by Joshua Griffin, TFN

(You can check out photos from the presentation in our Celebration 3 photo gallery)

A COLD START
9,000 people spent the night outside. That doesn't sound like such a big deal if you're in Southern California, but here in Indiana that is no small feat.

Despite the pouring rain and 40 degree weather (not counting windchill), a sold out crowd waited faithfully to be one of the few, the proud that got to see Lucas with their own eyes.

The presentation was great, but my hat is off to the fans that endured the weather. These were the hardcore of the hardcore fans. Pouring rain, police disbanding the line, intense cold, biting wind and frustration with volunteers didn't discourage them from this once in a lifetime opportunity.

A WARM GREETING
George Lucas entered to thunderous applause that lasted for several minutes. The fans stood to their feet to honor the writer/director of their favorite science fiction franchise. The Flanneled One lived up to his name, wearing a blue plaid Marin flannel and blue jeans.

The host, Jay Laga'aia did an adequate job of keeping the conversation moving, but was obviously upstaged by Lucas. Even McCallum, a normal celebrity producer, was a footnote in the morning's events.

THE TALK
The talk started with a short bio video with hilarious clips of him clowning around on the set. The fan favorite was him with a lightsaber through his neck, and another where he was being painted blue. Then there was a short introduction of Lucas by his children. Lucas talked a bit about how much Star Wars means to fans and how excited he was by everyone that is in attendance today.

George was excited about the fact that "it is finished" and the thirty year journey is now complete. "It has been a rewarding experience," he said, amazed by the passion of fans around the world.

Several fan questions asked about the origin of the movies, discussing the scripts movement from Anakin to Luke, the original story being Anakin and his two children. The space battle was the beginning of all things Star Wars in his mind.

THE FUTURE OF STAR WARS
He said there were plans to revamp Star Tours, and how those discussion started with Episode I. He said there were several great things planned, and some awesome ideas.

He also talked about the TV Series! Lucasfilm is now going to move into television. The first series is 3-D animation, a regular series that will last 1/2 hour per episode. He's also working on a spinoff TV series for characters that have appeared in the films. It will be live-action, and based on what he called a "really great idea." They will not started shooting for about a year, and it will be structured much like Young Indy.

They will shoot the first year all at once, which also means writing the script all at once. He will "get it started" then hand it off to others to carry on.

When asked if was Episode III everything that you wanted it to be? "Yes, it is." Everyone has their own opinions about the films, and he has been happy with all of the films. "Not six separate movies, one big movie." Like a mini-series, he suggested. "They all build on top of each other, you will see things in 4,5,6 that make more sense no after you've seen Episode III."

Then he joked with Jay Laga'aia about being a clonetrooper, even though Jay actually appeared as Captian Typho in the film. Hey - we all get things wrong! Lucas also noted that about 3,000 clonetroopers appear in the last film.

It was a great time - terribly short - but really a unique opportunity to see the man behind it all, George Lucas.