Out of curiosity, does anyone know if ILM saved the final digital files for the 1997 cg special edition shots???

My guess would be "no," since the 2004 dvd revealed noticeable gate weave and other filmic anomalies. I'm guessing they just filmed them out in '97 and didn't bother to save the files.

The reason I ask is this:

When they eventually get around to the 3D conversion, even if they do a new scan they'll be working from filmouts for those '97 cg shots. I'd imagine it would look better if they had those original 2K files to work with for those shots.

Also, while I'm on the subject of a new scan, I should point out that a decent 4K scan would kill several birds with one stone. Right off the bat you would have, right there, a scan of the '97 version (you would have to color correct it of course, but it's the '97 edit). You would need to redo the 2004/2011 changes, but c'mon, that's doable. Last but not least, you would have, what, 80-90% of the OOT? Just scan in the missing pieces and voila, that's everything.

Yeah, I know, I should keep dreaming.

(cue the Beach Boys' "Oh, wouldn't it be nice?")