In 1997 the new master positive was made using those technicolor prints as a reference,
and the HD video master was allso corrected the same way. So they allready had
a digital reference. Therefore, in creating these new HD masters for the DVD's, they
didn't have to use the technicolor prints anymore. If they wanted to check for the
color balance, all they had to do is look at the old SE HD master.
The technicolor prints had nothing to do with the new DVD's.
By the way that article is a bit misleading.
The faded colors were not restored for the 1997 release. You can't restore faded colors
in the conventional restoration process.
The color were restored only in the video and TV
release. The 1997 SE prints were made from faded negatives. What Lucas relied on
was the higher saturation and contrast of the new intermediate film stock made in 90's.
This new filmstock compensated a bit for the faded colors. But the negative itself is
as faded now as it was in 1996 before the restoration.