First it was Baby Groot, now Baby Yoda has beef with the Gremlins?
Joe Dante, the director of the 1984 movie Gremlins and its 1990 sequel, said in a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle that the wildly popular green-skinned star of The Mandalorian reminded him of the central creature in his movies — perhaps a little too much.
"I think the longevity of [Gremlins] is really key to this one character [Gizmo], who is essentially like a baby," Dante told the outlet. "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."
The Chronicle didn't elaborate on Dante's remarks, except to note that the filmmaker "is not one to hold a grudge" and "isn't thinking of suing Disney and Lucasfilm."
![Gizmo in 'Gremlins' and Baby Yoda on 'The Mandalorian'](https://ew.com/thmb/ZD1-h14MSfP6dInC3Kce6iplJO8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Gizmo-and-Grogu-071422-888355ab8f9040d898dfc175d0d06782.jpg)
Gizmo, of course, is the main Mogwai character in Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Meanwhile Grogu, a.k.a. Baby Yoda, was introduced in the first episode of Disney and Lucasfilm's Star Wars spin-off series, and thanks to his inherent adorableness, quickly became a massive online talking point — not to mention a major merchandising opportunity. The Gremlins will next be seen this fall on HBO Max's animated series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, featuring the voices of Ming-Na Wen, BD Wong, and James Hong.
Baby Yoda previously revealed his own issues with another pint-size pop culture figure: Baby Groot. As jokingly played by Saturday Night Live cast member Kyle Mooney on "Weekend Update," he acknowledged in 2019 that he "has his haters."
"If I may, Baby Groot, do me a favor," he warned. "Keep my name out of your little tree mouth before I snap you like a twig."
Looks like that SNL joke has legs.
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