Here’s Why You Love ‘Baby Yoda’
Star Wars has hit a milestone when it comes to popularity. There hasn't been this much good Star Wars at once ever in my life. As a man with a borderline dangerous obsession with this universe and the many stories to come out of it, I couldn't be happier.
With the Rise of Skywalker in theaters now (and setting record sales), and The Mandalorian on Disney+, you really can get your fill. I am writing this before I see ROS - so no need to worry of spoilers.
The obvious stand out in all of this is 'Baby Yoda' - which I understand is not his name (the show only refers to the infant of Yoda's race as "The Child"). It's no accident that you love him, the masterminds at Disney made him that way. Even though the true-to-Henson puppet checks all of the boxes on the cute list, there is something more to why you feel so attached to Lil' Yoda - his babyness.
Daniel Blumstei.n, a professor with UCLA’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology sat down with Vulture to explain why we are hardwired to react to this little green piece of pop culture:
We are sort of hardwired to respond to these sorts of features. Oh, isn’t that cute, we say when we see a Baby Yoda, or when we see a puppy, or when we see a baby of any other species, where we might not have that same feeling when we see an adult of another species.”
Basically, the emotional manipulators/puppet and CG artists have poured everything they know about what we love (puppies, Star Wars, babies, etc) into one character - and we are eating it up. They gave us the cutest version of Muppet Babies and mixed it up with space Mad Max.
According to the Observer, this series has been smashing records held by giants in the streaming biz like Stranger Things, Saturday Night Live, and Spongebob Squarepants.
The thrilling conclusion of The Madalorian's first season is this Friday, December 27th.