Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni talk about what they had to consider when nominating Grogu for THE MANDALORIAN

The Mandalorian was one of the most popular and exciting series on the Disney+ streaming service. It’s also one of the best Star Wars projects have been around for a while. One of the coolest parts of the series is that in both Season 1 and Season 2, the creators were able to keep a big secret from the viewers, and they were both amazing and exciting when they were revealed.

Season 2 was the return of Luke Skywalker who arrived to save the day and bring in Grogu to train him. And the first season was the introduction of Grogu himself, first called “Baby Yoda” by fans.

Both were difficult to pull off, but especially the first surprise, not allowing fans to see the little one until the start of the show. Most series would have allowed fans to get excited and excited about this lovable and highly marketable character, but the creators of the series really wanted this to be a surprise, and it was really fun. But when everyone saw the series premiere, right before the 2019 holiday, there were no Baby Yodas on the shelf for Christmas, and that was a big deal.

Alas, it worked itself out and Grogu is now marketed as it should be, for all the fans and kids to enjoy, but it’s been a rough road to get to where we are. In a recent interview with StarWars.com (via CB), The MandalorianShowrunners Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni spoke about the struggles of naming the character.

Filoni explained:

“It was nice to have Ahsoka there because it’s a good balancing point… Mando at first reacted like the audience. ‘Grogu? Weird.’ But when he says that, Grogu looks at him. And I always referred to when I have a dog and the dog starts learning his name. You say his name, he looks at you, it’s the most moving thing. And so when you see that recognizes his name and that until Ahsoka says it, she probably hasn’t heard from him in a long time — she’s like, how could you turn him down?”

Favreau added:

“That’s the thing with Grogu. He’s like part dog, part human, part reptile. He’s a big mishmash of everything… And even as he gets older, he’s not going to get past the name. It’s not a cute little name and then, you know, he’s as old as Yoda and still has a weird and cute name. ‘Sparky.’ You know, you don’t want to be ‘Sparky’ and be 600 years old. It was also difficult because no matter what we called him, he wasn’t going to be – couldn’t be – Baby Yoda.”

Favreau also talked about the reveal of “The Child” in the first episode and the creation of the character’s look.

“You have a responsibility for Star Wars, for George [Lucas] and to Kathy [Kennedy] and to the people who introduced me. And to the public. They are invested in these characters. And there are young people who are growing up with the characters and what they stand for. You feel very protective of this and try to hold as high a standard as possible. I think those moments — the reveal of Baby Yoda were very organic to the story. And just the idea of ​​surprising to make a left turn compared to people’s expectations that this was going to be a guy running and gunning across the galaxy. It was a nice twist. And I’m really happy about it [everyone] helped us keep it a secret. We put the audience experience first.”

He continued:

“He’s cute, but he’s kind of ugly. He’s ugly-cute… He’s adorable because he’s not perfect. He’s got cheeks, but he’s got weird pointy teeth and weird peachy fur. In our design, when he looked too cute , it didn’t look good. We struck the right balance.”

They have done a great job making Grogu endearing to the masses. It’s a loved piece of Star Wars history and pop culture, and we can’t wait to see how his story unfolds.

Seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian are available on Disney+ and Season 3 is currently airing.