3 Thoughtful Things: "The Mandalorian and Grogu" Podcast Recap
Disney+ released a two-part podcast taking you behind the scenes of The Mandalorian and Grogu. The podcast is hosted by Mando creator Jon Favreau (who also directed the film) and features Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni, composer Ludwig Göransson, Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, and even the big star… or should I say little star… Grogu.
Both episodes are available now on Disney+, as is The Mandalorian and Grogu film (as well as all three seasons of the series).
Having listened to both episodes of the podcast, here are three things that I took away from them:
1) Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau are great together
This has multiple meanings — they’ve created epic Star Wars together, including (of course) The Mandalorian. But in this podcast, you get moments of two people at the very top of their games talking shop and drilling into the details. I love hearing experts pick apart and explain the minutiae of what they are the best at, and you get a glimpse of that here, as the pair talk about shooting the movie and its technical aspects. The segment on puppeteering was worth it alone — the history of Grogu and what additions and improvements came along the way. Favreau also has a great line about Grogu: "He was at the Oscars. And I’m at home. He made it. Our kids did good.”
They both have incredible stories to tell that Star Wars fans will eat up, like the “Red Jammer”, the very first Y-wing model that was built for A New Hope but went unused, was finally put to action in the Mando film because it came out of storage to be restored for the Lucas Museum. Emails were sent, permissions were retrieved, and suddenly there it is in all of its glory in IMAX. The pair are also funny together — like how Filoni reminded Favreau that Dave constantly asked to have more of his screen time cut in the film.
Whether it’s director's cuts or audio commentary (like Mando actually had with Favreau , Star Wars fans could listen to the pair tell stories for hours.
2) Sigourney Weaver wanted more Grogu interaction
A lot of the conversation with Favreau, Sigourney Weaver, and Pedro Pascal centered around Grogu and working with the puppet on set. Weaver loved Grogu and thought he was cute. Meanwhile, Favreau had a great line about acting in Star Wars: “You have to act like the cute stuff’s not cute and the weird stuff’s not weird”. Favreau has effusive praise for Weaver, who brought instant gravitas to the Colonel Ward character — because Weaver is such a big, recognizable celebrity, Colonel Ward didn’t need a major backstory to establish rank. Weaver commanded immediate respect from the audience. One interesting story was that one of the few script notes from Weaver was a request to have more on-screen interaction with Grogu. She spent a good amount of time talking about Grogu attempting to steal her snacks on screen… perhaps that was the rewrite (which ended up being a perfect moment in the scene, so good on everyone)
3) The entire soundtrack is a bop
Favreau interviews composer Ludwig Göransson, and they talk about the inspirations and process to get to the unique-sounding Mando music. Favreau was introduced to Göransson by Donald Glover, who recommended him. It’s clear that working on Star Wars was a career highlight for Göransson, who Favreau clearly appreciates and loves. Göransson brought a unique feel to the score, blending the traditional with the technical and modern. Favreau noted that the two things that made him believe that The Mandalorian was originally breaking into the mainstream were first Grogu’s reveal (and the whole “baby Yoda” craze), and second, how marching bands at colleges and high schools across the country, as well as DJs were playing Mandalorian music.
My only gripe with the podcast is that it was too short! I would have loved more content like this. I only hope this becomes a more regular thing — with the Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday Official podcast with Frank Alvarez and Iman Vellani also bringing hope. With so many streamers investing in video podcasts, maybe these will become a staple of the service.