Lucas Museum of Narrative Art - Part II Review!

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens soon on September 22nd and this review only covers a little more of the museum! The last review covered the Library and Naboo Starfighter to the History of Narrative Art and then to the Level 4 galleries; Star Wars in Motion, Children Stories, the Murals gallery, and the Manga gallery! Still, there are more parts of the museum to explore! It begins with the Graphic Stories gallery, This is at the north side of the museum to the right of the Cinema gallery. Along the wall is a page from Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland (1908). Then, three images of McCay’s groundbreaking Gertie the Dinosaur (1914). 

Princess Leia Frees Herself from Jabba the Hutt (2025) statue, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, author’s photo. 

Across from the wall with Winsor McCay is a 1983 panel from The Far Side by Gary Larson. A time travel jump of 75 years! Then, a 1970’s page from Walt Kelly’s Pogo that has all of the corrections and notes, impressive! The facing wall has several Charles M. Schulz Peanuts comic strips. I love the Mickey Mouse comic strip by Floyd Gottfredson. Of course, there is the Alley Oop comic strip by V.T. Hamilin that was the first art piece that Lucas had purchased. Along the back of the right wall is the adventure strips featuring Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond. Jaw hit the floor! This is truly what inspired Lucas to create Star Wars. Raymond was a fine artist, incredible detail and characters. 

Then, there is Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant! I have several volumes collecting the work of Prince Valiant. Another jaw to floor drop. His vistas have an epic sweep similar to the Romantic art period. This moves on to the Comic art gallery in the next room with the iconic Invincible Iron Man #1 (1968) cover with art by Gene Colan. The artwork looks like different images pasted around Iron Man in a heroic pose! On the other wall is a portrait of The Joker by Brian Bolland for USA Magazine (1988).Next to it is a page from the graphic novel, Batman: The Dark Prince Charming (2018) by Enrico Marini. 

Prince Valiant comic strip page by Hal Foster, photo by the author. 

On the other side was The Spirit by Will Eisner which goes to inks to a 1975 full color piece! Absolutely great to see the progression of an illustration. I really like the George Perez cover for Wonder Woman #25 (1988). It is signed though the gallery does not list issue numbers. A companion piece was a full page by Jim Lee of Future State: Justice League #1 (2021). Another fantastic art piece was the frontispiece of Avengers #58 (1968). It is by another favorite artist, John Buscema, with Black Panther clinging to a wall with the title, “Even An Android Could Cry”, the second part of the story that introduced Vision. 

A powerful image is of Captain America ripping through the pages of Captain America #109 (1969). Art is by the legendary Jack Kirby and this issue brought Cap from World War II into the Silver Age! Another wall had a painting from Moebius’ Starwatcher II (1985) and also a 1977 pages from Airtight Garage. Next, several paintings of Uncle Scrooge by Carl Barks! The opposite wall featured several paintings of Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Newman. This includes one 1966 painting by Frank Kelly Freas. The wall leads down with several piees by Robert Crumb including the cover of Fritz the Cat #1 (1969). The wall to the left has several illustration of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. 

Bernie Wrightson’s Frankenstein (1983), author’s photo. 

Then, some illustrations of Daredevil by Frank Miller. The back wall also had several images of characters from Love and Rockets by Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez. The stunning illustration of the Creature and Dr. Frankenstein in his lab was from the graphic novel, Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein (1983). Across from Graphic Stories is the Rockwell gallery. It has a bronze state of his iconic Triple Self-Portrait. The work of Norman Rockwell is pure Americana and I found them funny. After the Prom (1957) has a soda jerk’s gawking face, the girl brushes him off, and her geeky prom date has a frown! A walk to the other side has the Adventure gallery with a bronze statue of Indiana Jones! There is a heroic, pre-production painting for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) by Jim Steranko. 

Plus the Frank Frazetta painting for The Outlaw of Torn (1973). Next is the Romance gallery. It has Donato Giancola’s Elegy for Darkness - The Lady of Shalott (2004). Several paintings of women are seen in The Seasons (1896-1900) by Alfonse Mucha. A knight on horseback with a lady reaching out from a window is the subject of “The Prince” is by N.C. Wyeth. The entrance of the Fantasy gallery has Christos Achilleos’ The War of Powers (1983), Boris Vallejo’s The Lavalite World (1977), and the 1996 painting, The Huntress (Lenda) by Julie Bell. Connected to the Fantasy gallery is the Frazetta gallery. 

Frank Frazetta’s A Princess of Mars (1970), photo by the author. 

The one painting that had stopped me in my tracks was The Egyptian Queen, Frank Frazetta’s 1969 painting. It that has a woman leaning against a column with her blue dress draped across steps! Another iconic painting that stunned me was A Princess of Mars (1970) based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel, this image is driven into my imagination. Lastly, was the Luana painting for the comics magazine, Vampirella #31 (1974). This leads to the Science Fiction gallery. There are paintings of space ships like John Berkey’s Station Deep Space (1973), Robert McCall’s Palomino spaceship in Study for The Black Hole (1979), was a pre-production painting for the sci fi movie. 

A display case has Olivia De Berardinis’ Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia (2017). The paintings next to the East Viewpoint include H.R. Giger’s Future Kill (1984). A display case has the robotic suit from Earth Versus the Flying Saucers (1956). Behind it is the alien costume from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Outside the museum in the Park and Gardens section, to the left of the parking structure gate, is the bronze statue, Padme Fights Off Nexu (2026), by Mark Newman. The centerpiece is Princess Leia Frees Herself from Jabba the Hutt (2025), the classic Huttslayer image. Finally, a walk to the farthest path leads through an overhead trellis to the statue of Yoda & Grogu over a fountain! There is so much to see at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is that a number of visitors remark that they couldn’t see all of it and want to return!   

#LucasMuseumOfNarrativeArt, #GraphicStories, #LittleNemoInSlumberland, #GertieTheDinosaur, #WinsorMcCay, #TheFarSide, #GaryLarson, #Pogo, #WaltKelly, #Peanuts, #CharlesMSchulz, #MickeyMouse, #FloydGottfredson, #AlleyOop, #VTHamilin, #FlashGordon, #AlexRaymond, #PrinceValiant, #HalFoster, #Comics, #InvincibleIronMan, #GeneColan

#USAMagazine, #BrianBolland, #BatmanTheDarkPrinceCharming, #EnricoMarini, #TheSpirit, #WillEisner, #WonderWoman, #GeorgePerez, #FutureStateJusticeLeague, #JimLee, #Avengers, #JohnBuscema, #CaptainAmerica, #JackKirby, #StarwatcherII, #AirtightGaraga, #Moebius

#UncleScrooge, #CarlBarks, #MadMagazine, #FrankKellyFreas, #FritzTheCat, #RobertCrumb, #Hellboy, #MikeMignola, #Daredevil, #FrankMiller, #LoveAndRockets, #GilbertHernandez, #JaimeHernandez, #Rockwell, #TripleSelfPortrait, #AfterTheProm, #Adventure

#RaidersOfTheLostArk, #JimSteranko, #TheOutlawOfTorn, #FrankFrazetta, #Romance, #ElegyForDarknessTheLadyOfShalott, #DonatoGiancola, #TheSeasons, #AlfonseMucha, #ThePrince, #NCWyeth, #Fantasy, #TheWarOfPowers, #ChristosAchilleos, #TheLavealiteWorld

#BorisVallejo, #TheHuntressLenda, #JulieBell, #Frazetta, #TheEgyptianQueen, #APrincessOfMars, #Luana, #FrankFrazetta, #ScienceFiction, #StationDeepSpace, #JohnBerkey, #StudyForTheBlackHole, #RobertMcCall, #CarrieFisherAsPrincessLeia, #OliviaDeBaradinis

#FutureKill, #HRGiger, #EarthVersusTheFlyingSaucers, ##CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind, #PrincessLeiaFreesHerselfFromJabbaTheHutt, #PadmeFightsOffNexu, #MarkNewman, #YodaAndGrogu

 

Transformers: The Movie and Optimus Prime: Awakening Review!

 The 40th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie (1986) has the return of the film to theaters and at the end is an animated short that ties up the story of Optimus Prime!  The animated show, Transformers, began in 1984 and ended in 1987. Collectively the Marvel comic, movie, and cartoon is known as Generation 1. There were a number of series until the live action movies began in 2007. This had a reboot with the Bumblee (2018) film. The stand out from all of the series and movies was Peter Cullen, the voice of the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime. Cullen had died on August of this year. Also this year, Hasbro had a promotional campaign called Transformers The Movie: Apology Tour. 

This finally culminates with the Fathom Events showing of the film from September 17th to the 21st, there is still some time! Transformers the Movie was directed by Nelson Shin and had a screenplay by Ron Friedman. A silent, galaxy until we see the sphere of Unicron. Great musical score by Vince DiCola, very familiar. A calm city of robots is disturbed by the robotic planet tearing up the robot planet! This is of course like Galactus from the Fantastic Four. The planet is destroyed and then we pan into space with the rockin’ Transformers theme by Lion. A credit scene which was great to see some familiar names. The narrator says it is the distant future of the Transformers, 2005, nineteen years from season two. 

Optimus Prime (Cullen) orders Ironhide (Cullen) to take a shuttle to Earth. Jazz (Scatman Cruthers) on Moon Base One communicates to Moon Base Two. Cruthers is a favorite voice actor. There is Spike (Corey Burton), the human ally of the Autobots in a cybernetic suit with Bumblebee (Dan Gilvezan). They report there is no Decepitcon activity. Prime says they don’t have enough Energon to counter the Decepticons, “All we need is a little Energon and a lot of luck.” Lazerbeak has spied on the Autobots and Megatron (Frank Welker), the Decepticon leader, orders Soundwave (also Weller) plays the recording. I thought Soundwave had the Cylon voice filter, love it. 

They breach the Autobot shuttle with Megatron transforming into a laser pistol fired by Starscream (Christopher Collins). The last Autobot reaches out to Megatron and only gets blasted! At this point it is a no holds barred story with the “death” of heroes. Daniel Witwicky (David Mendenhall), the teenage son of Spike, is fishing from a stream with his pal, Hot Rod (Judd Nelson). They get a signal from the shuttle and Daniel races with his hover board, he crashes, and Hot Rod transformers into sports car to the “Dare” song. They head to Lookout Mountain. Hot Rod smashes through the barriers set up by Kup (Lionel Stander), an elderly Autobot. 

Daniel notices the shuttle’s breach. Hot Rod opens fire on the Decepitcons. Ultra Magnus (Robert Stack) leads the defense. He sends Arcee (Susan Blu) to activate the city’s defenses. A female Autobot? She is there with an all male robot crew kinda like Smurfette. Kup and Hot Rod are able to enter Autobot City while it is under siege. Contacts Optimus Prime to warn him about the attack. Daniel sees the mega bot, Devastator breach the city wall. The city smokes as Optimus Prime sends in the Dinobots led by Grimlock (Gregg Berger) to take on Devastator. Optimus Prime says, “Megatron must be stopped no matter the cost.” In truck form, Optimus bashes the Decepitcons and then uses his cannon to blast the others. This is to the song, “The Touch” by Stan Bush. 

Megatron confronts Prime who says, “One shall stand, one shall fall.” Megatron throws a pice of shrapel that pierces Prime’s side. Then, he uses a lightsaber? Opteimus knocks him dow and Megatron begs for mercy. Hot Rod tries to save Optimus from Megatron picking up a blaster. Megatron takes Hot Rod hostage and blasts Prime. Optimus is able to knock down Megatron and Starscream (Christopher Collins) leads the retreat. Daniel sees the vitals of Optimus. The leader of the Autobots says, “Do not grieve, soon I will be one with the Matrix.” He gives the Matrix of Leadership to  Ultra Magnus, “One day an Autobot shall  rise from our ranks and use the power of the Matrix to light our darkest hour.” His chest opens and he removes the Matrix, a sphere with glowing crystals. 

Optimus Prime’s final words, “Until that day when all are one”, Prime drops the Matrix picked up by Hot Rod who hands it to Ultra Magnus. The vitals go steady and Optimus eyes stop their glow. He is now greyish and Daniel cries. Unicron sees the transfer of the Matrix. The shuttle, Astrotrain, reports that there needs to be less weight. Starsceram throws out the wounded including Megatron and announces himself as leader. The wounded float to Unicron (Orson Welles) who wants Megatron to destroy the Matrix. He transforms Megatron into Galvatron (Leonard Nimoy)! The Autobot survivors travel the galaxy finding more robot planets, It becomes confusing with little direction, but Galvatron does take the Matrix from Ultra Magnus. Optimus Prime: Awakening begins right after the movie’s credits. 

The twelve minute short is directed by Joshua Wassung and written by Ryan Parrott. This picks up when the Autobot Chief Medical Officer, Ratchet, declares that Optimus Prime’s wounds are fatal. This shifts to computer animation which works here, since Optimus is in another reality, animation from The Third Floor studio. He is pulled back and circles around a ring spiral. Optimus hears, “One will stand, one will fall”, the final performance by Peter Cullen. He hears, “Awaken Autobot” and Optimus revives. The voice belongs to a “bringer of light” and he adds “What is when all are one”, called The One (Simon Henderson). 

This strongly reminds me of Ahsoka’s World Between Worlds and also the Mortis episodes of the Clone Wars  starting with “Overlords” (2011); GC-CW3/15. The One is like The Father, the balance between both sides of The Force. The entity tries to reassure Optimus, “Have no fear, you will die again.”, not very reassuring. There are flashbacks of the movie and also the animated series. The One tells Optimus that he has to break the cycle of the endless war, the “day when all are one.”, Decepticon and Autobots together. Then, Soundwave (Welker) leaps down with an Insecticon! Optimus transforms into his truck form and smashes them against a canyon. Soundwave hits him with several missiles! 

Bumbebee (Jaret LeMaster) joins the fight. I see a parallel with the Mortis episodes; Optimus as Anakin or The Father, Ahsoka’s counterpart or as The Daughter, Bumblebee, and Megatron as Dooku or The Son. It makes sense as a trio of characters. Bumblebee now has the symbol of the Decepticons and says, “Everyone who follows you dies.” He transforms with the other Decepticons into the giant mecha, King Bee to crush Optimus! Betrayal by Optimus’ good friend and a painful truth reflected back at him! There is a final battle with Megatron (Welker), but Optimus has to face what would be the Jedi Trial of Spirit, “Remember your failure at the cave.” He has to learn to put away the sword, unite the factions to bring the day when “all are one.” A great full circle moment that was left unanswered in Transformers the Movie and a tribute to Peter Cullen who has a dedication at the end. 

Five Energon Cubes out of Five! 

#TransformersTheMovie, #NelsonShin, #RonFriedman, #VinceDiCola, #Lion, #StanBush, #PeterCullen, #JuddNelson, #DavidMendenhall, #LionelStander, #SusanBlu, #FrankWelker, #ChristopherCollins, #OrsonWelles, #LeonardNimoy, #RobertStack, #ScatmanCruthers, #CoreyBurton, #DanGilvezan, #GreggBerger. #OptimusPrimeAwakening, #JoshuaWassung, #RyanParrott, #TheThirdFloor, #JaretLeMaster   

Halloween Horror Nights 2026 Review!

 Halloween Horror Nights returns to Universal Studios Hollywood with the highlight being the Sinners haunted house! The event began in 1992 and has continued as an annual scare fest. In 2001 was the house, The Mummy Returns: Chamber of Doom, and it became a regular attraction. It became Van Helsing: Fortress Dracula, two years after the Van Helsing movie.  Finally, it became Universal’s House of Horrors before it closed in 2014. It has been some time since I last went to Horror Nights, but I also knew from Universal Fan Fest Nights that the Express Pass was the way to go. The event has been wildly popular, the regular lines looked they last one to two hours. The regular tickets start at 7 p.m. so it would be about four mazes of exhausting waits. 

Do you dare enter Club Juke in Sinners and have a great time?, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, author’s photo. 

The price is $79 per person, but this depends on the time like the weend which is more. Express is $279, far more expensive, but worth it to bypass the long lines. This gives you access to the Express lines for one maze a night. It is much faster than regular lines. The Express Unlimited gives you Express access all night without the limitation. I think every maze one time is a good deal. The other option is After 2 p.m. Day/Night, $119, you get a wristband that allows you Early Event Access to the haunted houses. This works with the lower lot mazes at around 5 p.m. 2 hours before the opening. 2 p.m. may allow you to bypass the Express pass price. I had bought the expensive After 2 p.m. Day/Night Universal Express, $349! I had hoped to go to the Sinners house twice, line up for the Day/Night part and then use the Express.  

My other objective was to see Nikki from Obsession. She is a roaming character so there is no set area. There is a code word for the day and you get a gift from her, a One Wish Willow card that has the phone number from the film, pretty cool. Still, it was a frustrating search, I covered some of the Upper Lot before I went into the Sinners queue. I saw outside of it HamiKuma Bear. This is the zombie teddy bear that is a mascot that debuted in 2021 for Universal Studios Japan. It has cute bear face and body, but one eye is dangling, it has claws, and a stomach with candies falling out! Side note: down Baker Street past Sinners is the Club Juke bar. This was Mulligan’s Irish Pub. There are drinks like I Lied to You, I Love the Blues-berry, vodka with blue curaçao syrup, also non-alcoholic with white grape juice. 

The haunted house for Sinners was located at the former Walking Dead attraction on the Upper Lot. Sammie is playing his guitar on a stage. The background flashes to Remmick and the vampires. The music is great, I could stay overnight, even with the vampires. This is the setting for the “I Lied to You” dance number, but in a small space. A window in the queue shows Smoke dancing. A window and a door open, I missed them the first time, a modern dj, and then Stack was there welcoming you to Club Juke. I thought he looked identical to Michael B. Jordan complete with red hat and toothpick. Around the corner, you have wandered into a dark forest with glowing eyes, and whispering! 

Sammie and his guitar, Sinners haunted house, photo by the author. 

Then, there is a dead woman clinging to a guitar with two vulutres over her on a log.  Remmick with bloody mouth and blood stained shirt! Vampires, who must be Bert and Joan, pop out of the darkness! He has glowing eyes which I think is some kind of reflective contacts, but I don’t want any spoiler reveals on how it is done. It continues on with the Patterson-Greenfield touring car and the entrance to Club Juke, where’s Cornbread? He is around somewhere. This seems backwards from the entrance of the haunted house. I love the curtains, not rubber, but a kind of burlap which is thin and almost see-through. This leads you to long line of frosted windows, maybe Remmick faces you, as you walk on! The backroom has the bloody Stack with vampire Mary above him! I still like her even with the bloody jaw. Smoke runs in to drive her off! 

There is a two story part of the barn, bodies, vampires, and ends with Pearline staking a vampire on the bar! Around the corner, maybe watch for the vampire leaping down at you! Dawn has come, the vampires are burned, and Smoke leaps at you with a stake! This is my top maze at Horror Nights, not just for that night, but all time! Universal Studios does it best making you feel like you walking through the films! I would have put the forest and Remmick first and then get into the enterace of Club Juke, and the centerpiece, the dance number. I would have separated dancers, go into different eras, by tables and stacks of boxes. Then, I went to the H-Lot, this is a new area, past Hogwarts there is a fence that leads back stage to the H-Lot. Down a hill, then coming back up it!, this leads to a path that has a large area that may be for parking. 

The Lament Configuration, Hellraiser maze, author’s photo. 

The Hellraiser haunted house has a giant Lament Configuration, puzzle box, at the entrance. The 1987 horror film was a Clive Barker gore fest, but the standout was Pinhead who gives you an introduction to the summoning of the Cenobites by opening the box! There are chains in the dark room and another room, a wall lights up showing Pinhead who says, “We have such sights to show you.” Crumbling walls, the rubber curtains, and the Cenobites! A patient is impaled with chains. There is a hospital room with six patients in bed, the door opens and Pinhead is revealed with a head covering, a lare worm with a claw clutching his skull? Gruesome scenes, it was so dark, I tried to enter a closed door until a team member guided me out! Um, don’t want to stay there, no blues music, or antyhing comfortable! 

Next to it was the Evil Dead Burn house. What looks like Edgar Price stands in a gazebo. An upturned car has victims smashed against the roof. On a pile of dirt and wood chips is the smiling woman’s head swings around talking to you, eerie! There is a large page written in blood with “Montrossi”, one of the words from the Necronomicon ex mortis, the book fo the dead. The forests are filled with Deadites. The problem with my walk through was that I saw them before and after they surprised guests. You walk into a house and see an elderly lady on a chair halfway up steps. A woman with a lawnmower sets it on a victim in a bathtub, this sent water spraying at me! Where’s Ash with his boom stick? It didn’t remind me of the Evil Dead movies and no humor in the haunted house. This would be one of my lowest rated houses for the night. Next, after some rest next to Hogwarts, I took the escalators to the lower level. 

These fellers have a delievery for you!, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, photo by the author. 

There was really only one house that I wanted to go to there, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, 1988 comedy horror film was heavy on the comedy! This had a downward path a little past the Transformers attraction. It went through the backstage past the building that had the Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep building from Fan Fest Nights. Farmer Gene Green talks to you with the circus tent enterance. Once you enter there are the tall klowns with creepy faces that are absurdly funny. Brilliant creations by the Chido Brothers. There is a giant yellow balloons with red splotches that trap victims! A door opens so several klowns can greet you! Then, there is the house with snake-like klowns jumping at you from laundry hampers and one out of a toilet that sprayed me! At the Crescent Cove police station, a klown has his ventroloquist dummy, Officer Mooney! This is almost the only victim of the killer klowns. My favorite is the little klown with boxing gloves knocking the block off of the biker! 

A last maze, Killceñera which features music by Slash!, it was next to the Sinners house which I went on for the second time. It is Lola’s Quinceañera, 2 de Noviembre de 2026, as the sign reads above the balcony. Lola is there in traditional black dress, but with skull-like face. I hope this becomes a horror movie! Lola is in the maze along with demonic figures and a brilliant La Llorona! Much scarier than the mild horror film, The Curse of La Llorona (2019). There are women in white dresses, victims of Lola’s curse! There are figures of four mariachi players with skull heads and glowing red eyes, except one moves!  A reliquary for Lola’s mother also has a ghostly woman in white! I wandered into the secret maze, fun, and also caught The Purge: Dangerous Waters show at Waterworld, ok, but the high bar was set with the One Piece: Grand Pirate Show at Fan Fest. I didn’t go to Stranger Things or the other houses, I did surprise Art the Clown at the plaza walking past him, the only big disappoinment was not seeing Nikki. The After 2 PM Day/Night pass wasn’t worth it, seconded by other guests that I had met, unless you want to go to a house like Sinners. 

#HalloweenHorrorNights, #UniversalStudiosHollywood, #HamiKumaBear, #ClubJukeBar, #Sinners, #ILiedToYouILoveTheBluesberry, #Sinners, #Sammie, #Smoke, #Stack, #Remmick, #Cornbread, #Bert, #Joan, #Mary, #Pearline, #HLot, #Hellraiser, #CliveBarker, #Pinhead, #EvilDeadBurn, #EdgarPrice, #KillerKlownsFromOuterSpace, #ChiodoBrothers, #OfficerMooney, #Killcenera, #Slash, #Lola, #LaLlorona, #ThePurgeDangerousWaters, #ArtTheClown. 

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Review - Part I!

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has a compelling vision of what is artwork and how to bring art to everyone! This is something that I wanted to be a part of when I first heard about the museum. So at the museum’s booth at the L.A. Festival of Books, I decided I wanted to volunteer, and so I’m currently a museum volunteer. If there is anyone who would also like to volunteer, there is always room for more! This caveat aside, these are my observations and opinions of my visitor volunteer day, and of course not reflective of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. 

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art seen from the Park & Gardens, photo by the author. 

This being stated, there is one reaction that I’ve heard including my guests from the day, that there is so much in the museum that you have to make another visit. The other one is how to get tickets. The best way that I found is to sign up for membership. Check out for more info: https://lucasmuseum.org/ The museum opens on September 22nd. The building itself is a wonder, designed by Ma Yansong, it looks like a spaceship landed in Exposition Park! The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is made of curves and not blocky like other museums. 

The museum’s location is across the street from the Natural History Museum and also across from the USC campus. The gardens are open to the public, but close at normal operating hours. After driving into the parking garage or walking up, you scan your tickets and get wristbands. 

This leds you the plaza that shows you the Ocolus, the rounded feature that shows the sky, in the center of the museum! This can go to the south end building that has suspended from the ceiling, a N-1 Naboo Starfighter complete with R2-D2! Elevators are controlled by operators using keypads. It has the library which has a giant window that has beautiful views of the garden. There are several tables, chairs, and rows of books that continues to a second and third level! 

The full size Naboo N-1 starfighter seen from the second floor, author’s photo. 

Walk across the plaza to the north building. This has the gift store to the left, cafe and Starbucks to the right. Past the gift store is the checkroom, restrooms, and a little beyond it is the history of narrative art: Heroes, Myths, The Sacred. I highly recommend this gallery to start your visit, but note some displays have no photography signs. A hallway has a rounded cave projection of Altamira Cave in Spain with prehistoric drawings and the ceiling has a reproduction of a nebula! This also leads to projections of the Sistine Chapel. The projections also representing artwork, are high quality, you can look closely to see weaves of tapestry and the gloss of paint in artwork! There was the Venus of Willendorf, a reproduction of the Sun Stone from the Aztec people, and I was stunned to see a reproduction of the Capitoline She-Wolf with infant Romulus and Remus! 

All cultures flow throughout the exhibit, the wood block reproduction of Tomoe Gozen’s Departure, and my favorite, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, also a reproduction, but captures the vibrant color, life, and what stuns me is that it is static painting of course, but the figures move, dancing, talking, sunlight streams from the trees! From there is the glass elevator, operated by staff with their computer pads, it is a fast trip up to the fourth floor with the galleries. All galleries are open for photography and you can use the Lucas Museum Digital Guide to use a photograph of an art piece to get information on the piece and artist. It also has a map of the museum and can be loaded from QR codes. The Cinema gallery is a highlight with the inaugral exhibiton of Star Wars in Motion. This is located to the left of the elevators, down a hall, and another left before the Oculus. On the walls outside are long paintings by Ralph McQuarrie, Doug Chiang, Ryan Church, and others. 

Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (1876) reproduction, Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  photo by the author. 

Inside the entrance you are greeted by C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) flanked by the McQuarrie concept painting and the Erik Tiemens painting of Obi-Wan handing baby Luke to Owen Lars, the beginning and the end of the Star Wars Saga. I’m still with George Lucas Canon and the gallery reflects the Original and Sequel Trilogy. Across from them is Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin (Hayden Christensen) in the speeder chasing bounty hunter, Zam Wassel (Leeanna Walkman), in her airspeeder. What I find most impressive is that the figures have the likenesses of the actors. The featureless mannequin heads really take me out of the film’s scenes. Next to the droids is the Podracer of Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd). 

The long room ends with models of Podracers and behind them is the blur of the Tatooine desert, this is what gives these props and models motion, now this is Podracing! Embedded in a column is a Y-Wing model with Yavin, half in darkness, wow. At the end is the costume of Darth Vader (Dave Prowse), next to Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch), and then Jabba’s Sail Barge and skiff models with figures against the McQuarrie Return of the Jedi (1983) painting. Finally, a Sandtrooper guards the display with his blaster. The hall has the X-34 landspeeder with a figure of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). A Sand People family stands by him and also a Jawa with a model of a Sandcrawler. They are backed by a McQuarrie concept painting overlooking Mos Eisley.

Leia’s speeder bike with Ralph McQuarrie painting showing Luke on his speeder bike, author’s photo. 

At the corner of the hall is Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) in her Star Wars (1977) white dress. A cloud car model banks next to a McQuarrie Cloud City painting. Lastly, a model of the Millennium Falcon. A display wall has models of a crashed AT-AT walker, scout walker, farther down is the clone assault tank and batle droid Multi-Troop Transport. The motion part of the exhibit is best seen with the speeder bike chase with props of Leia on her speeder bike, the McQuarrie painting has Luke in his speeder, and behind them is the scout trooper on his bike! Towards the exit there is a section with the Jedi Master costume of Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) and Owen Lars’ swoop bike. 

Against a backdrop of clone troopers on Utapau is the costume of Darth Maul (Ray Park), and the stunning Wheel Bike with General Grievous! I thought it was a computer generated creation, but s I understand made for the museum, so you can see it in person! Another impressive gallery is Children Stories. It features a display of the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) costume from the classic Wizard of Oz (1939). There are artists like Alphonse Mucha and his painting The Jester: A Hungarian Tale (1887), Andy Warhol’s Howdy Doody (1981), and Robin Hood and Little John (1937) by N.C. Wyeth. So this painting by Wyeth is separate from the gallery devoted to Wyeth’s works. So artists may be found in multiple galleries!

Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat by Naoyo Kimura, author’s photo. 

Then, some iconic illustrations, a 1864 illustration by John Tenniel from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, John R. Neill, original artist for Ozma of Oz (1904)!, also E.H. Shepard has several beautiful, Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations. Plus, paintings by Brian Froud and Maurice Sendak, comprehensive! The Wyeth gallery has fantastic paintings for novels; Thor’s Wonderful Journey (1940) and The Boy’s King Arthur (1917) which has two knights with lances held upwards, three maidens follow on horseback and two swans swim alongside them! The Manga gallery, next to the Oculus, has a statue of Kaneda from Akira in red jumpsuit drawing a gun. 

There are several paintings by Masamune Shirow, illustrations attributed to Osamu Tezuka, and the highlight is Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat by Naoyo Kimura based on Van Gogh’s 1887 painting! Close by was the elevator to the fifth floor with the Murals. I love Giants (2017) by JR which has an infant girl, almost ghostly, towering over a long fence with a tiny guard on the other side. A number of works by Banksy are in that gallery; a “Working maquette for flag statue” (2026) and Girl with Balloon (2002), it looks pulled from a wall with the b&w girl reaching for a red, heart-shaped balloon. There is just so much to take in at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, there will be a part II with the Comic fallery, Fantasy, Frank Frazetta, Science Fiction, and the Garden!   

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