George Lucas: The Creative Impulse — Revised and Updated Edition is a reference book released by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in 1997 which covered the first twenty-five years of Lucasfilm Ltd. It was an updated version of the September 1992 release that spanned twenty years.
Publisher's summary[]
Over the past twenty-five years, George Lucas and his company Lucasfilm have become synonymous with movie magic. From the wry but sympathetic look back to the 1950s in American Graffiti to the innovative Adventures of Indiana Jones as a Young Man, Lucas has successfully combined a gift for storytelling with revolutionary filmmaking techniques. His Star Wars Trilogy (1977—83) clearly marks a turning point in film history—not only because of its grand narrative scope, partly achieved through special effects, but also becauseit has become the most popular science-fiction story ever conceived. Meanwhile, Lucas had the rare foresight to retain control of both many of his stories and characters, and of the technical innovations that made his movies possible, thereby giving rise to Lucasfilm Ltd., an unparalleled spawning ground of new products and services for the digital age of entertainment. Recognizing his commitment to the art and technology of the moving image, the Acadey of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named George Lucas the 1992 recipient of the Irving Thalberg Award for Lifetime Achievement.
This revised and updated edition of an Abrams classic brings the story of this remarkable man and his empire up to the present. Every significant film that Lucas has created, shaped, or directly influences is discussed and illustrated, including the making of 1997's Special Edition of the Star Wars Trilogy. The amazing expansion of his company, with its trail-blazing special-effects division, Industrial Light and Magic (whose credits include work on more than one hundred feature films, including ET and Jurassic Park), as well as the enormously successful electronic games, home theatre, and licensing divisions, is also covered, along with developments at his legendary headquarters, Skywalker Ranch.
As with the first edition, George Lucas has given author Charles Champlin his full cooperation in preparing this updated volume.
Behind the scenes[]
The book contains an early list of the films that would make up The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, then called The Adventures of Indiana Jones As a Young Man, and the plan for their eventual release on DVD with interactive features a decade later.