STAR WARS: ULTIMATE GROGU
Bringing a Galaxy’s Most Beloved Character to Life
Global Product Launch | Photography · Video · PR · eCommerce
THE PROJECT
Ultimate Grogu is a 1:1 scale interactive animatronic created to bring the character’s personality, movement, and emotional presence into the real world. With more than 250 animations, responsive sensors, and expressive movement built into a premium $599.99 collector product, the launch needed to communicate something that specs alone couldn't: Grogu had to feel alive. Our photography and video needed to introduce the product to fans, support its global reveal, and give consumers a close-up look at the character across PR, eCommerce, and product-detail experiences.
SHAPING THE VISUAL STORY
I produced the photography and video shoots behind the campaign, partnering with our creative teams to translate the product’s technology and personality into visual storytelling. The challenge was to move beyond documenting features and create moments that felt character-driven, expressive, and true to the world audiences already knew.
That meant thinking about Grogu less like a traditional product and more like talent: considering eyelines, gestures, timing, environment, interaction, and the small reactions that made each setup feel believable. I helped shape how those ideas developed into executable productions, balancing the creative ambition with the practical realities of capturing a highly sophisticated animatronic on set.
DIRECTING PERFORMANCE WITHOUT A PERFORMER
Capturing an animatronic character requires a different kind of direction. There is no actor interpreting the scene, so personality has to emerge through the coordination of movement, framing, lighting, environment, and precise timing.
Working closely with the team operating Grogu, we built shots around his expressions and physical behaviors, allowing the photography and motion content to reveal what the technology could do without making the technology itself the story. The goal was always the same: preserve the illusion and let the character come through.
GROGU IN MOTION
Photography could establish the character's presence, but movement revealed the full experience. We produced video content that demonstrated Grogu's expressions, reactions, accessories, and interactive behaviors while maintaining the cinematic personality established through the campaign photography.
Produced and edited by Tony Cervantes
FROM PRODUCT LAUNCH TO CULTURAL MOMENT
The campaign extended beyond eCommerce into a broader PR reveal, introducing Ultimate Grogu as a premium collector experience ahead of The Mandalorian and Grogu. Launch imagery appeared across entertainment and consumer media, while the first-edition release quickly sold through its initial Hasbro Pulse allocation.
For a product positioned at $599.99, the creative had an unusually important job: audiences needed to understand not only what Grogu could do, but why experiencing the character at this level of scale, movement, and personality was fundamentally different from owning a traditional collectible.
