00:00The actual name of this Yoda-like alien's race isn't the only little-known mystery
00:04surrounding this TV tyke.
00:07In fact, aside from those who have devoted themselves to knowing everything there is
00:10to understand about this deceptively powerful Sprog, many are unaware of everything from
00:15how much this beam of innocent light actually cost to Forge, to how old he really is.
00:21That being said, Gareth here from WhatCultureStarWars and here are 10 things you probably didn't
00:26know about Grogu.
00:2710. The Cost of the Child
00:29Jon Favreau had to convince the House of Mouse paying the bills to dump an eye-watering $5
00:34million on the table in order to fully realize his eventual vision for the ball of utter cuteness.
00:41This staggering cost of creation found its way into public knowledge on the back of Adam
00:44Pally, who appeared in The Mandalorian via Stormtrooper cameo in the first season's
00:49final episode, recounting a tale of him decking the diminutive puppet a little too hard during
00:54one particular take.
00:55As the comedy star would note to reporters at TCA later down the road,
00:59I remember the first take that I did when I punched it.
01:01They called Cut and Jon, who was watching on a monitor in his office, came down and said,
01:06I just want to let you know that this is the hero and it costs like $5 million.
01:10I want you to hit it, but I want you to know that.
01:13Understandably a little spooked by this revelation, a nervous Pally subsequently missed his punch
01:18during the next three takes, as you would.
01:209. What Went Into His Creation
01:22And speaking of crafting the eventual superstar of this small-screen Star Wars adventure,
01:27it wasn't simply a case of smashing it out of the park from the get-go.
01:31Upon deciding to go down the route of a younger version of the race the iconic Jedi Master Yoda
01:35was a part of for young Grogu.
01:37In fact, a ton of early concept art based on a cocktail napkin doodle by Dave Filoni
01:42depicted either a rather unsettling, leathery version of the child
01:46or a being that was a little too cute for its own good.
01:50Eventually, Jon Favreau and Filoni started to hone in on what this entity needed to be,
01:54and it was a design courtesy of Chris Alsman highlighting Grogu wrapped in a piece of a flight jacket or
02:00something
02:00that clicked for the pair.
02:02Primarily using the practical puppets, two were said to have been made for the show,
02:06when possible throughout the series, the animatronic Grogu even required up to five puppeteers to operate on set.
02:128. Jon Favreau Was Not A Fan Of Baby Yoda
02:16As former Disney CEO Bob Iger found out the hard way during numerous conversations with a rather passionate Jon Favreau,
02:23the Mando creator wasn't exactly thrilled about the world's eventual branding of his precious puppet.
02:27Over the course of a set of emails between the pair, Iger would note on the Star Wars show,
02:32In my early emails to Jon Favreau, I referenced in my emails Baby Yoda.
02:36It just seemed easy and I got my wrist slapped by Jon like a few times.
02:40It's not Baby Yoda is how he put it.
02:43Softening ever so slightly on his Baby Yoda stance in the time since his true name of Grogu was revealed
02:48on the show,
02:49Favreau would at least concede on Good Morning America that, of course, everybody knows Grogu as Baby Yoda.
02:54Which, by the way, is fine with all of us.
02:56We still call him Baby Yoda too, but he prefers to be called Grogu if you notice in the show.
03:01He perks up a lot when you say his name.
03:03Alright Jon, we get it, we get the point.
03:057. Where He Sits On The Jedi Mentorship Tree
03:08As alluded to already by Ahsoka Tano during her first exchanges with the tiny legend during Season 2 of The
03:14Mandalorian,
03:15and eventually revisited via tragic flashback in the Book of Boba Fett,
03:19Grogu was raised and taught in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant by many different masters.
03:24Before you know, the clones turned on the Order in response to Order 66.
03:28However, outside of these bites of exposition,
03:31no real concrete information has been fed to fans as to who precisely began the Force-sensitive youngsters' training in
03:37said temple.
03:37It is interesting to note, though, that Grogu would have likely been training alongside none other than Tano's eventual master,
03:43Anakin Skywalker,
03:45and as again depicted in the Book of Boba Fett, he was clearly present at the temple during the Great
03:50Jedi Purge.
03:51And while it isn't 100% clear at time of recording who exactly had a hand in guiding him early
03:56on,
03:56based on the fact that Luke Skywalker takes the dynamic child under his wing later down the road,
04:01teachings from the likes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Count Dooku, and, you guessed it, Yoda himself,
04:07would have all probably found their way into his little noggin in the end.
04:10Based on the Tree of Jedi Mentorship, he now finds himself sitting near the bottom of.
04:156. Dave Filoni Was Cautious About Attempting to Bring Him to Life
04:18Clone Wars, Rebels, Bad Batch, and Mandalorian creative Dave Filoni
04:22had a few reservations about getting tangled up in the lore of a character held dear by so many, himself
04:28included.
04:29In a recent conversation with Vanity Fair covering the future of this galaxy far, far away,
04:34the Mando executive producer would confess that,
04:36honestly, it's something I never would have done because Yoda is Yoda.
04:40Going further, when nudged on the subject of the little green breakout sensation Filoni also admitted,
04:45I think people now look back and think it was like a slam dunk.
04:48But we were very cautious.
04:50The amount of measuring, especially in the first season,
04:52for how we were framing this kid took a lot of effort.
04:55To go along with Filoni's self-professed doubts over whether it was wise to delve into the background
05:00of an intentionally mysterious race, Kathleen Kennedy would also add that both Filoni and
05:04Jon Favreau debated quite furiously over the child in a playdate of sorts that she organized.
05:10But that aforementioned Chris Alsman concept sketch was eventually enough to convince both creatives
05:14this baby Yoda was more than worth a punt.
05:17Not literally, of course.
05:18He's bloody expensive.
05:19Number five, a varied diet and complex communication skills.
05:23Far more than simply being a bundle of joy designed purely for marketing purposes,
05:27this child comes with its own array of intriguing complexities that make it just about as well-rounded
05:33as any other living and breathing elements of this galaxy far, far away.
05:36And among these layered traits of the heart-stealing handsome devil is a bottomless appetite that
05:42truly knows no bounds.
05:44Over the course of the Mandalorian series alone, this hungry little guy has been spotted munching
05:48on frog creatures, bone broth, tentacle chowder, blue cookies, and rather disturbingly, even
05:54the unborn offspring of a certain frog lady.
05:57He's a growing tyke after all.
05:58Adding into this complicated combination of a creature is Grogu's apparent lack of conversing skills.
06:03However, upon his already noted initial interaction with Ahsoka Tano, the one-time Jedi is able
06:08to communicate with the eventual foundling via the Force.
06:12Fancy that.
06:13Grogu is also able to very much understand verbal speech, notably reacting to Mando upon hearing
06:18his actual name being uttered for the first time by his father figure, something Jon Favreau
06:23was no doubt thrilled about.
06:25Number four, he shares a familiar Force ability.
06:28From the minute fans around the world watch this unassuming fuzzball lift a damn mudhorn in
06:32the bid to rescue his pal Mando in Season 1 of The Mandalorian, it was evident this innocent
06:37child was carrying his fair share of Force-sensitive secrets that would inevitably unfold before
06:41our very eyes.
06:42Yet arguably his most impressive Force feat to date went down in the finale of The Book
06:46of Boba Fett, as the foundling came face to face with a rampant rancor.
06:51Instead of attempting to lift this monstrous beast like he had done with other creatures
06:54in the past, a more learned Grogu opted to pacify the spooked critter, and ultimately eased
07:00it to sleep on the streets of Mos Espa.
07:02And funnily enough, this Force ability to calm and control animals somewhat was shared by
07:06two other well-known Jedi Knights as well, as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker had
07:11both been spotted using this taming skill over the years too.
07:14Number three, what his Mandalorian status really means.
07:17As I've already touched upon a few times throughout this list, very early on in his on-screen
07:22Mandalorian life, young Grogu finds himself being adopted into Mandalorian culture as a
07:27foundling, a term used by Mandalorians when referring to the children adopted by the warriors
07:32of Mandalore.
07:33However, his inducting into the Mandalorian way of life also resulted in the Force-sensitive
07:37Jedi initiate, unexpectedly going down in the history books.
07:41Along with the legendary Tar Vizsla, known for being responsible for crafting the Darksaber
07:46and being the first Mandalorian to be inducted into the Jedi Order, Grogu is the only ever
07:50being to hold the honour of being both a part of the Jedi Order and Mandalorian clan.
07:55With Grogu seemingly turning his back on the ways of the Jedi though, perhaps following
07:59a similar path to that of a certain Ahsoka Tano, and picking up his Beskar chainmail vest
08:04gift from Mando towards the latter stages of the Book of Boba Fett, his days of being
08:08recognised as both Jedi and Mandalorian look to be potentially over.
08:12Number two, how old is Grogu and what was he doing before the Mandalorian?
08:16Time hasn't been too kind to the galaxy's sweetest foundling.
08:20Due to his mysterious race's rate of ageing, Grogu, despite still technically being a child,
08:24has had to experience a substantial amount of heartache and trauma already.
08:28Even though he's still not able to hold a backwards conversation with his numerous
08:31pals made along the way, the child is actually already a whopping 50 years of age by the
08:36time he's stumbled upon in the Mandalorian.
08:38This, as fans would later come to discover, means that he'd already been caught up in
08:42the thick of the infamous attack on the Jedi Temple in the early stages of the Great
08:46Jedi Purge, with that event going down when he was just 22 years old and just starting
08:50out on his Jedi path.
08:52And this vulnerable taik had then spent the next three decades trying not to be dispatched
08:56by various Inquisitors and Empire forces.
08:59He's just a child, damn it!
09:01For reference, Yoda was clocking in at around 900 years old before he eventually transitioned
09:06into the life of a Force ghost.
09:07So despite seeing his fair share of galaxy-shifting events over five solid decades, Grogu is still
09:13very much in his infancy.
09:15Number one, why Grogu merchandise wasn't available from the off?
09:18While he has understandably gone on to become one of the most notable merch-shifters on the
09:22planet since his touching 2019 debut, it wasn't just a case of pumping out the plush
09:27baby Yodas in their droves before Mando had even got his helmet on straight for Chapter
09:31One.
09:31Trying to stave off those dreaded spoilers in whatever way he could before the eventual
09:35release of his small-screen Mandalorian adventure, Jon Favreau had grown tired of
09:39merchandise unveiled ahead of an actual project's premiere, revealing too much about what
09:44was in store for fans.
09:45And with Grogu's presence on the show not even being confirmed until its actual debut
09:50episode, Favreau would later admit to The Hollywood Reporter,
09:52It's very difficult to keep secrets about projects you're working on.
09:56By holding back on that one product, we knew that it may have had the disadvantage of not
10:00having toys available day and date.
10:02But what we got in exchange was excitement surrounding the character, because everybody
10:06felt like they discovered him together.
10:08That emulated more what my experience growing up was like.
10:11It's safe to say Disney have more than made up for lost time in the years that have followed
10:14this baby Yoda leaving the entire galaxy needing their own little green guy to feed frog lady
10:19eggs to.
10:20And that's our list, no many other things people probably didn't know about Grogu?
10:23Let us know all about them in the comment section right down below, and do not forget
10:27to like, share, and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:29Also, if you're into this kind of thing, then head on over to whatculture.com and find
10:32some more awesome articles just like the one this video you're watching right now is based
10:36on.
10:37I have been Padawan Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, thank you as always for clicking on
10:41this video today.
10:42May the force be with you, and I'm sure I'll see you very, very soon.
10:45Bye-bye!
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