I thought I remembered hearing that the Porgs were designed to look similar to the native birds of Skellig Michael so they wouldn’t have to go through every shot and paint out the birds.

Which would (if true) mean that they weren’t created for merchandising purposes as many are claiming, though they were certainly designed to be cute so they could be turned into a merchandising opportunity.

Anyone know if I’m remembering this correctly? I’m at work and slightly busy at the moment so I can’t try and Google for an answer for a while.