Star Wars Exec Reveals George Lucas’ Biggest Concern With Baby Yoda

The Mandalorian executive producer Dave Filoni explained Star Wars creator George Lucas’ “main concern” with Baby Yoda.

Filoni, who also acts as Lucasfilm’s executive producer and creative director, recalled discussions he had with Lucas about Grogu, aka. Baby Yoda, who debuted in the first episode of Disney+’s The Mandalorian. “I had a talk with George, at one point, about the Child, and his main concern was that the kid has to have a proper amount of training,” Filoni said in the Star Wars: The Art of The Mandalorian (Season Two) art book.

Grogu, or the Child, first appeared in The Mandalorian Season 1, “Chapter 1: The Mandalorian,” which premiered on Disney+ nearly 40 years after the release of the original Star Wars film in 1977. Grogu quickly became a fan-favorite character and appeared opposite Pedro Pascal’s Din Drjarin until the Season 2 finale, “Chapter 16: The Rescue.” This episode saw Lucas’ hopes for Grogu to be trained as a Jedi realized when he left with his new Jedi master, Luke Skywalker, portrayed by an age-regressed Mark Hamill.

Episode 6 of Disney+’s newest Star Wars series, The Book of Boba Fett, picked up this story arc and gave viewers a chance to see how Grogu’s training had progressed under the watchful eye of Luke. The episode even revealed a glimpse of Grogu’s time at the Jedi Temple during the murderous execution of Order 66. Ultimately, the Jedi training was cut short when Grogu made the choice to leave and be a Mandalorian foundling with Din Djarin, instead of a Padawan with Luke.

While Lucas sold Lucasfilm, and the Star Wars franchise with it, to Disney in October 2012, he has still kept in touch with several Star Wars projects, even meeting Grogu on a visit to the set of The Mandalorian. In a 2019 interview, Jon Favreau, the showrunner for The Mandalorian, recalled a crucial piece of advice that Lucas gave him during the production of the Disney+ show’s first season.

“One thing he said to me was, ‘Remember, Jon, the real audience for all stories and all myths is the kids that are coming of age,'” Favreau said. “We enjoy the stories as adults, but really, storytelling is about imparting the wisdom of the previous generations on to the children who are becoming adults and giving them a context for how to behave and how to learn the lessons of the past without making the mistakes on their own. That’s the hope, that you can teach them how to avoid all the hardship but garner all the wisdom.”

While Lucas sold Lucasfilm, and the Star Wars franchise with it, to Disney in October 2012, he has still kept in touch with several Star Wars projects, even meeting Grogu on a visit to the set of The Mandalorian. In a 2019 interview, Jon Favreau, the showrunner for The Mandalorian, recalled a crucial piece of advice that Lucas gave him during the production of the Disney+ show’s first season.

“One thing he said to me was, ‘Remember, Jon, the real audience for all stories and all myths is the kids that are coming of age,'” Favreau said. “We enjoy the stories as adults, but really, storytelling is about imparting the wisdom of the previous generations on to the children who are becoming adults and giving them a context for how to behave and how to learn the lessons of the past without making the mistakes on their own. That’s the hope, that you can teach them how to avoid all the hardship but garner all the wisdom.”