Return to the sands of Tatooine as members of the visual effects, creature effects, and sound teams pull back the curtain on their work for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett to meet the creative challenges put forth by showrunners Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Robert Rodriguez. The team will share how practical puppets, advanced animatronics, CG animation, and cutting edge sound combine to bring the creatures to life. The filmmakers will also illustrate how miniatures continue to play a role in visual effects, and explain the latest advancements in virtual production from the ILM StageCraft team that helped pioneer the technology.

Panel Recap

Behind the Scenes of The Mandalorian & The Book of Boba Fett focused on the craft behind the Disney+ series, especially visual effects, creature effects, sound, practical effects, and virtual production. Moderated by Anthony Breznican, the panel featured Janet Lewin, Matthew Wood, Bonnie Wild, John Rosengrant, and Richard Bluff.

The panel covered how ILM and Skywalker Sound helped bring the two series to life. Richard Bluff discussed the development and validation of ILM StageCraft, including an anecdote about James Cameron visiting the production and initially mistaking in-camera StageCraft footage for a composite. John Rosengrant discussed the development of Grogu as a practical puppet and how a test helped convince the creative team that the character could work physically on set rather than being primarily CG.

Matthew Wood and Bonnie Wild discussed the sound work behind Cad Bane’s live-action debut in The Book of Boba Fett, including the decision to give Corey Burton’s voice performance a different treatment from the animated version. The panel also covered the process of creating Luke Skywalker’s appearance in The Book of Boba Fett, including Graham Hamilton’s on-set performance, Mark Hamill’s guide performance, and ILM’s face-replacement process.