Growing up as a kid, I loved pouring over the pages of Mark Cotta Vaz and Patricia Rose Duignan's encyclopedic 1996 book "Industrial Light & Magic: Into the Digital Realm." So, as you can imagine, I'm very much looking forward to "Light & Magic," the upcoming Disney+ docuseries that, per its official logline, "chronicles the untold history of world-renowned Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the special visual effects, animation and virtual production division of Lucasfilm."

Founded by George Lucas in 1975, ILM was, of course, behind the milestone visual effects in the original "Star Wars" film trilogy. It would only continue to break new ground over the decades that followed, especially when it came to digital effects. Among its many, many achievements are the first scene composed entirely of CGI (the Genesis sequence in 1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"), the first completely CGI character (the "stained glass man" from 1985's "Young Sherlock Holmes"), and the first fully CGI main character (Draco the dragon in 1996's "Dragonheart"). Most recently, ILM developed StageCraft, a tech that uses LED screens to create virtual sets for both shows ("The Mandalorian") and movies alike ("The Batman").

No doubt, all of this and more will be touched upon over the course of "Light & Magic." You can watch the trailer for the series below.

Light & Magic Trailer

"Light & Magic" is directed by Lawrence Kasdan, the co-writer of "The Empire Strikes Back," "Return of the Jedi," and "Raiders of the Lost Ark," as well as, more recently, "The Force Awakens" and "Solo: A Star Wars Story." Outside of his work with Lucasfilm, Kasdan is also known for directing such noteworthy 1980s films as "Body Heat," "The Big Chill," and "The Accidental Tourist," along with the not-so-noteworthy 2003 Stephen King adaptation "Dreamcatcher." Hey, nobody's perfect!

Joining Kasdan behind the camera as his fellow executive producers on "Light & Magic" are Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Justin Wilkes, Michelle Rejwan, and current Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. A number of these folks pop up in the show's trailer, too, along with the likes of George Lucas himself, "The Mandalorian" creator Jon Favreau, "Obi-Wan Kenobi" director Deborah Chow, and other seasoned ILM artists whose names I hope to learn after watching the series. The trailer also provides glimpses at some of the intriguing behind-the-scenes footage from the ILM archives that will appear in the show, in addition to spotlighting just a handful of the company's most notable accomplishments (like the "morphing" scene from "Willow"). Color me properly excited.

All six episodes of "Light & Magic" will begin streaming on July 27, 2022, on Disney+.

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