Star Wars & George Lucas urban legend

I live in San Diego, California, and have to go up to Long Beach twice a month. It's a 240-mile round trip drive, and since the events I attend last only one to three hours, I don't mind doing a little exploring.

Recently I explored the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles. They are alongside each other and, together, they claim to be the largest container port in the world, which means they have a lot of huge cranes for lifting containers on and off of ships, trucks, and trains.



These are called container cranes or gantry cranes. They are some 250 feet high, weigh around 9,000 tons, and can lift about 1,000 tons. One can find these cranes at container ports throughout the world.

An urban legend states that George Lucas saw container cranes at the Port of Oakland and used them to create the AT-AT Imperial Walkers in Star Wars. I can see a resemblance, and since George Lucas lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, I can see it as plausible. However, George Lucas himself put that urban legend to rest in 2008. As might be typical in today's world, though, the urban legend lives on.

Location: Long Beach, CA, USA

Comments

  1. DanSeptember 9, 2021 at 6:47 PM

    I always enjoy seeing cranes. Good luck with the move.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Russel Ray PhotosSeptember 10, 2021 at 1:41 PM

      Thanks, Dan! Hope all is well with you and yours in these weird times we're living in.

      Delete
  2. PitSeptember 12, 2021 at 7:47 AM

    Good to see you here, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Russel Ray PhotosSeptember 12, 2021 at 4:06 PM

      Hey, Pit. Hope all is well with you and yours!

      Delete
    2. PitSeptember 13, 2021 at 8:35 AM

      Thanks for asking, Rüssel. 😊 All is well here. I hope you are doing fine, too.

      Delete

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