The Mandalorian's Baby Yoda Puppet Cost $5 Million

(This article contains mild spoilers about the finale of The Mandalorian's first season.)

The breakout star of The Mandalorian has undoubtedly been The Child, better known as Baby Yoda, a Force-powered infant who closely resembles the original and prequel trilogy's sage Jedi master. The baby, who star Werner Herzog summed up as "heartbreakingly beautiful," is a very sophisticated puppet--one that apparently cost a lot of money to manufacture and operate.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Adam Pally (who plays one of the two Stormtroopers watching over the baby at the opening of episode 8) shared an anecdote about the puppet's cost. During the scene, Pally's character hits the Baby Yoda, and on the first take he hit it fairly hard. The director (Taika Waititi) yelled "cut," and Pally was visited by showrunner Jon Favreau to discuss the shot.

Pally recalls Favreau telling him that the puppet costs "like, $5 million," saying "so while I want you to hit it, I just want you to know that." This made Pally so nervous that he missed on the next three takes.

Pally joked that Baby Yoda was "a bit of a diva" on the set, and that he's "constantly vaping."

The Mandalorian will return for season 2 in fall 2020, and characters from the Skywalker series might appear.