Master Yoda is one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars franchise, first appearing in The Empire Strikes Back. Given Yoda’s unique appearance and small stature, the alien creature was created with the help of a puppet, with Nick Maley serving as a special effects make-up artist, and Frank Oz as the puppeteer and voice.
During an interview, Maley spoke about the challenges of bringing Yoda back for the first installment in George Lucas’ prequel trilogy of Star Wars movies. Maley revealed how the original puppet had been changed for his appearance in The Phantom Menace, which proved extremely problematic. Here is what he had to say about creating the Yoda puppet in The Phantom Menace.
Yoda Special Effects Artist Reveals Troubles With the Iconic Star Wars Character in The Phantom Menace
After his first Star Wars appearance in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, Master Yoda became an instant hit with the fans, mainly because of his appearance and speech pattern. George Lucas brought back the character when he returned to the franchise to direct the prequel trilogy of Star Wars movies, which received mixed reviews.
Nick Maley, who had worked on bringing Yoda to life in the original trilogy, also returned for the prequels. During an appearance at a convention, Maley spoke about the issue he faced while designing the puppet for Yoda in 1999’s The Phantom Menace.
Maley revealed that the crew had re-sculpted the Yoda puppet, using a different material, posing problems.
Because he was transparent instead of opaque, it meant light didn’t hit him the same way so his color wasn’t the same.
The special effects make-up artist made the above statement (via CinemaBlend), highlighting the biggest issue with Yoda in the first installment of the prequels.
From Maley’s words, it is evident that creating Yoda was not an easy feat, and every last detail involving the character’s puppet had to be perfect to get things right. However, Maley’s comments suggested that the Yoda puppet used in The Phantom Menace wasn’t up to the mark when compared to his previous appearances.
The Yoda Puppet’s Struggles Prove The Phantom Menace Was the Lowest Point in George Lucas’ Career
During the same convention appearance, Maley also explained that trying to update Yoda and making the character appear slightly younger ultimately hurt his overall look in the final film. Maley summarized the mistakes in creating the new Yoda puppet in the following words (via ComicBook.com):
Ultimately you can’t redesign grandma: Grandma is grandma. She might be old-fashioned but that’s grandma. You need to save your new stuff for your new characters.
Maley’s words hint that he was unhappy with the end result of Yoda’s appearance in The Phantom Menace, and director George Lucas seemingly shared the sentiment.
For the later prints of the movie, the Yoda puppet was removed entirely with a CGI rendering of the character replacing it. Therefore, it is safe to say that even Lucas wasn’t impressed with how Yoda looked in the original cut.
Given that the filmmaker went back and replaced the puppet, it is safe to assume that Lucas saw it as a grave mistake. Furthermore, The Phantom Menace was extremely poorly received by critics and fans at the time of its release. The film’s reception combined with Lucas’ behind-the-scenes struggles prove that the prequel was arguably the lowest point in his career.
The Phantom Menace and other Star Wars movies are streaming on Disney+.
