‘Light & Magic’: What We Learned About George Lucas’ Special Effects Company in Disney+ Docuseries 

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When George Lucas (above) set out to make 1977’s Star Wars, no special effects company could do the work. So he built one! Some 49 Oscars later, Industrial Light & Magic’s brilliance shines in this six-part series.

Here are highlights:

  • The iconic design of the Millennium Falcon was born when artist Joe Johnston noticed stacked dirty dishes in his sink! “It’s nickname was the pork burger,” said original ILM chief John Dykstra.
  • “I [had] no idea how to melt a face!” recalled Raiders of the Lost Ark director Steven Spielberg. “So I [left] it to the geniuses at ILM.” The solution? Apply heat to a dental molding material.
  • ILM’s many firsts include a computer-generated liquid metal assassin in 1991’s Terminator 2, which had actor Robert Patrick walk through prison bars. Spielberg was so “blown away” by these shots, he gave ILM its next challenge: 1993’s Jurassic Park.

Light & Magic, Docuseries Premiere, Wednesday, July 27, Disney+

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