'Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker': Evolution Of Babu Frik Design Revealed

Babu Frik (Shirley Henderson) is one of the most popular characters in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” This is one of the characters that JJ Abrams had a clear vision about very early on during the development of the movie. In a recent interview, creature and special make-up effects creative supervisor Neal Scanlan revealed how the plan for the character evolved over time while the basic elements remained the same.

In an interview with Collider, Scanlan revealed that when he joined the movie he was only given inputs about the script by Abrams. With these inputs, the creature development team started to experiment with various ideas to bring these characters to life.

When it comes to Babu, the original plan was for him to live in an environment that was tailored to his size. Ivan Manzella designed the character. While the basic design of the character remained the same, the team experimented with his costume. The role the character played in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” also changed several times.

The plan was to use a puppet, but they had to switch to CGI after learning about how big a role the character plays in the film. The designers used real world references to build Babu, and they had four or five iterations before Abrams approved the final design.

The film has been released on Digital and it will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on March 31. A new trailer that has been released online shows the scene in which Rey (Daisy Ridley) is guided by the Jedi who came before her to give her support in the final fight against Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).

Meanwhile, the franchise has announced a “Vudu Viewing Party” on Friday, in which Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo will be the host and he will answer some of the fans’ questions while watching “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” together.