*MAJOR SPOILER ALERT AHEAD* In a recent interview with UPROXX, Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson spoke about one of the most surprising and fan appreciated cameos in the film. Johnson explains the exhaustive lengths to recreate this beloved character’s look and appearance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
You went with The Empire Strikes Back version of Yoda, the ornery version.
“That felt really important to me. And, actually, I cut some of that out and Frank Oz said to me I had to put it back. Because when I first pitched him the scene, it’s like the Yoda from Empire is back because that’s the one Luke had the emotional connection with. And that’s why we did the puppet and recreated the Empire puppet: Neal Scanlan and his team did a recreation of the Yoda puppet. It’s not only a puppet, it’s an exact replica of the Empire puppet. They found the original molds for it. They found the woman that painted the original eyes for Yoda. Then Frank came and worked with them for a few weeks to get the puppet right. He did a lot of testing and a lot of adjusting with the puppet creators. It was amazing to watch the process. The idea that the last time Luke saw Yoda was in Return of the Jedi and the notion of getting back to that version of Yoda to form the emotional connection with Luke – including a glimpse of the impishness, as part of their relationship. It made a lot of sense.”
What were your thoughts on the return of Yoda in The Last Jedi? Was it faithful to his look in The Empire Strikes Back? Let us know what you think.