Star Wars: The Mandalorian Creature Boss Reveals Surprising Details About Banthas

The season two premiere of The Mandalorian brought some interesting developments into the larger Star Wars mythos. Not only did we see the return of Boba Fett’s armor, and seemingly the man himself, we got a deeper look into the culture of the Tusken Raiders. We learned more about how they communicate and view the world on Tattooine but most importantly we saw how they care for their Banthas, specifically their giant teeth. Series animation supervisor Hal Hickel took to Twitter to reveal a close-up shot of a mouth of a Bantha, revealing how important hygiene is to their overall health.

In a separate post, Lucasfilm creative art manager Phil Szostak opened up on the scene in question from “The Marshal” which showed one of the Raiders using his gaffi stick to clean between the teeth of the giant beast. He wrote: “That gag wasn’t in the script. So I’m guessing that it’s something that Jon came up with on set, probably because gaffi sticks resemble giant gum stimulators.” Well now it’s officially Star Wars canon Phil!

In addition to the teeth brushing expanding on the world of the Tusken Raiders, the episode also further expanded the lore surrounding their use of sign language. A Deaf performer named Troy Kotsur, who played a Tusken Raider Scout in Season 1 of The Mandalorian, helped craft this unique version of communication method. In an interview from The Daily Moth, which was published earlier this year, Kotsur sheds more light on how that sign language was created for the show, explaining:

“I did research on the culture and environment of Tusken Raiders. I researched on the desert called ‘sand people.’ That is what Luke Skywalker calls them, ‘sand people.’ Anyway, my goal was to avoid ASL. I made sure it became Tusken Sign Language based on their culture and environment.”

“I hope that you keep telling Disney + that you want to see more sign language,” Kotsur continued. “I hope that the producers keep an open mind because this is just the beginning.”

MORE: The Mandalorian Chapter 9 Easter Eggs & Cameos

Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2 is now streaming on Disney+. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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