There’s not much Star Wars fans agree on in the Disney era. The Force Awakens is an exciting, necessary reset from the prequels… unless it’s a blatant rip-off of A New Hope. The Last Jedi is the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back (because it is)… unless it’s the worst Star Wars movie ever. The Rise of Skywalker is a terrific trilogy-capper… unless it’s a crummy slog. Even the theme park land, Galaxy’s Edge, has led to heated debates over whether Disney went “too far.” Just about the only things Star Wars fans can agree on is: Babu Frik is a sweetie and The Mandalorian rules.
The Disney+ series was a hit among critics and viewers from episode one when the Child, a.k.a. Baby Yoda, made his adorable debut. And, y’know, all the stuff with Mando was good, too, but all discussions about The Mandalorian must return to Baby Yoda. The show’s little green breakout character is the reason showrunner Jon Favreau knew he was working on something special, as he explained to Entertainment Weekly:
It was December 2019. The Mandalorian had been airing for only about a month on the nascent streaming service Disney+ when showrunner Jon Favreau saw an online photo of a large mural halfway across the world. The street art depicted his show’s cherubic, wide-eyed, Force-sensitive character peering solemnly from under a bridge. That was the moment, Favreau says, when he realized his series was becoming a phenomenon: The Mandalorian hadn’t yet aired in France — or anywhere in Europe, for that matter.
“The show wasn’t there!” Favreau said. “Something was going on where people were connecting with the characters, with social media allowing them to see aspects of the show before they even knew what it was.” How could you not connect to this cutie?
Good thing they didn’t go with the alternate design. The Mandalorian returns next month.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
