Babu Frik was a hit when he appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The adorable Anzellan droidsmith was a scene-stealer with his bubbly alien and pseudo-human speech patterns. However, despite all of his adorable quirks, Babu Frik was supposed to die in the original cut of The Rise of Skywalker.
Empire just recently spoke with the people behind the creation of Babu Frik, and during the interview with the team, Star Wars creature effects creative supervisor Neal Scanlan revealed how Babu was saved by legendary director Steven Spielberg.
According to the creature effects supervisor, Spielberg was responsible for Babu's return in The Rise of Skywalker ( that moment when the droidsmith pops up in Zorii Bliss' (Keri Russell) screaming out "heyhey!" in the final battle). Abrams screened the original cut of Episode IX for Spielberg, and it seems like the original cut didn't have Babu return. Spielberg couldn't help but look for Babu at the end of the movie.
"It could be a rumor, but I believe J.J. screened the movie for Steven Spielberg, and at the end, Spielberg said, ‘What happened to Babu?'," Scanlan told the entertainment news outlet. "Everybody thought, ‘Oh God, what did happen to Babu?'"
Abrams intended for Baby to die along with the other Spice Runners when the planet Kimiji had been destroyed. However, because of Spielberg, the droidsmith had been rescued from his fate, reappearing during the final battle sequence of the movie.
"We shot several other sequences," says Scanlan. "The ILM guys found one, lifted out Babu and put him into Zorii's ship at the end."
Good thing too. We're sure that Star Wars fans wouldn't be too keen with Babu Frik dying.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is available on Digital HD, Blu-Ray, and DVD.
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