Porgs Exist In The Last Jedi Because Of The Real Puffins On Location

Think that Porgs exist in Star Wars: The Last Jedi purely to fuel the Disney merchandise machine? You couldn’t be more wrong… Turns out it was easier to replace the hundreds of Puffins on set with this new breed of animal, than digitally removing them.

 

Like what you read? I need your help... Vote for New Rising Media in the UK Blog Awards. It only takes 2 seconds! Just click the image (or the vote now button), fill out the 2-box form, select 'Digital and Technology' and click 'submit!'

In an interview with creature concept designer Jake Lunt Davies, he revealed some fascinating insight into the creation of this indigenous breed - primarily that they came by request from director Rian Johnson to replace the currently bustling population of Puffins on-set at Skellig Michael.

“It’s a wildlife preserve and everywhere you look there are hundreds of birds dotted around the landscape. From what I gathered, Rian, in a positive spin on this, was looking at how can he work with this. You can’t remove them. You physically can’t get rid of them. And digitally removing them is an issue and a lot of work, so let’s just roll with it, play with it,” Jake said.

“And so I think he thought, “Well, that’s great, let’s have our own indigenous species.” We’d already started work on the Caretakers, which again was a brief from Rian. We’d just been told “puffin people.” Yeah, there was going to be this race of people and puffins again were a source of inspiration for Rian. The puffins were sort of a big influence on everything, really.”

The Porg design took a few attempts, along with inspiration from several animals such as beavers and seals.

Well worth tucking into the full interview from a film nerd’s perspective, as it goes into a whole lot of detail about the artistry of these cute little critters. But kudos to the tenacity of the team - doing double duty of filmic convenience and developing merch gold.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed it, please take two seconds and vote for NRM in the UK Blog Awards. Easily done in three steps:

  1. Click the button
  2. Fill in the 2-box form
  3. Select Digital and Technology+click 'submit'
Jason England

I am the freelance tech/gaming journalist, lover of dogs and pizza enthusiast. You can follow me on Twitter @MrJasonEngland.

http://stuff.tv/team/jason-england
Previous
Previous

How Leaders Can Inspire Innovation By Creating a Culture That Supports It

Next
Next

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review (Spoiler-Free)