Line #17 Creator/GeorgeLucas


1	%%
2	%%
3	%% Per Administrivia/CreatorPageGuidelines, only tropes associated to a creator's works are allowed on this wiki's pages, and tropes that only apply to the creator's personal life as if the creator is a fictional character are not allowed. Please do not apply tropes about the creator's personal life as if they are a fictional character.
4	%%
5	%%
6	[[quoteright:319:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/george_lucas_2009.png]]
7	[[caption-width-right:319:''"Dreams are extremely important. You can't do it unless you imagine it."'']]
8
9	->''"George has never stopped asking 'Any ideas?' and the world has been a better place for it."''
10	-->-- '''Creator/StevenSpielberg'''
11
12	George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944 in Modesto, California) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known as the man behind ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Franchise/IndianaJones''.
13
14	Lucas was a car buff in high school, and wanted to be a professional racer, until he sufferered a near-fatal crash days before graduation; [=EMTs=] actually [[NotQuiteDead declared him dead at the scene]]. After recovering, he attended community college, where his initial interest was in anthropology before attending screenings of films from the likes of [[Creator/JeanLucGodard Godard]], [[Creator/FrancoisTruffaut Truffaut]], [[Creator/FedericoFellini Fellini]], and (especially) [[Creator/AkiraKurosawa Kurosawa]] made him switch his focus to cinema (although anthropology would, by his own admission, continue to inform many of his films).
15
16	Lucas then transferred to the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where his early student films attracted much praise and support from his peers and were considered far in advance in terms of editing and cinematography than others of his class. Experimental film-maker Thom Andersen, a classmate of Lucas's, still considers them to be significant avant-garde films. For instance, his first work was in 1965 with ''Look at Life'', which was supposed to be a one-minute film consisting of testing various camera angles; Lucas took the opportunity to create an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGyopseEKRE intense and evocative montage of current events]] that went way beyond his class assignment. Incidentally, the class was really impressed by this, with the teacher saying of Lucas, "We have a live one here!"
17
18	This was followed by a number of other shorts, including ''The Emperor'', ''Freiheit'', and ''Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB'', the latter of which he would go on to remake as a feature. A program by Hollywood studios offering internships to students led to Lucas working on the sets of Creator/FrancisFordCoppola's ''Film/FiniansRainbow''. The two men hit it off, with Coppola becoming his BigBrotherMentor and the pair remaining close friends and colleagues for most of the '70s and '80s until their careers branched off in different directions.[[note]]Creator/SofiaCoppola admits that Lucas babysat her and other siblings, and "[[HonoraryUncle Uncle George]]" apparently first told the ideas that became ''Star Wars'' to them.[[/note]]
19
20	With Coppola, Lucas founded American Zoetrope to get away from the oppressive Hollywood studio system, and Coppola produced his feature directorial debut, ''THX 1138''. That film's commercial failure sunk Zoetrope's initial plans for independence, though it remains a talismanic project for Lucas, the source of [[CreatorThumbprint references]], with "THX" and "1138" appearing in various forms, providing the name for the Creator/{{THX}} soundsystem. Lucas' main point in making that film was to show that (then) present-day America was close to the dystopias of science fiction, and he proved his point by using extensive location shooting at what were, at the time, highly futuristic-looking urban developments in San Francisco and Northern California. The failure led Lucas to go in what he saw as a more commercial direction, i.e. making films about the problems of young people, and proving he could direct a serious drama. Produced by Coppola and Gary Kurtz for Lucas's new production company, Creator/{{Lucasfilm}}, ''American Graffiti'' was a major success sold on the NostalgiaFilter (Its tagline was "Where were you in '62?") of the America just before the death of JFK, the escalation of the country's involvement in the Vietnam War, and the emergence of the counterculture. It led Lucas to go one step further.
21
22	Believing that his fellow MediaNotes/NewHollywood directors had ignored the market for young children and teenagers, who hadn't grown up with the pirate, westerns, and serial films that his generation had, Lucas set out to revive the old serials' spirit but with a more updated and modern polish. His initial idea was to adapt ''[[Film/FlashGordonSerial Flash Gordon]]'' and ''ComicStrip/BuckRogers'' serials, while also thinking of a concept based on Republic serials with an AdventurerArchaeologist. They became ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' respectively. For ''Star Wars'', Lucas wanted to revive the old BMovie serial but he wanted to update it, and give it the scale of an EpicMovie, with sound and visual effects far in advance of anything currently available. To create his vision for ''Star Wars'', George formed his own FX studio Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic and they revolutionized special effects and post-production techniques[[note]]Before, the "spaceship flyby" effect was accomplished by pulling a model ship across a starfield backdrop with a string; very limiting, ''very'' cheap and unconvincing. George worked with John Dykstra to leave the model static, put it against a bluescreen, and move the camera around ''it'' (preventing the shaky look of moving models). Another innovation that Dykstra and Lucas brought to the table was putting the camera movements under the control of a computer, which could be programmed to move the camera a certain way and then repeat that movement perfectly dozens of times over. This let them do a shot of one model, switch the model for a different one and repeat the shot, replace the second model with a third, etc. When the individual shots were composited together the models looked like they were all part of the same shot. The computer controlled camera was precise enough to avoid the kinds of mismatches that previous attempts to composite multiple model shots together led to.[[/note]]. For sound, Lucas wanted to go away from the common electronic synth sounds of conventional science-fiction and incorporate natural sounds with advanced technology to make it more tangible. Ben Burtt was of a similar inclination, breaking new grounds in using unconventional sources for sounds that felt truly alien.
23
24	''Star Wars'', released in 1977, was the biggest film in American history, toppling the record for highest grosses, making more money than several studios had over the last 10 years, and adjusted for inflation, it still trails ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' as the second-highest grossing film of all time. It also changed the film landscape thoroughly in ways that are too big to go here. Lucas had plans to make multiple serial films but initially conceived it as a standalone. The success demanded sequels and follow-ups, and Lucas believed initially that it could be done by other directors but he became so ubiquitously associated with the brand, and likewise believed he had to protect it from becoming the parody of the serials that many initially expected it was, that he gradually assumed more executive control than he expected. The disastrous ''[[Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial Star Wars Holiday Special]]'' also confirmed these views, as did a rational belief that ''Star Wars'' might plateau its interest and become a fad. The TroubledProduction of the first film also exhausted him from directing, and Lucas has repeatedly stated that he prefers the conceptual pre-production and post-production processes to the actual on-set process of directing.
25
26	For most of TheEighties, Lucas worked as a producer and writer of his own and other projects. He has collaborated with Creator/StevenSpielberg, another close friend, on the ''Indiana Jones'' projects, as well as Creator/FrancisFordCoppola. He worked on a number of other films both mainstream (''Labyrinth'', ''Willow'') and avant-garde (such as the ''Koyanniqatsi'' documenaries, Paul Schrader's {{Biopic}} on Mishima which was the first mainstream Hollywood film entirely in Japanese, and Creator/AkiraKurosawa's ''Kagemusha'') but most of these were commercial failures. With the exception of ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'', none of Lucas' later ideas ever found commercial favour, and many of his solo producer work has often been CultClassic or niche items, with the exception of ''Film/HowardTheDuck'' being the biggest failure and still considered an embarrassing failure. Alongside that his company, Lucasfilm made many important innovations such as investment in CGI animation, chiefly Creator/{{Pixar}} studios, which Lucas sold to Creator/SteveJobs. While not involved in the creative process, his name resonates in the video game scene thanks to a branch of his empire, ''[=LucasFilm=] Games'' -- later renamed Creator/LucasArts -- which experienced a golden age in the 1990s and was responsible for creating many iconic AdventureGames and [[VideoGame/TieFighter Space]] SimulationGames, which are often ranked among the best games ever.
27
28	After ''Return of the Jedi'' in 1983, Lucas announced the end of the ''Star Wars'' franchise, at least in movie form (the concurrent ExpandedUniverse works kept chugging along for a few years after), but he later discussed plans for either sequels or prequels.[[note]]When the films were being made, he said they were part of a projected series of many as twelve films.[[/note]] Eventually in TheNineties, he set out on making the prequel trilogy. The successful revival of the Expanded Universe in various media such as books, comics and video games starting in the early '90s and the commercial successes of the [[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion Special Edition]] re-releases of the films for the 20th anniversary of the franchise in 1997 also convinced him that the interest hadn't died down in ''Star Wars''. Unlike the made-as-it-went-along threadbare approach of the original film (by then rechristened ''A New Hope'') that was influenced by casting contingencies and uncertainty on whether any sequels would ever be made, the prequels were conceived from the start as a three-part work, with all scripts written at first. Lucas again tried to interest other film-makers, including Spielberg and Creator/RonHoward, but they all insisted that he should direct it. After a twenty-year gap (1977-1999), Lucas returned to the director's chair on the prequels, which were again technical marvels, innovating on CGI with one of the first entirely CGI motion-captured character Jar-Jar Binks in a mainstream film. For the second and third film, Lucas shot the films in digital, being the first major director to embrace digital film-making, a process that became a norm later in the decades. After finishing ''Revenge of the Sith'', Lucas again retired and went to producing, before announcing his landmark sale of Lucasfilm to Disney in October 2012, in a whopping $4 billion deal.
29
30	Lucas was married to film editor Marcia Lucas (formerly Griffin) between 1969 and 1983[[note]]His workaholic habits with his filmmaking ultimately doomed their marriage[[/note]] and he has several adopted children, most of whom have cameos in his films. Marcia worked as an editor for ''A New Hope''[[note]]and won an MediaNotes/AcademyAward for it, the only Oscar the Lucases would ever win[[/note]] and ''Return of the Jedi'', participating in the production of all the three original trilogy movies. In a notable example of CreatorCouple, her main contribution to the original trilogy was to serve as TheHeart, balancing out Lucas' highly technical, visual-minded vision with an emphasis on character development, plot and emotional response -- Creator/MarkHamill in particular has confirmed this. [[CreatorBreakdown Lucas' divorce from Marcia]], occurring at the same time as Spielberg's divorce from Amy Irving, is cited as a leading cause for the DarkerAndEdgier nature of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'', as well as [[DevelopmentHell the fate]] of the Prequel Trilogy. In June 2013, he married his girlfriend of seven years, investment executive Mellody Hobson.
31
32	Lucas has always been a controversial figure, despite being personally quite modest and disarming, even a little shy, and renowned for being a good sport[[note]]Number of Star Wars parodies such as ''Film/HardwareWars, Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' and Music/WeirdAlYankovic's mash up of "American Pie" with Star Wars, "The Saga Begins", were made not only with his approval but tacit support[[/note]] as well as being very generous[[note]]As noted by Creator/MarkHamill, Lucas gave the main cast of ''Star Wars'' a percentage of royalties for their performance which ensured a steady income for them, a practice unheard of then and still rare today. Hamill notes, "[[WhatYouAreInTheDark He didn't have to do that]]." When Lucas sold his company to Disney in 2012, he donated every penny of the $4 billion he was paid to Edutopia, an education charity.[[/note]]. The success of ''Star Wars'' and its revolutionary technique were met with praise but also dismay since it was seen as a shift away from the analog qualities of cinema (chiefly focusing on actors performances, good dialogue, real locations) to the technological, and this criticism has been constant since the beginning. In TheEighties and TheNineties, Lucas was held as symbolic for the turn in Hollywood away from the adult audience to a more family and child-centric approach, which along with the extensive merchandizing of Star Wars, and the drying up of funds for films with more serious matter, has led him to being accused (with Creator/StevenSpielberg occasionally[[note]]This died down when he made ''Film/SchindlersList'' in his case[[/note]]) for "ruining the movies". Lucas' embrace of digital cinema and CGI was also driven by similar mix of resentment and technological skepticism. But for most of that time, Lucas could count on being popular with the audiences, rather than the critics. This changed in the TurnOfTheMillennium, where Lucas experienced a considerable vocal backlash against the prequels, which in turn led to a backlash on himself. Not just from his regular critics who usually disliked the prequels for the same reasons they hated the originals (e.g. [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence the fact that it existed]]), but from his own fandom, who had formerly been loyal to him, with many now deprecating and questioning his skills as a director and writer. The fact that this period coincided with the rise of the internet and widespread use of online forums and social media spread this to a wider audience than it would have before[[note]]Lucas himself chided this in the wake of ''The Phantom Menace'' and the Jar-Jar Binks controversy noting that online posters represented a minority but owing to their presence, and coverage in news, they get a wider platform than their opinion actually represents[[/note]]. However, with the equally divisive reception of Disney's ''Star Wars'' films, especially the Sequel Trilogy, fans have been reassessing both the Prequel Trilogy and Lucas himself in a more favorable light.
33
34	Lucas himself admits that he is [[SelfDeprecation "the King of Wooden Dialogue"]]. On the other hand, collaborators and actors do not dispute his incredible eye for casting, conceptualization, visual style, and his dramatic instinct (e.g. making Vader Luke's father, one of cinema's all-time great plot twists, which was entirely written by him). As a director, Lucas is known for constantly iterating (for instance, he brought back the cast and crew for reshoots for ''Attack of the Clones'' and ''Revenge of the Sith'', removing entire subplots that had been entirely filmed and finished as seen in deleted scenes) on set, as well as emphasizing wide and detailed backgrounds within which his characters interact, communicating a sense of place and setting. He's also considered a great director of immersive large-scale action scenes with impressive choreography of multiple moving parts as objects move through the screen. As a producer, a careful glance at Lucas' body of work shows that the number of uncommercial, avant-garde, and niche films that he has produced equal the number of mainstream works he has made, and that he is considerably more risk-taking than many give him credit for.
35
36	Lucas had an ambitious worldwide approach to his inspirations. ''Star Wars'' was a fantasy series with decidedly Buddhist and Taoist inspirations, influenced by Creator/AkiraKurosawa's and was able to assist in his CareerResurrection in TheEighties. Reportedly he originally planned to cast Creator/ToshiroMifune in ''Film/ANewHope'' with Creator/AlecGuinness as Plan B. He also used it for character archetypes that were atypical for the time, such as [[RebelliousPrincess Princess Leia]] who [[ActionGirl takes over her own rescue attempt]] and Lando Calrissian as a charismatic businessman and complex, dramatic character played [[Creator/BillyDeeWilliams by a black actor]] with no commentary made. His production of ''Film/{{Willow}}'' was a fantasy epic with a dwarf actor (Creator/WarwickDavis) as the Hero (preceding Creator/PeterDinklage's celebrated turn as Tyrion Lannister in ''Series/GameOfThrones'' by thirty years). As a producer he funded ''Film/RedTails'' which dealt with the Tuskegee Airmen and highlighting an African-American story and setting, while also producing ''Mishima,'' an American film entirely in Japanese. Conversely, his appeal towards the GenreThrowback has sometimes produced [[FairForItsDay ethnic and racial stereotypes that may not have stood the test of time]].
37
38	Lucas is still indisputably a pioneer in film technology and special effects, both in his own films and through Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic. Together they mastered the non-linear editing system, allowing previews of the process without physically cutting the film strips. He was a strong advocate for [[Platform/HighDefinition digital filmmaking]], using the ''Star Wars'' prequels to push the R&D at companies like Sony and Panasonic to produce higher quality digital film cameras. ''Young Indiana Jones'' used extensive digital effects to expand crowd shots. He turned Creator/RobertRodriguez onto the technology and believed it would lead to an increase of independent productions because of the lower cost by avoiding film reel development. He predicted this in the early 1990s, well before the release of ''Film/{{District 9}}''. Creator/MartinScorsese remarked that whenever he wonders what the future of cinema would be like, he would simply visit Lucas at Skywalker Ranch and pick his brain, noting he has never been wrong.
39
40	In 2016 he was the subject of a biography by Brian Jay Jones, whose previous work was about Lucas' sometime collaborator Creator/JimHenson. This is Jones' third biography, and his first on a still living person. There are other books including J. W. Rinzler's series on the making of ''Star Wars'', a book of interviews edited by Guy Flatley, ''The Cinema of George Lucas'' by Marcur Hearn, ''Masters of Cinema: George Lucas'' by Karina Longworth, and ''Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas'' by Dale Pollock which was originally released in tandem with ''Return of the Jedi''.
41
42	----
43	!!Filmography of George Lucas:
44	!!!Director
45	[[index]]
46	* ''Freiheit'' (1966, Student Film) -- Showing a refugee trying to escape the Berlin Wall.
47	* ''1:42:06'' (1966, Student Film) -- Featuring a car race.
48	* ''Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB'' (1967, Short Film) -- Later elaborated into a feature, and first got him notice.
49	* ''Filmmaker'' (1968, Short Documentary) - Showing the making of Coppola's ''Film/TheRainPeople'', Coppola has said that this is an example of a making-of film better than the actual film.
50	* ''Film/{{THX 1138}}'' (1971, Feature Debut) - Iconic science-fiction albeit commercially unsuccessful.
51	* ''Bald: The Making of THX 1138'' (1971, Short) -- Largely showing shots of the various actors and actresses having their head shaved for his film.
52	* ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' (1973)
53	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The creator, writer and chief visionary (until the sale to Disney) of the overall franchise. He directed four of the films (the most by any)
54	** ''Film/ANewHope'' (1977) -- Initially titled ''Star Wars'', but in 1981, given its current title, "Episode IV: A New Hope"
55	** ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' (1999)
56	** ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' (2002)
57	** ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' (2005)
58	** ''Film/{{Solo}}'' (2018) -- Just directed a scene the day he visited the film set, as the film overall was directed first by Creator/PhilLordAndChrisMiller and then by Creator/RonHoward.
59	[[/index]]
60
61	!!!Producer
62	* ''Film/MoreAmericanGraffiti'' (1979): Executive producer. Directed by Bill L. Norton.
63	* ''Film/{{Kagemusha}}'' (1980): Executive producer; he and Creator/FrancisFordCoppola gave financial support to this film by their hero Creator/AkiraKurosawa after his studio got cold feet. He and Creator/StevenSpielberg would later present Kurosawa his lifetime achievement award.
64	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
65	** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' (1980): The sequel to ''A New Hope'' directed by Irvin Kershner. Lucas and Creator/LawrenceKasdan worked from a draft story and script by Creator/LeighBrackett.
66	** ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' (1983): Third and final film of the original trilogy, directed by Richard Marquand, albeit owing to TroubledProduction, featured Lucas in a more hands-on role, and doing uncredited directing for a few scenes.
67	* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'': Producer and co-creator of character and story with Creator/StevenSpielberg directing all four films, featuring regular collaborator Creator/HarrisonFord. He also produced ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'' (1992-93) television series and other spin-offs.
68	** ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' (1981)
69	** ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' (1984)
70	** ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' (1989)
71	** ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' (2008)
72	** ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheDialOfDestiny'' (2023): Executive producer and creative consultant. This is the only film in the series with a plot not conceived by Lucas, instead by Creator/JamesMangold.
73	* ''Film/BodyHeat'' (1981): Written and Directed by Lawrence Kasdan (screenwriter on ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones''). Also provided financial support, but specifically avoided a screen credit because of his family-friendly reputation.
74	* ''WesternAnimation/TwiceUponATime'' (1983): Executive producer.
75	* ''Film/CaptainEo'' (1986): Executive producer, directed by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola.
76	* ''Film/MishimaALifeInFourChapters (1985)'' directed by Creator/PaulSchrader, which he is credited for, despite his family-friendly reputation.
77	* ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' (1986): Executive producer. Directed by Creator/JimHenson.
78	* ''Film/HowardTheDuck'' (1986): Executive producer. Directed by Willard Huyck.
79	* ''Film/{{Willow}}'' (1988): Executive producer and story. Directed by Creator/RonHoward, formerly an actor who played one of the leads on ''American Graffiti'' (and later directed ''Film/{{Solo}}'').
80	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' (1988): Co-executive producer with Creator/StevenSpielberg. Directed by Creator/DonBluth.
81	* ''Film/TuckerTheManAndHisDream (1988)'': Executive producer and co-creator of the story. Directed by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola out of their mutual love for the original Tucker cars.
82	* ''Film/TheRadiolandMurders'': Executive producer and story (the project was conceived in TheSeventies but not produced until 1994). Directed by Mel Smith.
83	* ''Film/RedTails'' (2012): Producer and [[UncreditedRole uncredited]] co-director. Directed by Anthony Hemmingway.
84	* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'' (2015): Story credit.
85
86	!!!Other work
87	* ''Film/GimmeShelter1970'': {{Rockumentary}} about Music/{{The Rolling Stones\|Band}} in which he worked as a cameraman.
88	* ''Film/TheGodfather'' (1971): Worked as a second-unit director, shooting the footage used in the gangland murder montage, done in the style of a newspaper montage, that happens between Solozzo's death and Sonny's murder.
89	* ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' (1979): Provided financial support with no request for screen credit. Was originally supposed to be directed by him, planned alongside ''THX-1138'' but eventually taken over by Coppola. Creator/HarrisonFord appears in a small cameo at the start as Colonel Lucas, as a tribute to his friend.
90	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' (2011-19): Helped to direct a scene of the Season 8 premiere "[[Recap/GameOfThronesS8E1Winterfell Winterfell]]".
91
92	----
93	!!George Lucas and his works provide examples of:
94	%% Remember, creators don't get trivia pages. Trivia items on this page should remain here.
95	* ActionGirl: A common trope in his movies. Whatever his shortcomings as a writer, his works are never short of strong, powerful female characters.
96	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: He nearly died from laughter when Creator/CarrieFisher roasted him.
97	* AdamWesting: His [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq30vO3K4Lw&ab_channel=julianrougeron appearance]] in Robot Chicken where he parodies his complicated relationship with the Expanded Universe, violently kicking writer Zeb Wells out of his office for making the mistake of associating him with it. Given Lucas in real life is known as a notoriously [[TheStoic calm]] and [[NiceGuy polite]] man, seeing him scream in rage is very comedic.
98	* [[invoked]]ArtistDisillusionment: He seemed to let the fandom's negative reception of the ''Star Wars'' prequels get to him over time, which probably showed the most in the "Why would I make any more [''Star Wars'' movies], when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?" quote after selling Lucasfilm to Creator/{{Disney}}.
99	* AuteurLicense: Wrote, issued, and certified his license after the huge success of ''Star Wars''. He actually said "screw you" to the Directors' Guild in 1981 and left the union after they demanded he put credits at the beginning of ''The Empire Strikes Back''. In his last movies he didn't even need it, as he owned his own studio. In addition, George dislikes [[ExecutiveMeddling production companies messing]] with other people's movies, violating their "moral rights", and has spoken before Congress to advocate legal recognition of directors as creators entitled to copyright (it didn't take unfortunately). He argues that only a work's creator should be allowed to make changes to their work as they see fit.
100	* AuthorAppeal: High-speed chase sequences. There's always at least one per movie. His car enthusiasm is also evident, all of his films have TechnologyPorn to varying degrees.
101	* AuthorUsurpation: ''Star Wars'' was so successful that most people don't know or care about any of the other movies George Lucas made, except for the ''Indiana Jones'' movies. And even then, everyone always associates him with ''Star Wars'' first, ''Indiana'' second.
102	* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Experienced so much artistic neutering with his pre-''Star Wars'' movies so much that it literally traumatized him, which led to a near-pathological fear of being told how to make his own movies, which led to his habit of updating ''Star Wars'' every few years.
103	** This has ended up making him somewhat of a pariah in the general Hollywood system. When ''Empire'' came out he dropped out of the Directors' Guild when they started demanding more traditional opening credits for them. Ever since, he strove to make himself completely independent from Hollywood so that he could make his movies his way. With the financial clout ''Star Wars'' gave him, he noted about the time ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' came out that he has ''become'' his own meddling Hollywood system. As such, his Prequel films suffered for the fact that no one could really tell Lucas where he was going wrong.
104	** ''Star Wars'' originally began as a modest homage to science-fiction serials which no major Hollywood studio would have given the attention and detail to what would be regarded as a BMovie in the 50s and 60s, and yet the success of ''Star Wars'' led to the rise of the blockbuster and the success of the merchandise (whose rights Lucas entirely possessed), which in turn was cited by Lucas' friends and colleagues (Scorsese and John Milius), and lately [[SelfDeprecation Lucas himself]], as closing the doors on the MediaNotes/NewHollywood.
105	* CreatorBreakdown: His divorce from Marcia is often considered one. It led him to cancel his initial plans for ''Star Wars'' films, and it led to the mean-spirited nature of ''Temple of Doom''.
106	* {{Determinator}}: With the original ''Star Wars'', he was insistent on getting the damn thing made through an infamously TroubledProduction.
107	* DullSurprise: Due to his appeal towards dialogue that is [[TechnoBabble heavily technical]], [[CrypticBackgroundReference filled with mysterious jargon]] or [[MrExposition otherwise load bearing the plot]], when he is directing a movie he expects it to be delivered it as it is. Actors have shared the numerous problems they had making it work, which is most prevalent in the ''Star Wars'' prequels due to the focus on [[TheStoic monk-like Jedi or reserved politicians]].
108	* {{Fanservice}}: Puts it in his movies quite regularly.
109	* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: TropeNamer. He altered ''Star Wars'' and ''THX 1138'' significantly after their initial releases (though the latter was done in response to the ExecutiveMeddling that occurred during production rather than for personal taste). This has led "George Lucas" to enter the slang lexicon as a term for modification of a work after release.
110	* GenreThrowback: Formerly "George Lucas Throwback", his works include several well-known examples:
111	** ''Franchise/StarWars'': 1930s sci-fi serials among other sources, ''[[Film/FlashGordonSerial Flash Gordon]]'' in particular. (It originated as an attempt to actually revive ''Flash Gordon'', except that Lucas could not buy the rights.) It was essentially an AdaptationalDistillation of several pulp science fiction and fantasy elements achieved on a scale and attention to detail that had never been realized by any film-maker before Lucas.
112	** The original three ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' adventures (''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom Temple of Doom]]'' and ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]'') were based on 1930s pulp adventures, with ThoseWackyNazis or an [[ReligionOfEvil evil cult]] as the villains, and supernatural, often [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] forces. ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', meanwhile, was rooted in '50s pulp sci-fi, with the atomic bomb and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar featuring prominently, [[DirtyCommunists the Soviets]] replacing the Nazis, and a plot based around aliens from AnotherDimension.
113	** ''Film/RedTails'': '40s and '50s war movies. It wasn't directed by Lucas, but he did produce and finance it, and it had been one of his dream projects for years.
114	* LooseCanon: When he was still in charge of Star Wars, this seemed to be his attitude towards the expanded universe (renamed Legends). He technically allowed them to be canon, but he did not take them into account when telling new stories.
115	* MerchandiseDriven: Part of what caused the BrokenBase is just how much George has licensed for his various properties, especially ''Franchise/StarWars''. [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Here's a brief overview]].
116	* NoOriginStoriesAllowed: George has stipulated that Yoda's species, homeworld, and origin cannot be revealed in ''Star Wars'', and this still applies after the ContinuityReboot. FanFic doesn't abide by this, though; there's plenty of {{Fanon}} on it.
117	* OldShame:
118	** Has said he wishes to hunt down every copy of ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'' and destroy it, [[MisBlamed even though he wasn't directly involved with it.]]
119	** Also, he's not proud of ''Film/HowardTheDuck''.
120	* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Lucas is the linchpin of the New Hollywood era, being one or two degrees away from Coppola (starting as his apprentice and co-producing many movies together), Spielberg (collaborating on ''Indiana Jones''), Scorsese (via Marcia Lucas who edited ''Film/TaxiDriver''), De Palma (who suggested a modification for the title crawl of ''Star Wars''), Milius (collaborator on the first drafts for ''Film/ApocalypseNow''), Schrader (producing ''Mishima''). When Creator/MartinScorsese was nominated for Best Director on ''Film/TheDeparted'', Lucas presented along with Coppola and Spielberg (which was itself a [[InterfaceSpoiler tell on who was going to win]]), and it turned into an impromptu roast on [[AwardSnub Lucas still not winning any Oscars]] among their generation.
121	* TheOtherDarrin: A trope he seems to despise using unless absolutely necessary. Lucas has said that before he started searching for a company to sell his own to, he had contacted Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford, essentially saying that if they didn't have an interest in coming back for the next trilogy, he could write their characters out. This was also why the original series ended in a trilogy when it was intended to go for longer than that. Creator/MarkHamill's car accident before ''Empire'' and Creator/HarrisonFord constantly going back-and-forth in terms of wanting to continue the series, led Lucas to believe he couldn't maintain the cast for long, and so he had to provide closure for the characters audiences cared for from ''A New Hope''.
122	* ParodyAssistance: Lucas is a fan of WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy, describing it as one of the only TV shows he regularly watches. So naturally, when the show [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuyPresentsLaughItUpFuzzball made a trilogy of episodes parodying the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy]], Lucas not only gave his approval, but assisted with the production.
123	* ProductionPosse: With Creator/HarrisonFord, albeit not intentionally. They got along well as friends but he didn't want Ford to be a part of all his movies, like Creator/MartinScorsese had done with Creator/{{Robert DeNiro}}. But they brought in Ford to read for Han Solo just in the casting process and the crew fell in love with his take on the character. For ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', scheduling issues with Creator/TomSelleck led them back to Ford once more.
124	* ReCut: There was precedence of filmmakers re-editing their movies after the original release long before Lucas became the [[ExaggeratedTrope poster-boy for it]], including Creator/StevenSpielberg for ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''. It's often a source of parody, if not outright {{flanderization}}, WesternAnimation/SouthPark featured a joke that had Lucas remastering home movies.
125	* {{Retcon}}: The SpecialEdition[=s=] of the original ''Star Wars'' movies and the prequels to said movies count. Of course the biggest and most successful retcon was the twist of Darth Vader in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' which was not planned in the first film and which Lucas himself introduced into the second film.
126	* SelfDeprecation: His biggest critic of the dialogue of his movies is likely himself.
127	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: His films are more on the idealistic end of the scale.
128	* SpecialEdition: TropeNamer and, with Creator/StevenSpielberg, the co-TropeCodifier.
129	* StockScream: He loves using the Wilhelm Scream in his movies, and it became so famous in ''Star Wars'' that [[FollowTheLeader everybody started using it]].
130	* TechnicianVersusPerformer: The Technician to Creator/StevenSpielberg's Performer. He's actually expressed a lot of discomfort personally directing his movies, early in his career he preferred being an editor and only turned towards directing because they had more control over the footage. Most of the films he has made were partially testbeds for new filmmaking technologies.
131	** In fact, Lucas only ever directed ''six'' feature films throughout his career: ''THX 1138'', ''American Graffiti'', ''Star Wars'', ''The Phantom Menace'', ''Attack of the Clones'', and ''Revenge of the Sith''.
132	** On the other hand, many consider Lucas to be brilliant as an action film-maker, with the space battle in ''A New Hope'' and ''Revenge of the Sith'' cited as being the best of their kind.
133	* TributeToFido: In the 1970s, his partner Marcia had a dog called Indiana, who helped inspire two characters of his: ''Franchise/StarWars''' Chewbacca (being a big, furry dog that always sat up front with in his car) and the titular Franchise/IndianaJones (referenced in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', where we find out [[WeNamedTheMonkeyJack Indy took the nickname from his childhood dog]]).
134	* {{Troperiffic}}: Rather than try to avoid cliches, his works often embrace them wholeheartedly. As he himself once pointed out, "They became cliches because they work."
135	* {{Troll}}: Wanted to build a production studio on his ranch in Marin County, California, but his wealthy neighbors protested the development, claiming that it would ruin their views. Rather than fighting them, Lucas backed down... and began work on a low-income housing project on the property instead. Served as both a hilarious "screw you" to his neighbors and as a sweet PetTheDog moment, as affordable housing is a pressing issue in the Bay Area and Lucas pledged over $150 million of his own money to fund the project.
136	* TrollingCreator: One possible interpretation of his remarks about Star Wars. Then again, if ''you'' had a fanbase like that, you would too.
137	* UncreditedRole:
138	** He had a brief uncredited cameo in ''Film/{{Hook}}'', alongside Creator/CarrieFisher.
139	** He was executive producer on Creator/LawrenceKasdan's ''Film/BodyHeat'', mainly as a favor for Kasdan's help with the script for ''Return of the Jedi''. Lucas went uncredited because he didn't want his work on an erotic thriller film to affect his family-friendly reputation from the first two Star Wars films.
140	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
141	** Or in this case, what might ''not'' have been. Lucas abandoned his quest to become a race car driver due to a near-fatal accident. If he hadn't had the accident, he might have become a race car driver. On the other hand, he might have died. Eerily enough, he survived because a special protector for race cars that he'd installed ''failed'' and he was thrown from the car before its final impact, hitting a walnut tree hard enough to rip out half its roots.
142	** John Milius first wrote the script for ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' while he and Lucas were at USC together, intending for Lucas to direct it. Francis Ford Coppola later joked that this would have involved CaliforniaDoubling with just two helicopters. Some reviews of ''Return of the Jedi'' also pointed out that the scenes on Endor were pretty much Lucas finally making his Vietnam movie.
143	** He offered Disney several ideas for their ''Star Wars'' sequel trilogy upon turning over the rights, and was quite upset that none of them were used. The issue is muddled by contradictory statements from various sources (including Lucasfilm, Mark Hamill, Lucas himself, and Bob Iger, chairman of Disney at the time), about what exactly he came up with and what can be traced to him in the final products.
144	** In a rare case of him completely missing the boat on an emerging new technology, he turned down the chance to get in on the ground floor at Pixar when some of the Lucasfilm employees got involved with computer animation. Lucas, however, needed money to cover his divorce costs, so he sold off the department to Creator/SteveJobs, under whom it became Pixar and eventually immensely successful in its own right.
145	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: After ''Star Wars'' became an [[SleeperHit unexpected monster hit]], he took his own cut of the profits and paid unofficial royalties to the main stars who otherwise didn't have it in their contracts. Mark Hamill said no one does that and it was never expected of him. This largely explains them as remaining TrueCompanions over the years, with Hamill in particular being defensive with the backlash Lucas would get.

Context Creator / GeorgeLucas