When The Mandalorian first debuted on Disney+ one character, in particular, sparked an internet frenzy unlike any other… Baby Yoda! And while we wait for more adventures with the little green guy in Season 2 later this year, the streamer is giving fans fascinating new behind the scenes footage, featuring the cast and crew breaking down how Baby Yoda was brought to life.
In episode 2 of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, titled “Practical,” showrunner Jon Favreau explains the long process of creating one of the Star Wars universe’s most adorable characters:
“We got lots and lots of drawings, and some of them were too cute, and some of them were too ugly, and some of them were the wrong proportions,” Favreau said. “But they were all informing, as we gave notes on each drawing, Dave [Filoni] and I started zeroing in on what it was. And finally, it was one image that Chris Alzmann did that had him wrapped up in what looked like a piece of a flight jacket or something, and his eyes looked a little weird. But we found it charming, and that’s what became the rallying image that we said, ‘this is good.’ And it developed from there… And that when the people from Legacy came in, and that’s when it became ‘The Baby.'”
Another interesting reveal about the Baby Yoda puppet is that it took 3 months for the team at Legacy to build, and at any given time, there are three to four puppeteers controlling various aspects of his movements: Jason Matthews (eyes), Trevor Hensley (gross body moves and his head), Hiroshi ‘Kan’ Ikeuchi (ears and mouth), Mike Manzel (walking sequences, arm movements), Tamara Carlson Woodard (rotates in with a lot of the other puppeteers as needed and also made the costume).
From the perspective of the actors, Gina Carano admitted that Baby Yoda stole every scene she shared with him. “Jon Favreau came up to me and he was like, ‘you did pretty good that time, that was a pretty good scene,'” Carano said jokingly. “But the baby kicked your ass.'” For Mando himself, Pedro Pascal said, “[Baby Yoda] activates your primal childhood dreams. We’re all going to be second fiddle to this little guy. That’s how cool he is.”
[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/23/disney-gallery-star-wars-the-mandalorian-official-trailer”]
For on The Mandalorian, find out why it takes three guys to play Mando and learn about Dave Filoni’s epic journey from Avatar: The Last Airbender to the Star Wars universe.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Jon Favreau on Early Baby Yoda Art Being 'Too Cute' or 'Too Ugly'