Loms Galactic Tours
Star wars in North America
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This is where star wars all started with of course George Lucas. Located here you will find information regarding Lucas's ranch and Industrial Light and Magic the famous special effects company. In West Hollywood – Mann's Chinese theatre, the most famous cinema in the world; this is where I saw The Phantom Menace on opening day 1999. How about the forest moon of Endor or in fact Crescent City and Jedidiah National Park where the massive Redwood trees grow and became the home of the Ewoks. Maybe you prefer the dryer areas such as Dante's View in Death Valley California or Buttercup Valley in Yuma Arizona . Hopefully this will give you more information.
The Ranch
Mann's
Crescent City
Yuma
Northern California
Skywalker Ranch, Nicasio, Marin County.
This is the workplace / home of George Lucas and is located just off Lucas Valley Road (no relationship).
The main house and production facilities ARE NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, there are security guards who patrol the place. Construction began in 1980, the Ranch consists of over 4,700 acres and cost over an estimated $100 million, but given that there were many objections by neighbours, Lucasfilm acquired their properties adding more than 3,000 acres although only some 15 acres are developed.
The Ranch has a barn, Vineyards, fitness centre and pool, its very own fire department, a man made lake known as “Lake Ewok”, a baseball diamond, underground parking for 200 staff.
The facilities for film making are second to none. There are multiple screening and editing rooms where directors like Ridley Scott and Clint Eastwood have worked on their films.
There is also Skywalker Sound housed in the tech building, the state of the art sound production facility where Foley, dubbing and audio mixing for most major movies has taken place.
There is an archives building which houses many of the props used in Lucasfilm production like Star Wars, Indiana Jones etc… it has very restricted access. And then there is The Main House, built in a Victorian style with winding staircase, Victorian library, fine antiques and even Tiffany chandeliers. It also houses Lucas’s private office on the top floor - Mr Lucas does not live here !
AND YES I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT IT….. PLEASE GEORGE….PLEASE….
NB. Lucasfilm is building its new headquarters of Industrial Light and Magic on the site of the former Letterman hospital.
George Lucas won the development rights for 15 acres (61,000 m²) of the Presidio in June 1999 after beating out a number of rival plans including a leading proposal by the Shorenstein Company. A massive $300 million development with nearly 900,000 square feet (84,000 m²) of office space and a 150,000 square foot (14,000 m²) underground parking garage with planned capacity of 2,500 employees will replace former ILM headquarters in San Rafael.
Lucas Learning Ltd., Lucas Online, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation will also move to the site. Lucas' proposal includes plans for a high-tech Presidio museum and a seven acre (28,000 m²) "Great Lawn" that will be open to the public and also includes a 298-seat, state-of-the-art, THX-certified screening room equipped for digital projection;
Northern California – Los Angeles
Mann’s Chinese Theatre, 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.
Here it is, the most famous Cinema in the world!
The cinema is located on Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood,
The cinema opened in May 1927 and was the dream of Sid Grauman, who filled the cinema with exotic art from China.
The theatre was renamed “Mann’s Chinese Theatre” after it was purchased by Ted Mann in 1973.
As well as the movies playing inside the whole exterior is an attraction in itself, the huge red pagodas, the snaking dragon, stone lions guarding the entrance and of course the stars hand and footprints on the forecourt.
(See photo).
The Ranch has a barn, Vineyards, fitness centre and pool, its very own fire department, a man made lake known as “Lake Ewok”, a baseball diamond, underground parking for 200 staff.
Star Wars Opened here on May 25th 1977 with crowds winding up the adjacent roads. A certain Mr. G Lucas was enjoying a meal in the “Hamburger Hamlet” opposite the Cinema on the opening night and was pleasantly surprised and the reaction his then little hyped film was garnering. I and 3 other friends took a 2 week trip to Hollywood in May 1999.
We stayed in the Travel lodge on Sunset and La Brea. We arrived on Sunday 16th and were hopeful of getting tickets for the opening day of The Phantom Menace.
On our arrival we decided to take a stroll along Hollywood Boulevard to shake of the Jet lag and to orientate ourselves a little.
We stopped at the ticket booth and purchased 4 tickets for the 12:05pm showing of the film - I was surprised to get tickets for such an early showing after seeing the news reports of the “hard-core” fans camping out! Anyway I had a ticket was keeping it very safe.
On the Tuesday Night we went to see The Mummy at the Galaxy theatre. On exiting the crowds and newscasters were out in “force” all prior to the one minute past midnight 1st showing, even the trekkies were out chanting “make Trek not Wars”! The atmosphere was electric, part of the road was closed off due to the volume of people and there was an expectant buzz around. Well I had to wait another 12hours until I could say I had seen it.
On the morning we got up washed, went to have our coffee and doughnut breakfast and made our way round to the cinema. I was horrified to see the volume of people in queues and the distance to the end - Damn! Our line stretched from the front out and to the left (looking toward the cinema) along past the fandom menace guys and galls then as far as I could see up N Orange DR. We trudged our way past Jedi’s and Maul’s and even a Yoda.
Now with twenty minutes to curtain up the queue had not moved and I was getting worried that we would not see the movie. Everybody was getting anxious at the non-movement! With about 10 minutes till Showtime there was movement at the front of the line. To my astonishment everyone got in, ticket checked and got seated just before the curtain rose. Every little moment was greeted with rapturous applause, the curtain moving, the Fox logo, Lucasfilm logo and then - “ a long time ago..” the roof lifted and the glowing of the lightsabres stood the hairs on the back of my neck.
The movie was okay but I left feeling more could have been done. (The original trilogy this was not going to be)
I and the guys then jumped on a movie star tour bus and took off for 2 hours. Now we also went to Universal Studios, Disneyland and to Six Flags theme park, but the highlight was in Santa Monica Mall on the Tuesday the week after seeing the film.
We were shopping for stuff when I thought I recognised someone, soon to be famous, after some deduction and
a bit of tailing / stalking from a Foot Locker store I narrowly missed a beating by none other than Mr. Ray Park - Darth Maul (see photo).
We had a chat and found out some stuff about the filming processes. (I have since caught up with Ray at fan conventions - and YES I believe I am his LA stalker).
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
– Lucas’s battle against technology
Established in 1929 and named after an intrepid American explorer, the park is located Nine miles east of Crescent City on highway 199; on the Northeast coast of California.
The park protects 10,000 acres of redwood groves and lush undergrowth (all the better for hiding an Ewok rope and catapult).
Redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth but extensive logging is reducing the area to isolated patches along the coast. The park is bisected by the last free flowing river in California, the Smith River.
In ROTJ Lucas got to revive the idea for the less evolved characters to take on the might of a technologically advanced Empire (see Apocalypse Now). Also the director had dabbled with the idea but for the Wookiees, because Chewbacca is first mate on a Starship the audience saw a more advanced alien. The Ewoks are re-engineered Wookiees employed to take the fight to the Empire and show that where there is Will…
The Actual Ewok Village was built inside Studio 3 at Elstree and again matte paintings by skilled artist like Chris Evans were used for wider shots.
Miniature AT-ST’s were shot at ILM and set-up in different ways to show how the wily Ewoks would dispatch them using only the materials around them.
Some pick-ups were done at the Ranch with Mark Hamill and some Ewoks. The last second unit pick-up was for the bonfire scene.
Eastern California
Dante’s View / Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley.
This is where Ben shows Luke Mos Eisley spaceport from ANH.
Many pick up shots of Luke in his land speeder were to be filmed here and also whilst waiting for Mark Hamill’s double to arrive filmed Mardji the African elephant from Marine World who was costumed as a bantha. (Mark Hamill had been involved in a car accident)
Because of running over budget Lucas use the barren desert land of Death Valley, California to fill in the filming gaps of Tunisia.
The view to Mos Eisley is from Dante’s View which is a high summit near the edge of the Black Mountains. The actual spaceport is not really there it was a matte painting added later. Actors Alec Guiness and Mark Hamill were filmed in Tunisia but their point of view is northwards along the Valley, only some 7,000 miles separate the shots.
R2-D2 also does an amazing Trans-Atlantic leap as he was also filmed here being pursued by those pesky Jawas.
According to John Knoll in his book Creating the worlds of Star Wars, 365 days, the scene of C-3PO and R2-D2 approaching Jabba’s palace door was filmed in Death Valley’s Twenty Mule Team Canyon in December 1982.
Buttercup Valley / Yuma, Arizona -
Located at the point where the Gila and Colorado Rivers converge, Yuma originated as a major transportation hub, as goods came from the west coast and were shipped up river.
Yuma has been the best site for crossing the Colorado River - Spanish conquistadors travelled this route in the 1500's and the only Ocean to Ocean bridge was constructed here in 1920, linking the Eastern U.S. and the West Coast.
Yuma is the southernmost community along Arizona's West Coast,
The cast and crew endured temperatures of 120 degrees. Buttercup's spectacular dunes provided the perfect backdrop for the creatures of Tatooine.
Rather than go back to Tunisia, Lucas and crew stayed closer to home in the deserts of Yuma. Production was kept secret trying not to let too much out about the latest Star Wars sequel.
This is where the fake movie name “BLUE HARVEST – Horror beyond imagination” comes from. Cast, crew and call sheets all hoped to contain the media frenzy, but a group of dune buggy enthusiasts got a closer look and saw some tell-tale SW references.
And then the fans are told its “Revenge of the Jedi”.
The full size Sail Barge and skiff were built in Buttercup Valley on a flat section of desert surrounded by dunes and filmed in April 1982.
The full size Sail Barge and skiff were built in Buttercup Valley on a flat section of desert surrounded by dunes and filmed in April 1982.
The full size Sail Barge and skiff were built in Buttercup Valley on a flat section of desert surrounded by dunes and filmed in April 1982.