The funny thing about Lucas is that when he talks about SW he seems bored. It's just a money making machine to him. He's made a fortune off taking sole credit for the work of many people. He's a greedy egomaniac. The quote in my signature encapsulates his arrogance and disconnect from reality. He sees himself as a tortured artist...
Lucas became interested in revisiting SW in the early 90s. I think a big part of this was the growing popularity with EU stuff, especially the Zahn trilogy. It's my unfounded opinion that Lucas wanted to re-establish himself as the de facto head honcho of Star Wars, but of course by that point he had cut ties with the other creative minds that made the OT so amazing. He set out to write and produce the new films on his own, and we all know how that turned out...