At this point, all the secrets of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace should actually be revealed. But as it turns out, there is a mini-cameo of George Lucas that was previously completely unknown.
Last year, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and felt confident that we had learned every detail about the prequel trilogy. However, a year later, a very special find came to light that no one had seen coming.
Not only do several E.T.s sneak into a Senate meeting at the edge of the picture, but Star Wars creator George Lucas also makes a cameo appearance in the film that went undetected for decades. Lucas’ face is engraved in the archway. However, you really need to have eagle eyes to recognize him.
Hidden cameo in The Phantom Menace: How to spot Star Wars creator George Lucas
In the finale of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Queen Amidala attempts to retake the palace of Theed on her home planet of Naboo. In one scene, we see her running with her allies through a huge colonnade in the palace. If you pause the movie at the hour, 58 minutes, and 17 seconds mark, you can see an impressive archway in the background.
In the middle of the archway is an oval-shaped effigy modeled after a photograph of George Lucas. Not even the 4K rework that was released in theaters last year caught this mini-cameo. Fortunately, journalist Clayton Sandell spoke to ILM veteran Caroleen “Jett” Green.
Jett Green is best known for her breathtaking matte paintings, which she created for Star Wars, among other films. Matte paintings are painted backgrounds. In the past, these images were applied to glass, but today they are usually created digitally. A matte painting was also used for the scene above.
In conversation with Sandell, Green reveals how the Lucas cameo came about:
I decided to take a photo of George [Lucas] and put it on this stone tablet. I thought, ‘Well, that’ll be cool. When you scale the image down, his face is just a blur.’
When visual effects supervisor Scott Squires showed him the matte painting modification, he said that Lucas himself would have to give his blessing. Green remembers the ensuing encounter:
George is very quiet. He looks at it and says, ‘Oh, naughty, naughty.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but that’s you! It’s your face.’ And then it was quiet again. And I just sit there with everyone. I can’t really describe the feeling, but for some reason I knew I wasn’t in trouble. And then George says, ‘Okay. Leave it in.’
Aside from that cameo, Lucas had one other, slightly more recognizable appearance in the prequel trilogy. In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, he makes a brief appearance as Baron Papanoida in the opera scene on Coruscant. You’ll soon have another chance to experience this cameo in the best possible way.
The conclusion of the prequel trilogy is coming back to theaters for four days to celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary. From April 24 to 27, 2025, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith will be mixing up the current theater program. As part of this, we will see the movie on screen in 4K and 4DX for the first time.
The next new Star Wars project to be launched is the second season of Andor. It premieres on Disney+ on April 23, 2025. We can look forward to a total of twelve episodes, which will be released weekly in blocks of three.
