Toriyama loves Star Wars but has George Lucas ever talked about Dragon Ball?

[Yuji]

I seem to remember Toriyama saying the two have met but has George Lucas ever spoken on Toriyama or Dragon Ball himself?

While rewatching the prequels I noticed some similarities between Episode III's ending and the climactic battle on Namek. I'm wondering if he was perhaps influenced or if they just both came up with similar set pieces independently.

[Koitsukai]

There are plenty of references to SW, but I never noticed any on Namek, which similarities are you referring to?

I'd say most of them, or the most obvious ones, come from GT, and I think DBS too has a few.

[Kaboom]

While rewatching the prequels I noticed some similarities between Episode III's ending and the climactic battle on Namek. I'm wondering if he was perhaps influenced or if they just both came up with similar set pieces independently.

Um, Star Wars Episode III premiered in 2005, a whole decade after the entire original Dragon Ball manga had already ended. Or is that not what you meant?

[MasenkoHA]

While rewatching the prequels I noticed some similarities between Episode III's ending and the climactic battle on Namek. I'm wondering if he was perhaps influenced or if they just both came up with similar set pieces independently.

Um, Star Wars Episode III premiered in 2005, a whole decade after the entire original Dragon Ball manga had already ended. Or is that not what you meant?

I think Yuji is suggesting Episode III was inspired by the battle on Namek in Dragon Ball not the other way around.

[Kaboom]

I think Yuji is suggesting Episode III was inspired by the battle on Namek in Dragon Ball not the other way around.

Ah right, now that I re-read it, the "he" in question is George Lucas, not Toriyama.

[Yuji]

There are plenty of references to SW, but I never noticed any on Namek, which similarities are you referring to?

I'd say most of them, or the most obvious ones, come from GT, and I think DBS too has a few.

As MasenkoHA explained, I mean Episode III looks inspired by Namek. DB of course has a lot of SW inspiration but this is a case of SW seemingly being inspired by DB instead.

Of course it's not out there that both authors could independently come to the same "climactic battle between good and evil on a burning planet where the good guy cuts the villain's legs and arm off" set piece. But since Toriyama has referenced SW and Lucas so often, I was wondering if both had actually met and if Lucas has interacted with or commented on Dragon Ball before.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

since Toriyama has referenced SW and Lucas so often, I was wondering if both had actually met

Doubt it, Toriyama never leaves his house and has only made a few public appearances, none of which would have been attended by Lucas.

if Lucas has interacted with or commented on Dragon Ball before.

Never publicly to my knowledge. It's possible he's aware of it, being a fan of animation and Akira Kurosawa, which would lend itself to some level of interest in Japanese culture. Its not known whether or not he's a fan of Dragon Ball specifically though.

[Luso Saiyan]

Of course it's not out there that both authors could independently come to the same "climactic battle between good and evil on a burning planet where the good guy cuts the villain's legs and arm off" set piece.

Yeah, that's really a stretch to make it a "reference". That specific battle (and respective details) has been envisioned and known ever since the 70s.

But in regards to your question, no, I don't think Dragon Ball was ever mentioned or referenced by George Lucas and his works. Even Toriyama rarely mentioned Star Wars, even though he liked it.

[Hellspawn28]

Lucas is a fan of a bunch of older Japanese films from Toho like Seven Samurai. However, I doubt he seen anything DB related considering it was released in the mid-late 90s in the US. He probably never have the time to sit down and watch the series.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

However, I doubt he seen anything DB related considering it was released in the mid-late 90s in the US. He probably never have the time to sit down and watch the series.

George Lucas is a fan of Samurai Jack, which was created and originally aired in the US in the early 2000s, so it's not out of the question he could have seen some Dragon Ball too. That said I don't know if he would be a fan, even if he caught some of it on TV, as I've never heard him speak about it publicly. Only way of knowing for sure what George Lucas thinks of Dragon Ball, if he knows about it, is asking him, which no one here may ever have the chance to do.

[fleahop]

I had never really considered it, but the ending of Episode III and the ending on Namek are quite similar.

Knowing George Lucas, I would be surprised if some of the prequels or side-projects didn't take from Dragon Ball in any way. I've never really looked for it, but will now be keeping a closer eye on if there are any homages or references snuck in.

[Skar]

I'm not sure how accurate it is but IMDB's trivia for DB Evolution says that George Lucas was considered to direct the film in 2002. I've seen that trivia show up on other sites but I could never find an original source.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'm not sure how accurate it is but IMDB's trivia for DB Evolution says that George Lucas was considered to direct the film in 2002. I've seen that trivia show up on other sites but I could never find an original source.

Early in the development of Dragonball Evolution it was rumoured that Industrial Light and Magic would be doing the special effects. It was also reported that Lucas wanted to get his foot into anime by setting up an animation facility in Singapore. It's possible these details were conflated to mean George Lucas was being considered to direct Evolution, but there's really no reason to suspect either is any indication this is true.

Industrial Light and Magic are just a company George Lucas set up, they have been involved with many films over the years he wasn't specifically involved in from Back to the Future to The Godfather, T2, Marvel and even recently Avatar : The Way of Water. George Lucas also getting into anime could mean anything anime, nor specifically Dragon Ball.

Suffice to say I sincerely doubt George Lucas was considered to direct Dragonball Evolution, as he has admitted to not liking directing, and he has never directed someone else's works, only his own like Star Wars, THX 1138 and American Graffiti.

[Wrigglything]

Personally I don't really get much similarity between DB and Star Wars, not one's that are direct parodies or I noticed like OP mentioned. Even if it is, I think that Star Wars at least differentiates itself from those things that gives the films a unique edge (regardless of quality).

[Xeogran]

There are plenty of references to SW, but I never noticed any on Namek, which similarities are you referring to?

What about Frieza's power to telekinetically grab others like he did Krillin? It's similar to Darth Vader's.

[Koitsukai]

There are plenty of references to SW, but I never noticed any on Namek, which similarities are you referring to?

What about Frieza's power to telekinetically grab others like he did Krillin? It's similar to Darth Vader's.

I dunno, maybe? telekinetic powers weren't invented with Vader. He certainly never made anybody explode like Freeza.
To me that'd be more of a reference to SW than Namek and Mustafar, though.

In GT is where I see clearer references, with some planets, people in carbonite, and all.

[MasenkoHA]

There are plenty of references to SW, but I never noticed any on Namek, which similarities are you referring to?

What about Frieza's power to telekinetically grab others like he did Krillin? It's similar to Darth Vader's.

Telekinesis and martial artist using chi to perform telekinesis in fiction predates both Dragon Ball and Star Wars

[SupremeKai25]

We do have an example of a literal Sith Force Choke being used in Dragon Ball... although this was made by Toyotaro:




And it's the only instance in the entire franchise where a technique so similar to Sith force choke is displayed. I imagine Toyotaro might have gotten some inspiration from the Sith (this entire arc in general features a main villain, Zamasu, who uses blades made out of literal energy...).

[Koitsukai]

Old Gas choked Goku, too. Toyo might be a fan of SW, or fan of the Sith.

[Yuli Ban]

We do have an example of a literal Sith Force Choke being used in Dragon Ball... although this was made by Toyotaro:




And it's the only instance in the entire franchise where a technique so similar to Sith force choke is displayed. I imagine Toyotaro might have gotten some inspiration from the Sith (this entire arc in general features a main villain, Zamasu, who uses blades made out of literal energy...).

Normally I'd say "Do I need to bust out Kunzait's gifs and the Wuxia thread?"

However, there's really no point in doing so when it comes to Dragon Ball Super, especially the manga. Despite Eastern fantasy stories using scenes utterly identical to this one for a long time, I have zero doubt in my mind Toyo was directly inspired by Star Wars for this scene and others, because he and Toei have been extremely blatant in how influenced they are by contemporary Western pop culture (especially DC and Marvel).

Quasi tangent, but it's sadly funny that we've essentially come full circle in that regard. Kunzait spent all that time and effort building a massive case for why Dragon Ball's genre isn't "shonen" (which legitimately and factually isn't a genre) but wuxia (though I'd stress that "wuxia" describes far more romantic historical stories that just happened to be used by Westerners to describe all East Asian martial arts fantasy for a while, and what he meant was xuanhuan) and wasn't the "Japanese DCU/MCU" people erroneously believed it was.

And yet here we are deep into the Dragon Ball Super era, where Toriyama, Toyotaro, Shueisha, and Toei are all but openly turning Dragon Ball into the Japanese DCU/MCU in spirit. I recall one comment remarking "I think Dragon Ball's ki was directly inspired by the Force from Star Wars" and Kunzait just hilariously humiliated that comment 8 ways to Saturday with facts and logic.
Come the 2020s, and now you could seriously argue "the Force is directly inspiring modern uses of ki" and I don't think you'd find much resistance to that idea.