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George Lucas Talks Strange Magic Movie: Inspiration, Music, and LOVE #StrangeMagicEvent

Strange-Magic-poster

 

It was quite the honor to be able to get an exclusive interview with George Lucas to talk all things Strange Magic! The movie is coming out this weekend, so everyone is gearing up for the release. Lucas and a few others were on hand at Skywalker Ranch specifically to speak with our press group in a special interview opportunity after screening the movie. Let me tell you, the movie is SO CUTE, and Lucas was extremely proud of his work and how nicely this animated film came together!

 

Strange Magic Movie, Interviewing George Lucas, Skywalker Ranch,

 

As you may already know, George Lucas is best known for the creation of the Star Wars franchise. 15 year ago, Lucas thought it would be fun to make a film that was more for tween girls than Star Wars (which was created with tween boys in mind), even though in the end it was loved by everyone. Lucas loves to do musicals, and he hopes that the magical element of the movie will engage both boys and girls. Lots of work went into this film, great animation, some fun music, a bit of magic and a lot of love made Strange Magic become a reality!

 

Strange Magic movie still, Bog King and Dawn, Touchstone Pictures

 

His inspiration for the movie Strange Magic

It seems as though Lucas had inspiration from lots of different places in his life. His kids, for sure, he has older daughters, an 18 month old daughter, and he really gushed about them and how much he adores them (and his son). The reason he focused on his girls is because he read Wizard of Oz with his older daughter while she was growing up. Her love for the fairy tale is still very special, a time that he cherishes. So, a bit of his children, a bit of truth from his personal love life, and a bit of his love for experimentation with music. “The idea of an upbeat, fun, simple, movie just appealed to me. I’d finished all the Star Wars and everything and I was producing films but I wanted to do one that I could actually get my-my hands dirty.” Through all of this, he wanted to make a movie that tells the difference between infatuation and true love. He says that he loved working on this film!

 

The well-known musical selections in the film

Strange Magic uses so many popular love songs on the movie soundtrack: I Can’t Help Falling In Love, Say Hey, Wild Thing, Three Little Birds, I Can’t Help Myself (sugar pie, honey bunch) and more classics that has me moving in my seat! Lucas thought, “I wonder if I could tell a love story using love songs.”  He says that music is a very big part of his life, and it only made sense for him to mix his love for music with his creative love story. The team started with over 100 songs and had to narrow it down to about 25. One of Lucas’ favorite songs in the movie: I Can’t Help Falling In Love. The way that they intertwined the music with the story made me feel the moment, sadness, humor and love, and it was perfect!

 

The story of finding love in the strangest places

Lucas has been married, divorced, then a bachelor for 20 years, and he had honestly thought that he would never fall in love again. This is the same way that character Bog King feels in the movie. They both seem to be scorned, it didn’t work out in the past, so it couldn’t possibly work out again, right?  Before he threw in the towel, he found his current wife: “I found somebody who doesn’t look at all like me, I’m a 60s radical, government unhappy, Wall Street-hating person from San Francisco, and I ended up meeting a-a woman who’s a head of a big, investment management firm who’s on Wall Street”. You can never predict who you will fall in love with and it seems that most people tend to be infatuated with an exterior more so than what’s inside.  “So as time went on it became more meaningful to me because I realized that in the end, like with my wife and stuff, we fell in love because we were exactly alike inside.” Truthfully, love can be found in the strangest places.

 

#STRANGEMAGIC is in theaters January 23, 2015!

 

 

What a pleasure to interview George Lucas, the creator of the movie Strange Magic! I approve of the message, it’s great for young adolescents to learn from other’s experiences and that beauty is really found within. I screened the film last week while I was at Skywalker Ranch in the 300-seat Stag theater, and Lucas was actually watching in the same theater, two rows behind me, for the very first time since it had been finalized! Thank you so much Disney, Skywalker Ranch, and Touchstone Pictures for making this once in a lifetime opportunity possible.

 

STRANGE MAGIC is a madcap fairy tale musical inspired by “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Popular songs from the past six decades help tell the tale of a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies and imps, and their hilarious misadventures sparked by the battle over a powerful potion. Lucasfilm Animation Singapore and Industrial Light & Magic, which created the CGI animation for 2011’s Academy Award®-winning film “Rango,” bring to life the fanciful forest turned upside down with world-class animation and visual effects.

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 Disclosure: Travel and experiences for were provided by Disney, I was not compensated for press coverage.

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