There's no doubt that Baby Yoda was the standout star of the Star Wars franchise's The Mandalorian series last year. The little green creature looked equal parts gremlin (like OG Yoda) and adorable (like an actual baby), but there's one detail about the character, who is canonically named The Child, that was made to be a little more human than animal. Oscar-nominated sound editors David Acord and Matthew Wood worked on The Mandalorian and were responsible for conceptualizing Baby Yoda's vocalization. Though Acord and Wood intended to have him sound like the kind of creature that could be found in the wild, they ultimately had to go in a different direction.
“I was recording animals at this wildlife rescue outside of San Diego," Acord told The Hollywood Reporter. "Two of the animals I recorded had this really cute, almost childlike quality to them. One was a bat-eared fox and one is a kinkajou." Baby Yoda's initial voice was made up of these two animals' natural sounds, but creator Jon Favreau "thought that they needed to be more human-sounding or something a little more relatable." So, Acord and Wood made some adjustments. "We dialed way back on the animal part, and now that’s just there for little grunts and coos and purring. We used some real baby vocals for when [he] gets really fussy and that kind of thing.” Acord even contributed to the creation of Baby Yoda's voice himself. "I have some of my own vocal in there, too, for more of the articulated vocalizations, pitched way up. So it's a combination of things."
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"Star Wars" Creator George Lucas Cradles Baby Yoda In His Arms & It Is Glorious
Lookin’ like a proud grandpa.
The feelings we have for this photo cannot be expressed with mere words, but it’s worth a shot. Jon Favreau, executive producer of The Mandalorian series from the Star Wars franchise, shared a very important Instagram post on Thursday. In the photo, the famed creator of the entire Star Wars universe, George Lucas, can be seen cradling Baby Yoda, the Internet’s favourite little gremlin and the standout star of the series, while filming season 2.
Baby Yoda, who was given his name since he resembles a baby version of the original Yoda character but has actually been revealed to be called The Child, has become somewhat of an Internet sensation. His adorable baby antics has turned him into a viral meme on more than one occasion, and his wide-eyed wonder has fans melting from cuteness on a regular basis. Instagram meme account, Tank Sinatra, commented on the photo, “Proud grandpa,” and it’s definitely a fair assessment. Considering George started Star Wars way back in the 70s with Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope, he could lowkey be considered Baby Yoda’s grandfather. The photo is made even more comical by the fact that Baby Yoda is inexplicably wearing a winter coat, somewhat resembling the one worn by the infamous Ikea Monkey in 2012—remember that? Who would’ve thought that two cute viral legends would have such similar taste in outerwear.