"He's really one of the smartest people I've met. He keeps up with everything - science, politics, art, literature - and can talk to you about everything. It is true he is shy, and he isn't someone I can say I really know, but I feel I do know him when I see him with his kids. He's such an incredible father and I think his choice to live removed from the whole Hollywood scene is because of them. George has done an amazing job. He has great core values, and despite his money and success, he's still in his jeans and sneakers everyday on set talking to everyone and is very down to earth."
Natalie Portman

If you were lucky enough to pick up SFX magazine recently, you would have enjoyed a romp through the Lucasfilm archives. Not only that, but it came with a spiffy free book called 'Attack of the Quotes' which lists witticisms and scathing reviews of George and all things Lucasfilm over the last 35 years. It's an entertaining read, and it got me thinking about the man who is responsible for us all being here (not on a planetary level mind you, I am referring of course to this blog site).

It goes without saying that we, as Star Wars fans, love George for allowing us to roam in his galaxy so far, far away, and yet it irks me that, in general, the man still doesn't get the respect he deserves.
He is an easy target.
Despite being at the forefront of popular culture and cinematic achievement, he secreted himself away like William Randolph Hearst, substituting the castle in San Simeon for a ranch in Marin County. He is by no means a recluse, but his independent spirit and outsider status immediately made him the 'strange kid on the block'. Time and again he is hammered for pandering to young tastes regarding the prequel trilogy, and for writing leaden dialogue, but sometimes it is worth pausing for a second and remembering that he created all of it. All of it.

"I naturally was amazed at the brilliance of George Lucas. You have to remember that in the case of a film like Lord of the Rings, they were taken from books that had already been written. What makes Star Wars so extraordinary is that all the stories, the special effects, the whole concept, comes from the mind of one man: George Lucas. The books come afterwards. The vision is quite amazing."
Christopher Lee

Then there are the detractors who knock him for his success, imagining him sitting in his office surrounded by wads of cash accumulated by mass marketing and merchandising. Yes, he was shrewd enough to understand the potential of tie-in products and, following Planet of the Apes' merchandising explosion, capitalized on an audience eager to carry on the stories in their own playrooms, but his motivation isn't greed. It's autonomy. It's the ability to make what he wants, how he wants, without bowing to the whims of the suits holding the purse strings.

"ILM was never a business strategy, in that you don't go into a business like ILM to get rich. If George had invested his profits in, say, pork bellies, he'd have made a lot more money."
Gordon Radley, former Lucasfilm president

It's also about being able to pump money into R & D, to further the capacities of the medium he so obviously adores. Did you dig Wall-E? Thank George. Did your pants quake when Jango let fly with his seismic charges? Thank George. Enjoy watching movies at the theater that look as crystal clear as the day they were shipped out - no pops and scratches and hiss to distract you? Thank George.

"I put all of my resources into pushing the evolution of an industry that is notoriously backwards and I enjoy pushing that envelope."
George Lucas

Is George an actor's director? Possibly not.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that if there were a way to make movies without actors, George Lucas would do it."
Mark Hamill

But George is a storyteller. He has a story in his head and he has images in place that will tell that story. He has surrounded himself with people that can make those images live and breathe, and it is understandable that he can sometimes get a little frustrated when his story is not emerging as it should.

"I think George likes people. I think George is a kind, warm-hearted person, but he can be a little... impatient with the nature of acting, that need to work until you find something."
Harrison Ford

This is an interesting time for George Lucas.
Star Wars continues to evolve, and shows no sign of slowing down, even without his hand constantly planted on the tiller. He has seen to it that trusted folks share his visions and carry them through. He is now free to spend time on his own personal projects, and it is with great anticipation that I, amongst others, look forward to Red Tails. This film should re-establish him as the great filmmaker and innovator that he truly is - but you can guarantee that the critics are not going to give him an easy ride. They are lining up in their T-16s, ready to bull's-eye him.

"I've discovered that most critics themselves are cinematically illiterate. They don't really know much about movies."
George Lucas

So why this brief and disjointed outpouring of thoughts from nob01?
Fact of the matter is I love Uncle George. I love the fact that he took a ten year old boy back in '77 and turned his world upside down and back to front, made him dream about wookiees and made him fill his math books with drawings of X-wings and TIE fighters.
I love how the saga that this one man created has motivated me throughout my life to push myself creatively, and how it made me dream of being to entertain people the way I was entertained myself.

I just wanted to show George Lucas some love.

"Just out of camera range, sat George atop a four-step ladder, directing. This may sound strange, but, as I watched this circus unfold, I looked over to George, and I swear I saw a halo reflected around his head. With his beard and longish black hair, he, for a split second, looked like one of those cameo shots of Jesus you might see on the wall of your friend's bathroom. Somehow, even the black horned rim glasses he wears, fit in the whole image."
Don Pedro Colley (THX-1138)