The creature work in Disney+ and Lucasfilm’s The Acolyte has expanded the Star Wars universe with new species and droids. Following fellas like Pip, Grogu, Babu Frik (my personal fave), and more is no easy task, but the creatives sure pull it off. On tonight’s episode, fans of otherworldly little guys will be delighted to see another new face on the roster: Bazil.
Bazil is the Tynnan tracker enlisted by Yord (Charlie Barnett) to help the Jedi team sniff out the Jedi Wookiee Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) who is in hiding on Khofar. His particular set of skills in the nasal space comes in handy when the Acolyte crew venture deep in the jungle on their search. The Jedi simply don’t have his skill or cuteness factor; he reminds us of Gopher from Winnie the Pooh but from space.
Neal Scanlan, Lucasfilm’s creature & droid FX creative supervisor—along with a crew composed of designers, modelers, and fabricators—brings creations like Bazil to life. The inspiration is obviously a beaver, but Bazil’s species, the Tynnans, go all the way back to Brian Daley’s 1979 book Han Solo’s Revenge.
Speaking to Star Wars.com, Scanlan discussed bringing the species to the screen for the first time. “We thought about how we could include some of these things that were not only, you know, cute and lovable and adorable, but also showed signs of a bigger sort of character makeup. A character like this is much more engaging,” Scanlan said. “What qualities are [fans of all ages] going to see in him that they would identify with? That will only work if they feel like there’s an element that they could give him a cuddle or that he’s friendly. You know, it’s an important part of, I think, the Star Wars world.”
He continued to share how it’s just not the cute factor that he hopes wins fans over but rather the character’s practical skill set, armed with a sensory deprivation helmet and goggles that enhance his sense of smell. “Bazil was very sensory, so he would obviously smell and hear things probably better than using his eyesight,” Scanlan shared. “The idea of having goggles was that he would then sort of go inwardly and become the tracker.”
New episodes of The Acolyte drop Tuesdays on Disney+.
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