The Simpsons short The Force Awakens From Its Nap debuted on May 4th on Disney+, but a planned cameo from The Mandalorian was removed. Executive producer, Al Jean, explained why to CNN.
“There was a scene where we had the parents picking up the kids, and The Mandalorian was one of them. What happened was once we hit on it as a story between Maggie and BB-8, we just eliminated everything that wasn’t pertinent to that story,” he explained.
Titled The Force Awakens From Its Nap, this mini episode features Marge Simpson leaving pacifier-obsessive Maggie at a Star Wars daycare of sorts, where characters such as Lando Calrissian, General Grievous, android BB-8 and Jedi warrior Ahsoka Tano oversee the infants.
Apparently, the rich tapestry of a galaxy far, far away was completely open for the animators to plunder, but they weren’t allowed to mess around with The Child/Baby Yoda/Grogu from The Mandalorian.
“Grogu is the most popular character created anywhere in fiction in the last year, and you don’t want to overexpose him,” Jean noted. “So they let us do a little tribute to him but not a big reference, which I think is great.”
In case you missed it, in one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sequence, Maggie emerges from the wreckage of a toppled shelf with Baby Yoda ears.
You can watch The Force Awakens From Its Nap exclusively on Disney+.
