Director Joe Dante spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle about his "Gremlins" films. Dante said "The Mandalorian" copied its Baby Yoda character from "Gremlins" character Gizmo. Dante said Baby Yoda was "completely stolen and is just out-and-out copied."
Filmmaker Joe Dante, who popularized the Gremlins with his 1984 horror-comedy and its 1990 sequel, recently told the San Francisco Chronicle (via IndieWire) that Baby Yoda is nothing but a shameless ripoff of the eponymous creatures, particularly the lead Gremlin named Gizmo.
Gremlins director Joe Dante didn't mince words when talking about The Mandalorian "shamelessly" copying Gizmo for its Baby Yoda character, Grogu. Joe Dante, the director behind the Gremlins movie franchise, didn't hold back when discussing the questionable influence Gizmo had on The Mandalorian's Grogu.
If Grogu looks just like Yoda except in child form, and if Dante feels Grogu is so similar to Gizmo that it appears to be a carbon copy, then it raises the obvious point that Gizmo and Gremlins were created after Yoda and therefore are just a carbon copy of Yoda in childlike form.
Pair that with his obsession with capturing Grogu as a midi-chlorian "donor," and it's very possible that he's hoping to transfer Baby Yoda's Force abilities to himself and become a full-fledged Sith to restore the Dark Side and the Empire in the aftermath of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine's deaths.
Baby Yoda is back! And directly saves the day, TWICE
Is Moff Gideon a Jedi or Sith?
At the time of The Mandalorian story, it is pretty clear that Moff Gideon is not a Sith Lord even though he has the Darksaber in his possession nor does he have any links to the Jedi. Moff Gideon is nothing more than one of the Empire's existing bad guys who officially worked for the Imperial Security Bureau.
To an Imperial officer, this Jedi did nothing but inspire terror. In a few short years, Luke had brought down the Empire, blown up two Death Stars, killed the Emperor and somehow gotten rid of Darth Vader. So, while Moff Gideon's terror might seem dramatic at first, it was completely warranted.
Grogu in the battle of cute baby aliens. One's a Mogwai, the other's a Jedi -- but "Gremlins" director Joe Dante said Gizmo, who came first, is clearly the inspiration for Grogu.
Filmmaker Joe Dante, whose 1984 and 1990 horror-comedy Gremlins movies popularized the eponymous creatures, recently told the San Francisco Chronicle (via IndieWire) that Baby Yoda is an unoriginal dupe of the Gremlins star known as Gizmo.
History has it that the character of Yoda predates that of Gizmo by approximately 4 years difference! Yoda was created in the mind of George Lucas in the year 1980 when Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was released to theaters worldwide.
Some fans even hypothesized that Grogu literally was a "Baby Yoda" and represented a reincarnated form of the Jedi Master. This is impossible due to Grogu having already been born when Yoda was still alive. Thus, while the Mandalorian is Grogu's adoptive father, his actual parents remain a mystery.
To be clear, Grogu is not a younger version of Yoda since "The Mandalorian" is set after "Return of the Jedi," in which Yoda (played by Frank Oz) died. They are, however, of the same species — but that species has not yet been revealed. There are more similarities between Yoda and Grogu than just looks.
In the Star Wars universe, Grogu belongs to the same mysterious and unnamed species as the iconic character Yoda. The reason Grogu is believed to be a member of the Yoda species is mainly due to his physical appearance and his connection to the Force.
Gizmo is the only known mogwai to not have a speck of hatred or evil in him, unlike his fellow mogwai who are often cruel, mean, abusive, and vicious, although he did have a bit of hatred when Mohawk kept bullying him and got revenge. This is because he is a Minority Mogwai, a mogwai that is kind and nice.
Is Baby Yoda a puppet or CGI? He's a combination of both. He's a puppet, but stuff like the hair on his head and some of his movements and things that can't be done with puppets, like the mouth movements are done with CGI.
Once a student at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Grogu survived Order 66 and was hidden away. After the birth of the New Republic, a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Din Djarin found Grogu at a compound on Arvala-7, and rescued the Force-sensitive alien from the Imperial remnant.
The show has been praised for using a live-action, old-fashioned puppet for Baby Yoda instead of CGI, though the show originally wrestled with the concept and thought about using a computer-generated Baby Yoda instead.
To the Frog Lady, these eggs are precious cargo: They are her eggs, the only hope of keeping her species alive, and Mando is tasked with transporting them across the galaxy to ensure the Frog People's survival. To Baby Yoda, they are tasty treats.
Grogu is a male Force-sensitive Mandalorian foundling that belonged to the same species as Jedi Grand Master Yoda and Jedi Master Yaddle. Grogu was born in the year 41 BBY, and was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
He was raised in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and trained by several Jedi before surviving the end of the Clone Wars and Order 66. During Anakin Skywalker's massacre at the Jedi Temple, Grogu was taken offworld and hidden away by Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, and was forced to hide his Force abilities to survive.
Although there were very few Jedi left in the galaxy, Yoda initially refuses to train Luke as a Jedi, partly due to his age and mainly because he believed Luke to be too much like his father, Anakin Skywalker, in personality (reckless, impulsive, short-tempered, and hot-headed).
Now neither of the characters wanted to keep Luke in the dark about Vader, but they believed it was the best course of action to give Luke the best chance to take down Darth Vader and The Emperor and save the galaxy. The two Jedi weren't going to take any chances, so they stuck with the lie.
