In one of his clearest explanations yet, George Lucas tackles the issues at the heart of the Star Wars universe he created. Lucas was being interviews by Charlie Rose at the Chicago Ideas Week in October. Lucas is, of course, building his museum in Chicago.
In the interview, Lucas goes into the basics of mythic storytelling that started as an oral tradition, its ties to civil rules, religion, and morality, and how Star Wars is a mix of all that told in the future to make it easier for audiences to digest. It’s about Good vs, Evil, but also about what makes a hero, what is friendship, and sacrificing yourself for something larger.
Lucas also discusses how he was curious to see how well the old archetypes would work when presented to modern audiences. Would modern people enjoy the same basic story structures of those long ago, turns out the answer is yes.
Although George Lucas no longer owns Lucasfilm, he sold it to Disney, he’s still on board as a creative consultant. And, as we found out, he’s busy writing stories for animated musicals like Strange Magic.