The Rise of Skywalker wasn’t the only Star Wars movie to feature a minor cameo from George Lucas.
According to sources close to ABC News, the former Lucasfilm boss was also referenced in both Rogue One and The Last Jedi – albeit through the power of audio.
The recently-released Episode IX contained a deep audio Easter egg that just so happens to be a scream from George Lucas himself. The clip, which has since been dubbed “The George,” was first recorded all the way back in 1973 for American Graffiti, though it’s only now that it’s beginning to gain traction online. So much so, in fact, that it’s even being compared to the “Wilhelm Scream,” an incredibly distinctive audio clip that you’ve no doubt heard ten times before, after Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt stitched it into dozens of different films, including every installment of Indiana Jones.
And The George? Sound designers David Acord and Matt Wood refused to be drawn about its presence in The Rise of Skywalker – or indeed any other Star Wars film, including Rogue One and The Last Jedi – but sources tell ABC that it is there. Somewhere.
“We’ve got a calling card, a very special scream in there,” Wood said of “The Last Jedi” in 2018.
So, there you have it: though he famously handed over the keys to Disney back in 2012, Star Wars continues to uphold the legacy of George Lucas, whose ingenuity helped launch the first truly cinematic space opera back in ’79. It’s since concluded thanks to The Rise of Skywalker, but with The Mandalorian season 2 already in the pipeline, there are still many stories left to be told in that famous galaxy far, far away.
