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Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Porgs are Puffins Because Real Puffins Kept Getting in the Way

A lot of fans are asking the question; why are the porgs in Star Wars: The Last Jedi? A lot of people are assuming they are there just to sell toys and while that no doubt plays a part it isn't the only reason. Jake Lunt Davies, a creature designer, told StarWars.com that there is a much more practical reasons that the porgs exist.

From what I gathered, Rian [Johnson] had gone to shoot this sequence on Skellig Michael, which is the real island location that stands in for Ahch-To, and that island is covered in puffins. It's a wildlife preserve and everywhere you look there are hundreds of birds dotted around the landscape. From what I gathered, Rian, in a positive spin on this, was looking at how can he work with this. You can't remove them. You physically can't get rid of them. And digitally removing them is an issue and a lot of work, so let's just roll with it, play with it. And so I think he thought, "Well, that's great, let's have our own indigenous species."

So they needed something to replace the actual puffins that hang around the island. How many attempts did it take Davies to design the porgs?

I probably got the porg within the first [few attempts]. I did about four or five pages of totally different sketches, and the porg was probably in one of those sketches. It was influenced by a seal and a pug dog and the puffin. The big eyes of a seal or the big eyes of a pug dog and the sort of funny, ugly face [of a pug]. I mean, pug dogs aren't, by their nature, obviously cute.

When you have a design then it's fine to get the color right. Turns out Davies had a bunch of color possibilities but they eventually settled on the colors we have.

I probably did over 50 different color options. And, you know, I did a very broad spectrum of color. I think one of the things that stayed true is the porgs have got this flash of color behind the eyes. And I suppose that was a thing that was always a constant. Occasionally, I went off and just tried a few other little ideas. You know, it might be one color behind the eyes. It might be like puffins, there might be little stripes. Occasionally, I threw it out and just did something else entirely, just to test the waters.

Summary: Rey develops her newly discovered abilities with the guidance of Luke Skywalker, who is unsettled by the strength of her powers. Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares to do battle with the First Order.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson, stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, and Adam Driver. It's out now.

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