GREMLINS Director Joe Dante Says Gizmo Design Was "Shamelessly" Stolen for Baby Yoda

When Baby Yoda, a.k.a. Grogu, made his big debut in The Mandalorian, the hearts of Star Wars fans all over the world melted. They fell head over heels for the adorable character and everyone wanted that Baby Yoda merch!

Well, the director of the classic 1984 film Gremlins recently shared his thoughts on the design of Grogu, saying that his design was “shamelessly” stolen from the Gremlins character Gizmo.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he said: "I think the longevity of [the films] is really key to this one character [Gizmo], who is essentially like a baby. Which brings me, of course, to the subject of Baby Yoda, who is completely stolen and is just out-and-out copied. Shamelessly, I would think."

While there are similarities between the characters, this comment makes me laugh because the character Yoda came long before Gizmo! Grogu’s design is 100% Yoda’s design, but much much younger. You can’t really make a young character of Yoda’s race without him looking like Yoda!

So, I have to disagree with Dante on this. While there are similarities the Yoda design came before Gizmo, and Grogu is just a younger version of that design. What do you all think about Dante saying the design of Grogu was stolen from Gremlins?