Industrial Light & Magic animation supervisor Hal Hickel detailed the technical and creative approach behind visual effects work on Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu” during a presentation at View Conference in Turin. Hickel, marking 30 years at ILM, discussed how the production combined digital animation with practical sets, mechanical rigs, and traditional stop-motion techniques across multiple sequences.
For the film’s opening AT-AT battle, the team revived animation tests originally developed for “Rogue One” to study the lighting and stop-motion aesthetic of the original trilogy. The new walkers moved at reduced speeds to convey their massive weight. A full-sized interior set was constructed through a walker’s neck into its movable head, with a gunfire exchange between characters on two walkers filmed but ultimately removed. The smaller AT-RT vehicles presented distinct challenges, with animators studying ostrich movement before translating digital curves into a six-axis mechanical rig. Favreau’s direction for the vehicle’s performance emphasized instability and peril rather than smooth precision.
Rotta the Hutt underwent significant redesign after initial filming. The character needed to move like a powerful fighter while remaining sympathetic to audiences, requiring development of a digital muscle system inspired by elephant seals and sumo wrestlers. After shooting, Favreau determined the original design insufficiently resembled Jabba the Hutt, prompting revisions to Rotta’s face, coloring, and physique. The character’s extensive dialogue—second only to Mando—led to the decision to have Rotta speak English rather than require younger viewers to read subtitles. A moment showing Grogu asleep on Rotta’s chest paid homage to Hayao Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor Totoro.”
The production also adapted the holographic chess creatures from the 1977 “Star Wars,” expanding them into full-sized combatants while preserving their original silhouettes. A sequence involving two giant droids was executed as a stop-motion production at Tippett Studio’s Berkeley location, with Tippett’s animators working alongside Favreau and editors on complicated action choreography. Hickel himself operated the stop-motion camera frame by frame for part of the sequence. Hickel reflected on the significance of working at Tippett’s longtime Berkeley facility, which has since closed, describing the experience as “probably the pinnacle of my career.”
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