In a matter of weeks, Star Wars spin-off series “The Mandalorian” has achieved pop culture dominance thanks to the diminutive green sensation from the past known as Baby Yoda. Over four weeks and five episodes, the baby and his legacy play a central role in Disney's new series based on the Star Wars saga.
Baby Yoda becomes a cult figure
The tiny, mysterious green guy has dominated pop culture and social media since the first episode. Using the series at the start of the Christmas shopping season guarantees that the corresponding goods will disappear into thin air on store shelves. The timing also leads directly to the release of the third and final onePart of the sagaof the franchise provider. This ensures that Star Wars reigns supreme as we close out this decade and usher in the next.
Suffice to say, Disney's gamble, costing about $15 million per episode, will pay off in the end. Even considering how short-lived most pop culture phenomena are in our media-saturated world, it's likely that the euphoria surrounding Baby Yoda represents a "chronic illness."
Mastering the puppets
Creator and showrunner Jon Favreau's idea of a child-sized Yoda is brilliant only in its obviousness. In fact, this was the third time Star Wars experienced this particular success. The Phantom Menace gave us a precocious Anakin Skywalker, while the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” introduced Rotta the Hutt. The latter was the offspring of Jabba The Hut. None of these examples set the world on fire. So the Baby Yoda phenomenon lies squarely with the designers and technicians responsible for bringing him to life.
Suitable for Christmas
Like his older namesake, Baby Yoda is an animated creature operated by a team of puppeteers. It is the tactile and sometimes uncanny nature of the thing that is responsible for people's visceral reaction. It doesn't seem too soon to put these in the same pantheon of beloved practical creatures as ET, Mogwai or the original Master Yoda. Even the most cynical observer has to admit that the doll looks objectively beautiful.
