Star Wars: Ewan McGregor Criticizes Prequel Trilogy's Use of CGI Yoda

Much like Disney's divisive sequel trilogy, the Star Wars prequels also had their fair share of issues when it came out over two decades ago but over the years, the fandom has seemingly chosen to ignore them and it's no secret that many fans have even developed a collective appreciation for the said films. Now, if you'd ask Ewan McGregor, while he had fond memories doing all three films — The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, there's one particular element about the last two films that he wasn't exactly the biggest fan of.

Credit: Lucasfilm

During his Actors on Actors interview with The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal (via Variety), the Obi-Wan Kenobi actor admitted that he didn't like Lucasfilm's decision to redo Yoda in Episodes II and III and get rid of his animatronic in exchange for CGI. He explains: "The first film I did, I was lucky to do my scenes with the Yoda puppet. And it was extraordinary, because I acted with him. I couldn't believe I was acting with Yoda. There's so many people operating him, and the stage is lifted up so they're underneath the floor and we were literally walking next to each other — and he's alive. Then every time George called cut, Yoda would die, because everyone just stops. It was sort of disturbing every time the end of the scene would come along."

McGregor added: "Then they replaced him for our second film and our third film with the digital version of him, and it's not nearly as endearing. Also, we know Yoda as a puppet. We know him from the original movies as a puppet. So when it was suddenly computer-generated, it didn't feel like Yoda to me anymore. It was interesting that it went back to an actual puppet with your series."

I totally agree with McGregor's sentiments and while the idea of a computer-generated Yoda seemed groundbreaking during the time, replacing Yoda's already iconic animatronic puppet wasn't the best creative decision the production company made for the character. Thankfully, Lucasfilm reverted back to using the more familiar and iconic puppet version of the famed Jedi Master and even brought back the use of an animatronic in The Mandalorian. Could you imagine Baby Yoda being CGI instead of an actual puppet? That would've taken away his cuteness.


Meanwhile, Obi-Wan hits Disney+ in 2022.


Also Read:Ewan McGregor Says The Mandalorian Brought Him Back to Star Wars