page_title: The Child (Star Wars)
section_title: Filming
hierarchical_section_title: The Child (Star Wars) / Concept and creation / Filming
caption_attribution_description: Director Werner Herzog leaving the press conference of the movie "Queen Of The Desert" at the Berlinale 2015
context_page_description: The Child, colloquially known as "Baby Yoda" among fans and the media, is a character from the Star Wars Disney+ original television series The Mandalorian. He is an infant member of the same unnamed alien species as the popular Star Wars character Yoda, with whom he shares a strong ability in the Force. In the series, the protagonist known as "The Mandalorian" is hired to track down and capture the Child for a remnant of the fallen Galactic Empire, but instead becomes his adoptive father and protects him from the Imperials.
  The Child and the Mandalorian are the only characters who have appeared in every episode of the series. He was created by The Mandalorian creator and showrunner Jon Favreau based upon his desire to explore the mystery around Yoda and his species. The character was further developed in early conversations between Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni, and the character's imagery was defined by concept artist Christian Alzmann. The Child is mostly a work of animatronics and puppetry, although accentuated with computer-generated imagery.
  The puppet was designed by Legacy Effects and cost about $5 million to make.
context_section_description: The character was referred to as "The Child" in screenplays for The Mandalorian, though Bryce Dallas Howard, who directed "Chapter 4: Sanctuary", said she always referred to him on set simply as "Baby", and other cast members called it "The Being". During filming, the director of each episode would communicate with the Child's puppeteers to discuss what was happening in the scene, what emotions the Child should express, and what actions the character should take. Director Deborah Chow said in this way, it was similar to providing direction to a living actor. Favreau encouraged the directors to test and push the boundaries of the Child puppet during filming, urging them to experiment and attempt to get the most realistic movements and mannerisms possible from the character. Brendan Wayne, a body double for the Mandalorian character, said the puppet looked so realistic that performing against it felt like working with an actual child actor. Rick Famuyiwa, the director of "Chapter 2: The Child", said he was shocked when he learned that the premiere episode of The Mandalorian ended with the introduction of the Child, because it meant he would be directing the next episode that further expanded upon the character.
  The Child puppet was extremely popular among the cast and crew on the set of The Mandalorian. Chow said: "With the baby, every time it came on set, the whole crew would respond to it. Even the grip department, every production assistant is coming to the monitors, trying to see it." Howard screamed in excitement when she first saw it, and Gina Carano said of the Child: "That was our precious. Our precious is this being that we all end up taking care of in some way." Emily Swallow said she "fell in love with it like everybody else", adding: "I was thrilled when they brought him in that little bag for the scene that I got to have with it. I just wanted to snuggle it." Amy Sedaris said the animatronic Child puppet made everyone on the set happy: "The minute you looked into Baby Yoda's eyes you just got lost." Likewise, Giancarlo Esposito said he enjoyed interacting with the Child puppet during filming: "It melts my heart, because the reality is, this little baby does things that you could never imagine and when you look at those eyes and that little body, how can you not help but fall in love?" Carl Weathers has said of him: "He is very interesting and very knowledgeable and very cute. I never use that word, but he is a cute little guy."
  Werner Herzog particularly enjoyed filming scenes with the animatronic Child puppet, which he called "heartbreakingly beautiful". Chow said directing the scene between Herzog and the Child in "Chapter 3: The Sin" was "one of the weirdest" moments of her career, because he had so much affection for the puppet and was interacting with it like it was a living being. She said: "I literally think that he had forgotten that it's not a real-live creature and he had fallen in love with it." Herzog strongly urged the Mandalorian filmmakers to use the puppet for the character and not CGI. While filming one scene, Dave Filoni began to remove the puppet to shoot an alternate take, in case they decided to use a CGI version of the Child in its place. Herzog passionately urged him not to do so and to remain committed to the animatronics and puppetry, saying: "You are cowards. Leave it. Leave it." Esposito has also said having an actual Child puppet to perform against has been beneficial for the cast, because "that space allows all of us to be so wowed by its presence".
  Misty Rosas, who delivered the motion capture performance for Kuiil, often held the Child puppet during her scenes in "Chapter 7: The Reckoning". This occasionally proved challenging for Rosas, who also had to manage the weight of the animatronics in her own costume and face mask, as well as the weight of the Child prop. One full day of filming the episode focused upon Kuiil riding the blurrg creature, a process Rosas described as "intense" due to the amount of time she spent on the fake creature and the speeds at which it was made to r
caption: Werner Herzog, who portrays The Client in The Mandalorian, strongly urged the show's producers to remain committed to the animatronics and puppetry for the Child, calling them "cowards" for considering using computer-generated imagery.
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