A Look Behind the VFX Curtain with 'Light & Magic'
During the Star Wars Celebration festivities, in a panel hosted by ABC’s Chris Connelly, Disney+ introduced the upcoming series, Light & Magic. It will be a six-part, in-depth documentary series focused on the legendary visual effects of Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic.
The panel featured names well-known in the Star Wars world. Director/writer Lawrence Kasdan and director/executive producer Ron Howard. Both Kasdan and Howard have had their hands in a few Star Wars projects, but Kasdan’s involvement goes all the way back to The Empire Strikes Back. Kasdan had just finished the first draft for George Lucas’ Raiders of the Lost Ark when Lucas asked if Kasdan could help with the dialogue for The Empire Strikes Back. Thus began Kasdan’s long involvement with the Star Wars franchise. He has writing credits on Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Howard entered the Star Wars universe for Kasdan’s most recent screenwriting contribution. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were originally slated to direct Solo, but the film was plagued with complications. Howard was brought in to finish the film and make his mark on the beloved character of Han Solo. A few years later, Howard’s daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, would direct multiple episodes of Disney’s The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Also present on the panel at the Star Wars Celebration were the VFX artists who bring these fantastical worlds to life. Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, Joe Johnston, and Rose Duignan are some of the Industrial Light & Magic artists responsible for the animation and visual effects. Like Kasdan, a few of these artists have been around Lucas and Star Wars since the beginning. Muren, Johnston, and Tippett were founding members of Industrial Light & Magic when it was a scrappy upstart. Duignan, too, worked on the original Star Wars, but was a production assistant before moving to fully work at Industrial Light & Magic.
Industrial Light & Magic is now considered to be a behemoth and one of the go-to VFX companies working in Hollywood. Back in 1976, it was a group of artists, college students, and engineers in a warehouse in Van Nuys. They were brought together by Lucas because he needed a brand new style of visual effects to make the original Star Wars fit his vision.
Now, Industrial Light & Magic is synonymous with visual effects. Just in 2022, they have six movies slated for release. These aren’t small movies either. They’re providing visual effects for behemoth franchises like Jurassic World, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love & Thunder for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and The Batman for the DC Universe.
The upcoming series, Light & Magic, is directed by Kasdan and will give unprecedented access to the world of Industrial Light & Magic. Viewers will be shown a behind the curtain look at the animation and virtual production divisions that are responsible for making Lucas’ vision come to life. The show will also touch on other legendary Hollywood filmmakers and their inspiration for classic films.