‘Gremlins’ Director Says Baby Yoda Character Was ‘Completely Stolen’ From His Idea

Baby Yoda and Gizmo from “Gremlins” are the same in that they’re both fan-favorite characters with big eyes and even bigger powers, but Gizmo’s creator is convinced that his idea was ripped off.

“I think the longevity of [the films] is really key to this one character [Gizmo], who is essentially like a baby,” director Joe Dante told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Which brings me, of course, to the subject of Baby Yoda, who is completely stolen and is just out-and-out copied. Shamelessly, I would think.”

Baby Yoda’s real name is Grogu (he’s also called “The Child”) on the smash hit Disney series “The Mandalorian.” Meanwhile, Gizmo is featured in the “Gremlins” franchise, which premiered in 1984. Fans of the movie will recall how Gizmo is a mogwai, which spawn when coming in contact with water or if they are fed after midnight.

“Mandalorian” show-runner Jon Favreau told Deadline in 2021 that he used another iconic 80s character as inspiration for the cute and cuddly character everyone fell in love with, the publication reported.

“Dave [Filoni] had done a sketch of kind of a Michelangelo/E.T. moment, and that was a source of inspiration,” Favreau said of Grogu’s first appearance. That image depicted The Child’s cradle floating along with his hand reaching up to touch fingers with Mando. The sketch combines Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” along with the famous scene from Steven Spielberg’s classic sci-fi film.

“Then Doug Chiang and the whole art department started generating drawings of it, and the Legacy [Effects] people built it,” Favreau continued. “We got lots and lots of drawings. Some of them were too cute, some of them were too ugly, some of them were the wrong proportions.”

“Finally there was one image that Chris Alzmann did that had him wrapped up in what looked like a piece of a flight jacket,” the “Mandalorian” director continued. “His eyes were a little weird, and he looked a little out of it, there was something a little off with it. But we found it charming, and that became the rallying image that we said, ‘This is good.’ And it developed from there.”

The perceived ripoff came up in conversation as HBO Max gets ready to debut an animated series this fall called “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.” Dante is a consultant on the series. He’s also looking forward to screening the original films this weekend in San Francisco at the Castro Theatre.