Yoda Fountain
Fans of the Star Wars movies won’t want to miss the 26” high life sized bronze statue of Yoda that’s located outside the Letterman Digital and New Media Arts Center in San Francisco’s historic Presidio Park. According to most polls, Yoda consistently ranks in the top 10 most popular Star Wars characters. The Yoda Fountain has become a famous tourist landmark because many thousands of people come to the Center to have photos taken of themselves while standing next to one of their movie heroes. Inside the main lobby, Star Wars fans can also see life sized models of Darth Vader, Boba Fett and a Stormtrooper. But whenever anybody visits the San Francisco headquarters of George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic and Lucasfilm, they can’t miss the Yoda Fountain because it proudly welcomes visitors at the main entrance to the 4-building complex.
Yoda Fountain is located off Letterman Drive at the southeast corner of the Letterman Digital Arts Center right in front of Building B where the Lucasfilm lobby is situated. In 2005, the 350 million dollar, 850,000 square foot Letterman Digital and New Media Arts Center became the new home of Lucasfilm, Industrial Light and Magic, LucasArts and Lucasfilm's marketing, online business and licensing units. The 23-acre campus where 1.500 Lucasfilm employees work includes an extensive amount of public park space that was designed by the great landscape artist Lawrence Halprin. He was responsible for creating the meadow with its creek fed lagoon, he selected about 500 trees that were planted there, and he also designed the walkways and sitting areas where people can see the Palace of Fine Arts and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Ever since the statue of Yoda was installed on the fountain outside the Letterman Digital and New Media Arts Center, many hundreds of thousands of fans have made a pilgrimage to have photos taken standing next to their beloved movie character. The Yoda statue was sculpted by Lawrence Noble, the sculpture chairman of the San Francisco Academy of Art. George Lucas first saw Noble’s statue when he presented him with it at Skywalker Ranch in Nicasio, California, and George loved it. Since then, approximately 25 bronze statues of Yoda have been licensed for sale at $15,000 each and they all were purchased. Yoda Fountain attracts tourists from all over the world who throw coins into the fountain for good luck. Even Disney Adventures includes Yoda Fountain on the “must see” itinerary for their Angel Island and Presidio tours.
Peter Cross is an accomplished article writer and creative writer who has produced hundreds of articles for many different clients since 2006 when he retired from his consulting business.
