Gremlins (franchise)

Gremlins
Official franchise logo
Created by	Chris Columbus
Original work	Gremlins (1984)
Owners	Warner Bros. Entertainment Amblin Entertainment
Years	1984–present
Films and television
Film(s)	Gremlins (1984) Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Animated series	Gremlins (2023–present)
Games
Video game(s)	Gremlins (1984) Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) Lego Dimensions (2015) Multiversus (2024)
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s)	Warner Bros. Classics & Great Gremlins Adventure

Gremlins is an American comedy horror media franchise produced and owned by Warner Bros. and Amblin Entertainment. The franchise centers on a species of creatures known as mogwai (Cantonese: 魔怪, 'devil'), which mutate into the eponymous creatures if the three rules regarding their care are violated; in particular, the franchise focuses on the conflict between the friendly Gizmo and the malicious Stripe (also known as Mohawk). The franchise began with the 1984 film of the same name, written by Chris Columbus and continued with a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990); both of which were directed by Joe Dante. The franchise also includes video games, an animated television series and related merchandise.

Setting

Mogwai

The mogwai are the central species of the franchise, based on eponymous creatures in Chinese folklore. Their volatility is such that whoever comes across one must adhere to three specific rules: A mogwai must not to be exposed to sunlight, which is lethal to the species; it must not come into contact with water, which activates its replication ability; and, most importantly, it must not be fed after midnight, which triggers its transformation into a Gremlin, adopting a more reptilian appearance than its mogwai form.

Films

Film	Director	Writer(s)	Producer
Gremlins (1984)	Joe Dante	Chris Columbus	Michael Finnell
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)	Joe Dante	Charles S. Haas	Michael Finnell

Gremlins (1984)

Main article: Gremlins

Gremlins is directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus. Starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, produced by Amblin Entertainment, and distributed by Warner Bros..

Struggling inventor Randall Peltzer visits a Chinatown antique store, hoping to find a Christmas present for his son Billy. In it, Randall finds a small and furry creature called a mogwai (Cantonese: 魔怪, 'devil'). The owner, Mr. Wing, refuses to sell it to Randall, but his grandson secretly does, warning Randall to remember three important rules concerning the mogwai – do not expose the creature to light, especially sunlight, which will kill it; do not let it come in contact with water; and above all, never feed it after midnight.

His father returns and gives him the mogwai, now named “Gizmo", as a pet, as well as explaining the three rules. Gizmo is friendly and docile, but when Billy's friend, Pete Fountaine, accidentally spills water on Gizmo, five more mogwai spawn from him, a more mischievous sort led by the aggressive Stripe, named after the white mohawk-like tuft of fur on his head. Billy shows one of the mogwai to his former elementary school science teacher, Mr. Hanson, spawning another mogwai, whom Hanson experiments on, Lynn and Billy are able to kill the gremlins, except for Stripe, who escapes to a local YMCA where he jumps into its swimming pool, spawning an army of gremlins that wreak havoc in Kingston Falls. Gizmo, opens a nearby skylight, exposing Stripe to sunlight and killing him via disintegration.

As the local news reports on the day's mysterious tragedies, Mr. Wing reclaims Gizmo at the Peltzer home. He scolds the family for their negligence and criticizes Western society for its carelessness with nature. However, as he turns to leave, Gizmo, having bonded with Billy, bids him goodbye. A touched Wing then concedes that Billy may be ready one day and, until then, Gizmo will be waiting.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Main article: Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Gremlins 2: The New Batch is directed by Joe Dante and written by Charles S. Haas. Starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph and Keye Luke reprise their roles from the first film; Belinda Balaski also returns, this time playing a different character. New cast members include John Glover, Robert Prosky, Haviland Morris, Robert Picardo and Christopher Lee; additionally, the film features Tony Randall providing the voice for one of the gremlins, the film was produced by Amblin Entertainment, and was released by Warner Bros. on June 15, 1990.

After the death of his owner, Mr. Wing, the mogwai Gizmo becomes the guinea pig of scientists at a lab in the Clamp Center, a state-of-the-art highrise building in Manhattan owned by eccentric billionaire Daniel Clamp. At the mercy of chief researcher Doctor Catheter, Gizmo is rescued by his former owner Billy Peltzer and his fiancée Kate Beringer, both of whom work elsewhere in the building. Clamp befriends Billy upon being impressed by his skills in concept design, sparking the interest of Billy's superior, Marla Bloodstone. Gizmo is left in the office, where water from a broken drinking fountain spills onto his head and spawns four new mogwai. They detain Gizmo in the air vents and later eat at the building's food court after midnight, becoming gremlins.

After Gizmo exits the vents, the gremlin Mohawk, reincarnated from gremlin leader Stripe, captures and tortures him. The other gremlins set off the fire sprinklers and spawn an army that throws the building into chaos. Billy attempts to lure the gremlins into the lobby, where sunlight will kill them; after Billy briefs Clamp on gremlin knowledge, Clamp exits through a secret tunnel to cover the front of the building in a giant sheet to trick the creatures. The gremlins drink genetic serums in the lab; one gains high intelligence, another becomes female, and a third is transformed into a being of pure electricity that murders Catheter before Billy traps it in the building's telephone system. All the while, television host "Grandpa Fred" films the chaos, aided by Japanese tourist Mr. Katsuji.

When the plan to kill the gremlins is unfortunately foiled due to the sudden occurrence of a rainstorm, Billy instead directs Murray to spray the gremlins with a fire hose, then releases the electric one to electrocute and melt them all. Clamp charges in with the police and press, but discovers that the threat has been neutralized; thrilled by the outcome, he promotes Billy, Kate, Fred and Marla and hires Katsuji as a cameraman as the former two then return home with Gizmo. Forster calls Clamp to notify him that he is trapped at the highest floor of the building. Greta, the sole gremlin survivor, corners him and entices him to marry her.

Future

In January 2013, Vulture reported that Warner Bros. was negotiating with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment to reboot the Gremlins franchise. Seth Grahame-Smith was tapped to produce, alongside David Katzenberg. However, Grahame-Smith has since stated that the project has been put on hold. In November 2015, Zach Galligan confirmed that the third film will be a sequel and not a reboot.

In a December 2016 interview with Bleeding Cool, Galligan said that Chris Columbus had been "aggressively working on a Gremlins 3", which had writer Carl Ellsworth on board. A 2017 interview with Columbus discussed his "twisted and dark" script which explored the idea that has been on the fans' minds for a long time: "If all the gremlins come from getting Gizmo wet and feeding his mogwai offspring after midnight, should Gizmo be eliminated?" In November 2020, Columbus stated that CGI would not be used for the gremlins and that traditional puppets and animatronics would continue to be used.

TV Series

Main article: Gremlins (TV series)

Gremlins is an American animated fantasy adventure horror comedy television series. Serving as a prequel to the eponymous 1984 film of the same name and its 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch, the series is set in 1920s Shanghai, East China, and tells the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing met Gizmo, a young Mogwai. The series debuted with the launch of Max on May 23, 2023. The first half of the second season titled Gremlins: The Wild Batch was released on October 3, 2024. It shows how Sam and Gizmo move from Shanghai to America before Randall Peltzer discovers Gizmo.

Other media

Books

The screenplay was adapted into a novelization by George Gipe, published by Avon Books in June 1984. The novel offered an origin for mogwai and gremlins as a prologue. Supposedly, mogwai were created as gentle, contemplative creatures by a scientist on an alien world. However, it was discovered their physiology was unstable. The result was only 1 in 10,000 mogwai would retain their sweet, loving demeanor. The rest would change into creatures the novel referred to as "mischievous". The minority mogwai (the 1 in 10,000) are immortal by human standards, though Gizmo explains to Stripe if he were to undergo the transformation himself, he would become like the others, "short lived and violent". This origin is unique to the novel but is referred to in the novelization of Gremlins 2 by David Bischoff. No definitive origin for mogwai or gremlins is given in either Gremlins film. The novelization contains a subplot that was cut from the original film, where the National Guard plans to neutralize the gremlins with fire hoses.

There were also children's books like Gremlins 2: The New Batch: Movie Storybook, by Michael Teitelbaum, published by Goldencraft in December 1990. Little Golden Books published Gremlins 2: The New Batch: Gizmo to the Rescue in July 1990. In the United Kingdom, William Heinemann Ltd. had published two tie-in picture books from Buzz Books in August 1990 which contains photographs and scenes taken from the film. They were titled Don't Get Wet and Midnight Feast. David Bischoff wrote a novel based on the film published by Avon Books in June 1990. A unique aspect of the novel is how Bischoff adapts the sequence where the film breaks. In the novel, the Brain Gremlin subdues and locks Bischoff in his bathroom before taking the reins for a little bit to explain that the gremlins take over at this point in the film, his displeasure at Bischoff using the nickname "Mr. Glasses" instead of his official name and begins a treatise on politics before Bischoff breaks his way out of the bathroom with an axe and subdues the Brain Gremlin. The novel then continues where the film picked up after the film break.

Video games

Main article: Gremlins (video game)

Action-oriented video games

Several officially licensed video games based on the franchise have been produced. One of the first was Gremlins, released by Atari, Inc. for their 2600 console.

The Spanish company Topo Soft developed a side-scrolling Gremlins 2: The New Batch video game for Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, Amstrad CPC and the ZX Spectrum, distributed by Erbe Software in Spain and by Elite abroad, being the first time a Spanish video game company got an exclusive license from a Hollywood movie to make a videogame. Hi Tech Expressions also released a DOS game at around the same time, but it was poorly received. Sunsoft released versions for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy in 1990.

Atari, Inc. released a completely different (and more technically advanced) game—also called Gremlins—for the Atari 5200 console and the Apple II, Commodore 64, and IBM PC compatible computers. Although the Atari 5200 version went to manufacturing in 1984, the turmoil surrounding Jack Tramiel's takeover of Atari's consumer business resulted in it not being released until 1986.

In the 2000s, more games were released; Gremlins: Unleashed! was released on Game Boy Color in 2001. The game was about Gizmo trying to catch Stripe and thirty other gremlins, while the gremlins also try to turn Gizmo into a gremlin. Both Gizmo and Stripe are playable characters in the game.

In 2011 NECA, published a Gremlins game for the Wii and Nintendo DS called Gremlins Gizmo. This was developed by Pipeworks Software and was released on November 18, 2011.

A Gremlins Team Pack was released for Lego Dimensions on November 18, 2016. The pack includes minifigures of Gizmo and Stripe, a constructible polaroid camera and RC car, and grants access to an Adventure World and Battle Arena based on the film. Howie Mandel and Frank Welker reprise their respective roles as Gizmo and Stripe. Gizmo and Stripe are playable characters in the platform fighter MultiVersus.

Gremlins: The Adventure

At the time of the film's release, an interactive fiction game based on scenes from the film, entitled Gremlins: The Adventure (1985), was released for various home computers, including the Acorn Electron, the BBC Micro, the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. The game was written by Brian Howarth for Adventure Soft and was text-based, with full-color illustrations on some formats.

Theme park attractions

Main article: Warner Bros. Classics & Great Gremlins Adventure

Warner Bros. Classics and The Great Gremlin Adventure was a dark ride located at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Australia, and Warner Bros. Movie World in Bottrop, Germany (now Movie Park Germany). On 3 June 1991, Warner Bros. Movie World opened to the public. One of its original attractions was Warner Bros. Classics and The Great Gremlin Adventure. A duplicate of the Australian attraction opened with Warner Bros. Movie World Germany (later renamed Movie Park Germany) on 30 June 1996. It was named Gremlin Invasion. The ride's soft-opening was on 29 June 1996. The ride has been replaced with the Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster and Van Helsing's Factory in the two parks respectively.