From porgs to fathiers to, uh, green milk-dispensing thala-sirens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi had its fair share of unique fauna. Topping that list in the elegance department are the breathtaking crystal foxes of Crait. While entirely CG in the film, designers took a very low-tech approach when trying to get a “feel” for the fictional creatures.
In this short clip, a snippet from the bonus content of the upcoming Blu-ray release on March 28, creature concept designer Tim Napper explains the lead up to the final crystal foxes seen in The Last Jedi:
[Rian Johnson’s] starting point that he gave us was to think of a creature that had taken on its environment, physiologically, biologically into its body … once the design was signed off, it became about seeing how that would practically work on a live animal.
Which, of course, meant strapping a bunch of fibre optic-looking strands to a dog and having it bound around while being recorded. And yes, it looks ridiculous…
…but as you can see below, the end result worked out OK.
[YouTube]