The People Who Helped George Lucas shape the saga

I’m grateful to everyone who contributed to the OT. The Star Wars OT is the sort of thing where if you take away even one of the elements that made it work so well: the likeable characters, the iconic lines, the innovative special effects, the beautiful musical scores, then it would be lesser than it ended up being. It had just the right ingredients of all these creatives working together, and it all just came together like a chemical reaction.

Marcia Lucas, Paul Hirsch, Richard Chew, Gary Kurtz, John Dykstra, Irvin Kershner, Howard Kazanjian, Richard Marquand, Phil Tippett, John Williams, and tons of others all influenced and left their touch on the saga in their own way. And yes, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck and everyone else who offered ideas or inspiration to George in his work. George invented Star Wars, but it was the chemistry and collaboration of George with all these people that made Star Wars special.

To me the illustrators and effects artists/ model makers/ creature effects artists are legends. So many talented folks starting with Colin Cantwell and Ralph Mcquarrie. To Joe Johnston. Dennis Muren. John Dykstra. Phil Tippett. Ken Ralston. Richard Edlund. Lucas hired the best people. And what the OT people did was truly magically and special.