Somewhere, Baby Yoda is smiling. The original Star Wars film collected 11 Oscar nominations in 1977, and 43 years later The Mandalorian, the first live-action series set in the galaxy far, far away, has bested that with 15 Emmy nods.
The Disney+ series even scored a coveted best drama series nomination, competing against such powerhouses as Better Call Saul, The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, Killing Eve, Ozark, Stranger Things, and Succession.
Other nominations included outstanding character voice-over performance for Taika Waititi, who performed the deadpan “nanny droid” 1G-11, and Giancarlo Esposito as the Dark Saber-wielding villain Moff Gideon in Chapter 8 of the series, “Redemption,” which happened to be directed by Waititi.
Composer Ludwig Göransson, a Grammy-winner for his songwriting and recording with Childish Gambino, also collected a best original score mention for his work on the finale. In the video below, you can see him performing many of the instruments for The Mandalorian theme all by himself, from the guitar and keyboards to the bass recorder that gives the show its haunting feel.
The stunning visuals of the show dominated the list of contenders, with five nominations for cinematography (for “Chapter 7: The Reckoning”), production design, sci-fi fantasy costumes, prosthetic makeup, and outstanding visual effects for “Chapter 2: The Child,” which was the first in-depth presentation of the little green scene-stealer who has come to be known as Baby Yoda, created through a mix of puppetry and digital effects.
The show had three bids for best drama with single-camera editing for “Chapter 2: The Child” (editor Andrew S. Eisen), “Chapter 4: Sanctuary” (editors Dana E. Glauberman and Dylan Firshein) and the finale “Chapter 8: Redemption” (editor Jeff Seibenick.) The show competes there against two episodes of Ozark, one episode of Stranger Things, and three episodes of Succession.
The auditory team was recognized for outstanding sound editing on the pilot episode, and sound mixing (for a half-hour series) for “Chapter 2: The Child,” and the show picked up a final nomination for stunt coordination on a drama.
Season 2 of The Mandalorian was already mostly shot before the coronavirus shutdown, and it is slated to debut this fall.
In the meantime, here’s a video interview of all the directors of the series discussing their work in the Star Wars universe.
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