‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Officially Reveals The Porgs

If you remember the shot of this little fella in the Behind-the-Scenes reel for Rian Johnson‘s Star Wars: The Last Jedi that was revealed last week, then you’re probably interested in finding out what he is. Well, look no further – Lucasfilm creative executive Pablo Hidalgo has given fans a glimpse about what to expect from these creatures, along with the visual effects needed to bring them to life.

Firstly, Hidalgo revealed what these penguin-like creatures are called and where we’ll see them in an interview with StarWars.com:

“Porgs are native to Ahch-To, and can be found dwelling along the cliffs of the island where Luke and Rey are. In many ways, they’re the Star Wars version of puffins. They build nests. They can fly. Their babies are called porglets.”

Hidalgo describes these creatures as being naturally curious, and is not surprised that fans almost immediately took a liking to the Porg design. The Lucasfilm executive noted that they ran the gauntlet of visual effects with these things, as multiple methods were utilized to bring the creatures to life on the silver screen.

“The porgs are realized through a variety of effects, depending on what’s needed. Sometimes they’re puppets, with the puppeteers digitally removed from the shot. Other times, they’re entirely CG.”

Rumors have it that these creatures will be a little more important to the plot than meets the eye, but for now, let’s just sit back and collectively go “Awww!” over the thing.

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi will rise on December 15, 2017. The movie’s cast includes Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, Domhnall Gleeson as General Armitage Hux, Benicio Del Toro as “DJ”, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, and Jimmy Vee as R2-D2.

Source: StarWars.com