How do you feel about the Porgs and other creature designs in TLJ

Haha indeed you did! Sorry about that cause I hadn't read your comment as I just read the post and scrolled down to answer. Hats off to you my Lady Rey!

 

I agree with you guys, The designs selectet are very Henson. Dark Crystal/ Labyrynth esque. Which I think is kinda a shame. I liked the way TFA aliens harked back to the OT designs. but these designs seem to be more in keeping with 80's aliens in general. Jim Henson, never ending story and so on. which I'm not really a fan of. the best star wars designs were Mcquarries origionals as far as I'm concered and the further they moved towards E.T and Hensons designs (such as ROTJ) the less I liked them.

 

I would say that Star Wars aliens only started to look "realistic" from TFA. Before that, aliens didn't really look that organic. What TLJ seems to be doing is that the Ahch-To creatures revoke the look of the designs from OT and PT, while the Canto Bight Aliens feel very organic, similarly to what TFA and RO did.





That bunch looks very realistic and nothing like the Caretakers.

And on the topic of Porgs - I think that making them look juvenile is okay (because they look very organic, just juvenile with their big heads and even bigger eyes.) People like cute animals and since Rian wrote in scenes with some puffin-like creatures in mind, he chose a design that he liked the most and it seems like he chose the cutest one. However, in terms off developmental biology, there is still a believable reason for Porgs to look like chicks. Some animals, like axolotls, salamanders, humans, dogs, etc., retain their juvenile features in the adulthood and such a phenomenon is known as neoteny. In Porgs' case, it can be a result of selective breeding, meaning that probably the Caretakers domesticated them (people like their pets to be cute, and since cubs usually look the cutest, people choose the breeding pairs in such a way that the offspring remain childlike.)

The other reason (and probably the one that will be closer to the in-universe truth) is that Porgs have neotenous features because of the environment they liive in. Ahch-To seems to be a cold and mountainous place, more energy needs to be spent on keeping oneself warm. This means that there's less energy left to develop adult features, similar to the ones on your picture, what eventually results in a species that looks like it consists of nestlings only. In the end, the bottomline is - I like cute, you like cute, let's pick a cute animal.

 

some animals are cute. I just hope there's not too much focus on them.

 

Porgs: eh, I'm past all the cutesy stuff, but I understand the need to appeal to that audience...

Nuns: aweful, I hope they just wander around in the background, the idea is a good one, back I think they missed on the execution of that one...

Canto bight: I think they look amazing! They, along with the battle on crait, is what I'm most looking forward to visually in this film!

 

Some of the aliens revealed so far look like they might've been inspired from the Never Ending Story.

 

I am sorry if this sound insulting but I really don't get people who pay attention whether a fictional creature has a tearduct, earlobes or any other feature that is required in real life. Besides, if we're really into such technicalities wouldn't Porgs have a third eyelid instead of a tearduct, because they are more reptilian/avian than mammalian?

 

Wonder if we get any monster aliens?? Aliens and creatures aside, I really hope we get some cool droids. I hope at some point, maybe not in this movie or trilogy, but perhaps even in a spin-off, we get a heavily droid-infested environment, sort of like the Droid World story.

 

I am really excited to see The Last Jedi. As for the designs, I think they are all great. The Porgs may look like stylized cartoon characters, but this is Star Wars. I don't want to see any "familiar" Aliens. Been there done that. TFA was great but suffered from WAY to much nostalgia. Let's get on with it and see some new things.

 

porgs look like a nice addition

other than abednedo ST aliens so far have all looked bland and forgettable

 

As far as the the 'classic' Star Wars aliens go, the ANH cantina scene was extremely captivating to audiences in 1977. And even was the case with ESB and ROTJ, more or less. Nowadays, it seems that there is a new movie every other Friday that has colorful aliens and monsters. It's hard to top the impression the aliens made in the OT compared to what Hollywood can do with ease today.

 

Porgs are a cute part of TLJ.

 

Well in all fairness the Mon Cala are the only species to fully support the Alliance so it would make sense that we would see plenty of them. All other species in the Alliance are just individuals choosing to join like Nien Nunb.

 

I'm guessing the real reason they were the only race was probably budgetary limits when Lucas was making ROTJ. Most of the money that went into alien masks was probably for Jabba's lair . There's not quite those types of limits in today's film making. Certainly not for modern-day Lucasfilm.

 

They're good listeners. this example him telling them about the time he kissed Leia.

 

....why am I here... as i DO NOT speculate... and am NO fan Of IT...
...well.. I am... I hope someone cooks and eats 'em...Mother Nature/GOD/The Force... made lesser animals for(hu)mans to Use, So Why Not in A GFFA....

...dammit...now i'm hungary ......


....anyways... I LOVE It ...