Did George Lucas Photobomb This Family's Disney Vacation Photos? A /Film Investigation
Visionary filmmaker, philanthropist, and part-time master of disguise George Lucas appears to be at it again.
In early 2005, the world was gearing up for the release of the highly-anticipated "Revenge of the Sith" later that Spring and, for all intents and purposes, the end of the Skywalker Saga as we knew it. Although practically every kid in America at the time had "Star Wars" on the mind, a young 11-year-old by the name of Mark Chase was looking forward to different kind of childhood highlight: a family outing to Walt Disney World. Fun times were had, memories were made, and life went on. That is, until the rediscovery of an old family photo brought a years-long running joke back to the fore ... and reignited the possibility that the Chases had posed with Br'er Rabbit (the rarest sight of all!) for a family photo in the perfect time and place to capture a stranger sitting off to the side.
A stranger who looks conspicuously like George Lucas himself.
Like much of the internet, the /Film staff couldn't get over Mark's now-viral tweet detailing his suspicions that they'd stood within spitting distance of the architect behind the galaxy far, far away on that unassuming trip to Disney World 18 years ago. Of course, it's a well-documented fact that Lucas has pulled similar stunts on many occasions in the past, whether it be wandering into the shot of a scientific documentary or inadvertently getting snapped by Lindsay Lohan paparazzi. But doing so at the most magical place on Earth, during the week that just so happened to coincide with one of the director's most meme-worthy photoshoots ever? What are the odds?
So we rolled up our sleeves, put on our investigative hats, and attempted to get to the bottom of it. Is that really George Lucas in the photo?
'It was kind of a bombshell'
Oftentimes, you just have to go right to the source. When /Film got in touch with Mark Chase, he was more than happy to share his recollections of that trip and how, all these years later, his family finally ended up revisiting that mysterious case of George Lucas (or an impeccable George Lucas lookalike) hanging out on the edge of that photo. Although he doesn't remember specifics of that exact day, Mark explained what prompted him to look back and share this story with the world:
"My mom was moving some old family photos from one place into another, more secure place and was sharing some of them via our group chat. Once she posted the Lucas (?) photo it got the gears turning. None of us had really thought about or spoken about the picture in at least a decade. We first discovered the doppelgänger around 2014, to the best of our collective memory. We're more online now than we were back then, so only now did it occur to any of us to take to Google to try to find some evidence to confirm or debunk the photo. After finding the article from wdwmagic.com, it was kind of a bombshell."
That aforementioned article is truly the smoking gun that confirms Lucas was, in fact, in town at the exact same time as the Chase family — and even doing some "Star Wars" marketing, at that. You may have seen the photos at that link before. They are, quite frankly, pretty incredible.
The fact that Lucas was enjoying his own week-long vacation at Disney World explains the different shirts Lucas is wearing (likely taken on separate days), though amateur internet sleuths also pointed out the distinctively similar-looking sneakers seen in the "Star Wars" photoshoot and in the photo with Mark's family. The plot thickens, indeed!
'It's either him or the greatest coincidence in the world'
It's not every day that social media can be united in one brief moment of glee over the silliest of things. Much of this has to do with the (alleged) involvement of Lucas himself, who has transformed over the decades from a pariah after the less-than-enthusiastic reactions to the "Star Wars" prequels to the lovable old uncle of franchise fans everywhere, seemingly content to enjoy his retirement years in total anonymity. That last part makes the chances of Lucas himself weighing in on this phenomenon somewhat unlikely (though, to steal a Han Solo line, never tell us the odds!), but Mark's still holding out hope:
"I would say 99% of the [Twitter] responses believe it is definitely him in the picture, and after finding out he was there I'm inclined to agree. It's either him or the greatest coincidence in the world. My only hope from all of this is to get some kind of confirmation from the man himself, I think that would be so cool and my family would definitely love it. Having grown up on the original trilogy, it would just be a really awesome thing, to get closure on this mystery after so many years."
No matter the truth, Mark can at least appreciate the irony of experiencing a small dose of internet fame himself — granted, to a much lesser extent than Lucas once did — yet still managing to come away unscathed. "People seem to have deemed the whole thing kind of wholesome and funny, which is cool. The internet can be a scary place, so I'm glad our family have seemingly landed on the good side of things."
Ultimately, the jury's still out on this mystery, but add this to the ever-increasing lore of George Lucas.