Baby Yoda is not the Time Person of the Year. Technically, he’s not a person at all. But the meme-iest meme of all still Forced his way into the special year-end issue in support of his Daddy of sorts, Disney CEO Bob Iger, who was crowned Businessperson of the Year.
For his profile, Iger was painted by Tim O’Brien, who depicted the Disney honcho holding Baby Yoda, who was himself holding his now famous cup of broth. O’Brien, who has rendered over 30 covers for Time, described this image, in a Twitter post, saying:
“Painting Bob Iger was fun, but of course, like almost the entire universe, being able to paint baby Yoda at a time when he’s blowing up the Internet was thrilling.”
“Painting Bob Iger was fun, but of course, like almost the entire universe, being able to paint baby Yoda at a time when he’s blowing up the internet was thrilling,” says artist Tim O’Brien, who has created more than 30 covers for TIME #TIMEPOY https://t.co/jN6wbV6H1Q pic.twitter.com/5MTTl2yq9U
— TIME (@TIME) December 11, 2019
In his profile, Iger even discussed Baby Yoda (technically known as “The Child”) saying:
“As soon as those ears popped up from under the blanket, and the eyes, I knew.”
He also took the blame for the lack of The Child merchandising. ‘The Mandalorian’ creator Jon Favreau said that swag was held back to avoid the reveal of the character in the first episode of ‘The Mandalorian’, which worked. But fans have been ravenous, allowing bootleggers to pounce with unofficial merch, out in time for Christmas. Disney has released some shirts and other Baby Yoda items, but to be honest, they look pretty bootleg themselves. (To read about my idea that they should have released a Baby Yoda Early Bird package like the ones released by Kenner in 1977, click here.)
The Time Magazine People of the Year issue was released on Wednesday and is available on stands now.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
