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's race isn't the only little-known mystery
00:04 surrounding this TV tyke. In fact, aside from those who have devoted themselves to
00:09 knowing everything there is to understand about this deceptively powerful sprog,
00:13 many are unaware of everything from how much this beam of innocent light actually cost to forge,
00:19 to how old he really is. That being said, Gareth here from WhatCulture Star Wars and here are 10
00:25 things you probably didn't know about Grogu. 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 cuteness.
00:40 This staggering cost of creation found its way into public knowledge on the back of Adam Pally,
00:45 who appeared in The Mandalorian via Stormtrooper cameo in the first season's final episode,
00:50 recounting a tale of him decking the diminutive puppet a little too hard during one particular
00:55 take. As the comedy star would note to reporters at TCA later down the road,
00:59 "I remember the first take that I did when I punched it. They called cut and Jon, who was
01:03 watching on a monitor in his office, came down and said, 'I just want to let you know that this is
01:07 the hero and it costs like $5 million. 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
01:17 missed his punch during the next three takes, as you would.
01:20 9. What Went Into His Creation? And speaking of crafting the eventual
01:24 superstar of this small-screen Star Wars adventure, it wasn't simply a case of smashing it out of the
01:29 park from the get-go, upon deciding to go down the route of a younger version of the race the
01:34 iconic Jedi Master Yoda was a part of for young Grogu. In fact, a ton of early concept art,
01:40 based on a cocktail napkin doodle by Dave Filoni, depicted either a rather unsettling,
01:45 leathery version of the child, or a being that was a little too cute for its own good.
01:50 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
01:59 flight jacket or something, that clicked for the pair. Primarily using the practical puppets,
02:04 two were said to have been made for the show. When possible, throughout the series,
02:07 the animatronic Grogu even required up to five puppeteers to operate on set.
02:12 8. Jon Favreau was not a fan of Baby Yoda As former Disney CEO Bob Iger found out
02:18 the hard way during numerous conversations with the rather passionate Jon Favreau,
02:22 the Mando creator wasn't exactly thrilled about the world's eventual branding of his precious puppet.
02:27 Over the course of a set of emails between the pair, Iger would note on the Star Wars show,
02:32 "In my early emails to Jon Favreau, I referenced in my emails 'Baby Yoda.' It just seemed easy,
02:37 and I got my wrist slapped by Jon like a few times. It's not Baby Yoda," is how he put it.
02:42 Softening ever so slightly on his Baby Yoda stance in the time since his true name of Grogu was
02:47 revealed on the show, Favreau would at least concede on Good Morning America that, of course,
02:52 everybody knows Grogu as Baby Yoda. Which, by the way, is fine with all of us. We still call him
02:57 Baby Yoda too, but he prefers to be called Grogu, if you notice, in the show. He perks up a lot when
03:02 he says his name. Alright, Jon, we get it, we get the point. 7. Where he sits on the Jedi
03:07 Mentorship Tree As alluded to already by Ahsoka Tano during
03:10 her first exchanges with the tiny legend during Season 2 of The Mandalorian, and eventually
03:15 revisited via tragic flashback in the Book of Boba Fett, Grogu was raised and taught in the Jedi
03:21 Temple on Coruscant by many different masters. Before you know, the clones turned on the Order
03:26 in response to Order 66. However, outside of these bites of exposition, no real concrete information
03:32 has been fed to fans as to who precisely began the Force-sensitive youngsters' training in said
03:37 temple. 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 the Book of
03:46 Boba Fett, he was clearly present at the temple during the Great Jedi Purge. And while it isn't
03:52 100% clear at time of recording who exactly had a hand in guiding him early on, based on the fact
03:57 that Luke Skywalker takes the dynamic child under his wing later down the road, teachings from the
04:02 likes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Count Dooku, and, you guessed it, Yoda himself, would
04:07 have all probably found their way into his little noggin in the end. Based on the tree of Jedi
04:12 mentorship, he now finds himself sitting near the bottom of.
04:14 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 about
04:24 getting tangled up in the lore of a character held dear by so many, himself included. In a recent
04:30 conversation with Vanity Fair covering the future of this galaxy far, far away, the Mando executive
04:35 producer would confess that "Honestly, it's something I never would have done because Yoda
04:39 is Yoda." Going further, when nudged on the subject of the little green breakout sensation,
04:43 Filoni also admitted, "I think people now look back and think it was like a slam dunk. But we were
04:48 very cautious. The amount of measuring, especially in the first season, for how we were framing this
04:53 kid took a lot of effort." To go along with Filoni's self-professed doubts over whether it
04:58 was wise to delve into the background of an intentionally mysterious race, Kathleen Kennedy
05:03 would also add that both Filoni and Jon Favreau debated "quite furiously" over the child in a
05:07 playdate of sorts that she organized. But that aforementioned Chris Alsman concept sketch was
05:12 eventually enough to convince both creatives this baby Yoda was more than worth a punt.
05:17 Not literally, of course, he's bloody expensive.
05:19 A varied diet and complex communication skills
05:23 Far more than simply being a bundle of joy designed purely for marketing purposes,
05:28 this child comes with its own array of intriguing complexities that make it just about as well
05:32 rounded as any other living and breathing element of this galaxy far, far away. And among these
05:37 layered traits of the heart-stealing handsome devil is a bottomless appetite that truly knows
05:43 no bounds. Over the course of the Mandalorian series alone, this hungry little guy has been
05:47 spotted munching on frog creatures, bone broth, tentacle chowder, blue cookies, and rather
05:53 disturbingly, even the unborn offspring of a certain frog lady. He's a growing tyke, after all.
05:58 Adding into this complicated combination of a creature is Grogu's apparent lack of conversing
06:03 skills. However, upon his already noted initial interaction with the Sokka Tano,
06:07 the one-time Jedi is able to communicate with the eventual foundling via the Force. Fancy that.
06:13 Grogu is also able to very much understand verbal speech, notably reacting to Mando upon hearing his
06:19 actual name being uttered for the first time by his father figure, something Jon Favreau was no
06:24 doubt thrilled about. From the minute fans around the world watched this unassuming fuzzball lift a
06:31 damn mudhorn in a bid to rescue his pal Mando in season one 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. Yet arguably his most impressive Force feat to date went down in the
06:46 finale of the Book of Boba Fett, as the foundling came face to face with a rampant Rancor. Instead
06:51 of attempting to lift this monstrous beast like he had done with other creatures in the past,
06:55 a more learned Grogu opted to pacify the spooked critter, and ultimately eased it to sleep on the
07:00 streets of Mos Espa. And funnily enough, this Force ability to calm and control animals somewhat
07:05 was shared by two other well-known Jedi Knights as well, as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker
07:11 had both been spotted using this taming skill over the years, too.
07:15 What His Mandalorian Status Really Means As I've already touched upon a few times
07:19 throughout this list, very early on in his on-screen Mandalorian life, young Grogu finds
07:24 himself being adopted into Mandalorian culture as a foundling - a term used by Mandalorians when
07:30 referring to the children adopted by the Warriors of Mandalore. However, his inducting into the
07:34 Mandalorian way of life also resulted in the Force-sensitive Jedi initiate unexpectedly going
07:40 down in the history books, along with the legendary Tarre Vizsla, known for being responsible for
07:44 crafting the Darksaber and being the first Mandalorian 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. With Grogu seemingly turning his back on the ways of the Jedi, perhaps following
07:59 a similar path to that of a certain Ahsoka Tano, and picking up his Beskar chainmail vest gift from
08:04 Mando towards the latter stages of the Book of Boba Fett, his days of being recognised as both
08:09 Jedi and Mandalorian look to be potentially over. How Old Is Grogu?
08:14 And What Was He Doing Before The Mandalorian?
08:16 Time hasn't been too kind to the galaxy's sweetest foundling. Due to his mysterious race's
08:21 rate of ageing, Grogu, despite still technically being a child, has had to experience a substantial
08:26 amount of heartache and trauma already. Even though he's still not able to hold a backwards
08:30 conversation with his numerous pals made along the way, the child is actually already a whopping
08:35 50 years of age by the time he's stumbled upon in The Mandalorian. This, as fans would later
08:39 come to discover, means that he'd already been caught up in the thick of the infamous attack on
08:43 the Jedi Temple in the early stages of the Great Jedi Purge, with that event going down when he was
08:48 just 22 years old and just starting out on his Jedi path. And this vulnerable tyke had then spent
08:54 the next three decades trying not to be dispatched by various Inquisitors and Empire forces. He's
08:59 just a child, debit! For reference, Yoda was clocking in at around 900 years old before
09:05 he eventually transitioned into the life of a Force ghost. So despite seeing his fair share
09:09 of galaxy-shifting events over five solid decades, Grogu is still very much in his infancy.
09:14 Why Grogu Merchandise Wasn't Available From The Off
09:18 While he has understandably gone on to become one of the most notable merch shifters on the
09:22 planet since his touching 2019 debut, it wasn't just a case of pumping out the plush baby Yodas
09:28 in their droves before Mando had even got his helmet on straight for Chapter One. Trying to
09:32 stave off those dreaded spoilers in whatever way he could before the eventual release of his
09:36 small-screen Mandalorian adventure, Jon Favreau had grown tired of merchandise unveiled ahead of
09:41 an actual project's premiere, revealing too much about what was in store for fans.
09:45 And with Grogu's presence on the show not even being confirmed until its actual debut episode,
09:50 Favreau would later admit to The Hollywood Reporter, "It's very difficult to keep secrets
09:54 about projects you're working on. By holding back on that one product, we knew that we may
09:58 have had the disadvantage of not having toys available day and date. But what we got in
10:03 exchange was excitement surrounding the character, because everybody felt like they'd discovered him
10:07 together. That emulated more what my experience growing up was like." It's safe to say Disney
10:12 have more than made up for lost time in the years that have followed this baby Yoda leaving the
10:16 entire galaxy needing their own little green guy to feed frog lady eggs to.
10:20 And that's our list! Know any other things people probably didn't know about Grogu? Let us know all
10:24 about them in the comments section right down below and do not forget to like, share and click
10:28 on that subscribe button while you're at it. Also if you're into this kind of thing then head on
10:31 over to whatculture.com and find some more awesome articles just like the one this video you're
10:35 watching right now is based on. I have been Padawan Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars,
10:39 thank you as always for clicking on this video today. May the force be with you and I'm sure
10:43 I'll see you very, very soon. Bye!