Yoda Doesn't Even Look Like Yoda

Yoda looks so much different in episode 1 than he does in all the other movies. With only about 10 years between episode 1 & 2, this makes it extremely hard to swallow. They should go back to Phantom Menace, and make him digital. The puppet from the OT looks like the CG Yoda way more than episode 1 Yoda. Grrr.

 

Well, the CG technology wasn't ready at the time TPM was made. The most they could do with it was that one scene where Yoda was talking to Obi about him being promoted and allowed to teach Anakin. Otherwise, I think they would've gone with the CG version.

The puppet they used in TPM was created using silicon, which is a new material that wasn't used back in the OT days. While they were going for a younger Yoda, I think they might've accidentally overshot the mark on top of whatever issues came up with changing what the puppet was composed of.

Personally, I agree. I think TPM Yoda looks so different from all the other versions that I'm hoping in some future version ('cause we all know Lucas loves to fiddle with each release of the movies) silicon Yoda will be replaced by CG Yoda. I don't think they should ever replace the original Yoda in the OT. It would be as unnecessary to do as replacing RotJ Jabba with CG TPM Jabba.

 

long story short the yoda looked like ****


Strilo edit: Swearing is not allowed.

 

Yep

 

i agree

 

Actually when the Starwars trilogy dvd box set was released last year they re-released TPM replacing the puppet yoda with the digital one, there you go people.

 

well said MASTER-OF-EVIL...but yoda did not look like yoda...

 

Actually when the Starwars trilogy dvd box set was released last year they re-released TPM replacing the puppet yoda with the digital one, there you go people.

Actually that's not true. The TPM DVD is not re-released yet and there is no confirmation that any changes were made.

 

^ What are the chances that changes haven't been made?

I have to say that I understand exactly what is meant about Yoda not looking like Yoda. I watched TPM about three or four times in the last week and then yesterday I watched Empire and was completely struck by what a different being that Yoda looked like in TPM.

He really didn't look like a younger version of Yoda from ESB and Jedi. He looked like an older version of Yaddle.

The CGI in AotC and RotS was perfect. It showed a more youthful but still old Yoda that looked and moved and just in general was very Yodaesque.

I have damn few quibbles with TPM, it's my favorite SW film after Empire but damn that Yoda is certainly a pet peeve of mine.

BTW I also watched ANH and Jedi yesterday and I was struck again by Jabba. Jabba in TPM and ANH-DVD looked like the Jabba from Jedi but I felt they were a bit more alive looking. More real. I know that's nutsen since Jabba in Jedi was a big rubber puppet and thusly more real than a CGI creation but he didn't really look all that good in Jedi and I wouldn't mind if they exchanged him for a more realistic CGI puppet.

And yet I wouldn't want Yoda in ESB and RotJ to be exchanged for a CGI Yoda. The Yoda in ESB looked and felt like a real living creature which is what the artists in AotC were able to recreate. Frank Oz performance as Yoda was so powerful. So real, so vital and so alive that the little rubber puppet just burst off of the screen. He was also well lit and well shot so that he looked more real.

There's no reason to replace ESB or Jedi Yoda with a CGI creature because he was well animated in the first place.

Jabba though gross in Jedi is less alive than Yoda and thusly I wouldn't mind if he were replaced.

 

Oddly enough, I do think I recall George Lucas and the animators talking about replacing Yoda with the CGI character in TPM on the AOTC Yoda documentary, but I could be mistaken. It's been quite awhile since I watched the movie. I'm not *fond* of the Yoda puppet, but I don't hate him. He isn't in the film enough to distract from it, nor do I think he's really that awful. I personally find the brief CGI shot of him walking at the end to be the worst offender.

 

Truth be told, I actually believe that the Yoda puppet in TPM does look more realistic and is more expressive than the puppet in the OT. That being said, because of the difference, it looks out of place.

While I can admire the fact that George wanted to utilize better technology to bring Yoda to life, the end result didn't quite work. Instead of just trying to improve upon the old puppet, George should have just copied it as close as he could.


Mace Windy,
too windy for spoilers!

 

Instead of just trying to improve upon the old puppet, George should have just copied it as close as he could.

That's what I was thinking when I first found out they were going to use not only a new sculpt for Yoda, but new material to create him.

At least with the original Yoda, they knew how to make him and they knew they had a sure thing. When you change the material you cast the puppet in, it can change how the puppet moves (such as how the ears tremble as he moves) and coloring agents might not work the same as with the original latex.

They probably could've gotten away with just copying the original Yoda as close as possible, then "cleaning him up" some...give him fresher clothes and maybe a washed face to help indicate that he's living on a Core world rather than in some back-planet swamp.

 

the yoda looked like he was stoned and like he didnt really give a poop

 

It was pre-op Yoda.

 

When you look at TPM, you can tell the difference. Sometimes I wonder why the puppet from the oT wasn't used but when you hear the voice of Yoda, and his wisdom, you know it's him! regardless!

 

Hmm, I heard that they are re-releasing TPM on DVD this week. If so, is it true that they are replacing the puppet Yoda with the CG one? You huys have been talking about that in this thread but I have yet to see any real confirmation.

(Would be cool though because I was planning on buying TPM on DVD when it was re-released)

BTW, I too dislike the puppet Yoda in TPM, that's why I want to know.

 

"Sometimes I wonder why the puppet from the oT wasn't used..."

The original Yoda puppet was no longer in working condition. The material it was made of had deteriorated. They had to build a new one.



Mace Windy,
too windy for spoilers!

 

Despite feeling some nostalgia for Frank Oz's final act of puppeteering, the digital Yoda looks much better and I feel pretty confident they'll add it to TPM but the question is when. It'll be an expensive upgrade and sure, it's George's money, but it would make good business sense to hold off on the change until it can be included in a major re-release. Digital Yoda alone probably won't sell enough DVDs to justify the cost when his role in TPM is so small.

Fortunately for ILM Yoda has only a few brief scenes in TPM, he's usually against simple backgrounds, and there's almost no physical interaction. Painting out the puppet will not be the hardest thing ILM has ever done. Obi-Wan's knighting scene will be the hardest and who knows, maybe Lucas shot an alternate take without the puppet.

While they're at it they can do a digital head replacement on the fake Mace Windu when the Jedi Council arrives on Naboo. Otherwise in HD that scene will be even more awkward than it is now.

 

Some of the scenes of Yoda were CGI also weren't they?

 

I believe the only shots of CGI Yoda in TPM were in the scene at the end when he walks to Obi-Wan to discuss whether Anakin is to be trained.

It's interesting that in the behind-the-scenes footage for AotC, the animators were talking about using the ESB Yoda as the reference for their shots. I guess even the powers that be weren't happy with the puppet in TPM. He was still Yoda, but he just looked... odd.

 

Truth be told, I actually believe that the Yoda puppet in TPM does look more realistic and is more expressive than the puppet in the OT. That being said, because of the difference, it looks out of place.

I'm with Mace Windy on this one. I don't mind that he's a puppet. It's a rather well done puppet. It just doesn't have enough resemblence to the ESB Yoda, well not that much anyway.

Well, the CG technology wasn't ready at the time TPM was made.

It wasn't? Did you not notice Jar Jar Binks? Whether you like the character or not it was pretty impressive CGI.

 

Yoda looks nasty in TPM but its not because hes a puppet its because they changed him up. In fact when I heard that yoda wasnt going to be a puppet in AOTC i was dissapointed, but they did a good job. On AOTC bonus disc George says to use ESB as referance not TPM because people got mad he wasent the same. SO they know they did a bad job.

 

Dagoban Root Stew is bad for Yodanese elves and that made him look older.

 

Lucas redo Yoda now!!!!!

 

There's a better chance of a CGI Yoda in the next TPM release than there is of Lucas releasing the ORIGINAL UNALTERED TRILOGY on DVD.