Star Wars: Jon Favreau Shares Baby Yoda Behind-the-Scenes Footage in Case Thanksgiving Gets “Too Heated”

Few things have brought the internet together in recent weeks like “Baby Yoda,” the adorable alien who debuted in Star Wars: The Mandalorian, inspiring countless memes across all forms of social media. Knowing how stressful the holidays can be, Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau took to Instagram to share a behind-the-scenes video of the puppet on set in hopes of it soothing even the most intense of gatherings. While fans have only seen brief glimpses of the character over the course of the series’ first three episodes, the below footage also depicts just how believable the puppet looks on the set of the series, likely making it easier for the cast and crew to believe the character is real.

Favreau shared the footage while adding, “If your Thanksgiving table gets too heated show everyone this video I took on the set of the Mandalorian.“

Part of what has made Baby Yoda such a beloved figure is that, in addition to being cute, fans had no idea he existed until The Mandalorian premiered. Whereas fans learned of adorable additions to the franchise like BB-8 and the porgs in teasers and trailers for their premieres, Disney kept a tight lid on the pint-sized character until he made his on-screen debut.

“I have to thank Disney and Lucasfilm, because the way the cat usually gets out of the bag with that stuff is merchandising and toy catalogs and things like that,” Favreau previously explained to Collider. “So they really back us up. We really wanted to have it be that you had to watch it yourself, so that every time you watch the show, there are new twists and secrets that come out. That requires a lot of restraint from the people who are footing the bill, saying they’re gonna hold back on certain things so that the public doesn’t know ahead of time. Part of that was holding back on some of the merchandise and holding back on some of the characters.”

New episodes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian debut on Disney+ on Fridays.

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