How a Y-wing connects The Mandalorian and Grogu to Star Wars: A New Hope, the Hutt family legacy, and much more!
Rotta the Hutt wasn’t always a muscled fighter.
Although he makes his live-action debut in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, nearly 20 years ago the character was introduced as a baby himself in a different theatrical feature: the premiere of the first animated tale from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Harkening back to his roots, the film — in theaters now! — does include a live-action holo image of baby Rotta, courtesy of a model hand painted by Director Jon Favreau himself.
Read on to learn more about Rotta, the connections between Jabba the Hutt’s designer and the Nal Hutta palace seen in the film, and more fun facts, trivia, and behind-the-scenes Easter eggs.
1. Rotta the Huttlet first appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated film directed by Dave Filoni. The 2008 feature launched the series by the same name and introduced Jabba the Hutt’s son, nicknamed Stinky, as well as Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan Ahsoka Tano.
2. David Acord originally voiced baby Rotta in animation. For the film, the older Rotta is performed by Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) and Acord serves as sound designer.
3. The Twins first appeared in Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett.
4. During his time with Lucasfilm, Phil Tippett headed the creature shop for Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, designing several creatures including Jabba the Hutt, the original template that all Hutts, like the Twins and Rotta, are based on.
5. After Jedi, Tippett founded Tippett Studios, where stop-motion animators have worked on sequences for The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew, most recently lending their skill to bring the giant droids guarding the Twins’ palace to life.
6. Tippett was also the co-creator and animator of the dejarik chess creatures first seen in Star Wars: A New Hope, and now found rampaging through Shakari in The Mandalorian and Grogu.
7. Embo the Kyozo first appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series during the Season 2 episode, “Bounty Hunters.”
8. Although he previously worked with an anooba named Marrok in animation, the creature seen prowling with Embo in live-action is a different member of the same species. Her name is Keibu.
9. Actor Shirley Henderson, who voiced the first Anzellan, Babu Frik in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and provided the voices for the trio of droidsmiths in The Mandalorian Season 3, returns to voice all four Anzellans — Minch, Bai, Keeto, and newcomer Clang.
10. Stunt Coordinator Lateef Crowder is also one of three people to wear the Mandalorian’s armor in the film. Crowder shares the helmet with Brendan Wayne and Pedro Pascal.
11. A sign above the doorway leading to the dejarik arena says “Weathers Apollo” in an homage to the late Greef Karga actor Carl Weathers who famously portrayed Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise.
12. The design for the Moon of Shakari resembles Prohibition-era Chicago and was inspired by Director Jon Favreau’s time in the real city.
13. The Dejarik Match is an homage to the holochess game first played in Star Wars: A New Hope. The Mandalorian and Grogu establishes that the creatures seen in the game version are indeed real beasts that can be seen fighting in the Pit on Shakari.
14. Sooga! Hugo Durant keeps a mudhorn egg in his stall. Fans may remember another mudhorn egg that featured prominently in Season 1 of The Mandalorian, in Chapter 2 “The Child.”
15. The model of the Red Jammer Y-wing used in the film was borrowed from the archives. Crafted for the original film, the model was used as reference for the full-sized Y-wings in Star Wars: A New Hope but has never previously been used on screen.
Come back for even more trivia and fun facts to celebrate the return of Star Wars in theaters now with Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu!
Din Djarin and Grogu embark on their most thrilling mission yet in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. Directed by Jon Favreau and filmed for IMAX, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu stars Pedro Pascal as the Mandalorian, Sigourney Weaver as Colonel Ward, and Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt. The film is written by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor, and is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Ian Bryce, Jon Favreau, and Dave Filoni, with Karen Gilchrist, John Bartnicki, and Carrie Beck serving as executive producers and music by Ludwig Göransson.
Get your tickets for Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, an all-new Star Wars adventure filmed for IMAX, exclusively in theaters now.
