The Simpsons executive producer Al Jean has revealed why their new Star Wars crossover short film on Disney+ removed a cameo from The Mandalorian.
Speaking about mini-episode ‘The Force Awakens From Its Nap’, in which Maggie meets Lando Calrissian, General Grievous, BB-8 and Ahsoka Tano at daycare, Jean explained why Grogu/Baby Yoda was off-limits.
“There was a scene where we had the parents picking up the kids, and The Mandalorian was one of them,” Jean told CNN. “What happened was once we hit on it as a story between Maggie and BB-8, we just eliminated everything that wasn’t pertinent to that story.”
The Simpsons team had free rein to explore the Star Wars universe, but had to draw the line at the most popular character of The Mandalorian.
“Grogu is the most popular character created anywhere in fiction in the last year, and you don’t want to overexpose him,” Jean said. “So they let us do a little tribute to him but not a big reference, which I think is great.”
In other Simpsons news, the show recently recast gay character Julio with gay actor Tony Rodriguez.
“Tonight I make my debut on The Simpsons as gay, Cuban Julio,” Rodriguez wrote on Instagram last month, sharing his excitement at being cast. “This is a dream come true for me and I was already a living cartoon.”
In a video posted before being cast, Rodriguez explained why he should play Julio. “In the past two years, I have seen myself more in the show, and by that, I mean specifically the part of Julio, who is gay like me, he’s Cuban like me,” he said.
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