Jon Favreau Invites Star Wars Legend to Work on The Mandalorian Season 2

Ever since The Mandalorian was released fans have been ecstatic about this new chapter of the Star Wars saga. Many have likened the show's aesthetic and style to being closer in tone and approach to being more like the original trilogy of movies from the 1970s and 80s, something that hasn't gone unnoticed by the people involved in those films. Legendary effects pioneer and Star Wars alumnus Phil Tippett took to Twitter to congratulate Jon Favreau on the series and to express similar feelings, plus a a wish to be involved, something that Favreau says would be exciting to see.

"Congrats @Jon_Favreau on the amazing success of @themandalorian," Tippett wrote. "It's really something. Reminds me of our adventures making the original trilogy back in the day, shootin' from the hip. I tell you, I'd love to come back on board and get my hands dirty with you guys!"

Favreau replied to the effects wizard, saying: "Thank you! I'm a huge fan. We're on set now talking about how exciting it would be to see your work on the Mandalorian." Considering the success of The Mandalorian, already in production on its second season and with spin-offs reportedly being considered by Disney and Lucasfilm, it seems pretty likely that there could be a place for Tippett somewhere in the cards.

Thank you! I’m a huge fan. We’re on set now talking about how exciting it would be to see your work on the Mandalorian.

— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) February 20, 2020

For those unaware, Tippett was involved in the making of Star Wars since the very beginning, being hired by George Lucas himself as one of the first employees of Industrial Light & Magic. Tippett created the stop-motion holochess sequence in the original film, and would go on to pioneer the "Go motion" upgrade to traditional stop-motion animation which was first used in The Empire Strikes Back for the AT-AT walkers. He went on to work on Return of the Jedi afterward, winning a Special Achievement Oscar for the visual effects in that film.

Tippett's career expanded beyond just Star Wars, and he's perhaps best known to some fans as being credited as the "Dinosaur supervisor" for 1993's Jurassic Park, which has spawned many memes in the time since. In actuality, Tippett was hired to bring his stop-motion work to the film as it was being developed and before the decision was made to use computer generated imagery for many of the dinosaurs in the film. Given his expertise in stop-motion, and the new emerging field of CG, Tippet would stay on to work on the CG shots using his experience in animation to make them work. He would go on to win his second Academy Award for the movie.

Other films that Tippett has worked on include the original RoboCop and its sequels, plus Coneheads, Dragonheart, Starship Troopers, Evolution, and much of The Twilight Saga. He would return to the Jurassic franchise with Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kindgom, working as a "Dinosaur Consultant." Given his decades of experience we really hope that Favreau finds a place for him behind the camera on the series!