But more than a few”: Fisher admitted to doing cocaine on the set of Empire Strikes Back to the Associated Press in 2010.
247 Williams: Don’t hit me: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 143.
247 “I’d have to argue to do another take: Phil Tippett, author interview, April 11, 2014.
248 “You guys are ruining my picture,”: Pollock, Skywalking, 218.
248 “He’s lying.”: Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 305.
249 “It ends on a very bleak: John Brosnan, film review, Starburst, no. 23 (May 1980).
250 “I would take out my portable: Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 300.
250 “Trying to license Empire: Sansweet, From Concept to Screen, 123.
250 “What matters at the moment: Roger Angell, “The Current Cinema: Cheers and Whimpers,” New Yorker, May 26, 1980.
250 The Empire Strikes Back is about as personal: Vincent Canby, “‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Strikes a Bland Note,” New York Times, June 15, 1980.
251 “The Empire Strikes Back is the only blockbuster: Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto (New York: Scribner, 2003), 152.
251 “If you guys did this: Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 334.
251 “They have done it again,”: Dave Prowse, Straight from the Force’s Mouth: A Career Most Extraordinary (Croydon, Surrey, UK: Filament, 2005), e-book entry for May 19, 1980.
16. BEING BOBA
252 “It’s not ownership: Anthony Daniels, author interview, July 25, 2013.
252 “Here we are enacting: Carrie Fisher, “Letter to Leia,” BullettMedia, January 4, 2013, http://bullettmedia.com/article/character-study-carrie-fisher-makes-peace-with-princess-leia.
253 “No one’s going to play Lando: Billy Dee Williams, author interview, March 29, 2013.
253 “It’s a character that sticks: Jeremy Bulloch, author interview, July 25, 2013.
17. END OF THE JEDI?
258 “I don’t want to upset your readers: Kerry O’Quinn, “The George Lucas Saga,” Starlog, nos. 48–50 (July–September 1981).
261 “discussions with the marketing: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.
262 “I had to come up with another hundred pages: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”: The Definitive Story (New York: Del Rey, 2013), 11.
263 “I said ‘oh come on,’”: Hamill to Entertainment Weekly at the Cape Town Film Festival on May 4, 2013.
263 “In the next book, I want Luke to kiss: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 107.
263 “It adds an odd frisson: Alan Dean Foster, author interview, June 26, 2013.
263 Blogger Michael Kaminski suggested: Michael Kaminski, author interview, April 7, 2014.
264 “I didn’t want to be a Lucas: Josef Krebs, “‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Director: Irvin Kershner,” Sound and Vision, September 30, 2004.
264 top of the list was David Lynch: Rinzler, Making of “Jedi,” 41.
265 “I wanted to get it out of my system: “The Forces Behind Jedi,” People, August 8, 1983.
265 “the most exciting and grandiose: “Secrecy Shrouds a Star Wars Serial,” New York Times, July 11, 1982.
265 “with Shakespeare in the next room”: The Making of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” ed. John Philip Peecher (New York: Ballantine Books, 1983).
265 The four of them talked about the story: Story conference quoted in Rinzler, Making of “Jedi,” 64.
267 “It’s like Hitler’s on his deathbed: Foster, author interview.
268 “I smile a lot: “Secrecy Shrouds a Star Wars Serial.”
269 “You’ll have to ask her.”: John Baxter, George Lucas: A Biography (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), 333.
270 “As open as I thought: Dale Pollock, author interview, May 16, 2013.
270 “You can’t be sick,”: Rinzler, Making of “Jedi,” 260.
270 “You can actually tell why: Rinzler, Making of “Jedi,” 260.
270 “It was a case of: From unpublished Lucas interview with Michael Rubin, author of Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution.
273 “was just about every page: Dale Pollock, author interview, May 16, 2013.
274 “pretty good editor.”: Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 422.
275 “I think people sometimes forget: Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 240.
276 “an inverted triangle: Biskind, Easy Riders, 381.
277 “The divorce kind of destroyed: 60 Minutes, March 28, 1999.
277 “immediately electric”: Stephen Larsen and Robin Larsen, Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind: The Authorized Biography (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2002), 542.
277 “That was it,”: Larsen and Larsen, Joseph Campbell, 542.
278 “You know, I thought real art: Larsen and Larsen, Joseph Campbell, 543.
278 “I was really thrilled,”: Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work, ed. Phil Cousineau (Boston: Element, 1999), 187.
278 “Bring him out to the Ranch,”: Larsen and Larsen, Joseph Campbell, 544.
280 “They said, ‘Thank you very much, you guys: Mark Boudreaux, author interview, September 22, 2013.
281 “close some of the psychological wounds: Gary Arnold, “Magical & Monstrous, the ‘Star Wars’ Finale Is a Triumph,” Washington Post, May 22, 1983.
282 Anthony Dolan says no Star Wars reference: Frank Warner, “The Battle of the Evil Empire,” Morning Call (Allentown, PA), March 5, 2000.
282 “misleading Red scare tactics: Lou Cannon, “President Seeks Futuristic Defense Against Missiles,” Washington Post, March 24, 1983.
282 “supersonic Edsel,”: Edward Kennedy, speech at the Brown University Commencement Forum, June 4, 1983, http://tedkennedy.org/ownwords/event/cold_war.
283 “Darth Vader in America now,”: TASS quoted in “Soviet Critic Says Reagan like Darth Vader,” United Press International, June 13, 1983.
283 “Star Wars, your honor, is a fantasy,”: Lucasfilm Ltd. v. High Frontier, DC District Court, November 26, 1985.
283 “I definitely got the feeling: Dan Madsen, author interview, August 12, 2013.
284 “It was not a great time: Howard Roffman, “Interacting with Star Wars,” TEDxSoMa, YouTube video, 12:40, January 22, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAb1Dzkc8KU.
19. THE UNIVERSE EXPANDS
287 “Make it work as a Sergio Leone: Transcript published in Star Wars Insider, no. 145 (December 2013): 20.
287 “the story of Chewbacca’s second: Alan Dean Foster, author interview, June 26, 2013.
288 “We can’t do these casually,”: Lou Aronica, author interview, August 15, 2013.
289 “I’ll never forget the day that Lucy: Howard Roffman, foreword to Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn, 20th Anniversary Edition (New York: Ballantine Books, 2011), 1.
289 initial print run of seventy thousand copies: Timothy Zahn, author interview, August 16, 2013.
289 “They didn’t approach us: Aronica, author interview.
290 “I was a physicist,”: Zahn, author interview.
293 “They shunt her to the side: Tracy Duncan, author interview, January 28, 2014.
294 “He told us we could kill anyone: Shelly Shapiro, author interview, August 24, 2013.
295 “It was guidance in the sense: Foster, author interview.
296 “My oldest daughter was sick: Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, DVD extras (Twentieth Century Fox, 2001).
297 “For every person who loves: Laurent Bouzereau and Jody Duncan, The Making of “Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace” (New York: Del Rey, 1999), 149.
297 “You just never know with these: The Beginning, Star Wars, Episode I, DVD extras.
298 “everyone had tears in their eyes,”: Marcus Hearn, The Cinema of George Lucas (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005), 174.
299 “I could see George: Hearn, Cinema, 172.
299 “The great thing about Rick: Hearn, Cinema, 201.
300 “Part of the reason: Lucas press conference transcribed by Sally Kline, in George Lucas: Interviews, ed. Sally Kline (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999), 181.
300 “It would hopefully make me: Lucas on The Charlie Rose Show, September 9, 2004.
300 Lucas started writing about: Episode I draft details from Michael Kaminski, “The Beginning: A Look at the Rough Draft of Episode I,” The Secret History of “Star Wars,” November 10, 2007, http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com/thebeginning.html.
301 “dyed-in-the-wool 99-percenter: Bryan Curtis, “George Lucas Is Ready to Roll the Credits,” New York Times, January 17, 2012.
301 “I’m a very ardent: Lucas to Charlie Rose, CBS This Morning, January 21, 2012.
306 Lucas says he modeled this new comic relief: According to Lucasfilm creature designer Terryl Whitlach at DragonCon, Atlanta, July 1, 1999, http://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/dc1999/jar-jars-mom-speaks/.
306 “Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit,”: Joe Morgenstern, “Our Inner Child Meets Young Darth,” Wall Street Journal, May 19, 1999.
306 “How in the world could you take: Lucas interview on Newsnight, BBC 2, July 14, 1999.
21. SPECIAL ADDITION
308 “I used to be able to catch: Arthur Penn dinner account from the diary of Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Dale Maharidge, provided to the author.
310 “It’s like a screen door: “The Force Is Still with Us,” Newsweek, January 19, 1997.
310 “If I had the money: The Making of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” ed. John Philip Peecher (New York: Ballantine Books, 1983), 89.
311 “I thought it was a very virile: Making, ed. Peecher, 89.
311 “The thing was to create a real Jabba: “Life After Darth,” Wired 13, no. 5 (May 2005).
312 “Those animals moving actually distract: Kurtz to Ken P., IGN.com, November 11, 2002, http://www.ign.com/articles/2002/11/11/an-interview-with-gary-kurtz.
312 “They’re shit.”: Peter Hall, “Brilliant Effects Master Phil Tippett Sheds Some Light on George Lucas’ ‘Star Wars’-Tinkering Mind,” Movies.com, September 1, 2011, http://www.movies.com/movie-news/phil-tippett-star-wars/4324.
313 “We hadn’t sold very many VHS: “Life After Darth.”
314 “Does a filmmaker have the right: “Is George Lucas Tampering with History?,” Chicago Tribune, January 19, 1997.
315 “People who alter or destroy works of art: “The Greatest Speech Against the Special Edition Was from George Lucas,” Saving “Star Wars,” 2010, http://savestarwars.com/lucasspeechagainstspecialedition.html.
315 “To me, it doesn’t really exist: “Lucas Talks as Original Trilogy Returns,” Associated Press, September 15, 2004.
315 Luckily, the 1977 negative: Library of Congress information provided by Mike Mashon, Head of Moving Image Section, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, email to the author, September 3, 2013.
315 “disappointed in myself”: Spielberg quoted at Raiders of the Lost Ark thirtieth anniversary screening, Film.com, September 14, 2011.
315 “I felt that so long as the originals: “Dennis Muren: Interview,” Sci-Fi Online, August 16, 2004, http://www.sci-fi-online.com/Interview/04-08-16_DennisMuren.htm.
315 “six ways from Sunday”: Hollywood Reporter, February 9, 2012.
316 “I’m sorry you saw: “Lucas Talks as Original Trilogy Returns.”
317 “a little bit too disco.”: Making, ed. Peecher, 109.
317 “The success of that rerelease: “Life After Darth.”
317 Ian McCaig had been asked: Ian McCaig, interview with Pablo Hidalgo, Star Wars Celebration Europe II, July 27, 2013.
318 “deeply in love”: “A Long Time Ago: The Story of Star Wars,” BBC Omnibus, season 33, episode 10, July 7, 1999.
318 “‘Do you want to do Star Wars?’: The Beginning, Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, DVD extras (Twentieth Century Fox, 2001).
22. THE LINE
319 by “Yoda”: Laurent Bouzereau and Jody Duncan, The Making of “Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace” (New York: Del Rey, 1999), 76.
319 “This isn’t real,”: McGregor in “A Long Time Ago: The Story of Star Wars,” BBC Omnibus, season 33, episode 10, July 7, 1999.
320 “I thought he should take: Eon Magazine, September 1999, http://www.theforce.net/episode1/story/darabont_kasdan_on_helping_george_with_ep_i_ii_78815.asp.
320 “write better dialogue”: “Sky’s the Limit,” Detroit Free Press, May 19, 2005.
320 “The film is going to come out: The Beginning, Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, DVD extras (Twentieth Century Fox, 2001).
321 “Now he’s so exalted,”: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Tosche Station: FFC Interviews Mark Hamill,” Film Freak Central, March 19, 2013, http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2013/03/mark-hamill-interview.html.
322 “It’s bold: Quotes from Lucas and Ben Burtt from The Beginning.
323 Chris Giunta moved from Maryland: Story details and quotes from Chris Giunta, author interview, August 29, 2013.
323 “Everybody had different motivations: Shanti Seigel, author interview, April 23, 2014.
324 “It was nightmarish at night,”: Todd Evans, author interview, August 17, 2013.
23. THE PREQUELS CONQUER STAR WARS
328 “believe these pointers can help: “S.F. Gets Tough on Popular Laser Pointers,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 19, 1999.
329 “the score’s most delightful: Joshua Kosman, “Inspired Phantom Menace Soundtrack Recalls Movie Moments,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 19, 1999.
329 “over my dead body.”: David C. Robertson, Brick by Brick: How Lego Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry (New York: Crown Business, 2013), 39.
330 “a flood of biblical proportions.”: Steve Sansweet, “Star Wars: 1,000 Collectibles,” Harry N. Abrams, 2009, 17.
331 “The actors are wallpaper: Peter Travers, “Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” Rolling Stone, May 19, 1999.
331 “Dialogue isn’t the point,”: Roger Ebert, “Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” Chicago Sun-Times, May 17, 1999.
331 Gallup released a Phantom Menace poll: Press release, Gallup, June 25, 1999, http://www.gallup.com/poll/3757/public-gives-latest-star-wars-installment-positive-rave-reviews.aspx.
331 “It’s entirely critic-proof,”: Elvis Mitchell, PBS Newshour, May 19, 1999.
332 “about a quarter of the way: Star Wars Insider, no. 45 (August/September 1999): 63.
332 “started on page one: Jody Duncan, “Star Wars” Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of “Attack of the Clones” (New York: Ballantine Books, 2002), 13.
333 “Jar Jar’s Great Adventure”: Marcus Hearn, The Cinema of George Lucas (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005), 216.
333 PADMÉ: Representative Binks: Excerpts from draft scripts on http://starwarz.com/starkiller/episodeii.
334 “This was much more like a movie: Duncan, Mythmaking, 89.
334 “Is that it?: Lew Irwin, “‘Attack of the Clones’ Attacked,” Hollywood, August 8, 2001, http://www.hollywood.com/news/brief/473238/attack-of-the-clones-attacked.
334 “I was always worried: Lucas, Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, DVD Commentary (Twentieth Century Fox, 2005).
336 “Right now we don’t need a script,”: Star Wars Insider, no. 48 (February/March 2000): 11.
336 “The dialogue was, well: “Sky’s the Limit,” Detroit Free Press, May 19, 2005.
337 “The screenplay would make Buster Crabbe: Michael Atkinson, “Reproductive Rites,” Village Voice, May 14, 2002.
338 “I was wonderfully blindsided: Timothy Zahn, author interview, August 16, 2013.
339 “coolest job in the world.”: Wired, August 2008.
339 “Luke is obviously a 1,”: Leland Chee at Star Wars Celebration Europe II, July 26, 2013.
340 “most fun to do.”: Gary Dretzka, “Lucas Strikes Back: ‘Star Wars’ Creator Defends Jar Jar and Says Plot Rules His Universe,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 13, 2002.
340 “I’ve been thinking about it,”: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” (New York: Del Rey, 2005), 31.
341 “disassemble Episode III: Rinzler, Making of “Revenge,” 36.
341 “painted myself into a corner”: Hearn, Cinema, 240.
341 “All democracies turn: Jess Cagle, “Yoda Strikes Back!” Time, April 29, 2002.
342 “I didn’t think it would get: “Sith Invites Bush Comparisons,” Associated Press, May 16, 2005.
342 “inertia. Procrastination: Rinzler, Making of “Revenge,” 47.
344 “Steven confirmed that most: Rinzler, Making of “Revenge,” 188.
344 “sharp right turns”: Rinzler, Making of “Revenge,” 204.
345 “To be very honest: Lucas at Star Wars Celebration III, April 26, 2005.
24. BUILDING CHARACTER
347 Take the story of Chris Bartlett: Story details and quotes from Chris Bartlett, author interview, August 23, 2013.
349 the R2 Builders Club: Story details and quotes from Chris James, Grant McKinney, and Gerard Fardardo, author interview, September 15, 2013.
350 “And they break down all the time: Bonnie Burton, author interview, January 31, 2014.
25. HOW I STOPPED WORRYING AND LEARNED TO LOVE THE PREQUELS
356 “People were getting back: Kyle Newman, author interview, August 14, 2013.
356 “You weren’t there at the beginning!: “Change,” Spaced, series 2, episode 2, directed by Edgar Wright, March 2, 2001.
357 “We know we had a real: Interview with Jon Stewart, Star Wars Celebration V, August 15, 2010.
357 “It was a magnificent: Liz Lee, author interview, February 14, 2013.
358 “None of my three kids: Chris Giunta, author interview, August 29, 2013.
358 Machete Order: Rod Hilton, “Star Wars: Machete Order,” Absolutely No Machete Juggling, http://static.nomachetejuggling.com/machete_order.html, accessed April 1, 2014.
358 “With the Machete Order,”: “Would George Lucas Approve of the Star Wars Machete Order?,” Den of Geek, April 3, 2012, http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/star-wars/18992/would-george-lucas-approve-of-the-star-wars-machete-order.
359 “Part of the fun for me: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith” (New York: Del Rey, 2005), 84.
359 “We realized that these were fans: “The Phantom Edit,” Salon, November 5, 2001.
359 “well-intentioned editing demonstration”: “The Phantom Edit.”
360 “It plays on a distinctly: Emily Asher-Perrin, “Watching the Star Wars Prequels on Mute: An Experiment,” Tor.com, January 16, 2013.
361 “I’m not convinced that George: Matt Wild, “The Audience Strikes Back: Mike Stoklasa’s Very Detailed (and Very Late) Takedowns of Star Wars,” A.V. Club Milwaukee, April 13, 2010, http://archive.is/YgsWm.
363 “Plinkett is skewering: Michael Barryte, author interview, January 12, 2014.
366 “Dealing with prequel hate: Bryan Young, author interview, September 5, 2013.
26. USING THE UNIVERSE
371 “We spent a lot of years: “Lucas’ New Headquarters Give Bay Area Film a Lift,” New York Times, July 20, 2005.
372 “A lot of Star Wars is over,”: author transcript of Lucas press conference, June 25, 2005.
373 “If there were a way: Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 178.
373 “Deadwood in space.”: James Peaty, “Rick McCallum Interview: Dennis Potter, Star Wars TV series, George Lucas and Red Tails,” Den of Geek, June 3, 2012, http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/rick-mccallum/21562/rick-mccallum-interview-dennis-potter-star-wars-tv-series-george-lucas-red-tails.
373 “But then George would come in: Anonymous Lucasfilm source.
374 “We were building this show up: Anonymous Lucasfilm source.
375 “We can do better,”: Anonymous Lucasfilm source.
375 “After the TV series: Richard Corliss, “A Conversation with George Lucas,” Time, March 14, 2006.
376 “I talked a lot about Star Wars: Steve Heisler, “Dave Filoni,” A.V. Club, August 14, 2008, http://www.avclub.com/article/dave-filoni-14293.
377 “No,” he said: Dave Filoni, Star Wars Celebration Europe II, July 26, 2013.
377 “Sometimes George works: “The Force Lives On, as Do the Toys,” New York Times, July 1, 2008.
378 “obsessively-compulsively cluttered: Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly, August 14, 2008.
378 “a deadening film that cuts corners: Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, August 14, 2008.
378 “We weren’t ready for prime time,”: James Arnold Taylor, author interview, June 18, 2013.
380 “He always wanted to be there: Filoni at Star Wars Celebration Europe.
380 “we need 100 more: Star Wars Insider, no. 140 (May 2013): 20.
27. HELLO DISNEY
381 “I’m moving away: George Lucas Is Ready to Roll the Credits,” New York Times, January 17, 2012.
381 “With the Internet, it’s gotten: “How Disney Bought Lucasfilm—and Its Plans for ‘Star Wars,’” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, March 7, 2013.
382 “I never had a story: David Kamp, “The Force Is Back,” Vanity Fair, February 1999.
382 “I’ve left pretty explicit instructions: Matthew Leyland, “George Lucas,” Total Film, April 2008.
382 “Star Wars obviously snuck up: Interview with Jon Stewart, Star Wars Celebration V, August 15, 2010.
383 “quite a mess”: Rob Smith, Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2008), 176.
384 “used to being able to change: Jason Schreier, “How LucasArts Fell Apart,” Kotaku, September 27, 2013, http://kotaku.com/how-lucasarts-fell-apart-1401731043.
384 “Star Wars-level quality: Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 243.
386 “Hello boys, it’s take your girlfriend: Anonymous source, Lucasfilm.
387 “I’m not ready to pursue that now,”: “How Disney Bought Lucasfilm.”
387 “ruminated on it endlessly”: Quotes from Lucas and Kennedy from “George Lucas & Kathleen Kennedy Discuss Disney and the Future of Star Wars,” YouTube video, October 30, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyqlTi7lkhY.
388 “afford me the ability: Kathleen Kennedy, Celebration Europe II, July 27, 2013.
388 “I’ve got to build this company: “How Disney Bought Lucasfilm.”
388 “Wait,” said Jett: “Jett Lucas Interview: Star Wars Episodes 7, 8 & 9, New Cast Rumours & J. J. Abrams,” Flicks and the City, YouTube video, 13:02, October 16, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnr18AUym-o.
389 “I was shocked by how: “Power Lawyers: How Star Wars Nerds Sold Lucasfilm to Disney,” Hollywood Reporter, May 31, 2013.
389 “Trust became important,”: Iger to producer Brian Grazer, Newsmaker Luncheon, Los Angeles, January 23, 2013.
389 “The writing was on the wall,”: Episode 6, Full of Sith podcast, January 27, 2013.
390 “something that’s unprintable”: “On the Brink of the Future,” Starwars.com, October 30, 2013.
390 “Ultimately you have to say: “How Disney Bought Lucasfilm.”
390 “We thought from a storytelling: “How Disney Bought Lucasfilm.”
391 “the steadiest of all the studios,”: “George Lucas & Kathleen Kennedy Discuss Disney.”
393 Disney had made a video: “Disney to Acquire Lucasfilm,” YouTube video, 5:39, October 30, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIkqX5fG_tA.
CONCLUSION: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
396 “Only a few of them recognized: Ates Cetin, author interview, August 26, 2013.
398 “create a bit more attention.”: Paul French quoted in “The Empire Strides Back for Starlight,” Magnet (Australia), March 21, 2012.
399 “He thought it was a good omen: Hal Barwood, author interview, May 21, 2013.
399 “I’m hoping that if the film: Paul Scanlon, “The Force Behind Star Wars,” Rolling Stone, August 1977.
399 “My only hope: Star Wars Celebration V, August 15, 2010.
399 “There were certain underlying ideas: Kerry O’Quinn, Starlog, no. 47 (June 1981).
400 “My whole love of space: Bobak Ferdowsi, GeekExchange.com, May 28, 2013.
400 “I never got into: Will Wei, “Neil deGrasse Tyson Tells Us Why ‘Star Trek’ Is So Much Better Than ‘Star Wars,’” Business Insider, May 14, 2013.
401 “We’ve got lots of Star Wars: Chris Lewicki, author interview, June 11, 2013.
401 “That was a great, great way: Parazynski in NASA transcript of shuttle mission STS-120, http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/audio/shuttle/sts-120/transcript/fd12.txt.
402 “The very existence of these discoveries: Quoted in Charles Q. Choi, “Planet Like ‘Star Wars’ Tatooine Discovered Orbiting 2 Suns,” Space.com, September 15, 2011.
404 Trust members “hate us”: “3 Vie to Build Culture Center in the Presidio,” New York Times, September 15, 2013.
404 “Plus the idea: Lucas to Presidio Trust, recorded and transcribed by the author, September 23, 2013.
404 “somewhere in the park.”: Craig Middleton, Presidio Trust, recorded and transcribed by the author, February 3, 2014.
406 “We’re just going to let: Disney spokesperson to the author.
407 “Every time we find someone’s: “Star Wars Actor Richard LeParmentier Dies at 66,” Thompson Reuters, April 17, 2013.
407 “It’s not uncommon for someone: Alan Horn, April 17, 2013, transcribed by the author.
409 “Ralph’s designs are as real: Behind-the-scenes video shown at Star Wars Celebration Europe II, July 27, 2013.
409 “Imagination drives innovation,”: Kathleen Kennedy, Celebration Europe II.
410 “He wrote more of the Star Wars: Steve Sansweet, appearance at Books Inc., Opera Plaza, San Francisco, October 5, 2010.
411 “I can reveal exclusively,”: Pablo Hidalgo, recorded and transcribed by the author, August 10, 2013.
414 “It’s a complicated cultural icon,”: Access Hollywood, June 14, 2013.