An adorable bounty

From the moment the Child first appeared in its floating bassinet at the end of the first episode of the Lucasfilm series, The Mandalorian^TM, on Disney+, viewers of the show were filled with a sense of wonder and questions about the mysterious creature.
 
Most pressing of all … why is it so darn cute and can I have one?
 
Now, fans of Star Wars™ and The Mandalorian will get the chance to take a Squishmallow inspired by the Child home with them as their own adorable bounty!  Coming to our galaxy soon, this curious quarry will be available at your local Walgreens store, and available for pre-orders right now at Walgreens.com.
 
We spoke with Jeanne Yoon, SVP of Product Development and Sales for Kellytoy (a subsidiary of Jazwares, LLC), who oversees the development of Squishmallows of all shapes and sizes to find out how the Child-inspired plush is making its way to store shelves everywhere.
 
What’s the first thing you do when you start to design a character like this? 
Jeanne Yoon: We research the character and its features while studying products on the market to look and think through what makes them successful and how to improve them. For the Child, we worked closely with Lucasfilm to get the design just right.
 
What are some of the challenges you face in terms of matching the style of a Squishmallow with that of a character like the Child? 
JY: One of our biggest challenges is transforming 3D characters into 2D artwork for our design process. Squishmallows have a smooth and soft surface, so we cannot add certain characteristics like wrinkles and glossy eyes. It took a number of steps to get the Child’s features – such as big eyes and embroidered wrinkles – just right. We wanted to balance the Child’s appearance from The Mandalorian series while keeping the look and feel of our cute and cuddly Squishmallows.

 
How is the process different when designing an original character versus a character inspired by film or television? 
JY: When designing an original Squishmallows character, we have complete creative freedom with the colors, facial expressions, and accents, or whether we add a tail, or fuzzy ears and belly, for example. With characters inspired by film and television, it’s far more challenging to keep a character’s features within the Squishmallows style. But we’re really happy with the results of the Child plush and are so excited to share him with Squishmallows and Star Wars fans. 

How do you decide on specific colors and/or materials? 
JY: We did our best to match the original colors of the Child and used the same Squishmallows fabric and polyester stuffing that have made these so popular. The fur collar adds some fun and 3D texture.
 

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Lucy's Take
We asked our resident Squishmallow (and Star Wars) superfan, Lucy, what some of her favorite things were about the Child-inspired Squishmallow:
 
1.     The colors (especially the mint green)
2.     “It’s very soft, squishy and cuddly”
3.     The cute forehead wrinkles and wide eyes
4.     Super soft, furry collar
5.     The big, pointy ears, “just like in the show!”
 
 
 
The Child-inspired Squishmallow will fit right in with Lucy’s already extensive Squishmallow collection.