A computer-generated creation in the last two installments, the Yoda in Menace was the work of a puppeteer. But without Frank Oz at the controls, he lacks the luminous presence of the Yodas in Empire and Jedi. There’s something frail and tentative about him — for a wrinkled 800-year-old, he ain’t looking so good. On this point, Lucas seems to agree: the puppet has been replaced by CGI in the new Blu-ray versions.
WHAT OTHERS SAID:
“…Now I’m as surprised as anyone to hear myself say that – I’ve NEVER advocated CGI over practical effects, but the design of that Yoda puppet in Menace always looked off to me. He walked funny, he wasn’t the right shade of green, and he was also alarmingly cross-eyed in some scenes…”
— Kris Heys, StarburstMagazine.com, August 22, 2011