From what went into bringing Grogu to life, to why Jon Favreau HATED "Baby Yoda"!
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00:00 The actual name of this Yoda-like alien race isn't the only little-known mystery surrounding
00:05 this TV tyke.
00:06 In fact, aside from those who have devoted themselves to knowing everything there is
00:10 to understand about this deceptively powerful sprog, many are unaware of everything from
00:15 how much this beam of innocent light actually cost to forge, to how old he really is.
00:21 That being said, Gareth here from WhatCulture Star Wars and here are 10 Things You Probably
00:25 Didn't Know About Grogu.
00:27 10. The Cost of the Child
00:30 Jon Favreau had to convince the House of Mouse paying the bills to dump an eye-watering $5
00:34 million on the table in order to fully realise his eventual vision for the ball of utter
00:40 cuteness.
00:41 This staggering cost of creation found its way into public knowledge on the back of Adam
00:44 Pally, who appeared in The Mandalorian via Stormtrooper cameo in the first season's
00:49 final episode, recounting a tale of him decking the diminutive puppet a little too hard during
00:54 one particular take.
00:55 As the comedy star would note to reporters at TCA later down the road, "I remember
00:59 the first take that I did when I punched it."
01:01 They called cut and Jon, who was watching on a monitor in his office, came down and
01:05 said, "I just want to let you know that this is the hero and it costs like $5 million.
01:10 I want you to hit it, but I want you to know that."
01:12 Understandably a little spooked by this revelation, a nervous Pally subsequently missed his punch
01:17 during the next three takes, as you would.
01:20 9. What Went Into His Creation
01:22 And speaking of crafting the eventual superstar of this small-screen Star Wars adventure,
01:27 it wasn't simply a case of smashing it out of the park from the get-go, upon deciding
01:31 to go down the route of a younger version of the race the iconic Jedi Master Yoda was
01:35 a part of for young Grogu.
01:37 In fact, a tonne of early concept art, based on a cocktail napkin doodle by Dave Filoni,
01:42 depicted either a rather unsettling, leathery version of the child, or a being that was
01:47 a little too cute for its own good.
01:49 Eventually, Jon Favreau and Filoni started to hone in on what this entity needed to be,
01:54 and it was a design courtesy of Chris Alsmond, highlighting Grogu wrapped in a piece of a
01:58 flight jacket or something, that clicked for the pair.
02:02 Primarily using the practical puppets - two were said to have been made for the show - when
02:06 possible throughout the series, the animatronic Grogu even required up to five puppeteers
02:11 to operate on set.
02:12 8. Jon Favreau Was Not A Fan Of Baby Yoda
02:16 As former Disney CEO Bob Iger found out the hard way during numerous conversations with
02:20 the rather passionate Jon Favreau, the Mando creator wasn't exactly thrilled about the
02:25 world's eventual branding of his precious puppet.
02:28 Over the course of a set of emails between the pair, Iger would note on the Star Wars
02:31 show, "In my early emails to Jon Favreau, I referenced in my emails 'Baby Yoda'.
02:36 It just seemed easy and I got my wrist slapped by Jon like a few times.
02:40 It's not Baby Yoda!"
02:41 As alluded to already by
03:09 Ahsoka Tano during her first exchanges with the tiny legend during season two of The Mandalorian,
03:14 and eventually revisited via tragic flashback in the Book of Boba Fett, Grogu was raised
03:20 and taught in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant by many different masters - before, you know,
03:25 the clones turned on the Order in response to Order 66.
03:28 However, outside of these bites of exposition, no real concrete information has been fed
03:32 to fans as to who precisely began the Force-sensitive youngster's training in said temple.
03:38 It is interesting to note, though, that Grogu would have likely been training alongside
03:41 none other than Tano's eventual master, Anakin Skywalker, and as again depicted in
03:46 the Book of Boba Fett, he was clearly present at the temple during the Great Jedi Purge.
03:51 And while it isn't 100% clear at time of recording who exactly had a hand in guiding
03:55 him early on, based on the fact that Luke Skywalker takes the dynamic child under his
03:59 wing later down the road, teachings from the likes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Count
04:04 Dooku and, you guessed it, Yoda himself, would have all probably found their way into his
04:09 little noggin in the end, based on the tree of Jedi mentorship he now finds himself sitting
04:13 near the bottom of.
04:15 6.
04:16 Dave Filoni was cautious about attempting to bring him to life
04:18 Clone Wars, Rebels, Bad Batch and Mandalorian creative Dave Filoni had a few reservations
04:24 about getting tangled up in the lore of a character held dear by so many, himself included.
04:29 In a recent conversation with Vanity Fair covering the future of this galaxy far, far
04:33 away, the Mando executive producer would confess that "Honestly, it's something I never
04:37 would have done because Yoda is Yoda."
04:40 Going further, when nudged on the subject of the little green breakout sensation Filoni
04:44 also admitted, "I think people now look back and think it was like a slam dunk.
04:48 But we were very cautious.
04:49 The amount of measuring, especially in the first season, for how we were framing this
04:53 kid took a lot of effort."
04:55 To go along with Filoni's self-professed doubts over whether it was wise to delve into
04:59 the background of an intentionally mysterious race, Kathleen Kennedy would also add that
05:03 both Filoni and Jon Favreau debated quite furiously over the child in a playdate of
05:08 sorts that she organised.
05:10 But that aforementioned Chris Alsman concept sketch was eventually enough to convince both
05:14 creatives this baby Yoda was more than worth a punt.
05:17 Not literally, of course, he's bloody expensive.
05:19 5.
05:20 A varied diet and complex communication skills
05:23 Far more than simply being a bundle of joy designed purely for marketing purposes, this
05:28 child comes with its own array of intriguing complexities that make it just about as well-rounded
05:33 as any other living and breathing element of this galaxy far, far away.
05:36 And among these layered traits of the heart-stealing handsome devil is a bottomless appetite that
05:42 truly knows no bounds.
05:43 Over the course of the Mandalorian series alone, this hungry little guy has been spotted
05:47 munching on frog creatures, bone broth, tentacle chowder, blue cookies, and rather disturbingly
05:53 even the unborn offspring of a certain frog lady.
05:56 He's a growing tyke, after all.
05:58 Adding into this complicated combination of a creature is Grogu's apparent lack of conversing
06:02 skills.
06:03 However, upon his already noted initial interaction with the Soh-Ka-Tano, the one-time Jedi is
06:08 able to communicate with the eventual Foundling via the Force.
06:12 Fancy that.
06:13 Grogu is also able to very much understand verbal speech, notably reacting to Mando upon
06:18 hearing his actual name being uttered for the first time by his father figure, something
06:22 Jon Favreau was no doubt thrilled about.
06:25 4.
06:26 The Force Ability
06:27 From the minute fans around the world watched this unassuming fuzzball lift a damn mudhorn
06:32 in a bid to rescue his pal Mando in Season 1 of The Mandalorian, it was evident this
06:36 innocent child was carrying his fair share of Force-sensitive secrets that would inevitably
06:40 unfold before our very eyes.
06:42 Yet arguably his most impressive Force feat to date went down in the finale of the Book
06:46 of Boba Fett, as the Foundling came face-to-face with a rampant Rancor.
06:51 Instead of attempting to lift this monstrous beast like he had done with other creatures
06:54 in the past, a more learned Grogu opted to pacify the spooked critter, and ultimately
06:59 eased it to sleep on the streets of Mos Espa.
07:02 And funnily enough, this Force ability to calm and control animals somewhat was shared
07:06 by two other well-known Jedi Knights as well, as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker had
07:11 both been spotted using this taming skill over the years too.
07:14 3.
07:15 What His Mandalorian Status Really Means
07:17 As I've already touched upon a few times throughout this list, very early on in his
07:21 on-screen Mandalorian life, young Grogu finds himself being adopted into Mandalorian culture
07:26 as a Foundling - a term used by Mandalorians when referring to the children adopted by
07:31 the Warriors of Mandalore.
07:33 However, his inducting into the Mandalorian way of life also resulted in the Force-sensitive
07:37 Jedi Initiate unexpectedly going down in the history books, along with the legendary Tar
07:42 Vizsla - known for being responsible for crafting the Darksaber and being the first Mandalorian
07:47 to be inducted into the Jedi Order.
07:49 Grogu is the only ever being to hold the honour of being both a part of the Jedi Order and
07:53 Mandalorian clan.
07:55 With Grogu seemingly turning his back on the ways of the Jedi, perhaps following a similar
07:59 path to that of a certain Ahsoka Tano, and picking up his Beskar chainmail vest gift
08:04 from Mando towards the latter stages of the Book of Boba Fett, his days of being recognised
08:09 as both Jedi and Mandalorian look to be potentially over.
08:12 2.
08:13 How Old Is Grogu And What Was He Doing Before The Mandalorian?
08:16 Time hasn't been too kind to the galaxy's sweetest foundling.
08:19 Due to his mysterious race's rate of ageing, Grogu, despite still technically being a child,
08:24 has had to experience a substantial amount of heartache and trauma already.
08:28 Even though he's still not able to hold a backwards conversation with his numerous
08:31 pals made along the way, the child is actually already a whopping 50 years of age by the
08:36 time he's stumbled upon in the Mandalorian.
08:38 This, as fans would later come to discover, means that he'd already been caught up in
08:42 the thick of the infamous attack on the Jedi Temple in the early stages of the Great Jedi
08:46 Purge, with that event going down when he was just 22 years old and just starting out
08:50 on his Jedi path.
08:52 And this vulnerable tyke had then spent the next three decades trying not to be dispatched
08:56 by various Inquisitors and Empire forces.
08:59 He's just a child, debit!
09:01 For reference, Yoda was clocking in at around 900 years old before he eventually transitioned
09:05 into the life of a Force ghost.
09:07 So despite seeing his fair share of galaxy-shifting events over five solid decades, Grogu is still
09:13 very much in his infancy.
09:14 1.
09:15 The Plush Baby Yoda
09:16 While Grogu merchandise wasn't available from the off, while he has understandably
09:19 gone on to become one of the most notable merch shifters on the planet since his touching
09:23 2019 debut, it wasn't just a case of pumping out the plush baby Yodas in their droves before
09:28 Mando had even got his helmet on straight for Chapter One.
09:31 Trying to stave off those dreaded spoilers in whatever way he could before the eventual
09:35 release of his small-screen Mandalorian adventure, Jon Favreau had grown tired of merchandise
09:40 unveiled ahead of an actual project's premiere, revealing too much about what was in store
09:44 for fans.
09:45 And with Grogu's presence on the show not even being confirmed until its actual debut
09:49 episode, Favreau would later admit to The Hollywood Reporter, "It's very difficult
09:53 to keep secrets about projects you're working on.
09:56 By holding back on that one product, we knew that we may have had the disadvantage of not
10:00 having toys available day and date.
10:02 But what we got in exchange was excitement surrounding the character, because everybody
10:06 felt like they'd discovered him together.
10:08 That emulated more what my experience growing up was like."
10:11 It's safe to say Disney have more than made up for lost time in the years that have followed
10:14 this baby Yoda leaving the entire galaxy needing their own little green guy to feed frog lady
10:19 eggs to.
10:20 And that's our list!
10:21 Know any other things people probably didn't know about Grogu?
10:23 Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below and do not forget
10:27 to like, share and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:30 Also if you're into this kind of thing then head on over to whatculture.com and find some
10:32 more awesome articles just like the one this video you're watching right now is based
10:36 on.
10:37 I have been Padawan Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, thank you as always for clicking
10:40 on this video today.
10:41 May the force be with you, and I'm sure I'll see you very, very soon.