Published 19:19 IST, November 29th 2019
The Mandalorian's adorable Baby Yoda could have been CGI instead of a puppet
The Mandalorian is already highly popular thanks to its unintentional mascot, Baby Yoda. But did you know the cute alien was almost CGI instead of a puppet?
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Disney Plus' new Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian, is already one of the most-watched shows of 2019. And undoubtedly, one of the primary reasons for the shows massive popularity is the introduction of the extremely cute character that is Baby Yoda. The fifty-year-old baby is the third member of Yoda's unnamed species that we have seen up till now in the new Disney Star Wars canon. But did you know that the adorable baby version of Yoda was almost a CGI effect rather than an actual practical-effect puppet?
Baby Yoda was almost CGI instead of a puppet
There are several reasons as to why the creators of The Mandalorian thought about using a CGI Baby Yoda instead of a practical puppet. Using a CGI stand it would have given the creative team a lot more freedom with the way the baby could have moved and interacted with the scene. However, just like all other CGI, a computer-generated Baby Yoda would lack the texture and realistic look that the puppet has.
In a recent interview, creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni revealed that they did not think that a puppet would reach the level of believability that a CGI model would. Because of this, they decided to shoot every scene with Baby Yoda twice, once with the puppet and once without it, where they would add a CGI model. However, they were immediately told not to do so by Werner Herzog, who plays the role of the mysterious Imperial Client in the show.
Werner, who was a fan of the Baby Yoda puppet, apparently called the two cowards for thinking about CGI and told them to leave the scenes as they are. So fans of The Mandalorian can thank Werner Herzog for the fact that they got to see the adorable Baby Yoda puppet in the show. Fans will never know how a CGI Baby Yoda would have looked in the show.
Perhaps he would have remained as popular as he is now, or maybe he would have not looked as cute and would fade into obscurity. Can you imagine a world without the Baby Yoda puppet? Without it, the world would probably never become enamoured with the character and we would not have the Boby Yoda memes that we do today.
Cute, I am. Appreciate me, you must!#BabyYoda #MEMES pic.twitter.com/2WzGAojWYy
— Baby Yoda Memes (@MemesOnBabyYoda) November 22, 2019
#MEMES #BabyYoda pic.twitter.com/MBcVyNmPsb
— Baby Yoda Memes (@MemesOnBabyYoda) November 22, 2019
#MEMES #BabyYoda pic.twitter.com/zwQiUX74z4
— Baby Yoda Memes (@MemesOnBabyYoda) November 22, 2019
17:42 IST, November 29th 2019