When a film like “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” is released, a certain level of fanfare is to be expected. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before audiences crowned a member of the cast as Hollywood’s emergent star du jour. This time around, though, the one anointed wasn’t Pedro Pascal, the film’s leading man and titular Mandalorian, but rather his onscreen sidekick and co-star: the moss green, toddler-like creature known to the world as Grogu.
Since the film’s release on May 22, sightings of Grogu (formerly known just as Baby Yoda in prior “Star Wars” installments) getting photographed on the red carpet, sitting courtside at an NBA game and generally looking exceptionally adorable have endeared the character to an ever-growing number of Grogu enthusiasts. It’s Grogu’s world — and we’re just happy to be living in it.
While fans everywhere might finally be catching up on Grogu’s magnetism, John Knoll, the film’s visual effects supervisor (and thus one of the key reasons for the character’s very existence), knew the team had something special on their hands while originally developing the creature for Season 1 of “The Mandalorian,” the Lucasfilm TV show which serves as the basis for the film’s continuation.
