Disney has revealed a brand-new documentary series called “Light and Magic Documentary Series” in honor of Star Wars Day.
With unmatched access, Academy Award nominee Lawrence Kasdan takes viewers on a tour of Industrial Light & Magic, the Lucasfilm subsidiary that handles special effects, animation, and virtual production. Discover the sources of inspiration for some of the most renowned Hollywood directors, and follow their tales from their earliest independent productions to realizing George Lucas’ vision.
The six-part Light and Magic Documentary Series created by Imagine Documentaries and Lucasfilm with executive production from Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, debuts on Disney+ Hotstar on July 27, 2022.
Light & Magic Documentary Trailer
On Thursday, a trailer for the Light & Magic Documentary Series was released, offering us a glimpse of the Disney Plus documentary that will chronicle the history of Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). You should expect a lot of material from a galaxy far, far away as George Lucas founded the company in 1975, just as he began work on the first Star Wars.
The world-famous Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the Lucasfilm subsidiary responsible for special effects, animation, and virtual production, is the subject of the engrossing television series Light & Magic, which tells the unsung narrative of its illustrious past.
Filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan, who has been nominated for an Academy Award, gives audiences unprecedented access as he takes them behind the scenes at Industrial Light & Magic. As we go on a quest to realize George Lucas’ vision, discover the pioneers of contemporary filmmaking. The entire visual effects business would later be influenced by these filmmakers.
LIGHT and MAGIC PREVIEWED AT STAR WARS CELEBRATION
ILM’s seasoned creatives recently gathered at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim to talk about what makes the visual effects studio so unique. They included production manager Rose Duignan, animation supervisor Phil Tippett, art director Joe Johnston, and visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren. They were joined by the series’ creator Lawrence Kasdan, the current general manager of Lucasfilm, Lynwen Brennan, and longtime ILM partner Ron Howard, who worked as executive producer on Light and Magic alongside Brian Grazer.
Lawrence Kasdan expressed his own curiosity about how this team of “geniuses” came together under the guidance of Lucasfilm founder George Lucas and original visual effects supervisor John Dykstra on Star Wars: A New Hope after more than 40 years of involvement with the Star Wars and Indiana Jones storytelling (1977).
Kasdan recalled the early years at ILM as “a wild place.” “At first, nobody was certain of how it would operate. Improvisation was prevalent. That sparked a lot of conversation. discovering other people’s skills and recommending that those skills be expanded they would always make an effort to assist and would go to someone else when someone required assistance. It has been that kind of environment, where geniuses support geniuses, for 40 to 50 years.
Joe Johnston described how the show enables viewers to interact with ILM’s narrative “from the inside out.” He viewed himself as an illustration of the diverse spectrum of upbringings that cultivated the founding group at ILM. Johnston responded to a recruitment flyer to join the expanding company’s art department while working as an industrial designer on commercial products. He was thrilled to discover a position where, in his words, “I could create stuff where it doesn’t have to perform, it just has to look fantastic.” He redesigned the spaceship for Han Solo, which later came to be known as the Millennium Falcon, as part of the original Star Wars film.
Dennis Muren insisted that “training new employees who were coming in was one of the things we really worked on.” We hoped they would stay long enough for others to benefit from our experience. We were honest about our actions. Among us, there were no secrets. His participation in the documentary was more about understanding why ILM’s culture changed than it was about analyzing how specific effects were accomplished.
Phil Tippett and Muren were both lifelong movie enthusiasts. From the tauntaun on the frozen continent of Hoth to the inhabitants of Jabba the Hutt’s castle, his contributions to Star Wars were mostly centered on the design and creation of beloved characters and animals after joining ILM. Tippett compared George Lucas’ approach to “a documentary filmmaker” in that “he just wanted to go explore and see what occurred” when looking for characters from intriguing designs.
He clarified that “most of us don’t think about these things at all” in his delectable candor. We simply proceed to the next thing and forget. He saw the success of ILM as a kind of “paleontological bubble,” a historical outlier similar to “the Pony Express or the cowboy that evolves into these mythological things.” He felt “wistful” for his time with the company after taking part in and viewing the series.
Light and Magic Documentary Series Detail
| Language | English |
| No of Episodes | 6 |
| Director | Lawrence Kasdan |
| Producer | Ron Howard, Brian Grazer |
| Release Date | 27 July 2022 |
Where we can watch the Light and Magic Documentary Series?
All six episodes of the Light & Magic Documentary Series premiere on July 27, exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar