There's no doubt that Baby Yoda was the standout star of the Star Wars franchise's The Mandalorian series last year. The little green creature looked equal parts gremlin (like OG Yoda) and adorable (like an actual baby), but there's one detail about the character, who is canonically named The Child, that was made to be a little more human than animal. Oscar-nominated sound editors David Acord and Matthew Wood worked on The Mandalorian and were responsible for conceptualizing Baby Yoda's vocalization. Though Acord and Wood intended to have him sound like the kind of creature that could be found in the wild, they ultimately had to go in a different direction.
“I was recording animals at this wildlife rescue outside of San Diego," Acord told The Hollywood Reporter. "Two of the animals I recorded had this really cute, almost childlike quality to them. One was a bat-eared fox and one is a kinkajou." Baby Yoda's initial voice was made up of these two animals' natural sounds, but creator Jon Favreau "thought that they needed to be more human-sounding or something a little more relatable." So, Acord and Wood made some adjustments. "We dialed way back on the animal part, and now that’s just there for little grunts and coos and purring. We used some real baby vocals for when [he] gets really fussy and that kind of thing.” Acord even contributed to the creation of Baby Yoda's voice himself. "I have some of my own vocal in there, too, for more of the articulated vocalizations, pitched way up. So it's a combination of things."
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Lil Reese Has Yet To Regain Voice More Than Two Months After Getting Shot In Neck
Reese's voice is still damaged following the November shooting.
A tragic shooting that took place in November that left rapper Lil Reese in critical condition continues to haunt him two-and-a-half months later. Reese was shot in the neck during the altercation, which took place in a Chicago suburb and left him without the ability to use his voice. Reese has been very open about how difficult the process has been as he hopes and prays everyday for his voice to return, but according to the rapper's recent tweet, he has yet to regain his vocal abilities.
After a fan tweeted, "I hope Lil Reese get his voice back , that n*gga be dropping hits," Reese replied in a quote-tweet by saying, "I pray my shit come back everyday I wake up God got me tho it be back.." While the strife of dealing with his damaged vocal chords would take a toll on him regardless, Reese was somewhat prepared to have to wait for his voice to return. In November, just over a week after he was shot, Reese revealed that that the doctors had told him it would take him at least 2 months to regain his voice. He also shared a photo of his gruesome neck wound from the violent altercation a few days prior.
However, he did not appreciate the backhanded shoutout from Uncle Murda on the infamous "Rap Up 2019." On the monstrous roast, Murda said, ""Lil Reese got shot in the neck, I'm happy he okay. He lost his voice, we ain't wanna hear his new shit anyway." Reese clapped back, telling Murda "suck my dick old ass bitch still tryna rap."
"The Simpsons" Star Hank Azaria Will No Longer Voice Apu Character
It was a mutual decision between the voice actor and the show.
Hank Azaria has officially announced that he will no longer be voicing the character, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an Indian Kwik-E-Mart owner on The Simpsons. Hank, who has voiced plenty of characters on the show since it debuted in 1989, revealed in an interview, “I won’t be doing the voice anymore, unless there’s someway to transition it or something. What they’re going to do with the character is their call. It’s up to them and they haven’t sorted it out yet.” However, he notes that the decision was somewhat unanimous. “All we’ve agreed on is I won’t do the voice anymore. We all made the decision together. We all agreed on it. We all feel like it’s the right thing and good about it.”
Michael Nagle/Getty Images
Hank’s decision to no longer voice the controversial character has been a few years in the making now. After comedian Hari Kondabolu released the documentary, The Problem With Apu, in 2017, public outrage over the character’s allegedly racist depiction of Indian people rose immensely. The documentary explored how people of South Asian descent were impacted by having Apu, a character riddled with stereotypes, as their only form of representation on American television. Creator Matt Groenig spoke out about these complaints at the time, saying, “I’m proud of what we do on the show. And I think it’s a time in our culture where people love to pretend they’re offended.” The show went on to address the issue in a 2018 episode, which was met with even more criticism. When Lisa says to her mother, Marge, “something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” the camera pans over to a framed image of Apu on Lisa’s nightstand with the phrase “Don’t Have a Cow” written on top.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Hank condemned the way that the show handled the whole ordeal, revealing that “It was a late addition that I saw right around the same time everybody else in America did, so I didn’t know it was going to be in it until I saw it. I think that if anybody came away from that segment thinking that they should lighten up or take a joke better or grow a thicker skin… that’s certainly not the way I feel about.” Instead, he sympathized with those who have been negatively affected by the character. “The idea that anybody, young or old, past or present, was bullied or teased based on the character of Apu, it just really makes me sad. It certainly was not my intention. I wanted to bring joy and laughter to people. And the idea that it’s brought pain and suffering in any way, that it’s used to marginalize people, it’s upsetting, genuinely.” He was even willing to step down from voicing the character back then, as he felt that “the most important thing is to listen to Indian people and their experience with it. I really want to see Indian, South Asian writers in the writers room…including how [Apu] is voiced or not voiced. I’m perfectly willing to step aside. It just feels like the right thing to do to me.”