When you think of a cameo in Star Wars, George Lucas’s brief appearance as the blue-skinned Baron Papanoida in Revenge of the Sith most likely comes to mind. However, it has now been established that he appeared in Star Wars in a devious Easter egg from The Phantom Menace a few years prior.
For his newsletter, reporter Clayton Sandell spoke with former ILM matte painter Caroleen “Jett” Green. He discovered the solution to a long-standing mystery: George Lucas somehow made a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in The Phantom Menace’s Theed’s royal palace. Contrary to his role as Papanoida, Lucas wasn’t present in person. Furthermore, the appearance wasn’t initially his idea because Lucas’s face is painted in one of Green’s matte paintings, which expands the palace’s background in the film.
“In a shot that starts at one hour, 58 minutes, and 17 seconds into the film (if you’re watching on Disney+), Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) and her palace guards run down a hallway, finding themselves surrounded by Droidekas and battle droids,” she said. “In the background of the wide shot, there’s a prominent stone archway. Look at the apex of that arch, maybe squint your eyes, and you’ll see the somewhat pixelated face of the creator himself. (I will say, watch the highest quality copy you can. It helps.)”
Here’s a frame from the scene:
Green noted that the oval form reminded her of a traditional portrait plaque while working on a matte painting. “I decided to get a picture of George, and I put it on this plaque,” she said. One of the visual effects supervisors saw it, magnified 400%, and concluded that Lucas personally needed to approve it.
This resulted in a remarkable moment when Lucas approached Green’s desk one day with a “huge” entourage. As she explains:
“George is really quiet,” she recalled. “He looks at it, and he goes, ‘Oh, naughty, naughty.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but it’s you! It’s your face.’ And then there’s silence again. And I’m just sitting there with everybody. And for some reason, I can’t describe the feeling, but— I knew that I wasn’t going to get in trouble. And then, George says, ‘Okay. Leave it in.’”
The final image is very pixelated,, so here’s what he looked like in 1999.
Star Wars history was created there. It wasn’t the first time Lucas appeared in a film, either. In addition to his actual appearance in Revenge of the Sith, a scream he recorded for his 1973 film American Grafitti has been used in the background of films like Rogue One, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker, taking the place of Wilhelm’s scream as the standard scream. But now, twenty-six years later, we know precisely when and how Lucas entered the world of Star Wars.
What do you think of George Lucas’ cameo? Let us know in the comments below!
(Via: Clayton Sandell)
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