What happened to Spider-Man?
We interrupt our salute to George Lucas with a salute to Josh Briedbart’s essay, “The Amazing-ish Spider-Man.” In this brilliantly-written piece, Josh discusses what he loved about the character, and “why I don’t have that love for him anymore.”
What happened to Spider-Man? The same thing that happened to Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Superman and Darth Vader. They became products.
Advice from George Lucas
Here’s another video from The Academy of Achievement, in which George Lucas discusses his career, and what he did to become successful.
The Candid George Lucas
June 19, 1999. In this composite of interviews from the Academy of Achievement, George Lucas discusses his early life and motivations.
Leonard Maltin interviews George Lucas, 1995
On August 29, 1995, when 20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment released the original Star Wars trilogy on VHS video, a three-part interview between film historian Leonard Maltin and George Lucas was included. Note that at this point of time, Lucas wasn’t sure if he would direct the prequels, though with the possibility of directing the first.
Part One:
Lucas talks about The Empire Strikes Back in Part Two:
Return of the Jedi is discussed in Part Three:
George Lucas on 60 Minutes, 2005
CBS News reporter Lesley Stahl interviews George Lucas again on 60 Minutes, broadcast March 13, 2005. This time he’s promoting Revenge of the Sith.
Click here to see part of the video and read an abridged transcript.
The segment was also broadcast on 60 Minutes in Australia, and that video has popped up here:
“The Last Star Wars” produced by Rome Hartman.
Katie Couric interviews George Lucas, 1999
Here’s Katie Couric’s three-part interview with George Lucas, promoting The Phantom Menace in 1999 on MSNBC.
In Part One, Lucas discusses producing the first Star Wars film in 16 years.
http://youtu.be/WeDBZMpaZqY
In Part Two, Couric admits she finds it hard to understand Jar Jar:
http://youtu.be/PFJbKJJ4J_0
In Part Three, Couric and Lucas talk about movie violence:
http://youtu.be/NyYjdJti9ec
Update: The videos in the links above have since been removed but a later interview covering Revenge of the Sith, which apparently was first broadcast on The Today Show, May 23, 2005, can be downloaded here.
George Lucas on 60 Minutes, March 1999
How does George Lucas do it? 60 Minutes reporter Lesley Stahl interviewed Lucas in a segment broadcast March 28, 1999 shortly before the release of The Phantom Menace. “George Lucas” was produced by Rome Hartman. CBS has posted a partial transcript here.
