As fans buzz with excitement over the news that Ryan Gosling will lead a new Star Wars adventure, George Lucas took a moment to reflect on the saga’s enduring legacy.
The 80-year-old creator of the galaxy far, far away made a rare public appearance in Los Angeles to celebrate the 45th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back at the opening night of the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival.
And during his chat with TCM’s Ben Mankowitz, Lucas finally answered a mystery that has puzzled fans for decades.
Why Yoda’s Backward Talking Was No Accident
During the lively conversation, Lucas finally explained why Yoda, one of Star Wars’ most beloved characters, speaks the way he does.
“Because if you speak regular English, people won’t listen that much,” Lucas said, according to Variety.
He revealed that he needed audiences — especially younger viewers — to pay attention to Yoda’s wisdom.
“He was basically the philosopher of the movie,” Lucas said.
“I had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen — especially 12-year-olds.”
Giving Yoda a unique way of speaking forced viewers to slow down and really focus on the meaning of his words.
And judging by the iconic status Yoda has achieved, it definitely worked.
A Blueprint Approach to a Galactic Dream
Lucas also peeled back the curtain on how he wrote Star Wars.
Unlike traditional screenwriters, he said he wrote more like an architect — creating a rough “blueprint” with minimal details at first.
When he finished the first draft, it was a massive 130 to 180 pages long.
“So I cut it into three parts and said, ‘I’ll focus on the first one, because we’ll never get enough money to make the whole thing,’” Lucas shared.
That decision ended up laying the groundwork for what would become one of the biggest movie franchises in history.
How a Low Salary and a Brilliant Bet Changed Everything
Despite the revolutionary ideas he was bringing to the table, Lucas accepted what would now seem like a laughably small deal to get Star Wars made.
“I said, ‘I’ll do it for $50,000, to write and direct and produce… But I do want the sequels,’” he explained.
But Lucas had one more trick up his sleeve: he asked for licensing rights — something almost unheard of at the time. “They said, ‘What’s licensing?’” Lucas recalled with a laugh.
The studio didn’t think merchandise would be profitable, so they agreed without much fuss.
That gamble paid off beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
According to CCLCT.com, Star Wars merchandise has since earned around $32 billion, thanks to those toys, action figures, and endless memorabilia that fans still can’t get enough of.
Why Lucas Took Marketing into His Own Hands
One of the most surprising revelations of the night was how little effort 20th Century Fox put into marketing the original Star Wars film.
Feeling frustrated, Lucas decided to do something about it himself.
“I got the kids walking around Disneyland and the Comic Cons and all that kind of stuff to advertise the movie,” Lucas shared.
His grassroots campaign worked better than anyone could have predicted.
“That’s why Fox was so shocked when the first day the lines were all around the block.”
The rest, as they say, is history. And now, with Ryan Gosling stepping into the Star Wars universe, it looks like Lucas’s dream will keep inspiring new generations — just as it has for nearly five decades.