By George & Josh Bate
Star Wars fans can now experience The Mandalorian and Grogu in a brand new way. Director Jon Favreau recorded an in-theater audio commentary for the film, which you can listen to as you watch the film in theaters courtesy of the TheaterEars app. After watching The Mandalorian and Grogu: The Director’s Experience, here’s a breakdown of everything we learned from Jon Favreau’s commentary.
To capture the cold temperature of the Imperial Warlord’s meeting room in the first scene of the film, the crew chilled the set overnight and pumped moisture into the air so that characters emitted cold breaths when they spoke. This is a technique that Jon Favreau used for the cave scenes in Iron Man.
The opening scene was inspired by Indiana Jones and James Bond movies as the audience catches up with our heroes mid-mission.
The production team referenced Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order to build the AT-AT interior set.
The shot of the X-Wings arriving on Adelphi Base with the orange horizon in the background was inspired by an iconic shot from Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens.
The opening credits were inspired by Tony Scott’s Top Gun. Both The Mandalorian and Grogu and Top Gun employ similar lighting during their opening credits as various ships take off and land on runways.
The exterior of Adelphi Base was inspired by the interior of Jon Favreau’s Fairview Portals studio.
The shots of the Razor Crest on Adelphi Base were captured using a miniature model.
The look of Nal Hutta was informed by how the Hutt homeworld has been conveyed in various preexisting projects, including comics.
The Hutts’ throne room was filmed on the Volume.
Jon Favreau studied Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner to find the neon lighting and futuristic urban setting of Shakari.
Star Wars-themed popcorn available at Galaxy’s Edge inspired the look of the snack Grogu eats during the gladiator match.
The shots of Din Djarin inside Hugo Durant’s food truck were entirely CGI as the team couldn’t get the spacing and look of the scene right in-camera.
The Salt Diner brawl was inspired by the iconic tea shop scene of John Woo’s Hard Boiled.
Interns at Legacy Effects were given the opportunity to design the cages in Janu’s Salt Bar.
The red barriers that lock Din Djarin and Rotta the Hutt in the gladiator arena were inspired by the red barriers that separate Maul, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon in the “Duel of the Fates” sequence in The Phantom Menace.
As second-unit director, Dave Filoni oversaw most of the film’s puppet work.
The scene in which the Dejarik match creatures cause chaos on the streets of Shakari was inspired by Ghostbusters, King Kong, Jumanji, and Mighty Joe Young.
The chase scene between Din, Grogu, and Rotta was inspired by William Friedkin’s The French Connection and John Landis’ The Blues Brothers.
The evolving relationship between Din Djarin and Rotta was inspired by Midnight Run.
The shot in which Grogu is sleeping on top of Rotta was drawn from Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro.
Mando asking the Anzellans to remove the Razor Crest’s restrictors to enhance speed came from Favreau wanting to evoke George Lucas’ American Graffiti and his love for hot rod culture in the movie.
The plate of the water in which Grogu and Rotta play was the very first thing shot for the film.
Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) suggested that Embo appear earlier in the film than originally intended. That’s why Embo appears on the spaceport of Nevarro before attacking Din and Grogu’s home.
The sound of the Anzellans’ speeder drew inspiration from the flying cars in The Jetsons.
The arrival of Embo’s ship harkens back to a similar shot from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
J.J. Abrams visited the set of The Mandalorian and Grogu to offer guidance about how to use the Anzellans in the film.
The line, “Big pipe, huh?” was improvised by Anzellan voice actor Shirley Henderson.
Embo does not see Din Djarin’s face in the climax of the movie.
Din Djarin’s reverse katana thrust move against the Amani was inspired by Yojimbo and Seven Samurai actor Toshiro Mifune.
Artist Frank Fazella’s work influenced the lighting for the Dragonsnake scene.
A family of racoons moved into one of the practical Nal Hutta sets during production.
The designs of certain members of the Droid Gotra were inspired by robots in Gareth Edwards’ The Creator.
Jon Favreau intended for Grogu to evoke Yoda while taking care of Din Djarin. The walking stick and the design of the hut imply that these may be fixtures of Yoda and Grogu’s species on their home world.
Grogu’s emergence from the swamp was drawn from Apocalypse Now.
All of the puppet work with Grogu on Nal Hutta was inspired by Jim Henson’s work, in particular The Dark Crystal.
Grogu meditating on Nal Hutta was not originally in the script. On the day of shooting, Favreau came up with the idea as he thought that Grogu probably learning to meditate from Luke Skywalker.
Ludwig Goransson’s wife Serena McKinney played the violin for the film’s score.
The Amani’s rolling attack was based on a fan theory of how Amani move.
The sto-motion droid guards were inspired by Iron Monger from Iron Man and the DC Comics character Metallo.
Din Djarin destroying one of the droids by stabbing it in its eye parallels the legend of Polyphemus from Greek mythology.
Embo’s weapon is a bowcaster that breaks into pieces that can be wielded as melee weapons. Favreau wishes this was conveyed more overtly in the film.
The original “Red Jammer” Y-wing starfighter model was being prepared for display at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art during the film’s production. Favreau got George Lucas’ permission to use the model for shots in the film.
Mando, Grogu, and Rotta jumping from the cliff was inspired by a similar scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.