Disney Media DistributionBaby Yoda has understandably become a worldwide treasure – something that would have eased the minds of those who decided to spend a whopping $5 million on the puppet.
Hit Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian arrived on the small screen on Disney+ back in November and Baby Yoda has since become a worldwide treasure: he was even the most googled ‘baby’ of 2019, beating the likes of Psalm West, Baby Shark and the Royal Baby.
There’s even a petition launched by one fan to get Baby Yoda made into an emoji; as it stands, more than 63,000 people have signed it.
Predicting how popular the character would be, producers decided to invest a small fortune in Baby Yoda’s puppet for the programme – and it has most definitely paid off.
Disney+According to Business Insider, the Star Wars spin-off dethroned Stranger Things in the streaming statistics, which had topped Parrot Analytics’ weekly report on the most in-demand original streaming show in the US for 21 weeks.
Adam Pally, who portrayed one of the Scout Troopers who punched Baby Yoda, said at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter Press Tour:
I remember the first take that I did when I punched it. They called ‘cut’ and Jon [Favreau], who was watching on a monitor in his office, came down and said, ‘I just want to let you know that this is the hero [expensive puppet] and it costs, like, $5 million. I want you to hit it, but I want you to know that.’
Imagine being the one to punch something worth $5 million. No wonder it took Pally three takes to get the scene right because he was so nervous.
PAThe Mandalorian was so good it even received a rare – and well-deserved – 100% review from Rotten Tomatoes.
Every episode of the series was well received, with the lowest rated episode, Chapter 5: The Gunslinger, still achieving 73%. Other episodes achieved scores of around 80% and 90%, though the final two episodes managed to reach the coveted 100%.
After an extremely intense ending to season one, season two is rumoured to be in production but a release date is yet to be confirmed.
Disney+The positive response will no doubt come as a relief to Disney following the recent release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which received mixed reviews after it hit cinemas.
The Mandalorian will finally be available to view in the UK on Disney+ on March 31, 2020.
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Niamh Shackleton is a pint sized person and journalist at UNILAD. After studying Multimedia Journalism at the University of Salford, she did a year at Caters News Agency as a features writer in Birmingham before deciding that Manchester is (arguably) one of the best places in the world, and therefore moved back up north. She’s also UNILAD’s unofficial crazy animal lady.