Baby Yoda is adorable. The world is in a craze over his big ear things and his baby noises. I am among the majority—I have never watched a Star Wars movie, but I have sat down to watch The Mandolarian walk around with the child. He’s, what? Like, a foot tall? If that? It’s heart-wrenchingly cute.

I don’t know why Disney did not anticipate the child being a hit among the Star Wars viewership, let alone the world, but they should have. Was it a dumb marketing move? Or genius? Disney has the world hyped up about “The Mandolarian’s” child star, frantically searching everywhere for Baby Yoda products.

The mystery of Baby Yoda kept my younger brother and I up one night, trying to decipher what Baby Yoda is. As in, is he CGI, a puppet? Could he be real? We weren’t sure. But we are now and we desperately want the puppet that plays Baby Yoda.

The lack of in-demand Baby Yoda products has created a craze—and a competition amongst stores. Who can drop the Baby Yoda march first? There’s a greatly anticipated release date for Disney’s drop of the Baby Yoda plush. Kohl’s has Baby Yoda swag online, not yet available in store. The knitters of Etsy are popping out Baby Yoda yarn plushies for—yikes, way too expensive. But people are gobbling this stuff up.

On top of that, the fans of the Star Wars franchise are in a debacle over whether or not Baby Yoda is in fact Yoda’s child. And there’s a question of why Baby Yoda is being targeted. He’s a child! A fifty year old child, but a child. He can’t even talk.

I don’t know about all that, but I do know watching Baby Yoda use the force (whatever that is) and rolling in that floating crib breaks my heart on the regular. The imagery of this cute little thing chasing after a space frog and putting it in his mouth is endlessly hilarious and adorable. I’m not sure if it’s necessarily supposed to be heartwarming, but it absolutely is.

Baby Yoda has stomped on all of our hearts—in a good way. Would I invest in a Baby Yoda yarn thing from Etsy? Maybe. I’m not ready to say I have totally considered it. Will I go to Build-a-Bear to stuff my own Baby Yoda? Absolutely.

One of Baby Yoda’s co-stars treats the child as if he were a real thing—as you should. Apparently, Baby Yoda’s co-star doesn’t address the people in charge of the puppet, instead talking directly to the baby. I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Megan Keane is a senior psychology and English major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at mkkeane@eiu.edu