It turns out, the plethora of Porgs seen in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” weren’t just created by Disney to sell a ton of merchandise.

That’s according to Jake Lunt, “creator concept designer” on Episode VIII, who said the cute new character was created to digitally cover the many puffins on the island where Luke Skywalker had been hanging out all these years. He filled in StarWars.com on the genesis of the Porgs, saying the puffins were a “source of inspiration” for director Rian Johnson:

“From what I gathered, Rian [Johnson] had gone to shoot this sequence on Skellig Michael, which is the real island location that stands in for Ahch-To, and that island is covered in puffins. It’s a wildlife preserve and everywhere you look there are hundreds of birds dotted around the landscape,” said Lunt. “Rian, in a positive spin on this, was looking at how can he work with this. You can’t remove them. You physically can’t get rid of them. And digitally removing them is an issue and a lot of work, so let’s just roll with it, play with it.”

Also Read: Does 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Have a Post-Credits Scene?

Lunt said Johnson wanted to create the island’s “own indigenous species,” after they’d already started work on the Caretakers — the fish-bird-like aliens who live there. “We’d just been told ‘puffin people.’ Yeah, there was going to be this race of people and puffins again were a source of inspiration for Rian. The puffins were sort of a big influence on everything, really.”

Johnson has weighed in on the puffin-to-Porgs process recently, too, saying they were “part of the island” and added a bit of “comic relief.”

“I was like, ‘Oh, this is part of the island, we need to find the ‘Star Wars’ version of this,” said Johnson, according to Cinemablend. “And then just story-wise — not that they play a big part in the story — but I knew I wanted to find any source of comic relief I could on the island. And so they were very useful in terms of that.”

Also Read: Chewbacca Abuses a Porg in New 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Teaser (Video)

Most “Star Wars” fanboys have probably already checked on this, but if you’re dying to get some of that puffin inspiration like Johnson did, the island where it was shot, Skellig Michael (population: 0), is located off the west coast of Ireland.

'Star Wars: The Last Jedi': 8 A-List Cameos to Keep an Eye (and Ear) Out for (Photos)

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is finally here, and much like "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One," it is filled with celebrities who oh-so-badly wanted to be a part of a galaxy far, far away. From past "Star Wars" directors to the next King of England, these cameos come in blink-and-you'll-miss-it shots or in the voices of bizarre alien creatures on Canto Bight, the newest Star Wars planet that looks like Galactic Monaco. Here is some to look out for when you watch the movie:
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When Gareth Edwards wrote "Rogue One," he put Rian Johnson in front of the camera for a special cameo. Now, Rian is returning the favor in "The Last Jedi." If you can remember to do so during the film's heart-pounding climax on the salt planet of Crait, look for Edwards as a Resistance soldier fighting in the trenches.
As hardcore Warwick Davis, who famously played Wicket the Ewok in "Return of the Jedi," has made cameos in "Star Wars" movies ever since. Here, he voices one of the rich, greedy creatures gambling their ill-gotten gains away on Canto Bight.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a long history with Rian Johnson, starring in his 2005 debut film "Brick" and his nail-biting sci-fi film "Looper." He also has a voice cameo as one of the gamblers on Canto Bight.
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Another star of "Brick," Noah Segan, also has a long-standing relationship with Rian Johnson. He appears in this film as an X-Wing pilot who fights in the opening battle against a Dreadnought Star Destroyer.
Very mild spoiler here: As part of a mission, Finn and Rose are instructed to go to Canto Bight and search for someone wearing a floral pin. That pin is worn by a craps-throwing Canto Bight gambler played by Justin Theroux, star of HBO's "The Leftovers" and writer for films like "Tropic Thunder" and "Iron Man 2."
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It might become a new tradition to have big stars play Stormtroopers in these new Star Wars movies. Daniel Craig played one in "The Force Awakens," and here, Tom Hardy plays one in a scene where Finn and Rose disguise themselves as First Order officers to sneak onto Supreme Leader Snoke's mothership. But he's not the only famous Stormtrooper in that scene...
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The future King of England, Prince William, and his brother, Prince Harry, also play Stormtroopers on Snoke's ship. Like Hardy, you probably won't be able to spot them, but they also got a "Star Wars" moment of their own this week, when BB-8 bowed to them as they arrived at the film's London premiere.
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These guest roles are easy to miss

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is finally here, and much like "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One," it is filled with celebrities who oh-so-badly wanted to be a part of a galaxy far, far away. From past "Star Wars" directors to the next King of England, these cameos come in blink-and-you'll-miss-it shots or in the voices of bizarre alien creatures on Canto Bight, the newest Star Wars planet that looks like Galactic Monaco. Here is some to look out for when you watch the movie:

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