Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is one of the most divisive movies in recent memory, but if there's one thing that many Star Wars fans have agreed on, it's how damn adorable Babu Frik is. Every bit as cute as the Porgs and Baby Yoda, the tiny mechanic from Kijimi left a lasting impact, but it sounds like his fate was very nearly left up in the air.
During a recent interview, creature effects creative supervisor Neal Scanlan, concept artist Ivan Manzella, and actress Shirley Henderson (the voice of Babu Frik) shared a surprising story.
"It could be a rumour, but I believe J.J. screened the movie for Steven Spielberg, and at the end Spielberg said, ‘What happened to Babu?'" Scanlan revealed. "Everybody thought, ‘Oh God, what did happen to Babu?’" Henderson also went on to reveal that she was shocked to see the character pop up in the movie's final battle alongside Zorii Bliss.
"I think he was going to die originally – I think the AD shot that," Manzella confesses. "When the planet [Kijimi] was blown up, he was on it." Scanlan adds: "We shot several other sequences. The ILM guys found one, lifted out Babu and put him into Zorii’s ship at the end."
With that, the beloved character got a happy ending, and had Babu Frik died on Kijimi, it's easy enough to imagine The Rise of Skywalker receiving even more negative responses from fans. After all, you have to believe Disney and Lucasfilm are already well aware of how disastrous it would be for anything to happen to The Child in The Mandalorian somewhere down the line!
Are you guys fans of Babu Frik?
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