The Mandalorian director Dave Filoni revealed that George Lucas kept some distance from the Disney+ show's production, but ultimately enjoyed it overall.
Filoni, who helped create the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, was asked how much feedback Lucas gave him on The Mandalorian's first season. "Not a tremendous amount" was Filoni’s response to The Hollywood Reporter, noting that they mostly focused on other technical aspects like reminders of "how many setups I should try to get in a day, and I might rack his brain for certain things about how to cover a scene. He's been very complimentary."
As for Lucas' opinion on the show, Filoni said, "I think he's enjoyed the show, and he said once [that] now he gets to watch it as a fan and watch it as a viewer. My job is to bring that knowledge forward and pass on what I've learned from him in every discipline to Jon and to the creative departments."
While The Mandalorian takes place after Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy, it features multiple references to Filoni's animated shows. Most notably, the season finale revealed Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) to be in possession of the Darksaber, a unique lightsaber wielded by Mandalore's first Jedi that debuted in The Clone Wars and played a much larger role in Rebels. Similarly, Season 2's casting of Rosario Dawson as Clone Wars character Ahsoka Tano, whom Filoni and Lucas co-created, could further connect the live-action and animated narratives given her involvement in the Siege of Mandalore, a battle that held deep ramifications for Mandalorian culture.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Taika Waititi and Emily Swallow. Season 1 is available now on Disney+, with Season 2 arriving in October.