Hearing the name Yoda conjures a consistent picture in the minds of Star Wars fans. The Jedi Master is small and green, with floppy elfin ears and a wrinkly, aged face. However, differences creep in when those same fans are remembering the core films versus its various spin-offs. Divisively so, in the case of Star Wars Rebels, which depicted Yoda in a round, goblin-like way that took fans by surprise in his first series appearance. As it turns out, though, the Rebels crew actually had a heartfelt reason for that change, and his name was Ralph McQuarrie.
When watching The Clone Wars, it's immediately clear that animators stayed close to film standards. Yoda is a big part of the series, and although the show's aesthetic is angular and interesting, characters and locations always retain the details that make them instantly recognizable. In Clone Wars, Yoda's eyes might be a little bigger and brighter, and his wrinkles are in easy to render patterns, but there's no question as to who he is.
While the character designs of Rebels are smoother and more fluid, outlines typically retain their familiar shapes. Twi'leks look like Twi'leks, and certain Zabrakian villains are as recognizable here as they were in Clone Wars. But Yoda is a stand-out change, always stationary, still full of dry wisdom, and with a big round head like he's never had before. To this day, his look in Rebels causes discussion, division and confusion among Star Wars fans.
Although Master Yoda debuted in The Empire Strikes Back, the second film of the original trilogy, the depth and importance of his character makes him feel like he's predated the galaxy itself. George Lucas conceived of Yoda as Luke's mentor early in production for the film, and his crew of concept artists worked through a series of designs. All of them are wee figures edging close to the Yoda everyone knows today, but one oddball concept suggested a gnomish Master Yoda, right down to the fuzzy pointed hat.
Legendary designer Ralph McQuarrie's character designs got the crew much closer to the iconic shape of Yoda, but even they are a little odd to today's eyes. In Star Wars Rebels: The Art of the Animated Series, the animators discuss McQuarrie's early concepts. In them, Yoda is leggy, skinny and far more rounded in the face. It's a design that squashed up into perfection under the watch of the creature department in 1979 and became the outline fans remember today.
Though Yoda's voice can be heard guiding Kanan and Ezra in several episodes of Rebels, he only appears in Season 2's "Shroud of Darkness." His role is brief but poignant, returning not only to the Rebels crew but to Ahsoka Tano, who's suffering under the realization that Anakin is gone and only Darth Vader remains. Yoda brings with him important lessons about the dangers of fear, and of the power growing inside Ezra without a firm teacher to guide him. Unfortunately, fans only remember this appearance because of how weird the Jedi Master looks, and until the artbook came out, it wasn't clear why the visual change was so important to the show's creators.
Yoda stays in one place for reasons puppeteers would be sympathetic to, being cheaper and easier on the production crew, especially since his appearances here are limited. But the froggy shape of Yoda was a way for the Rebels team to honor McQuarrie's massive contribution to the legacy of Star Wars. And, as odd as his design is, it's not the first time some of Yoda's visual origins have been recognized. A hard-to-find 30th Anniversary SDCC figure pack from 2007 renders McQuarrie's concept in plastic, making it an important part of Star Wars history.
Though the results are strange at first, it's an homage of the kind fans should appreciate. With Yoda back in the limelight as little Grogu finds his own way through the post-Imperial galaxy, Rebels and Clone Wars have become recommended sources for fans to learn more about Yoda's life. There are all-new discussions with details from these shows coming up to help guess at the future of The Mandalorian, but no matter what he looks like, Yoda will forever be the wise Jedi Master fans met on Dagobah.