The Mandalorian's first episode ended with the debut of The Child, a characters fans have since dubbed "Baby Yoda." The loveable addition to the Disney+ series has stolen everyone's hearts, but executive producer Jon Favreau has now discussed some of the challenges that came with creating the character and ensuring he wasn't, as Vanity Fair puts it, too "cutesy."
"We wanted to make sure the Child wasn’t just going to be a comic relief," Favreau explains to the site. "What George had established with Star Wars was that no matter how fantastical these characters are, how weird they looked, the characters within the world always treated them as normal citizens of the world."
"All the drawings originally were very cute," he continued, revealing that early sketches leaned a little too heavily into those familiar Disney proportions. "Even with the merchandising, they were always trying to soften the rough edges on him. We really tried to look at how much we could ugly up all the different individual features."
With the help of fellow executive producer Dave Filoni, Favreau insisted that The Child have "weird little hairs growing out of him," while they rejected designs which gave him pink cheeks or rounded teeth.
Apparently, the scene with the tiny creature eating a frog could be the start of many "gross things" we see him do in The Mandalorian because, ultimately, The Child is an animal. "It’s like a stray dog or having a little baby alligator or something," Favreau added.
Favreau may have done his best to ensure Baby Yoda didn't look too adorable, but there's no denying that he remains ridiculously cute!
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