Lucas recruited Smith to join ILM during production of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in 1979 by the time of Return of the Jedi, Smith had been named general manager, overseeing all visual effects. After a three-year stint in the US Air Force, Smith joined Encyclopedia Britannica, where he made over 60 educational films including 1977’s Solar System, an innovative work that won several awards and impressed George Lucas. His journey to Star Wars began at Northwestern University, where he graduated in 1960 with a degree in film, followed by a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Institute for Higher Studies of Film in Paris. Smith laughs, recounting the story to in a conversation celebrating the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi. ‘Get rid of ‘em! That’s garbage, throw it away!’ And when his daughter went to college, he was able to fund part of her college expenses by selling these fragments of the broken Death Star.” “‘Some of that stuff looks good!’” Smith’s son saved a box of pieces for himself and held onto it for years - ultimately putting it to ironically good use. “My son was working at summer employment there, and he saw all these pieces going into the dump and he thought, ‘No, no, no,’” Smith says. But someone actually wanted to save the Death Star.
So, some ILMers took the model apart, rented some trucks, and drove the pieces to a nearby garbage dump. On the orders of George Lucas himself, who usually saved and preserved every model from the Star Wars films, it was to be trashed. Smith tells - and it was too large to be stored after filming. It may be hard to believe, but some good actually came from the Empire’s second Death Star.įor Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Industrial Light & Magic had built a huge model of the new technological terror’s surface - “two times larger than a tennis court,” legendary ILM general manager Thomas G. There is a chance we will get a look at some of the sets at San Diego Comic Con in July.Īdditional Sources: Brickset, Star Wars.General manager of ILM in the early to mid-‘80s, Smith reflects on the rancor, working with George Lucas, and the fate of a memorable Easter egg. I’m sure the old (or new?) Han Solo minifigure will be a tantalizing part of the Millenium Falcon set. Hopefully the sets will be worth the high price point Lego is placing on them. So many hordes of nerds will be stalking the rows of all the stores participating in the midnight merchandise release that they will have to spray down entire buildings to keep them from smelling like Rancor pits. Novels, comics, apps, ebooks, toys, and Lego’s will all be available starting September 4th. September 4th is a notable date not just for the release of the new Lego sets it is being called ‘Force Friday’ and at 12:01 AM you’ll be able to purchase all of the new merchandise for The Force Awakens.
For those who are wary of spoilers before enjoying the new story of the movie, it will be a hazardous final few months before the film’s release on December 18th. 75105 Millennium Falcon – 1332 pieces – £129.99, €164.99, $149.99Īs the arrival of The Force Awakens draws near, action figures, models, comic books, and video games will start appearing all over the place.Hoth Bricks revealed earlier this week the names and prices for all the Episode VII Lego sets that will be hitting stores on September 4th.
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