SKYWALKER RANCH

'Skywalker Ranch' is the name of the workplace of film director and producer George Lucas in secluded but open country near Nicasio, California in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, although Lucas is not related to the road's namesake, a turn-of-the-century landowner in the area.^[1] The Ranch is not open to the public and keeps a low profile from the road,¹ but fans present occasional problems to perimeter security.
When President Ronald Reagan requested a tour of Skywalker Ranch shortly after Lucasfilm lost a court battle to have the U.S. government refrain from calling the Strategic Defense Initiative ''Star Wars'', a visit could not be arranged.
Assembled parcel by parcel since September 1978,^[2] Skywalker Ranch has cost Lucas up to US$100 million, according to the ''Wall Street Journal''. After neighboring ranchers complained that Skywalker Ranch was polluting the environment, Lucasfilm acquired 3,000 acres (12 km²) of adjoining land for a total of over 4,700 acres (19 km²). Only 15 acres (60,000 m²) have been developed.^[3]
The Ranch contains a barn with animals including a donkey named "Burrito" and a pot-bellied pig named "Betty Boop", vineyards, a garden with fruits and vegetables used in the on-site restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool and fitness center with racquetball courts, the man-made "Lake Ewok", a hilltop observatory, a 300-seat theater called "The Stag" as well as multiple theater screening rooms, and parking that is mostly concealed underground to preserve the natural landscape.^[4] Skywalker Sound was moved onto the ranch in 1987, now occupying the Technical Building.^[5] The Main House has a company research library under a stained-glass dome.¹ Skywalker Ranch has its own fire station, which is part of the Marin County Mutual Aid system, and is often called on to assist firefighters in nearby Marinwood.¹
Lucas, who based his ''Star Wars'' films on the scholarship of Joseph Campbell, was involved in the creation of the 1988 documentary which explored Campbell's works of ''The Power of Myth''. The series of six, one-hour interviews between Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers was filmed at Skywalker Ranch. In the first episode, Moyers discusses Campbell's friendship with Lucas and the impact of his scholarship on Lucas' ''Star Wars'' films (Episodes IV, V, and VI).^[6]
Skywalker Ranch is intended to be more of a "filmmaker's retreat" than a headquarters for Lucas's business operations. The headquarters of Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, and LucasArts are located in Lucas's Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio of San Francisco. Lucas does not live on the Ranch.¹

Contents

References

External links

References

1. Skywalker Ranch: George Lucas creates a magic world in real life Strickler, Jeff
2. 'Star Wars' Timeline Labrecque, Jeff
3. Lucas can build additions, bridge on Skywalker ranch
4. Inside the secure world of Skywalker Ranch Arnold, William
5. Skywalker Sound: History
6. The Hero's Adventure

External links

★ Virtual Tour of the Stag Theater

★ A detailed tour description by a rare visitor from the press (1986)

★ Chris Pope's Skywalker Ranch Vitual Tour

★ Skywalker Ranch: from http://perljam.net/notes/interesting-google-satellite-maps/

★ Regular land map of Skywalker Ranch: from The Center For Land Use Interpretation

★ Google Maps View