Alternate ‘Baby Yoda’ Designs Revealed From When ‘The Mandalorian” Was in Early Development
Regardless of whether or not you are a Star Wars fan we should all be able to agree on one thing, Baby Yoda from the Mandalorian is genius! From the moment we first laid eyes on the float bassinette we were in love!
But as you can expect from all projects on the sheer size and scale of The Mandalorian, Baby Yoda went through many incredible incarnations before it became the creature that took the world by storm in late 2019.
As a matter of fact, a recent episode of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian delves deeper into the origins of this loveable wee fella and is now available to stream on Disney+. Here at MickeyBlog we’ve gathered up images of some early Baby Yoda sketches and models and are excited to share them with you.
During the episode, executive producer Dave Filoni revealed the rough sketch above that eventually became the completed final (and iconic) image for the series premiere.
In the early days of planning for The Mandalorian you’ll be suprised to know that it wasn’t immediately decided that the charater would look the same as Yoda. However, the development team didi know that they wanted Yoda to have big ears and expressive eyes. According to a piece that appeared in SlashFilm, Jon Favreau was inspired by a virtual reality project called Gnomes and Goblins that he was working on. You can see an image of one of those characters above.
As you can see from the image above there were many, many incarnations of Baby Yoda.
As Favreau explains in the episode, some of them were too ugly.
Some weren’t quite right in proportion?
Some were even too cute to use though we here at MickeyBlog don’t understand how ANYTHING could be cuter than Baby Yoda.
Ultimately, it was the piece below by artist Christian Alzmann that became the model for The Child going forward.
Once the concept was ironed out the crew moved onto maquettes to make more in-depth tweaks and adjustments.
These models give the designers an opportunity to conceptualize the character in a three dimensional way. Some of the early maquettes like the one above aren’t quite right but the finished product is nothing short of iconic!
So how does Baby Yoda come to life? Puppetry! There are several different puppeteers that move different parts of the character when he’s on camera. This includes one for the eyes, one for body and head movements, one takes care of the ears and mouth, another for walking and hand reaching and one the works with the costumes. Incredible right!?
Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian is filled with lots of lovely anecdotes. One of our favorites is that we have Warner Herzog to thank for the fact that Baby Yoda isn’t CGI. According to the story Herzog was on set and pushed the filmmakers to only use the puppetry footage in the final cut of the series. In retrospect, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau admit that he was right, and even when replacing Baby Yoda with visual effects was necessary, they had the character model do things the actual puppet couldn’t do.
So head over to Disney+ and give Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian a watch! You’ll also learn about Nick Nolte’s character Kuiil, how they made the IG-11 droid come to life and so much more!
Readers are also encouraged to keep following along with MickeyBlog for the latest Star Wars related news and updates.
Thinking about a visit to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? Getting started is easy! Simply fill out our form below to get your FREE, no-obligation quote from MickeyTravels.
Find articles like this helpful? Then why not consider working with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner? As an agent with MickeyTravels, I’ll be on hand to assist you with everything from finding your perfect package to helping you plan lots of special touches to make your visit truly magical. I’ll even scout to make sure you’re getting the best discounts (even after you’ve booked!) Best of all my services are absolutely FREE. Get in touch at 1.800.801.4025 via email at mroden@mickeytravels.com or follow along on Facebook
