Porgs Got Their Adorable Chirp From a Mix of Three Different Birds at Skywalker Sound

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who love porgs and those whose empty hearts know no joy. The best part of Rian Johnson’s “The Last Jedi,” the puffin-like creatures have stirred debate since the moment they were first glimpsed in the film’s trailer; they’ve also inspired curiosity, with many wondering how they came to be.

In a new interview with CinemaBlend, sound designer Ren Kylce (whose name is suspiciously similar to Kylo Ren) offers some details about their distinctive squawk and the animals that helped create it.

“At Skywalker Sound there’s a chicken coop with these little chickens, and Coya Elliott, our first assistant, went down and recorded those chickens,” Klyce says. “And then we took that sound and slowed it down and stretched it out and found little chirps. We found this man who releases doves at weddings, and we asked him to come down so we could record them. So we have a little snippet of that [turkey call], a little bit of chicken, a little dove, and cut it all together.”

Johnson previously revealed to Entertainment Weekly that porgs were inspired by puffins, which were present on the island where some of “The Last Jedi” was shot. “If you go to Skellig [Island] at the right time of year, it’s just covered in puffins, and they’re the most adorable things in the world. So when I was first scouting there, I saw these guys, and I was like, oh, these are part of the island. And so the porgs are in that realm.”