Interviewing George Lucas about his new movie Strange Magic was NOT listed on the press trip itinerary. It was an awesome last-minute addition that had every blogger on the trip screaming with excitement. 😉 Everyone was already psyched to be headed to Skywalker Ranch to interview Sunny (Elijah Kelley) and the director (Gary Rydstrom). In fact we were just finishing up individual greetings with Elijah (he graciously took individual pictures with everyone) when we saw George Lucas casually walk in and start chatting with Elijah.
Crazier still, he watched his new movie, Strange Magic with us! I can’t believe we watched a movie with George Lucas in his own Stag Theater! The movie was super cute, I’ll be sharing my Strange Magic Review on Friday, so be sure to check back then.
After the movie, we had the opportunity to chat with George, Elijah and Gary. Today I am sharing tidbits I learned from George Lucas during his interview!
Musicals
George loves making musicals with his favorite music, harkening back to his pre Star Wars days with American Graffiti.
“I love all kinds of music and obviously I listen to music every day. On the radio, top 40 and all that kinda stuff but I also listen to a lot of other kinds of music.”
Tween Girls
Star Wars was geared towards tween boys, so he thought it’d be fun to make a film geared towards tween girls. He has 3 daughters now, so that makes perfect sense to me. Although he hopes that boys enjoy Strange Magic just like how Star Wars ended up appealing to girls too.
Side Project
Strange Magic was a little side project he’s been working on for the past 15 years. It’s allowed him to get his hands “dirty” in the film making process again.
Love Songs
The concept for the film is a fairytale that uses love songs to tell a love story. Love songs from the past 60 years were used to tell different parts of the story, with the team searching for songs that would specifically fit with the dialogue. They ended up with 100 songs that were then pared down to about 25 due to keep the story line and movie making efficiency.
“..it’s the difference between having a button-down movie and a indulgent movie.”
Favorite Strange Magic Song
Several Beatles songs were included in the original 100 but to keep costs down, had to be cut. The song that started it all for George, and one of his favorite’s in the movie is I Can’t Help Falling In Love.
Bog King
I seriously think the animators used George as the inspiration for the Fairy King but he personally identifies with the Bog King. After being a bachelor 20 years, he felt like the old, cranky Bog King who’d never find love. He was wrong (and perhaps the Bog King is too?!?) because George ended up marrying his own princess.
“We fell in love because we were exactly alike inside…you realize that you have so much in common that you would never have thought of on the surface.”
Strange Magic opens in theaters next Friday, January 23rd!
“Strange Magic,” a new animated film from Lucasfilm Ltd., is a madcap fairy tale musical inspired by “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream.” Popular songs from the past six decades help tell the tale of a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies
and imps, and their hilarious misadventures sparked by the battle over a powerful potion.
I attended press events with Disney to promote #StrangeMagicEvent and #PixarInsideOut. I was provided with an expenses paid trip to San Francisco in exchange for my coverage about the events. No other compensation is given. As always, opinions and experiences are my own. Photos courtesy of Disney.
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