Star Wars’ Ugliest Good Luck Charm Is Back, Baby!

As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I have been skeptical of The Mandalorian & Grogu because Disney seems like it’s running these once-great characters into the ground rather than focusing on creating anything new. However, one thing got me inexplicably excited for this new film, and that’s the presence of Rotta the Hutt, the son of Jabba the Hutt.

Rotta was the worst thing about the Clone Wars movie, but the Clone Wars show ended up being the best Star Wars series ever created. Therefore, I consider him the franchise’s ugliest good luck charm and am confident The Mandalorian & Grogu will be a hit.

Rotta the Hutt’s First Appearance Came As A Followup To A Failed Star Wars Trilogy

Who the heck is Rotta the Hutt, you may ask? He first appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the animated theatrical film that effectively kicked off the Clone Wars television series. In the movie, he is kidnapped under the orders of Count Dooku, but he is ultimately rescued by Anakin Skywalker and his new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano.

At the time, I considered Rotta the worst thing that could happen to Star Wars because he seemed like nothing but an excuse for gross-out humor. This space slug is constantly farting, which is why Ahsoka gives him the not-so-affectionate nickname “Stinky.” Considering how The Phantom Menace prominently featured Jar-Jar Binks stepping in animal crap and getting farted on by another animal, I couldn’t help but worry that Rotta the Hutt was proof that this franchise was going to star appealing solely to the lowest common denominator.

Thanks to Rotta, I considered Star Wars: The Clone Wars a failure, albeit an ambitious failure featuring cool new friends and even cooler new fights. But then something completely unexpected happened: The Clone Wars TV show came out, and it was the best thing to happen to the franchise in decades. The show wisely ditched Rotta and body humor jokes altogether and focused instead on making the events of the prequels seem infinitely cooler, effectively winning over countless fans who were turned off by how basic the prequel trilogy really was.

The Rotta Effect Is Repeating, He’s The Herald Of A New Golden Age

In 2008, Star Wars followed up a lackluster prequel trilogy with an animated standalone film featuring Rotta the Hutt. Now, in a weird bit of synchronicity, the franchise is once again following up a lackluster trilogy (in this case, the sequels) with another standalone film featuring Rotta the Hutt. Sure, the Hutt’s been hitting the gym and is now voiced by Jeremy Allen White, but this is still the same stinky space slug that once made me worry that one of my favorite franchises had gone off the rails entirely.

In a perverse way, that’s why I’m excited about The Mandalorian & Grogu: because Star Wars’ ugliest, stinkiest good luck charm is back (already printing my “somehow, Stinky returned” t-shirt for the premiere). The last time he was in a film, this character served as the unexpected herald of a new Star Wars golden age. Now that the franchise is faltering thanks to bad movies and worse TV shows, it could use all the luck it could get.

Before you say it, I know this is irrational, but come on: Star Wars is a fictional world where destiny is real and a magic energy field really does control everyone’s lives. So part of me can’t help but think (or maybe just hope) that Rotta will once again guide this franchise back on track. And the fact that he’s appearing in a film with the franchise’s most beloved new characters and sporting a celebrity voice may very well help this character and his latest film become a success.

They say rebellions are built on hope, but I’m not trying to fight the evil Empire; I’m just hoping (like countless other fans) that Star Wars learns how to tell good stories again. And if that requires the return of a stinky alien slug, so be it. That will always be preferable to the return of movies just as infinitely stinkier as The Rise of Skywalker!