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Meet the Baby Jabba artist who broke the internet: 'It got bigger than I ever imagined'

"It’s such a weird reaction and totally unexpected," artist Leo Viti told NBC News of his Baby Jabba the Hutt image. "I’m happy that people loved it."

First, Baby Yoda broke the internet. Then, Baby Jabba the Hutt came along to ensure it would never recover.

Baby Yoda has been a mainstay of meme culture since the character, from Disney+'s "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian." But on Sunday night, a fan art image of a slug-like, drooling Baby Jabba the Hutt, one of the villains from the original "Star Wars" trilogy, began to sweep Twitter into a frenzy.

The image is the creation of 3D artist Leo Viti, who is from Italy but now lives in London, England.

Image: Artist Leonardo Viti created a baby Jabba the Hut.
Artist Leonardo Viti created a baby Jabba the Hut.Courtesy of Leonardo Viti

Viti, 28, told NBC News he's been an artist for nearly a decade, making characters professionally for advertisement and marketing campaigns while creating images like Baby Jabba in his spare time.

The image of Baby Jabba was published by Viti in November, but went viral on Sunday night after it found its way to Reddit, and was later amplified by actress Olivia Munn, according to ComicBook.com.

"It got bigger than I ever imagined," Viti said. "I just wanted — I always liked 'Star Wars.' I grew up with it. I saw Baby Yoda, the YouTube videos about it. I love Baby Yoda. I actually wanted to do another fan art of Baby Yoda."

But seeing how saturated the internet was with Baby Yoda content, Viti decided to try his hand at creating a different "Star Wars" baby.

The Child in "The Mandalorian."
The Child in "The Mandalorian."Disney+

"Jabba has always been one of my favorite characters, and I thought I'd do something about it," Viti said.

It took Viti about two days to create the image of Baby Jabba. On the first day, he sculpted the image and on the second he completed the composition, he said.

"It was really quick," Viti said. "A lot of stuff I've done in the past took a lot longer."

The image took a while to go viral, but once it did, Viti said it exceed all expectations.

"I think I'm happy about it, but it’s such a weird reaction and totally unexpected," Viti said. "I’m happy that people loved it and almost all of the people loved it. I’m quite happy about it."

Despite his love for the "Star Wars" series, Viti said he's unsure if he'll tackle another character from the beloved franchise.

"Maybe. We’ll see," he said. "I’m quite busy."