As a George Lucas and Star Wars fan it has been a dream of mine to visit the Skywalker Ranch and LucasFilm HQ. My dream actually came true a few days ago as I got to visit both locations while I was in San Francisco, CA. While I always thought the Skywalker ranch had a yard full of props from the set and that Ewoks would walk out and greet me but it didn’t exactly happen that way.
Photo Credit: Sippy Cup Mom
Arriving to the ranch it was dark but lit up so beautifully with the lights around his office and throughout the ranch. Inside the ranch was like a ranch feel from the structures inside. George Lucas has one of the largest collections of movie posters and you can find those as you walk throughout the ranch. He also has lots of different props and artifacts throughout the ranch that are so fun to see.
There was even Storm Troopers by the front door to get a photo opp with. They were quite intimidating and often wondered if there were part of the security system and take anyone away if spotted doing something wrong.
Of course there has to be a movie theater inside the ranch to view all the Star Wars films in. I found out that George Lucas has a favorite middle seat that he sits in every time because it has the best view. And the sound in the movie theater room is the best sound you will ever hear and took many times to get it right and approved by George Lucas himself. While we were there we got to view 28 minutes of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Oh My Gosh was it mind-blowing. All of us were asking for more but we have to wait and see it in theaters on December 16th.
Oh and I can’t forget at the end of the night we got to visit the Skywalker Ranch store which is only open if you are invited to the ranch. Inside the store there are many different items to choose from such as shirts, hats, mugs, pens, etc. that say Skywalker Ranch on them. These items are not sold anywhere else so it was a once in a lifetime to pick up some goodies for the entire family.
The next day we visited the LucasFilm HQ where we were greeted by none other than Yoda himself on top of the fountain, a perfect photo opportunity. While we were at the LucasFilm HQ we were scheduled to interview the cast of Rogue One, watch a screen of Star Wars Rebels, take a tour of the HQ, visit the motion capture room, and shop at the store. More on the Rogue One interviews and Star Wars Rebels screening soon.
First, we will start off with the tour of the LucasFilm HQ. George Lucas has some pretty amazing things that he has collected and store in the HQ building that are all not Star Wars related. He really loves a variety of movies and it shows in his collections. Check out everything below in the pictures of what we saw on the tour.
At the end of our tour we visited the motion capture room. Alan Tudyk did motion capture for K-2SO and this is where he did the filming. We got a demonstration on how the motion capture works with the suit to make K-2SO move. The guy that was demonstrating it was having a little too much fun in the suit and moving all around and dancing. We even got a selfie with him. I wanted to do a high-five in mid-air but it was just not working so instead my photo came out a little bit goofy. It was so cool to see how this is demonstrated into the movie and how much hard work it can be.
That is the end of my walk thru of Skywalker Ranch and LucasFilm HQ. I hope you enjoyed it. I still can’t believe I was actually there and still soaking everything in. Stay tuned for more recap of my trip coming up.
Disclosure: Disney provided me with an all expense paid trip to San Francisco for the #RogueOneEvent #MickeyRacersEvent #PinocchioBluray #Waltagram #StarWarsRebelsEvent. All opinions are 100% my own.
