Star Wars: “Gremlins” creator Joe Dante calls Grogu from “The Mandalorian” a shameless copy

• Long, pointed ears, big wide eyes and a very limited vocabulary: Grogu and Gizmo have a lot in common.
• “Gremlins” director Joe Dante is therefore certain that Disney copied Baby Yoda’s design from his little Mogwai.
• While “The Mandalorian” doesn’t return until 2023, there will be a reunion with the Gremlins in autumn 2022.

While his real name might not be Baby Yoda, the tentative name given to Grogu from The Mandalorian by Star Wars fans is very appropriate. After all, Grogu is from Yoda’s species and therefore looks like a very young version of the Jedi Master.

Joe Dante, the director of the 80s cult film “Gremlins – Little Monsters”, explains the appearance in front of Grogu differently. In his opinion, Grogu is simply a copy of Gizmo, the little Mogwai from “Gremlins”, as he revealed to the San Francisco Chronicle.

I think the longevity [von “Gremlins”] really depends [Gizmo]who is basically like a baby. Which, of course, brings me to the subject of Baby Yoda being completely stolen and just plain copied. Shameless I would say.

Joe Dante on Grogu aka Baby Yoda

However, Dante, who attended a re-release of his two Gremlins films in San Francisco, has no plans to take legal action against Disney or Lucasfilm. With the publicity he and the Gremlins are getting from these allegations, Dante should have achieved his goal anyway.

So the Gremlins are back in the conversation when the new animated series “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai” starts in the USA on HBO Max in the fall. It also features Ming-Na Wen, who also had contact with Grogu in “The Book of Boba Fett”.

Incidentally, a German start date for “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai” has not yet been set, but you can also receive HBO Max if you follow our instructions. There you can also stream the “Gremlins” films, which are currently not subscribed to by any German streaming service.