The Lucasfilm Archives, justifiably renowned among legions of fans as the final resting place for everything from Darth Vader's lightsaber to the Holy Grail that just eluded the grasp of Indiana Jones, is much more than just a prop mausoleum. It's an active private collection where on-going programs of conservation and restoration ensure that precious items that aren't really made to last, but that have become icons of popular culture, can survive for future generations to enjoy in exhibitions around the world.

And in an age where the "common wisdom' had it that digital technology would replace the need for most hand-built props and models, the opposite seems to have happened. The Archives has grown larger and more sophisticated in the wake of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace than at any time since it was established shortly after completion of production of Return of the Jedi. "This is truly a unique collection" says Paloma Anoveros, the Collection Manager since October 1996. "Most production companies don't keep the props, costumes and models that they generate for films. But I think that since Star Wars was a trilogy, the idea of reusing objects made sense. Later it became clear that these were films that were making an impact, and that these objects had an extremely iconographic power in our culture."

Most Lucasfilm movies are represented in the Archives: The Indiana Jones Trilogy, the Star Wars films, Willow, Tucker, and even American Graffiti.

With the initial success of Star Wars, and the immediate realization that a second film would be made, Industrial Light & Magic kept a number of the props from the first film to see if they could be used again. It did the same thing for The Empire Strikes Back. The production company also sent some of the large pieces back from England for storage in California. But it wasn't until around the time of the taking of a very famous photo -- George Lucas amidst a sea of some of the most famous spacecraft, droids and other props from his trilogy--that Lucas decided it was time to set up a proper Archives.

It was also around that time that some of the earliest exhibitions of Lucasfilm props took place: The World Science Fiction Convention (Los Angeles, 1984), The Star Wars 10th Anniversary Celebration (Los Angeles, 1987) and several Marin County Fairs.

The first Archives was a makeshift rental in an industrial park, but at least it served as a gathering spot for all of the props, costumes, models and artwork. Several years later, the first climate-controlled Archives building was erected. A second structure has been added to accommodate Episode I costumes and props including the massive miniatures such as Theed city and the Mos Espa Arena. Currently, the Archives take up about 50,000 square feet of space.

The Archives also has a film department which houses production elements such as dailies, original sound recordings and continuity reports and audition reels and outtakes. The daily operations of the film archive include providing requested materials to departments such as Production and Publicity, while safeguarding the transition of materials to a cool, dry environment which will keep them protected for years to come.

"A normal museum usually grows steadily," Anoveros says, "But we grow tremendously in spurts. Last year the collection more than doubled due to Episode I and other collections, so we have to be creative on how to address issues like this."

Anoveros's background is in artwork conservation and collections management. On her staff are two full-time model and costume archivists (Danielle Roode and Susan Copley), a film archivist (Sandra Groom), and project personnel like interns from museum studies programs.

Despite her museum and conservation background, Anoveros knows that, first and foremost, she serves an active film production company. "This is very much a collection in use, with props and models that may be needed at any time for production," she says. "My role is not to prevent use but to minimize damage while things are being used. So I talk to the person who needs something for reference and ask, 'Do you need the actual object, or would a great photo do?' Or if it's for filming, I make sure it's packed and transported correctly and handled properly to minimize damage."

For Episode I, the Archives got requests early on from the Art Department for props for reference for continuity purposes. It sent large amounts of material to Leavesden Studios outside of London for use in the actual film--everything from masks and costume to R2-D2 units and Luke Skywalker's original landspeeder. A little closer to home, ILM borrowed props for blue-screen use or for reference for computer-graphic use. All of it needed to be logged, tracked, packed, shipped, and eventually brought back.