Picture via Disney Plus
Grogaka Baby Yoda, has become an iconic face of the star wars fandom after debuting in the first season of The Mandalorian. This 50-year-old foundling has become a centerpiece for nearly every Mandalorian cosplay, as well as an adorable mascot for the series. While this fictional character has become beloved by many, he apparently came very close to not existing thanks to a star wars producer.
Disney Plus recently released the first episode of its latest episode of Disney Gallery – Star Wars: The Mandalorian, where he discusses the production of the show’s third season. In this hour-long documentary, it is revealed that Dave Filoni was against the idea of Baby Yoda when it was pitched by Jon Favreau. Filoni thought it was not a good idea to have a baby Yoda on the show after he was introduced to her, especially since he’s George Lucas’ favorite character in the franchise. Eventually he went along with the idea as long as they were able to do it right.
“You know, like in season one, Jon wants to do a Baby Yoda. I’m like, ‘What? Why? Why would we do this? That doesn’t seem like a good idea. But, you put that initial fear aside and you say, ‘Okay, well, let’s really look into this.’ And I was like, ‘Jon, if you’re going to do this, I’ll be right there with you. Because I know Yoda is one of George’s favorite characters and we can’t spoil this.
According to Filoni, creating Baby Yoda was a way for them to create something audiences had never seen before. While he hesitated to create this character, he placed his destiny in Favreau as a professional filmmaker. And he was right to because Grogu ended up being a hit.
Although we know Grogu as a puppet, there were also plans to make this character a CG. Filoni shared that Favreau worked on the live-action adaptations of The Lion King And The jungle Book, and he thought the same thing would happen to Grogu. Fortunately, the German director and The Mandalorian the actor, Werner Herzog, told Filoni to “believe in the puppet”.
“I also knew Jon a bit as a filmmaker. And I know that he has a big heart and a great sensitivity to tell stories that have meaning for people. And that maybe this little child could turn out to be something special. But we didn’t think it would be a puppet all the time. We thought it would be CG.
“Jon just did Lion King And The jungle Book, where the CG is virtually unparalleled with its believability. And here we have Werner Herzog telling us, ‘No. Believe in the puppet. Well, the world did.
It’s kind of weird to hear that there were different approaches when it came to the design of Grogu. But it shows that different minds worked together to bring this adorable character to life. And it shows, because Baby Yoda has become an internet phenomenon. The show’s producers really did the character justice.
Season three of The Mandalorian gave a wholesome ending that Grogu and Din Djarin really deserve, according to fans. Grogu officially became a Mandalorian apprentice, and as such it brought back the question of whether Grogu would receive a Mandalorian helmet and what it would look like.
If you want to see this documentary, episode one of season three Disney Gallery – Star Wars: The Mandalorian is now available to stream on Disney Plus.