The Mandalorian is turning into "The Baby Yoda Show," a reminder of The Simpsons' "Bartmania"

Screen Rant

Disney+'s Star Wars series is repeating the same mistakes of the early years of The Simpsons. "From retreating into his floating carrier when Mando's about the get into a fight to horrifying the world by eating the Frog Lady's (fortunately unfertilized) eggs, Baby Yoda is starting to generate more attention than virtually anything else in season 2," says Brad Curran. He adds: "The Mandalorian is starting to the run into the same conundrum with Baby Yoda as The Simpsons did with Bart. By this point on the show, Baby Yoda has become one of the most recognizable and adored characters in Star Wars, with his popularity and small size making him very easy to merchandise, too. However, with The Mandalorian now midway through season 2, much of the show's focus is being drawn to the latest headline-making antics Baby Yoda finds himself in during each new episode, which is where The Simpsons comparison comes into play. The Simpsons began as more or less a kid's show, and despite the whole family supposedly being in the spotlight, the mischievous Bart Simpson constantly stole the show in the early days of the series. The 'Bartmania' phenomenon ensued from this, with Bart being one of the most popular and merchandized fictional characters of the early 90s. Eventually, The Simpsons morphed into more of the family ensemble series that its title implied, with Homer Simpson in particular becoming more of the slow-witted, off-the-wall cartoon character the world knows and loves him as today. Though Bart's popularity never diminished, it took some effort for The Simpsons to steer the ship away from simply being 'The Bart Simpson Show,' and if the last few episodes of The Mandalorian are any indication, it is starting to drift into the same waters with Baby Yoda."

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