The internet’s favorite toddler puppet from a galaxy far, far away will soon be available for purchase as a build-your-own stuffed animal.
According to Business Insider, Baby Yoda, the online moniker for the force-sensitive alien child in the Disney Plus original series “The Mandalorian,” was greenlighted for a stuffed animal series and will be available at locations across the country sometime within the next few months.
Sharon Price John, CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop, a stuffed animal toy company that lets children create their own furry buddy, announced the partnership with Disney at a business conference on Tuesday.
“I’m excited to share we will be one of the first companies to provide the digital and internet phenomenon who is trending higher than all the presidential candidates combined,” announced John, according to the news agency. “We now will have The Child, also known as Baby Yoda.”
According to John, the discussions between Disney and Build-A-Bear Workshop began after the first episode of “The Mandalorian” aired on the Disney streaming service, Disney Plus.
Since the pivotal debut, people from across the political spectrum have come together to agree that Baby Yoda is one of the best and most iconic aspects of the “The Mandalorian.”
The live action series follows Mando, a bounty hunter from a warrior species known as the Mandalorians, and his struggle to take care of a fifty-year-old alien toddler who is being pursued by the remnants of the Galactic Empire five years after the events of “The Return of the Jedi.” The toddler, who is from an unknown species, was named Baby Yoda by fans due to his resemblance to the since-deceased Jedi Master Yoda.
According to Variety, Baby Yoda may have not appeared as the little green puppet that has fans going crazy had it not been for the intervention of acclaimed film-maker Werner Herzog.
The faith in their little green God was not strong enough.
That was the judgment of Werner Herzog, the imperious German filmmaker turned galactic space villain turned Baby Yoda fan club president, when he saw The Mandalorian creator and showrunner Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni removing the miniature creature from set during one of his scenes with the being.
They were preparing to shoot a blank slate of the sequence as a backup in case they decided during postproduction that the puppet wasn’t convincing enough and a digital version had to be substituted.
Herzog, known for films about pushing the limits of human ability and endurance, could not hide his contempt.
“You are cowards,” he declared. “Leave it.”
Variety previously reported that Baby Yoda toys and plushies were not available at the time “The Mandalorian” was released because Jon Favreau, the creator of the show, wanted to keep the child’s presence on the show under wraps.
Baby Yoda famously debuted at the end of the first episode of the show, wearing his signature oversized robes and sitting in a floating baby cradle. Fans have been captivated ever since.