May 14, 1944. Born George Walton Lucas Jr. in Modesto, California. "I was very much aware that growing up wasn't pleasant, it was just ... frightening.... I was unhappy a lot of the time. Not really unhappy--I enjoyed my childhood. But I guess all kids, from their point of view, feel depressed and intimidated.... My strongest impression was that I was always on the lookout for the evil monster that lurked around the corner."¹

"My favorite things were Republic serials and things like Flash Gordon.... There was a television program called 'Adventure Theater' at 6:00 every night. We didn't have a TV set, so I used to go over to a friend's house and we watched it religiously. It was a twenty-minute serial chapter, and the left over minutes of the half hour was filled with "Crusader Rabbit." I loved it...."²

Lucas rarely went to feature-length movies, "and when I did it...