What It’s Like to Dress as Rotta the Hutt on Halloween

Every year, the biggest hit movies inspire many of the most popular Halloween costumes. In 2026, that meant a lot of Jessie and Woody from Toy Story, some Minions (and maybe some monsters), and at least a handful of couples where the woman wore a black turtleneck and never blinked, trailed by her boyfriend with a laptop strapped to his chest.I went in a different direction. I decided to dress as Rotta the Hutt, Jabba the Hutt’s son from The Mandalorian and Grogu.This choice probably requires a little explanation. It’s not because I relate to the character of a giant slug with incredibly well-toned muscles. (I get the slug part; I sit on my ass watching and writing about movies all day. It’s the well-toned muscles where Rotta and I depart company.)Every Halloween since 2022, I have worn some sort of inflatable costume. It started as a one-off thing. My wife wanted me to be something that matched our daughter, who dressed that year like a paleontologist. So I was a big inflatable dinosaur skeleton.(Please note my short T-rex arms in that picture. Richard Jenkins would be proud.)My kids got a big kick out of watching me lumber down the sidewalk inside a giant balloon with legs. Too bi...