«The Mandalorian» is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+.
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- The Mandalorian is an American space Western television series.
- It was created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+.
- It is the first live-action series in the Star Wars franchise, beginning five years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983).
- It stars Pedro Pascal as the title character, a lone bounty hunter who goes on the run after being hired to retrieve “The Child”.
- Star Wars creator George Lucas had begun developing a live-action Star Wars television series by 2009.
- This project was deemed too expensive to produce. He sold Lucasfilm to Disney in October 2012.
- Subsequently, work on a new Star Wars series began for Disney+. Favreau signed on in March 2018, serving as writer and showrunner.
- He executive produces alongside Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson.
- The series’ title was announced in October 2018, with filming starting at Manhattan Beach Studios in California.
- Visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic developed the StageCraft technology for the series, using virtual sets and a 360-degree video wall to create the series’ environments.
- This has since been adopted by other film and television productions.
- The Mandalorian premiered with the launch of Disney+ on November 12, 2019.
- The eight-episode first season was met with positive reviews, was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, and won seven Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
- A second season premiered on October 30, 2020, to positive reviews, and a third season is expected to be released in late 2022.
- Several spin-off series will expand on the series’ timeframe, including The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka.
- According to Dave Filoni, there was one scene that required a large number of stormtroopers, but they didn’t have enough costumes.
- He ended up drafting members of the 501st Legion fanclub, who specialize in making their own Storm/Clone trooper cosplays.
- During the first episode when the “bounty” is looking through the carbonite slabs, one of them contains Star Wars creator George Lucas.
- Although he signed on for mainly financial reasons, before coming on the set Werner Herzog had never seen a Star Wars movie. Werner Herzog, who plays the Client, went on to praise the show’s world building and practical effects, saying “it’s cinema at its best”.
- A December 2019 Vulture article drew attention to the question of how often the masked actor onscreen in full-body costume as the Mandalorian is Pedro Pascal instead of one of the credited Mandalorian doubles, Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, with Pascal’s voice performance dubbed in. Since the actors collaborate to keep movement consistent, the audience is unlikely to be able to tell without behind-the-scenes info. Notably, Pascal does not appear onscreen as the Mandalorian at all in season 1 The Mandalorian: Chapter 4: Sanctuary (2019)
- This series makes use of StageCraft, a technology created by ILM. It was initially used in the recent Star Wars films to add realistic lighting in the cockpits during hyperspace sequences, but has since been modified to project virtual environments around the actors. According to Kathleen Kennedy, one day a Disney executive visited the set and, after taking a look around, turned to Jon Favreau and said “Jon, I thought you weren’t going to build anything”. What the executive didn’t know was that she was actually standing within a virtual set.
- The Mandalorian’s phase-pulse blaster is based on Boba Fett’s rifle from The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
- Gina Carano initially believed that she would be playing the role of a female Wookiee, and was surprised that her face would be seen within the series.
- It was Donald Glover who inspired Jon Favreau to keep Baby Yoda a secret until the “Mandalorian” pilot episode debuted on Disney+.
- During filming of the live action remake The Lion King (2019), Glover (who voiced Simba in the movie) told Favreau that audiences liked surprises. “We were talking about music and pop culture, and he was saying that what people really like now is to be surprised, because it doesn’t happen that much” Favreau said. “When Beyoncé did an album, she would just put it online and everybody would react to it. Just putting it out there spurred a conversation that would become more viral and bring more genuine attention than any marketing.”
- The Child, well known by fans as ‘Baby Yoda,’ quickly became an internet sensation over the months after the premiere of this series, but toys weren’t available for the character because of that secrecy. Some toys, such as Funko Pop! figures and a plush from Mattel, weren’t available until early 2020.
- Jon Favreau has said the intention was to not spoil the series ahead of the premiere. “The way the cat usually gets out of the bag with that stuff is merchandising and toy catalogs and things like that,” he told Entertainment Tonight
- Critics didn’t get a chance to watch the first episode until after it was released through Disney+, which is typically a sign of a lack of confidence from the studio. However, it should be noted that this was only done to prevent the First-Episode Twist from getting out, and not out of quality concerns, as the pilot was widely praised upon release.
- To subvert this altogether, Lucasfilm had a premiere screening of the pilot and the next two episodes (which were not released at the time) specifically for critics a few days after the first episode was released
- Ewan McGregor visited the set in his Obi-Wan Kenobi outfit from the prequel Star Wars trilogy in support of Disney+’s upcoming, and still unnamed, Obi-Wan Kenobi series. McGregor acknowledged he had put the old uniform back on for a camera test while visiting the set. “It was funny walking on set because it was a lot of The Mandalorian crew and I walked on, and it was a big moment,” McGregor told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I walked into the dressing room and there were my beige cloaks and my belts and boots and it was like, ‘Oh my God, it was my old costume.’ It was amazing.
- In the first episode the Mandalorian’s bounty mentions trying to get home for “Life Day.” Life Day was a central part of the plot for the much maligned The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978).
- Many episodes of The Mandalorian pay homage to early Japanese cinema – most notably the Lone Wolf and Cub series where a samurai travels feudal Japan with a child in tow, and The Seven Samurai (1954) where a poor village seeks the help of experienced swordsmen to protect them from pillaging raider
- Series creator and showrunner Jon Favreau created the titular character, who was partially inspired by Clint Eastwood and his “Man with No Name” character in the Spaghetti Western films directed by Sergio Leone.
- The samurai films of Akira Kurosawa was another inspiration, and Star Wars protagonist Han Solo also influenced the character’s portrayal. The Mandalorian is voiced and primarily portrayed by Pedro Pascal.
- Disney took great lengths to keep baby Yoda under wraps until the show premiered, including not producing any merchandise ahead of time. But there was one potentially dangerous source of leaks on set: kids. “The thing that was terrifying was the notion of having children on a set, and what was gonna happen with kids seeing Baby,” Bryce Dallas Howard, who directed an episode ‘Sanctuary’ of the Disney+ series, says on PeopleTV’s Couch Surfing. Knowing the need to keep the secret, Howard took steps to prevent the kids who acted in the episode including her own son and daughter from spilling the beans. “All the kids that were on set, I had conversations with each one of them, just about keeping Baby a secret,” she says. “And they were all just so great. But my kids, every single day when they were going back to school, before school, I would say, ‘Who do we not talk about today?’ And they would be like, ‘Baby!’ “It was amazing to get to see my kids on a Star Wars set, just having the time of their life,” she adds.
- The Mandalorian has an arsenal of small arms inside the Razor Crest. Almost all of them are actual firearms or air guns that are modified to give them a sci-fi appearance.
- Having Dave Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa and Deborah Chow make creator cameos as X-Wing pilots in The Mandalorian: Chapter 6: The Prisoner (2019) was originally a joke suggestion by Filoni to Jon Favreau.
- The Mandalorian’s blaster pistol is based on a real life firearm – specifically an 1894 Bergmann No. 1 automatic pistol – with a few extra bits added to it. Several iconic weapons from the original Star Wars trilogy were also based on real firearms.
- Giancarlo Esposito spoke of his character saying: “In a way, you might call him an underworld character. You may also look at him as a savior, as someone who might bring back some order to the world after it’s all collapsed.”
- Troy Kotsur, the actor who plays Tusken Raider Scout #1, has been Deaf from birth and is fluent in American Sign Language. The show also hired him to develop a distinct Tusken sign language. During a January 2020 interview with Renca Dunn on the Deaf-interest website The Daily Moth, Kotsur said that he started creating the language by researching “the culture and environment of Tusken Raiders …. my goal was to avoid ASL.
- Before Rosario Dawson was cast as Ahsoka Tano, fans made a campaign for her to be cas
- Nick Nolte, who plays Kuiil, auditioned for Han Solo in Star Wars (1977).
- Bryce Dallas Howard directed the episode The Mandalorian: Chapter 4: Sanctuary (2019). Her father, Ron Howard, directed Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
- Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni offered up both an interesting perspective as well as a look ahead. Filoni was asked what feedback (if any) he received from George Lucas about the first season of the series, and it sounds like their discussions tend to lean more towards larger filmmaking and production topics: “When I talk with him, I like to get more knowledge. He’ll give me some reminders, especially before I shoot something, about how many setups I should try to get in a day, and I might rack his brain for certain things about how to cover a scene. He’s been very complimentary,” Filoni explained. “My job is to bring that knowledge forward and pass on what I’ve learned from him in every discipline to Jon and to the creative departments.” That said, Filoni believes that as a viewer, Lucas likes what he sees: “I think he’s enjoyed the show, and he said once [that] now he gets to watch it as a fan and watch it as a viewer.”
- The Mandalorian’s costume was created by Legacy Effects and bears similarities to Star Wars character Boba Fett, though the Mandalorian filmmakers deliberately sought to establish differences between the two costumes
- Tamuera Morrison reprised his role as Boba Fett after voicing Fett in the 2004 DVD version of The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005 video game), Star Wars: Empire at War, Star Wars Battlefront (2015 video game) and Star Wars Battlefront II (2017 video game)
- As Disney+ was initially available to a limited number of countries only, there was no legal way to see “The Mandalorian” outside the countries where Disney+ was available. This resulted in the series becoming the most illegally downloaded production of the year, on par with Game of Thrones (2011). T
- his is especially egregious for Latin American viewers, since the series has a Latin American Spanish dub included, but it was made for Hispanic (and Puerto Rican) audiences in mind. Averted with Japan, as the show is available starting December 2019 in Disney Deluxe, which is a streaming service exclusive for that country.
- Several voice actors from Clone Wars and Rebels make cameos throughout the series, including Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker) and Steve Blum (Zeb and various voices).
- Dave Filoni, who was a director and writer on Star Wars: The War of Clones (2008) and ΟStar Wars: Rebels (2014) also makes a cameo, in addition to writing and directing for the show.
- The Amban sniper rifle is used by the Mandalorian as his primary weapon. In some of the original concept art for the series, the rifle was built off of an AKM receiver. However, the actual rifle used appears to be an entirely fabricated prop.
- The weapon was first seen by audiences being wielded by Boba Fett in an animated section of the The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978).
- The convention of addressing many of the characters by their job or a description, such as ‘The Child’, ‘The Client’, ‘The Armorer’ and ‘The Passenger’ was inspired by Driver (1978)
- The Mandalorian is the first live action appearance of Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze from the animated Star Wars series
- The series is often called a “space western” and has influences from Sergio Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy. One of the cast members, Brendan Wayne, is the grandson of legendary actor John Wayne, who was known for his frequent appearances in westerns
- Tait Fletcher plays Alpha Trawler in The Mandalorian: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian (2019) also is the suit actor for Paz Viszla in The Mandalorian: Chapter 3: The Sin (2019).
- Brendan Wayne, one of the stunt doubles for the titular Mandalorian, also portrays a Mandalorian warrior who saved the titular character when he was a child during the Clone Wars.
- Not even a few minutes after the release trailer was posted online, Pedro Pascal joined in with the chimes of “Yeah? Good.” on Twitter. Pascal tweeted, in response to a meme edit of the Child pressing buttons in the Mandalorian’s ship that played “Africa” by Toto, that it would be out-of-character for the Mandalorian to turn it off. On the other hand, “Yoda” by ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic would stay off.
- While filming the episode The Mandalorian: Chapter 4: Sanctuary (2019), Gina Carano kicked a stunt performer so hard that he went flying back. After witnessing that moment on a monitor, director Bryce Dallas Howard was amused by it. Thinking it was a prank, she asked who put a wire on the stunt performer. She was told by the crew members that no wire was used at all.
- The Mandalorian’s gauntlets have blue arrows pointing outwards.
- Dave Filoni worked on Avatar (2005) before joining the Star Wars franchise, and previous references to the show have been made in the past (such as Appo’s arrow art on his armor in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008))
- Mando’s blaster pistol is based on the Bergmann 1894; because of the rarity of the real pistol, it seems likely that the prop used in the show is a replica instead of an actual Bergmann 1894.
- A number of modifications were made to the Bergmann 1894 for the blaster’s design, including new iron sights, a muzzle device, a modified grip, a modified hammer, and a smoothed out magazine cover with the circular grasping handle removed.
- Daisy Ridley’s face was used for conceptual artworks of the character Cara Dune
- Cara Dunes automatic blaster rifle is based of a british BREN gun with a rare german MG15 “double drum” magazine fitted upside down and an extra barrel added. Her blaster pistol is a Japanese Nambu pistol.
- On September 25, 2017, Kathleen Kennedy reached out to Jon Favreau to ask if he was interested in pursuing a Star Wars project. Favreau replied that he was interested in Mandalorian, as he had previously voiced Pre Vizsla in Star Wars: War of Clones (2008).
- Kennedy knew that Dave Filoni had also expressed interest in this subject and suggested the two men, who already knew each other, to collaborate. Favreau pitched his ideas, some of which he had been working on for several years on November 14, 2017 and the concept designers set work on it two days later. During this period, most of the concept artists were also working on Star Wars: Skywalker (2019) simultaneously.
- Katee Sackhoff admitted that Bo-Katan Kryze is the polar opposite of her own personality. While Bo-Katan is a fierce warrior with a no-nonsense attitude, Sackhoff is describing herself as a “crazy person”
- Cobb Vanth made his debut in the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy by Chuck Wendig.
- In March 2020, it was reported that Jamie Lee Curtis was cast and set to appear in the second season. However, she had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.
- Series star Pedro Pascal and guest stars Natalia Tena and Richard Brake are the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth actors from GoT to appeared in the Star Wars franchise while his former castmates were in the films with Julian Glover in Star Wars.
- First appearance of graffiti in a live-action Star Wars show or film
- The Child was quickly dubbed “Baby Yoda”, the “Yoda baby”, or “Yoddler” by fans. The Mandalorian was dubbed, The “Daddalorian” or “ManDADlorian” for the Mandalorian being a papa wolf to the child.
- According to George Lucas, his main concern was that baby Yoda AKA Grogu has to have a proper amount of training
- Ming-Na Wen is a fan of the Star Wars franchise
- Dave Filoni had worked on the first season of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender series. For its spin-off The Legend of Korra the main character’s design was largely inspired by Gina Carano
- Gina Carano (Cara Dune) and Ismael Cruz Cordova (Qin) previously starred together in In the Blood (2014)
- Giancarlo Esposito previously appeared in the film Last Holiday (2006), in which Queen Latifah plays a role originally played by Alec Guinness, the original Obi-Wan Kenobi.
- The patch seen on the arm of Doctor Pershing’s uniform shows a symbol previously seen on Kamino during Episode II. This may be a clue that the Imperials’ intentions towards the Child have something to do with cloning, perhaps to take advantage of his Force sensitivity.
- When it was announced that Rosario Dawson will portraying Ahsoka Tano in March 2020 for the show’s second season, she had previously expressed interested in playing the character in April 2017.
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