S01.E05: Practical

[pezgirl7]

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The team celebrates the artistry behind the practical models, effects and animatronic creatures.

 

[TVFan17]

Thank goodness the earlier versions of Baby Yoda were not used, and that Jon Favreau agreed on the version we ultimately got!

 

These people who collaborate to create Baby Yoda are geniuses, and they deserve whatever kind of award they are eligible for (maybe a Saturn Award?) for their work. 

All of the time, effort, attention to detail, technology, the combo of puppetry & CGI and manpower that went into making Baby Yoda the character we know now is really quite amazing.   Everything from the hairs on his head, to his ears, to his puffy cheeks, to his sad little pout and happy giggles, to his big eyes, to the assorted animal/baby sounds he makes, to his oversized robe, and, of course, the famous waddle -- all of these individual things mesh together to give him a sweet, curious, endearing personality, although he is not talking or having full conversations -- at least not in a language we can decipher.

 

Baby Yoda always seems alternately innocent and very smart at the same time.  We can see there are some things he clearly doesn't understand or interpret correctly, but then he also seems to understand much more than we expect him to.  He is very perceptive.

Even the sounds the Child makes are interesting in that they are very specific to certain situations.  You can almost understand what he is trying to convey. 

For example, the Child giggles when IG-11 shoots down Troopers, and after Mando blows up another ship in Chapter 5.  But when he was scared and in distress later in Chapter 5 (because Mando shot Toro, and Toro fell to the ground while holding the Child), he was nervously babbling and seemed very chatty, like he was trying to tell Peli (the mechanic) how scared he was. 

And then, in Chapter 4, when Mando was asking the Child if he was ready to stretch his legs for a while on Sorgan, Baby Yoda let out a happy squeal of sorts -- the tone of it sounded liked he was answering with a "Yeah!!! I wanna stretch my legs!"  Likewise, in Chapter 5, when Peli was scolding Mando and she mentioned that she knew he had another mouth to feed, Baby Yoda turned his head towards Mando and let out a squeal again -- this time it was a bit more sassy -- as if he was agreeing with Peli and saying "Yeah, dad!  I'm the other mouth you have to feed!  Don't forget it!"  lol  So his little squeals seem to be the equivalent of "Yeah!"

Of course, when the Armorer is telling Mando that Baby Yoda is in his care, and that he is his father until the Child is reunited with his own kind, the Child makes little sounds as though he understands what she is saying and agrees with that decision.  lol  And then, needless to say, when he purrs at Mando as he hugs his leg and also purrs in Mando's ear as they fly away, it's very loving -- like he is saying "I love you, daddy.  Thank you for taking care of me."

 

So whoever chooses which sounds to give the Child for each situation is a genius too, as those sounds do so much to capture the Child's personality and make him irresistible.

 

Hal Hickel (who has popped up in the Gallery series more than once) said this back in December --

On another note, though, I also appreciated learning about how the Kuiil character was brought to life, between Nick Nolte's dialogue and the motion capture work of Misty Rosas.  Very fascinating!

Edited June 2, 2020 by TVFan17

[Ms.Moon]

I am addicted to this behind the scenes stuff.  I need more Baby Yoda in my life and this Gallery stuff is filling that void.