Does the Baby Yoda of ” The Mandalorian is a copy-paste of Gizmo, the famous Mogwaï created by Joe Dante? The director returned to this question and he seems to resent LucasFilm and Disney.
Gizmo vs. Baby Yoda
To my left there is the famous Gizmo. A magnificent little critter with the face of an angel called Mogwaï, with large endearing eyes, and a warm and soft coat. But beware, the endearing Gizmo has a big dark side.
Do not expose it to daylight, or give it water or food after midnight. Upon contact with water, Gizmo multiplies and its offspring transform into Gremlins after ingesting food after midnight. Created in 1984 by director Joe Dante, Gizmo is the movie’s little mascot. Gremlins. Friend of hero Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan), Gizmo will help humans against terrifying, repulsive imps with a serious penchant for violence.
To my right there is the triumphant Baby Yoda. From his real name Groguthis little green being is from same species as the mighty Yodaone of the most famous Jedi in the universe Star Wars. Created in 2019 by Jon Favreau on the occasion of the series The MandalorianGrogu instantly became an iconic character from the George Lucas license. He even came back twice, in season 2 of The Mandalorianthen in The Boba Fett Book.
Like Gizmo, Grogu has large ears, protruding eyes, two tiny three-fingered hands, possesses a short stature, and communicates via infant-like giggles. Even their names start with the same letter and have a close intonation. It is clear that the two little creatures share undeniable physical and character traits. But is it plagiarism? Joe Dante responds.
Joe Dante accuses Star Wars plagiarism
During an interview with the San Francisco CHronicle, Joe Dante has spoken about the resemblance between Gizmo and Baby Yoda. For the filmmaker, there is no possible doubt, Disney stole her character design:
I think the longevity of movies really depends on Gizmo being kind of a baby. Which brings me, of course, to the question of Baby Yoda, who was completely stolen, totally copied. Shamefully, in my opinion.
So did Disney just copy-paste Gizmo’s design for Grogu? It’s possible. In any case, obviously, the firm with the big ears did not turn to Joe Dante to ask him his consent. And the resemblance is too striking for it to be mere coincidence. It is therefore easy to understand Joe Dante’s annoyance.
