Sure, he knows they'll be coming, but he doesn't really strike me as a very hands on kind of guy in this type of thing. Could it be possible that someone in the home video division of Lucasfilm convinced him to release the OOT on DVD and said they could simply use the LD masters, with little additional cost. Lucas could've simply approved and washed his hand of the matter without seeing the transfer, etc. When told of the anamorphic situation, maybe he just shrugged (as opposed to laughing maniacally while throwing the last prints of the OOT into the fireplace).
Sure, he knows they'll be coming, but he doesn't really strike me as a very hands on kind of guy in this type of thing. Could it be possible that someone in the home video division of Lucasfilm convinced him to release the OOT on DVD and said they could simply use the LD masters, with little additional cost. Lucas could've simply approved and washed his hand of the matter without seeing the transfer, etc. When told of the anamorphic situation, maybe he just shrugged (as opposed to laughing maniacally while throwing the last prints of the OOT into the fireplace).