On the surface, any one particular aspect of a TV show episode costing $5M would seem expensive, but when that thing is our Meme and Merchandising Lord and Savior aka Baby Yoda, it's all worth it. That said, those who had to interact with the pricey Force wielder had to be cautious while on set of The Mandalorian.
The price tag was revealed by actor Adam Pally, who you may recognize from Happy Endings, his small role in Iron Man 3, or one of my favorite recent comedies, Band Aid. Pally was in The Mandalorian's season finale, and became a target of Internet scorn when he, along with Jason Sudeikis, pummeled Baby Yoda in the episode's opening moment. Pally said at at the TCA winter press tour...
“I remember the first take that I did when I punched him. They called ‘Cut!’ and Jon, who was watching on a monitor in his office, he came down from this office and said, ‘I just want to let you know that this is the hero Yoda [the main prop used for close-ups] and it costs, like, $5 million. So while I want you to hit it, I just want you to know that.’ Because I think I took a big swing at it. And the next three takes I missed, because I was so nervous.”
Probably a good idea to whiff on those blows, but why were they using the actual Yoda anyway? He's totally hidden in the scene, unless Favreau is striving for such realism that he felt it necessary? I guess it's possible there was more to those scenes initially, and some had to get left out. Either way, it's good for Pally that he didn't do too much damage. The Internet's wraith can be brutal and eternal. [EW]
