(In reply to Wazzles’ post):
From Zombie’s article on the subject over at Saving Star Wars:
"The 1985 interpositive was already starting to go pink in 1993 when that release was made, the final home video telecine. By 2020, it will be pink, but salvageable, but all release prints would basically be unwatchable as-is, even Return of the Jedi’s.
I doubt Disney will let those prints rot till then. Even if they don’t release the original version of Star Wars for the 40th Anniversary, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they haven’t cleaned up anything. I shall remain hopeful as always.
Also, the man who restored Lawrence of Arabia has claimed that pristine prints exist, however, this is nothing more than
a claim. The only thing backing it up is the fact that he restores films, so maybe he has inside knowledge of such?