Gremlins
Encyclopedia
Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante
, released by Warner Bros.
The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature—called a Mogwai—as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch
, released in 1990. In contrast to the lighter sequel, the original Gremlins opts for more black comedy
, which is balanced against a Christmas-time setting. Both films were the center of large merchandising
campaigns.
Steven Spielberg
was the film's executive producer
and the screenplay was written by Chris Columbus
. The film stars Zach Galligan
and Phoebe Cates
, with Howie Mandel
providing the voice of Gizmo. Gremlins was a commercial success
and received positive reviews from critics. However, the film was also heavily criticized for some of its more violent sequences. In response to this, and to similar complaints about other films (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
), Steven Spielberg
suggested that the Motion Picture Association of America
(MPAA) reform its rating system, which it did within two months of the film's release.
) discovers a small, furry creature called a Mogwai in an old antique store in Chinatown
. The owner of the store refuses to sell the Mogwai to Randall on the grounds that owning one is too great a responsibility. However, as Randall is leaving the store, the owner's grandson (John Louie) sells Randall the creature stating that the family needs the money. The boy gives Randall three specific instructions in caring for the Mogwai: never expose it to bright lights (especially sunlight, which will kill it); never get it wet (which will make it multiply); and never feed it after midnight (which will turn it into a gremlin). Randall then takes the Mogwai, which he gives the name "Gizmo", to his family in the town of Kingston Falls.
The following evening, Randall gives Gizmo to his son Billy (Zach Galligan
). Later, a glass of water is accidentally spilled on Gizmo, causing him to convulse and produce five new Mogwai from his own body. One of the Mogwai, dubbed Stripe for his white quiff of hair, acts as their leader, but is very hostile to Gizmo. Curious to learn more about Mogwai, Billy takes Gizmo to his science teacher, Mr. Hanson (Glynn Turman
), and produces a sixth new Mogwai. Leaving the new Mogwai with Mr. Hanson, on which he will conduct tests, Billy returns home, and the other five Mogwai trick him into feeding them after midnight by biting the cord of his alarm clock. In the morning, Billy discovers the Mogwai have turned into cocoons. Gizmo, having kindly refused the food earlier, remains unchanged.
In the meantime, the sixth Mogwai had gotten ahold of Hanson's sandwich and also cocoons itself, but the subject of his first class. During a film, it hatches and breaks out of the cage it was held in, hiding in the dark corners of the room. Hanson tries to reason with it and bribe it with a candy bar, but the Mogwai eats it and Hanson's hand, killing him. Billy arrives and finds the Mogwai has turned into a reptilian monster, succeeding in killing it with some supplies from the Nurse's office. Elsewhere, the other Mogwai have hatched into Gremlins, mischievous reptilian creatures with sharp teeth and claws, and attack Billy's mother (Frances Lee McCain
). Mrs. Peltzer is able to escape with Billy's help, and the gremlins are killed. However, Stripe, who survived, escapes and leaps into a swimming pool, creating hundreds of new gremlins who rampage the town. Billy and Gizmo rescue Billy's girlfriend Kate Beringer (Phoebe Cates
) when the Gremlins overrun the tavern where she works. Billy, Kate, and Gizmo discover that the gremlins have temporarily stopped their rampage and have collected in the local movie theater to watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
. The three set off an explosion that kills the gremlins and destroys the theater, but Stripe again escapes.
Billy follows Stripe into a department store
nearby, and Stripe leaps into a water fountain, intending to multiply again. Before he can multiply, Gizmo opens a set of window blinds, causing sunlight to pour into the store, killing Stripe. As the Peltzers recover from the rampage, the antique store owner arrives to claim Gizmo, claiming that the Western world is not yet ready for the responsibility that comes in caring for a Mogwai, but that Billy may someday be ready to properly care for Gizmo.
Gremlin vocal effects provided by Michael Winslow
, Bob Bergen
, Fred Newman
, Peter Cullen
, Mark Dodson
, Bob Holt, and Michael Sheehan.
, released the same weekend as Gremlins, and the comic strip The Far Side
also followed this trend. According to Professor Noël Carroll, the new genre emphasized sudden shifts between humorous and horrific scenes, and/or drawing laughs with plot elements that have been traditionally used to scare. The theme was also drawn from older films and television programs, such as Bride of Frankenstein
, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
and the 1960s TV series, The Addams Family
and The Munsters
.
The notion of gremlins was first conceived during World War II
, when mechanical failures in aircraft
were jokingly blamed on the small monsters. The term "gremlins" also entered popular culture as children's author Roald Dahl
published a book called The Gremlins
in 1943, based on the mischievous creatures. (Walt Disney considered making a film of it. A Bugs Bunny cartoon of the era has him battling a gremlin on an airplane.) Joe Dante had read The Gremlins, and claimed that the book was of some influence on his film. In 1983, Dante publicly distanced his work from earlier films, explaining, "Our gremlins are somewhat different—they're sort of green and they have big mouths and they smile a lot and they do incredibly, really nasty things to people and enjoy it all the while".
. As Columbus explained, his inspiration came from his loft, when at night "what sounded like a platoon of mice
would come out and to hear them skittering around in the blackness was really creepy". He then wrote the original screenplay as a spec script
to show potential employers that he had writing abilities. The story was not actually intended to be filmed until Steven Spielberg took an interest in turning it into a film. As Spielberg explained, "It's one of the most original things I've come across in many years, which is why I bought it."
After deciding to executive produce the film, Spielberg chose Dante as his director because of his experience with horror-comedy; Dante had previously directed The Howling
(1981), however, in the time between The Howling and the offer to film Gremlins, he had experienced a lull in his career. The film's producer was Michael Finnell
, who had also worked on The Howling with Dante. Spielberg took the project to Warner Bros. and co-produced it through his own company, Amblin Entertainment
.
The film's script went through a few drafts before a shooting script was finalized. The first version was much darker than the final film. Various scenes were cut, including one which portrayed Billy's mother dying in her struggle with the gremlins, with her head thrown down the stairs when Billy arrives. Dante later explained the scene made the film darker than what the filmmakers wanted. There was also a scene where the gremlins ate Billy's dog, and a scene where the gremlins attacked a McDonald's
, eating customers instead of burgers. Also, instead of Stripe being a mogwai who becomes a gremlin, there was originally no mogwai named Stripe; rather, Gizmo was supposed to transform into Stripe the gremlin. Spielberg overruled this plot element as he felt Gizmo was cute and that audiences would want him to be present throughout the film.
A famous urban legend
is referenced in the film, in which Kate reveals in a speech that her father died at Christmas
when he dressed as Santa Claus
and broke his neck while climbing down the family's chimney
. After the film was completed, the speech proved to be controversial, and studio executives insisted upon its removal, because they felt it was too ambiguous as to whether it was supposed to be funny or sad. Dante stubbornly refused to take the scene out, saying it represented the film as a whole, which had a combination of horrific and comedic elements. Spielberg did not like the scene but, despite his creative control, he viewed Gremlins as Dante's project and allowed him to leave it in. A parody of this scene is featured in Gremlins 2: The New Batch
.
was cast as Kate, Billy's girlfriend, despite concerns that she was known for playing more risqué parts, such as Linda Barrett in Fast Times at Ridgemont High
(1982). Spielberg urged the casting of the relatively unknown Zach Galligan
as Billy because he saw chemistry between Galligan and Cates during auditions. Galligan later compared himself to Billy, saying he was a "geeky kid", and that being in the film "was really kind of a dream" given "what I get to do, what my character gets to do, blow up movie theatres", adding that he "got to work with great people".
In contrast to Galligan, many of the supporting actors and actresses were better known. Veteran actor Glynn Turman
portrayed the high school science teacher whose study of a mogwai leads to his death after it forms a cocoon and emerges as a vicious gremlin. Dick Miller
, who was a regular in Dante's films, was another experienced actor on the set, playing a World War II
veteran who first refers to the creatures as gremlins. Rand was played by Hoyt Axton
, who was always the filmmakers' preferred choice for the role even though it was widely contested by other actors. Axton's experience included acting as the father in The Black Stallion
(1979), and he was also a country music
singer-songwriter
. After an introductory scene to Gremlins was cut, Axton's voice earned him the added role of the narrator
to establish some context. Mr. Wing was played by Keye Luke
, a renowned film actor. Although in reality, he was around 80 at the time of filming, and his character was very elderly, Luke's youthful appearance had to be covered by make-up.
Corey Feldman
, who up to that time had primarily been in commercials, played Pete Fountaine, establishing his early credentials as a child actor.
Polly Holliday, an actress best known for her role in Alice
, played Mrs. Deagle. Dante considered the casting fortunate, as she was well-known and he considered her to be talented. Ironically, two other well-known actors, Fast Times Judge Reinhold
and character actor Edward Andrews
, received roles that were significantly reduced after the film was edited; they played Billy's superiors at the bank.
of Universal Studios
in California
(except the opening street scenes in Chinatown, which were filmed on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot). This required fake snow; Dante also felt it was an atmosphere that would make the special effects more convincing. As the special effects relied mainly on puppetry, the actors worked alongside some of the puppets. Nevertheless, after the actors finished their work for good, a great deal of work was spent finishing the effects. Numerous small rubber puppets, some of which were mechanical, were used to portray Gizmo and the gremlins. They were designed by Chris Walas
. There was more than one Gizmo puppet, and occasionally Galligan, when carrying one, would set him down off camera, and when Gizmo appeared again sitting on a surface it was actually a different puppet wired to the surface. These puppets had many limitations. The Gizmo puppets were particularly frustrating because they were smaller and thus broke down more. Consequently, to satisfy the crew, a scene was included in which the gremlins hang Gizmo on a wall and throw darts at him.
A few marionette
s were also used. Other effects required large mogwai faces and ears to be produced for close-up
s, as the puppets were less capable of conveying emotion. Consequently, large props simulating food were needed for the close-ups in the scene in which the mogwai feast after midnight. An enlarged Gizmo puppet was also needed for the scene in which he multiplies. The new mogwai, who popped out of Gizmo's body as small, furry balls which then started to grow, were balloons and expanded as such. Walas had also created the exploding gremlin in the microwave by means of a balloon that was allowed to burst.
Howie Mandel
provided the voice for Gizmo, and prolific voice actor Frank Welker
provided the voice for Stripe. It was Welker who suggested Mandel perform in Gremlins. The puppets' lines were mostly invented by the voice actors, based on cues from the physical actions of the puppets, which were filmed before the voice work. When developing the voice for Gizmo, Mandel explained, "[Gizmo was] cute and naive, so, you know, I got in touch with that... I couldn't envision going any other way or do something different with it". The majority of the other gremlins voices were performed by Mark Dodson. Ironically, Peter Cullen
provided vocals effects as he and Welker are both well known for their roles in the television series The Transformers
which aired the same year. It was the first live action film both Cullen and Welker starred in together. The next live action film they would star together in would be Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
released 25 years later and also with Steven Spielberg
as the excutive producer.
, who won a Saturn Award for Best Music
for his efforts. The main score was composed with the objective of conveying "the mischievous humor and mounting suspense of Gremlins". Goldsmith also wrote Gizmo's song, which was hummed by a child actress and acquaintance of Goldsmith's, rather than Mandel himself. Goldsmith also appears in the film (as does Steven Spielberg), in the scene where Rand calls home from the salesman's convention.
The soundtrack album was released by Geffen Records
as a specially-priced mini-album on LP and cassette (Goldsmith's music comprised all of side two), and reissued on compact disc in 1993 only in Germany.
"Gremlins...Mega Madness" was also released as a single, with "The Gremlin Rag" as its B-side.
In 2011 Film Score Monthly
issued a two-disc release of the soundtrack, with the complete score on disc one and the original soundtrack album on disc two (representing the latter's first North American CD issue); this was the label's final Jerry Goldsmith album.
DISC ONE: The Film Score
Tracks 26-34 are listed as bonus tracks.
DISC TWO: 1984 Soundtrack Album
, also rated PG, Gremlins was one of two films in 1984 to influence the MPAA
to create the PG-13 rating, with Red Dawn
being the first film given the new rating in August 1984. The scene in which a gremlin explodes in the microwave was particularly influential to the idea that some films too light to be rated R are still too mature to be rated PG. The change to the rating system was not insignificant; the rating PG-13 turned out to be appealing to some film patrons, as it implied some excitement without being too explicit.
approved of the film, declaring it to not only be "fun", but also a "sly series of send-ups", effectively parody
ing many elemental film storylines. In his opinion, Gremlins did this partly through depictions of mysterious worlds (the shop in Chinatown) and tyrannical elderly women (Mrs. Deagle). Ebert also believed the rule in which a mogwai cannot eat after midnight was inspired by fairy tale
s, and that the final scenes parody the classic horror films. He connected Kate's speech about her father with "the great tradition of 1950s sick jokes". Conversely, Leonard Maltin
disapproved of the film, and his view was made clear in remarks he made on the television show Entertainment Tonight
. He called the film "icky" and "gross". He later wrote that despite being set in a "picture-postcard
town" and blending the feel of It's a Wonderful Life
(a clip of which appears in Gremlins) with that of The Blob
, the film is "negated by too-vivid violence and mayhem"; giving the film two out of four stars. Maltin actually made a tongue-in-cheek appearance in Gremlins 2, repeating his criticisms of the original on film, as an in-joke
, before being throttled by the creatures; he later gave the second film a more positive rating, three out of four stars.
While some critics criticized the film's depictions of violence and greed—such as death scenes, Kate's speech, and the gremlins' gluttony—for lacking comic value, scholar Charlotte Miller instead interpreted these as a satire
of "some characteristics of Western civilization
", suggesting that Westerners may take too much satisfaction from violence. Gremlins can also be interpreted as a statement against technology, in that some characters, such as Billy's father, are overly dependent on it. In contrast, Mr. Wing is shown to have a strong distaste for television. Kirkpatrick Sale
also interpreted Gremlins as an anti-technology film in his book Rebels Against the Future. Another scholar suggested that the film is meant to express a number of observations of society by having the gremlin characters shift in what they are meant to represent. At different times, they are depicted as teenagers, the wealthy establishment, or fans of Disney
films.
Another scholar drew a connection between the microwave scene and urban legends about pets dying in microwave ovens. He described the portrayal of this urban legend in the film as successful, but that meant it seemed terrible. This is indeed a scene that is thought of as being one of the film's most violent depictions; with even Roger Ebert expressing some fear in his review that the film might encourage children to try similar things with their pets.
Gremlins has been criticized for more than its depictions of violence. One BBC
critic wrote in 2000 that "The plot is thin and the pacing is askew". However, that critic also complimented the dark humour contrasted against the ideal Christmas setting. In 2002, another critic wrote that in hindsight, Gremlins has "corny special effects" and that the film will tend to appeal to children more so than to adults; he also said the acting was dull.
Despite the initial mixed criticism, Gremlins has continued to receive critical praise over the years. It currently holds a 78% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes
, and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1984.
introduced the film to audiences by briefly explaining that Billy receives a strange creature as a Christmas present, by going over the three rules, and then coming out with the fact that the creatures transform into terrible monsters. This trailer showed little of either the mogwai or the gremlins. In contrast to this, other advertisements concentrated on Gizmo, overlooked the gremlins and made the film look similar to Spielberg's earlier family film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
(1982).
Gremlins was released into North American theaters on June 8, 1984, the same day as Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters
. Gremlins ranked second, with $12.5 million in its first weekend, $1.1 million less than Ghostbusters. By the end of its American screenings on November 29, it had grossed $148,168,459 domestically. This made it the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, behind Beverly Hills Cop
, Ghostbusters
, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
. In August 1984, it opened in Argentina and Spain, and in October it premiered in West Germany
. Screenings began in Mexico, Australia and much of the rest of Europe in December. As Gremlins had an international audience, different versions of the film were made to overcome cultural barriers. Mandel learned to speak his few intelligible lines, such as "Bright light!", in various languages, including German. Regional music and humor were also incorporated into foreign-language versions. Dante credited this work as being one of the factors which helped to make Gremlins a worldwide success. However, many critics questioned the summer release date of the film in America, as the film takes place during the Christmas holiday season, causing them to comment that it should have had a Christmas release date instead.
In addition to this, there were also complaints from audiences about the violence depicted in the film. This was particularly present in people who had brought their children to see the film, many of whom walked out of the theatre before the film had ended. Dante admitted to reporters later that "the idea of taking a 4-year-old to see Gremlins, thinking it's going to be a cuddly, funny animal movie and then seeing that it turns into a horror picture, I think people were upset... They felt like they had been sold something family friendly and it wasn't entirely family friendly".
The film became available to audiences again when it was brought back to theatres on August 30, 1985. This additional release brought its gross up to $153,083,102.
s for Best Director
, Best Horror Film
, Best Music
, Best Special Effects
, and the award for Best Supporting Actress, given to Holiday's performance as Mrs. Deagle. The film also won Germany's Golden Screen Award and the 1985 Young Artist Award
for Best Family Motion Picture (Adventure). Corey Feldman
, who played Billy's young friend, was also nominated for the Young Artist Award
for Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama.
in 1985, and made $79,500,000 in rental stores
. The film was released on DVD
in 1997, and again in 1999. On August 20, 2002, a "special edition
" DVD was released, which featured cast and filmmakers' commentary
and deleted scene
s. A Blu-ray
edition was released on December 1, 2009.
of the character Gizmo, Gremlins became the center of considerable merchandising. Due to this, it became part of a rising trend in film, which had received a boost from Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
. Manufacturers including LJN
produced versions of Gizmo as doll
s or stuffed animal
s. (The latter of which became a popular high demand toy during the holiday season of 1984.) Both Gizmo and the gremlins were mass produced as action figure
s, and Topps
printed trading card
s based upon the film. A product placement deal with fast food chain Hardee's
also led to a series of five book-and-cassette/45 records adaptations of the film's story. Starting in the early 2000s, companies such as Jun Planning and the National Entertainment Collectibles Association
produced all-new Gremlins toys and collectibles.
The film was also the basis for a novel
of the same name 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 that their physiology was unstable, and under "certain circumstances", alluding to the three rules that were given in the film, mogwai would change into creatures that the novel referred to as "mischievous". 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.
Several video games based on the film have also been produced. At the time of the film's release, an interactive fiction
game based on scenes from the film titled 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 colour illustrations on some formats. In addition, the game Gremlins was released for the Atari 2600
, while a far superior version appeared on the Atari 5200
. In the 2000s, more games were released; Gremlins: Unleashed! was released on Game Boy
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. Gremlins: Stripe Versus Gizmo, with both Gizmo and Stripe as playable characters, was released in 2002.
In addition to this, Gremlins brand breakfast cereal was produced by Ralston for a few years concurrent to and after the first film was released in 1984. The front of the cereal box featured Gizmo, and inside were decals of the malevolent gremlins, including Stripe.
, Gremlins 2: The New Batch
, and an advertisement for British Telecom
, but it is believed to have been the inspiration for, or at least similar to, several later unrelated films about small monsters. These include Critters
, Ghoulies
, Troll
, Hobgoblins
, Beasties
, Kamillions
, Spookies
, and Munchies
. Many of these films were not critical successes, and Hobgoblins was lampooned on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000
. Both Critters and Ghoulies actually began development before Gremlins. The anime
Pet Shop of Horrors
has also been compared to Gremlins. The Manga of Petshop of Horrors even makes reference to the movie on the first page of the first volume. While the results of breaking the rules are suggested later on to be met with an unsympathetic response from Count D. The tongue-in-cheek
Christmas
-themed horror film Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman
parodies Gremlins.
There were rumors that the talking doll Furby
was so similar to the character Gizmo that Warner Bros. was considering a lawsuit in 1998, but Warner representatives replied that this was not true. (A Gizmo version of Furby was later produced.) In music, the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai
are named after the film's creatures, although the guitarist of the band, Stuart Braithwaite, comments that "it has no significant meaning and we always intended on getting a better one, but like a lot of other things we never got round to it".
Joe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
, released by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature—called a Mogwai—as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a 1990 American horror comedy film, and the sequel to Gremlins . It was directed by Joe Dante and written by Charles S. Haas, with creature designs by Rick Baker...
, released in 1990. In contrast to the lighter sequel, the original Gremlins opts for more black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
, which is balanced against a Christmas-time setting. Both films were the center of large merchandising
Merchandising
Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer...
campaigns.
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
was the film's executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
and the screenplay was written by Chris Columbus
Chris Columbus (filmmaker)
Christopher Joseph "Chris" Columbus is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Columbus had his largest success with the first two films in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, along with Home Alone, the last...
. The film stars Zach Galligan
Zach Galligan
Zachary Wolfe "Zach" Galligan is an American actor.-Biography:Galligan was born in New York City, the son of Carol Jean , a psychologist, and Arthur John Galligan, a lawyer who was a founding partner of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro. He has a sister, Jessica, and attended Columbia University...
and Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
, with Howie Mandel
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
providing the voice of Gizmo. Gremlins was a commercial success
Blockbuster (entertainment)
Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
and received positive reviews from critics. However, the film was also heavily criticized for some of its more violent sequences. In response to this, and to similar complaints about other films (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second film in the Indiana Jones franchise and prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark . After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone...
), Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
suggested that the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
(MPAA) reform its rating system, which it did within two months of the film's release.
Plot
While searching for a Christmas present for his teenage son, inventor Randall Peltzer (Hoyt AxtonHoyt Axton
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
) discovers a small, furry creature called a Mogwai in an old antique store in Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
. The owner of the store refuses to sell the Mogwai to Randall on the grounds that owning one is too great a responsibility. However, as Randall is leaving the store, the owner's grandson (John Louie) sells Randall the creature stating that the family needs the money. The boy gives Randall three specific instructions in caring for the Mogwai: never expose it to bright lights (especially sunlight, which will kill it); never get it wet (which will make it multiply); and never feed it after midnight (which will turn it into a gremlin). Randall then takes the Mogwai, which he gives the name "Gizmo", to his family in the town of Kingston Falls.
The following evening, Randall gives Gizmo to his son Billy (Zach Galligan
Zach Galligan
Zachary Wolfe "Zach" Galligan is an American actor.-Biography:Galligan was born in New York City, the son of Carol Jean , a psychologist, and Arthur John Galligan, a lawyer who was a founding partner of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro. He has a sister, Jessica, and attended Columbia University...
). Later, a glass of water is accidentally spilled on Gizmo, causing him to convulse and produce five new Mogwai from his own body. One of the Mogwai, dubbed Stripe for his white quiff of hair, acts as their leader, but is very hostile to Gizmo. Curious to learn more about Mogwai, Billy takes Gizmo to his science teacher, Mr. Hanson (Glynn Turman
Glynn Turman
Glynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
), and produces a sixth new Mogwai. Leaving the new Mogwai with Mr. Hanson, on which he will conduct tests, Billy returns home, and the other five Mogwai trick him into feeding them after midnight by biting the cord of his alarm clock. In the morning, Billy discovers the Mogwai have turned into cocoons. Gizmo, having kindly refused the food earlier, remains unchanged.
In the meantime, the sixth Mogwai had gotten ahold of Hanson's sandwich and also cocoons itself, but the subject of his first class. During a film, it hatches and breaks out of the cage it was held in, hiding in the dark corners of the room. Hanson tries to reason with it and bribe it with a candy bar, but the Mogwai eats it and Hanson's hand, killing him. Billy arrives and finds the Mogwai has turned into a reptilian monster, succeeding in killing it with some supplies from the Nurse's office. Elsewhere, the other Mogwai have hatched into Gremlins, mischievous reptilian creatures with sharp teeth and claws, and attack Billy's mother (Frances Lee McCain
Frances Lee McCain
Frances Lee McCain , also known as Lee McCain, is an American actress.-Early life and education:McCain was born in York, Pennsylvania and grew up in New York, Illinois, Colorado and California. She graduated from Ripon College with a BA in Philosophy and then studied acting for 3 years at the...
). Mrs. Peltzer is able to escape with Billy's help, and the gremlins are killed. However, Stripe, who survived, escapes and leaps into a swimming pool, creating hundreds of new gremlins who rampage the town. Billy and Gizmo rescue Billy's girlfriend Kate Beringer (Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
) when the Gremlins overrun the tavern where she works. Billy, Kate, and Gizmo discover that the gremlins have temporarily stopped their rampage and have collected in the local movie theater to watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
. The three set off an explosion that kills the gremlins and destroys the theater, but Stripe again escapes.
Billy follows Stripe into a department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
nearby, and Stripe leaps into a water fountain, intending to multiply again. Before he can multiply, Gizmo opens a set of window blinds, causing sunlight to pour into the store, killing Stripe. As the Peltzers recover from the rampage, the antique store owner arrives to claim Gizmo, claiming that the Western world is not yet ready for the responsibility that comes in caring for a Mogwai, but that Billy may someday be ready to properly care for Gizmo.
Cast
- Zach GalliganZach GalliganZachary Wolfe "Zach" Galligan is an American actor.-Biography:Galligan was born in New York City, the son of Carol Jean , a psychologist, and Arthur John Galligan, a lawyer who was a founding partner of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro. He has a sister, Jessica, and attended Columbia University...
as Billy Peltzer - Phoebe CatesPhoebe CatesPhoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
as Kate Beringer - Hoyt AxtonHoyt AxtonHoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
as Randall Peltzer - Frances Lee McCainFrances Lee McCainFrances Lee McCain , also known as Lee McCain, is an American actress.-Early life and education:McCain was born in York, Pennsylvania and grew up in New York, Illinois, Colorado and California. She graduated from Ripon College with a BA in Philosophy and then studied acting for 3 years at the...
as Lynn Peltzer - Corey FeldmanCorey FeldmanCorey Scott Feldman is an American film and television actor. He became known during the 1980s, with roles in the Hollywood films Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, The Goonies, Stand by Me, The Lost Boys, License to Drive, Dream a Little Dream, Gremlins and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
as Pete Fountaine - Keye LukeKeye LukeKeye Luke was a Chinese-born American actor. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed with RKO, Universal and, later, MGM and is generally acknowledged as the leading Asian-American actor of this era of American cinema.-Background:...
as Mr. Wing - John Louie as Mr. Wing's grandson
- Dick MillerDick MillerRichard "Dick" Miller is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 films, particularly those produced by Roger Corman, and later in films of directors who started their careers with Corman, including James Cameron and Joe Dante, with the distinction of appearing in every film made...
as Murray Futterman - Jackie JosephJackie JosephJackie Joseph is an American character actress, voice artist, and writer known for portraying the film characters of: Audrey Fulquard in the original The Little Shop of Horrors, Sheila Futterman in both Gremlins films, and the voice of Melody in the animated television series Josie and the...
as Sheila Futterman - Polly Holiday as Mrs. Ruby Deagle
- Judge ReinholdJudge ReinholdJudge Reinhold is an American actor, perhaps best known for co-starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Ruthless People, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Santa Clause trilogy.-Early life:...
as Gerald Hopkins - Edward AndrewsEdward AndrewsEdward Andrews was an American actor, one of the most recognizable character actors on television and films between the 1950s and the 1980s...
as Mr. Roland Corben - Glynn TurmanGlynn TurmanGlynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
as Mr. Roy Hanson - Chuck JonesChuck JonesCharles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
as Mr. Jones - Kenny DavisKenny DavisKenny Davis is an American jazz bassist.Davis released two albums as leader for Soul Note.He was also member of the Blue Note Records group Out of the Blue and has appeared on albums by Gary Bartz, Art Farmer, Don Byron, Eric Person, Michele Rosewoman, Onaje Allan Gumbs and others.Kenny is...
as Dorry - Robby the RobotRobby the RobotRobby the Robot is a fictional character who has made a number of appearances in science fiction movies and television programs after his first appearance in the 1956 MGM science fiction film Forbidden Planet.-Overview:...
(uncredited) as Himself - Nicky KattNicky KattNicholas Lea "Nicky" Katt is an American actor known for his role as unorthodox teacher Harry Senate on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public.-Career:...
and Tracy WellsTracy WellsTracy Wells is an American actress. Wells was played a main character on the American sitcom Mr. Belvedere as Heather Owens. She won the Young Artist Award in the "Best Young Actress Starring in a New Television Series" category for her work on that show. She was also a guest star on the show...
as Schoolchildren - Mushroom as Barney
Voices
- Howie MandelHowie MandelHoward Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
as Gizmo - Frank WelkerFrank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
as Stripe - Marvin MillerMarvin Miller (actor)Marvin Elliott Miller was an American film and voice-over actor. Possessing a deep, baritone voice, he began his career in radio in St. Louis, Missouri before becoming a Hollywood actor...
(uncredited) as Robby the Robot
Gremlin vocal effects provided by Michael Winslow
Michael Winslow
Michael Winslow is an American actor and a comedian billed as the "Man of 10,000 Sound Effects" for his ability to make realistic sound effects using only his voice.-Early life:...
, Bob Bergen
Bob Bergen
Robert "Bob" Bergen is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Porky Pig , and formerly hosted Jep!, a kids' version of the popular game show Jeopardy!Bergen was born in St. Louis, Missouri...
, Fred Newman
Fred Newman
Frederick Delano "Fred" Newman was an American philosopher, psychotherapist, playwright and political activist, and creator of a therapeutic modality called Social Therapy.-Early life:...
, Peter Cullen
Peter Cullen
Peter Claver Cullen is a Canadian voice actor, known as the voice of Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise, Optimus Prime and Ironhide in the original Transformers series, and the narrator in both of the original American Voltron series...
, Mark Dodson
Mark Dodson
Mark Dodson is a prolific record producer and sound engineer, who mostly works with artists in the heavy metal genre. He is best known for producing albums by Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies.-Biography:...
, Bob Holt, and Michael Sheehan.
Cameos
- Steven SpielbergSteven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
as Man riding Recumbent Bicycle - Tom BergeronTom BergeronTom Bergeron is an American television personality and game show host, best known as the host of the ABC reality series Dancing with the Stars and host of America's Funniest Home Videos . He was also host of Hollywood Squares and a fill-in host for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire...
as TV News Reporter - Jerry GoldsmithJerry GoldsmithJerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
as Man in Phone Booth - William SchallertWilliam SchallertWilliam Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...
as Father Bartlett - Chuck JonesChuck JonesCharles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
as Billy's drawing mentor
Background
Gremlins was produced at a time when combining horror and comedy was becoming increasingly popular. GhostbustersGhostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
, released the same weekend as Gremlins, and the comic strip The Far Side
The Far Side
The Far Side is a popular single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995. Its surrealistic humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world,...
also followed this trend. According to Professor Noël Carroll, the new genre emphasized sudden shifts between humorous and horrific scenes, and/or drawing laughs with plot elements that have been traditionally used to scare. The theme was also drawn from older films and television programs, such as Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American horror film, the first sequel to Frankenstein...
, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable...
and the 1960s TV series, The Addams Family
The Addams Family (TV series)
The Addams Family is an American television series based on the characters in Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons in 64 installments on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966...
and The Munsters
The Munsters
The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era,...
.
The notion of gremlins was first conceived during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when mechanical failures in aircraft
Military aviation
Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...
were jokingly blamed on the small monsters. The term "gremlins" also entered popular culture as children's author Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
published a book called The Gremlins
The Gremlins
The Gremlins is a children's book, written by Roald Dahl and published in 1943. It was Dahl's first children's book, and was written for Walt Disney Productions, as a promotional device for a feature-length animated film that was never made...
in 1943, based on the mischievous creatures. (Walt Disney considered making a film of it. A Bugs Bunny cartoon of the era has him battling a gremlin on an airplane.) Joe Dante had read The Gremlins, and claimed that the book was of some influence on his film. In 1983, Dante publicly distanced his work from earlier films, explaining, "Our gremlins are somewhat different—they're sort of green and they have big mouths and they smile a lot and they do incredibly, really nasty things to people and enjoy it all the while".
Initial stages
The story of Gremlins was conceived by Chris ColumbusChris Columbus (filmmaker)
Christopher Joseph "Chris" Columbus is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Columbus had his largest success with the first two films in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, along with Home Alone, the last...
. As Columbus explained, his inspiration came from his loft, when at night "what sounded like a platoon of mice
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
would come out and to hear them skittering around in the blackness was really creepy". He then wrote the original screenplay as a spec script
Spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
to show potential employers that he had writing abilities. The story was not actually intended to be filmed until Steven Spielberg took an interest in turning it into a film. As Spielberg explained, "It's one of the most original things I've come across in many years, which is why I bought it."
After deciding to executive produce the film, Spielberg chose Dante as his director because of his experience with horror-comedy; Dante had previously directed The Howling
The Howling (film)
The Howling is a 1981 werewolf-themed horror film directed by Joe Dante. Based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the screenplay is written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless...
(1981), however, in the time between The Howling and the offer to film Gremlins, he had experienced a lull in his career. The film's producer was Michael Finnell
Michael Finnell
Michael Finnell is a film producer active from the 1970s to the present. He has produced several horror-comedy films, particularly with director Joe Dante. Finnell worked for American producer Roger Corman before emerging as a producer in his own right....
, who had also worked on The Howling with Dante. Spielberg took the project to Warner Bros. and co-produced it through his own company, Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1981. Amblin is only a production company, and has never distributed its own movies, nor has it fully financed its...
.
The film's script went through a few drafts before a shooting script was finalized. The first version was much darker than the final film. Various scenes were cut, including one which portrayed Billy's mother dying in her struggle with the gremlins, with her head thrown down the stairs when Billy arrives. Dante later explained the scene made the film darker than what the filmmakers wanted. There was also a scene where the gremlins ate Billy's dog, and a scene where the gremlins attacked a McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, eating customers instead of burgers. Also, instead of Stripe being a mogwai who becomes a gremlin, there was originally no mogwai named Stripe; rather, Gizmo was supposed to transform into Stripe the gremlin. Spielberg overruled this plot element as he felt Gizmo was cute and that audiences would want him to be present throughout the film.
A famous urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
is referenced in the film, in which Kate reveals in a speech that her father died at Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
when he dressed as Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
and broke his neck while climbing down the family's chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
. After the film was completed, the speech proved to be controversial, and studio executives insisted upon its removal, because they felt it was too ambiguous as to whether it was supposed to be funny or sad. Dante stubbornly refused to take the scene out, saying it represented the film as a whole, which had a combination of horrific and comedic elements. Spielberg did not like the scene but, despite his creative control, he viewed Gremlins as Dante's project and allowed him to leave it in. A parody of this scene is featured in Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a 1990 American horror comedy film, and the sequel to Gremlins . It was directed by Joe Dante and written by Charles S. Haas, with creature designs by Rick Baker...
.
Casting
Phoebe CatesPhoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
was cast as Kate, Billy's girlfriend, despite concerns that she was known for playing more risqué parts, such as Linda Barrett in Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...
(1982). Spielberg urged the casting of the relatively unknown Zach Galligan
Zach Galligan
Zachary Wolfe "Zach" Galligan is an American actor.-Biography:Galligan was born in New York City, the son of Carol Jean , a psychologist, and Arthur John Galligan, a lawyer who was a founding partner of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro. He has a sister, Jessica, and attended Columbia University...
as Billy because he saw chemistry between Galligan and Cates during auditions. Galligan later compared himself to Billy, saying he was a "geeky kid", and that being in the film "was really kind of a dream" given "what I get to do, what my character gets to do, blow up movie theatres", adding that he "got to work with great people".
In contrast to Galligan, many of the supporting actors and actresses were better known. Veteran actor Glynn Turman
Glynn Turman
Glynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
portrayed the high school science teacher whose study of a mogwai leads to his death after it forms a cocoon and emerges as a vicious gremlin. Dick Miller
Dick Miller
Richard "Dick" Miller is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 films, particularly those produced by Roger Corman, and later in films of directors who started their careers with Corman, including James Cameron and Joe Dante, with the distinction of appearing in every film made...
, who was a regular in Dante's films, was another experienced actor on the set, playing a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran who first refers to the creatures as gremlins. Rand was played by Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
, who was always the filmmakers' preferred choice for the role even though it was widely contested by other actors. Axton's experience included acting as the father in The Black Stallion
The Black Stallion (film)
The Black Stallion is a 1979 American film based on the 1941 classic children's novel The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. It tells the story of Alec Ramsey, who is shipwrecked on a desert island, together with a wild Arabian stallion whom he befriends...
(1979), and he was also a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. After an introductory scene to Gremlins was cut, Axton's voice earned him the added role of the narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
to establish some context. Mr. Wing was played by Keye Luke
Keye Luke
Keye Luke was a Chinese-born American actor. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed with RKO, Universal and, later, MGM and is generally acknowledged as the leading Asian-American actor of this era of American cinema.-Background:...
, a renowned film actor. Although in reality, he was around 80 at the time of filming, and his character was very elderly, Luke's youthful appearance had to be covered by make-up.
Corey Feldman
Corey Feldman
Corey Scott Feldman is an American film and television actor. He became known during the 1980s, with roles in the Hollywood films Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, The Goonies, Stand by Me, The Lost Boys, License to Drive, Dream a Little Dream, Gremlins and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
, who up to that time had primarily been in commercials, played Pete Fountaine, establishing his early credentials as a child actor.
Polly Holliday, an actress best known for her role in Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
, played Mrs. Deagle. Dante considered the casting fortunate, as she was well-known and he considered her to be talented. Ironically, two other well-known actors, Fast Times Judge Reinhold
Judge Reinhold
Judge Reinhold is an American actor, perhaps best known for co-starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Ruthless People, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Santa Clause trilogy.-Early life:...
and character actor Edward Andrews
Edward Andrews
Edward Andrews was an American actor, one of the most recognizable character actors on television and films between the 1950s and the 1980s...
, received roles that were significantly reduced after the film was edited; they played Billy's superiors at the bank.
Special effects
The performances were shot on the backlotBacklot
A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio, containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction....
of Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(except the opening street scenes in Chinatown, which were filmed on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot). This required fake snow; Dante also felt it was an atmosphere that would make the special effects more convincing. As the special effects relied mainly on puppetry, the actors worked alongside some of the puppets. Nevertheless, after the actors finished their work for good, a great deal of work was spent finishing the effects. Numerous small rubber puppets, some of which were mechanical, were used to portray Gizmo and the gremlins. They were designed by Chris Walas
Chris Walas
Chris Walas is an American special effects/make-up artist and director.-Biography:His main body of work is with special effects in a wide variety of movies from science fiction to action-adventure. His work on The Fly led to his directorial debut on The Fly II...
. There was more than one Gizmo puppet, and occasionally Galligan, when carrying one, would set him down off camera, and when Gizmo appeared again sitting on a surface it was actually a different puppet wired to the surface. These puppets had many limitations. The Gizmo puppets were particularly frustrating because they were smaller and thus broke down more. Consequently, to satisfy the crew, a scene was included in which the gremlins hang Gizmo on a wall and throw darts at him.
A few marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
s were also used. Other effects required large mogwai faces and ears to be produced for close-up
Close-up
In filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots . Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene...
s, as the puppets were less capable of conveying emotion. Consequently, large props simulating food were needed for the close-ups in the scene in which the mogwai feast after midnight. An enlarged Gizmo puppet was also needed for the scene in which he multiplies. The new mogwai, who popped out of Gizmo's body as small, furry balls which then started to grow, were balloons and expanded as such. Walas had also created the exploding gremlin in the microwave by means of a balloon that was allowed to burst.
Howie Mandel
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
provided the voice for Gizmo, and prolific voice actor Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
provided the voice for Stripe. It was Welker who suggested Mandel perform in Gremlins. The puppets' lines were mostly invented by the voice actors, based on cues from the physical actions of the puppets, which were filmed before the voice work. When developing the voice for Gizmo, Mandel explained, "[Gizmo was] cute and naive, so, you know, I got in touch with that... I couldn't envision going any other way or do something different with it". The majority of the other gremlins voices were performed by Mark Dodson. Ironically, Peter Cullen
Peter Cullen
Peter Claver Cullen is a Canadian voice actor, known as the voice of Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise, Optimus Prime and Ironhide in the original Transformers series, and the narrator in both of the original American Voltron series...
provided vocals effects as he and Welker are both well known for their roles in the television series The Transformers
The Transformers (TV series)
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animal-like forms. Written and recorded in America, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea...
which aired the same year. It was the first live action film both Cullen and Welker starred in together. The next live action film they would star together in would be Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
released 25 years later and also with Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
as the excutive producer.
Music
The film's score was composed by Jerry GoldsmithJerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
, who won a Saturn Award for Best Music
Saturn Award for Best Music
The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Music.-Multiple Winners:*John Williams - 7 awards*Danny Elfman - 5 awards*James Horner - 3 awards*Alan Silvestri - 3 awards*Alan Menken - 2 awards*John Ottman - 2 awards*Miklós Rózsa - 2 awards...
for his efforts. The main score was composed with the objective of conveying "the mischievous humor and mounting suspense of Gremlins". Goldsmith also wrote Gizmo's song, which was hummed by a child actress and acquaintance of Goldsmith's, rather than Mandel himself. Goldsmith also appears in the film (as does Steven Spielberg), in the scene where Rand calls home from the salesman's convention.
The soundtrack album was released by Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
as a specially-priced mini-album on LP and cassette (Goldsmith's music comprised all of side two), and reissued on compact disc in 1993 only in Germany.
- Gremlins...Mega Madness — Michael SembelloMichael SembelloMichael Sembello is an American musician and songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Career:Sembello was born and raised in Philadelphia. He studied with jazz great Pat Martino and began his career as a professional musician by becoming a session musician, working increasingly with...
(3:50) - Make It Shine — QuarterflashQuarterflashQuarterflash was an American rock group formed in 1980 in Portland, Oregon. The band was made up of Rindy Ross , her husband Marv Ross , Jack Charles , Rick DiGiallonardo , Rich Gooch , and Brian David Willis...
(4:10) - Out/Out — Peter GabrielPeter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
(7:00) - The Gift (4:51)
- Gizmo (4:09)
- Mrs. Deagle (2:50)
- The Gremlin Rag (4:03)
"Gremlins...Mega Madness" was also released as a single, with "The Gremlin Rag" as its B-side.
In 2011 Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly is an online magazine founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 as The Soundtrack Correspondence List...
issued a two-disc release of the soundtrack, with the complete score on disc one and the original soundtrack album on disc two (representing the latter's first North American CD issue); this was the label's final Jerry Goldsmith album.
DISC ONE: The Film Score
- Fanfare in C (Max SteinerMax SteinerMax Steiner was an Austrian composer of music for theatre productions and films. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Trained by the great classical music composers Brahms and Mahler, he was one of the first composers who primarily wrote music for motion pictures, and as...
)/The Shop/The Little One 4:30 - Late for Work 1:46
- Mrs. Deagle/That Dog 2:22
- The Gift 1:45
- First Aid 2:17
- Spilt Water 3:02
- A New One 1:10
- The Lab/Old Times 2:35
- The Injection 2:56
- Snack Time/The Wrong Time 1:49
- The Box 1:24
- First Aid 1:39
- Disconnected/Hurry Home 1:03
- Kitchen Fight 4:06
- Dirty Linen 0:43
- The Pool 1:07
- The Plow/Special Delivery 1:16
- High Flyer 2:22
- Too Many Gremlins 2:06
- No Santa Claus 3:27
- After Theatre 1:39
- Theatre Escape/Stripe Is Loose/Toy Dept./No Gizmo 4:36
- The Fountain/Stripe's Death 5:42
- Goodbye, Billy 2:56
- End Title/The Gremlin Rag 4:10
- Blues 2:17
- Mrs. Deagle (film version) 1:27
- God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (traditional, arr. Alexander Courage) 1:12
- After Theatre (With "Silent Night") 1:36
- After Theatre (Without "Silent Night") 1:36
- Rabbit Rampage (Milt Franklyn) 0:47
- The Gremlin Rag (full version) 3:35
- Gizmo's New Song 0:35
- Gizmo's Trumpet 0:30
Tracks 26-34 are listed as bonus tracks.
DISC TWO: 1984 Soundtrack Album
- Gremlins...Mega Madness — Michael Sembello 3:52
- Make It Shine — Quarterflash 4:11
- Out/Out — Peter Gabriel 7:02
- The Gift 4:58
- Gizmo 4:14
- Mrs. Deagle 2:54
- The Gremlin Rag 4:13
Rating
Along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of DoomIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second film in the Indiana Jones franchise and prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark . After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone...
, also rated PG, Gremlins was one of two films in 1984 to influence the MPAA
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
to create the PG-13 rating, with Red Dawn
Red Dawn
Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey....
being the first film given the new rating in August 1984. The scene in which a gremlin explodes in the microwave was particularly influential to the idea that some films too light to be rated R are still too mature to be rated PG. The change to the rating system was not insignificant; the rating PG-13 turned out to be appealing to some film patrons, as it implied some excitement without being too explicit.
Critical reaction
Film critics' reaction to Gremlins was mixed to positive. Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
approved of the film, declaring it to not only be "fun", but also a "sly series of send-ups", effectively parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
ing many elemental film storylines. In his opinion, Gremlins did this partly through depictions of mysterious worlds (the shop in Chinatown) and tyrannical elderly women (Mrs. Deagle). Ebert also believed the rule in which a mogwai cannot eat after midnight was inspired by fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s, and that the final scenes parody the classic horror films. He connected Kate's speech about her father with "the great tradition of 1950s sick jokes". Conversely, Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
disapproved of the film, and his view was made clear in remarks he made on the television show Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
. He called the film "icky" and "gross". He later wrote that despite being set in a "picture-postcard
Postcard
A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....
town" and blending the feel of It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
(a clip of which appears in Gremlins) with that of The Blob
The Blob
The Blob is an independently made 1958 American horror/science-fiction film that depicts a giant amoeba-like alien that terrorizes the small community of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania...
, the film is "negated by too-vivid violence and mayhem"; giving the film two out of four stars. Maltin actually made a tongue-in-cheek appearance in Gremlins 2, repeating his criticisms of the original on film, as an in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
, before being throttled by the creatures; he later gave the second film a more positive rating, three out of four stars.
While some critics criticized the film's depictions of violence and greed—such as death scenes, Kate's speech, and the gremlins' gluttony—for lacking comic value, scholar Charlotte Miller instead interpreted these as a satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of "some characteristics of Western civilization
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
", suggesting that Westerners may take too much satisfaction from violence. Gremlins can also be interpreted as a statement against technology, in that some characters, such as Billy's father, are overly dependent on it. In contrast, Mr. Wing is shown to have a strong distaste for television. Kirkpatrick Sale
Kirkpatrick Sale
Kirkpatrick Sale is an independent scholar and author who has written prolifically about political decentralism, environmentalism, luddism and technology...
also interpreted Gremlins as an anti-technology film in his book Rebels Against the Future. Another scholar suggested that the film is meant to express a number of observations of society by having the gremlin characters shift in what they are meant to represent. At different times, they are depicted as teenagers, the wealthy establishment, or fans of Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
films.
Another scholar drew a connection between the microwave scene and urban legends about pets dying in microwave ovens. He described the portrayal of this urban legend in the film as successful, but that meant it seemed terrible. This is indeed a scene that is thought of as being one of the film's most violent depictions; with even Roger Ebert expressing some fear in his review that the film might encourage children to try similar things with their pets.
Gremlins has been criticized for more than its depictions of violence. One BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
critic wrote in 2000 that "The plot is thin and the pacing is askew". However, that critic also complimented the dark humour contrasted against the ideal Christmas setting. In 2002, another critic wrote that in hindsight, Gremlins has "corny special effects" and that the film will tend to appeal to children more so than to adults; he also said the acting was dull.
Despite the initial mixed criticism, Gremlins has continued to receive critical praise over the years. It currently holds a 78% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1984.
Box office
Financially, Gremlins was a commercial success. Produced on an $11 million budget, it was more expensive than Spielberg had originally intended, but still relatively cheap for its time. The trailerTrailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
introduced the film to audiences by briefly explaining that Billy receives a strange creature as a Christmas present, by going over the three rules, and then coming out with the fact that the creatures transform into terrible monsters. This trailer showed little of either the mogwai or the gremlins. In contrast to this, other advertisements concentrated on Gizmo, overlooked the gremlins and made the film look similar to Spielberg's earlier family film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
(1982).
Gremlins was released into North American theaters on June 8, 1984, the same day as Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
. Gremlins ranked second, with $12.5 million in its first weekend, $1.1 million less than Ghostbusters. By the end of its American screenings on November 29, it had grossed $148,168,459 domestically. This made it the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, behind Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...
, Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second film in the Indiana Jones franchise and prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark . After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone...
. In August 1984, it opened in Argentina and Spain, and in October it premiered in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. Screenings began in Mexico, Australia and much of the rest of Europe in December. As Gremlins had an international audience, different versions of the film were made to overcome cultural barriers. Mandel learned to speak his few intelligible lines, such as "Bright light!", in various languages, including German. Regional music and humor were also incorporated into foreign-language versions. Dante credited this work as being one of the factors which helped to make Gremlins a worldwide success. However, many critics questioned the summer release date of the film in America, as the film takes place during the Christmas holiday season, causing them to comment that it should have had a Christmas release date instead.
In addition to this, there were also complaints from audiences about the violence depicted in the film. This was particularly present in people who had brought their children to see the film, many of whom walked out of the theatre before the film had ended. Dante admitted to reporters later that "the idea of taking a 4-year-old to see Gremlins, thinking it's going to be a cuddly, funny animal movie and then seeing that it turns into a horror picture, I think people were upset... They felt like they had been sold something family friendly and it wasn't entirely family friendly".
The film became available to audiences again when it was brought back to theatres on August 30, 1985. This additional release brought its gross up to $153,083,102.
Awards
Gremlins won numerous awards, including the 1985 Saturn AwardSaturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
s for Best Director
Saturn Award for Best Direction
The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Direction:-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 5 awards*Steven Spielberg - 4 awards*Peter Jackson - 3 awards*Bryan Singer - 2 awards...
, Best Horror Film
Saturn Award for Best Horror Film
The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Horror Film:-References:...
, Best Music
Saturn Award for Best Music
The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Music.-Multiple Winners:*John Williams - 7 awards*Danny Elfman - 5 awards*James Horner - 3 awards*Alan Silvestri - 3 awards*Alan Menken - 2 awards*John Ottman - 2 awards*Miklós Rózsa - 2 awards...
, Best Special Effects
Saturn Award for Best Special Effects
The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Special Effects:...
, and the award for Best Supporting Actress, given to Holiday's performance as Mrs. Deagle. The film also won Germany's Golden Screen Award and the 1985 Young Artist Award
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...
for Best Family Motion Picture (Adventure). Corey Feldman
Corey Feldman
Corey Scott Feldman is an American film and television actor. He became known during the 1980s, with roles in the Hollywood films Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, The Goonies, Stand by Me, The Lost Boys, License to Drive, Dream a Little Dream, Gremlins and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
, who played Billy's young friend, was also nominated for the Young Artist Award
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...
for Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama.
Home media
Gremlins was released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in 1985, and made $79,500,000 in rental stores
Rental shop
A rental shop, also known as a video library, is a business that allows a consumer to temporarily obtain a reusable good or product for a specified period of time in exchange for payment, a process known as renting...
. The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in 1997, and again in 1999. On August 20, 2002, a "special edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
" DVD was released, which featured cast and filmmakers' commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
and deleted scene
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s. A Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
edition was released on December 1, 2009.
Allegations of racism
Since its release, some people have criticized Gremlins as being culturally insensitive. Some observers have commented that the film presents gremlins as African Americans, and in an unflattering manner. At the time of its release, some members of the African-American community protested that the film was racist. In Ceramic Uncles & Celluloid Mammies, Patricia Turner writes that the gremlins "reflect negative African-American stereotypes" in their dress and behavior. They are shown "devouring fried chicken with their hands", listening to black music, breakdancing, and wearing sunglasses after dark and newsboy caps, a style common among African American males in the 1980s.Merchandising
With its commercial themes, particularly the perceived cutenessCuteness
Cuteness is the appeal commonly associated with neoteny.- Cuteness effects :Humans respond favorably to a neotenized appearance A neotenized appearance elicits sympathy from humans as well as protective urges...
of the character Gizmo, Gremlins became the center of considerable merchandising. Due to this, it became part of a rising trend in film, which had received a boost from Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
. Manufacturers including LJN
LJN
LJN was an American toy company and video game publisher. It created toy lines and video games based on movies, television shows, and celebrities. It was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and later in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.-Founding:...
produced versions of Gizmo as doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
s or stuffed animal
Stuffed animal
A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials. Stuffed toys are also known as plush toys A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw,...
s. (The latter of which became a popular high demand toy during the holiday season of 1984.) Both Gizmo and the gremlins were mass produced as action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s, and Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
printed trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s based upon the film. A product placement deal with fast food chain Hardee's
Hardee's
Hardee's is a restaurant chain, located mostly in the Southeast and Midwestern regions of the United States. It has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1960. It is currently owned and operated by CKE Restaurants. Along with its sibling restaurant chain, Carl's...
also led to a series of five book-and-cassette/45 records adaptations of the film's story. Starting in the early 2000s, companies such as Jun Planning and the National Entertainment Collectibles Association
National Entertainment Collectibles Association
The National Entertainment Collectibles Association or NECA is an American manufacturer of collectibles typically licensed from films, video-games, sports, music, and television based in New Jersey...
produced all-new Gremlins toys and collectibles.
The film was also the basis for a novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
of the same name by George Gipe
George Gipe
George Gipe was an American magazine writer, author and screenwriter...
, 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 that their physiology was unstable, and under "certain circumstances", alluding to the three rules that were given in the film, mogwai would change into creatures that the novel referred to as "mischievous". This origin is unique to the novel but is referred to in the novelization of Gremlins 2 by David Bischoff
David Bischoff
David F. Bischoff is an American science fiction and television writer.-General Background:Born in Washington D.C. and now living in Eugene, Oregon, Bischoff writes science fiction books, short stories, and scripts for television...
. No definitive origin for mogwai or gremlins is given in either Gremlins film.
Several video games based on the film have also been produced. At the time of the film's release, an interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
game based on scenes from the film titled Gremlins — The Adventure (1985) was released for various home computers, including the Acorn Electron
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
, the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
. The game was written by Brian Howarth
Brian Howarth
Brian Howarth is a computer game programmer. He wrote many interactive fiction computer games in the early 1980s in a series called Mysterious Adventures....
for Adventure Soft
Adventure Soft
Adventure Soft is a UK-based video game developer established by Mike Woodroffe, first as an importer and reseller of Adventure International games. The firm operates out of Sutton Coldfield, and is best known for the Simon the Sorcerer series of games....
and was text based, with full colour illustrations on some formats. In addition, the game Gremlins was released for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
, while a far superior version appeared on the Atari 5200
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, commonly known as the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a higher end complementary console for the popular Atari 2600...
. In the 2000s, more games were released; Gremlins: Unleashed! was released on Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
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. Gremlins: Stripe Versus Gizmo, with both Gizmo and Stripe as playable characters, was released in 2002.
In addition to this, Gremlins brand breakfast cereal was produced by Ralston for a few years concurrent to and after the first film was released in 1984. The front of the cereal box featured Gizmo, and inside were decals of the malevolent gremlins, including Stripe.
Legacy
The film not only spawned the sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a 1990 American horror comedy film, and the sequel to Gremlins . It was directed by Joe Dante and written by Charles S. Haas, with creature designs by Rick Baker...
, and an advertisement for British Telecom
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
, but it is believed to have been the inspiration for, or at least similar to, several later unrelated films about small monsters. These include Critters
Critters (film series)
The Critters film series, from New Line Cinema, comprises four movies that combine elements of horror, science fiction and comedy. The first film, called simply Critters, was released in 1986 and received "two thumbs up" from Siskel and Ebert....
, Ghoulies
Ghoulies
The Ghoulies films are an American horror-comedy series released throughout the 1980s and 1990s and centered on a group of demons usually summoned by Satanic worshippers.-Ghoulies:...
, Troll
Troll (film)
Troll is a 1986 cult dark fantasy film. Its plot has no relation to the films Troll 2 and Troll 3, which are intended to be more horror than fantasy. Its "sequel", Troll 2 is considered to be one of the worst films of all time.-Plot:...
, Hobgoblins
Hobgoblins (film)
Hobgoblins is a 1988 low-budget B-movie directed by Rick Sloane, often seen as a rip-off of Gremlins. It earned infamy after it was shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is often regarded as one of the worst films ever made.- Plot :...
, Beasties
Beasties (1989 film)
Beasties is a 1989 film, originally titled Bionaut, by Steven Paul Contreras.-Synopsis:The term "Beasties" is never used in the film, and is clearly designed to invoke Gremlins , although the creatures are not the main focus of the film.-Plot:The film deals with a "Bionaut" vessel having...
, Kamillions
Kamillions
Kamillions is a 1989 film directed by Mikel B. Anderson from a story by Robert Hsi and a screenplay Anderson wrote in collaboration with Harry S. Robins. The film was re-edited by producer Teresa Woo, who later admitted she did not really understand an English language science fiction comedy, and...
, Spookies
Spookies
Spookies is a 1986 independent horror film. Remembered for its copious creature effects, its patchwork editing, and for boasting an effective soundtrack, Spookies was given a limited theatrical release in 1987-88 and a more widespread video release in 1988. It was shown on cable television's USA...
, and Munchies
Munchies (film)
Munchies is a 1987 horror film starring Harvey Korman, Charlie Stratton, and Nadine Van der Velde. Clearly inspired by the success of Gremlins, and directed by that film's editor, Tina Hirsch, the film features a remarkably similar plot line. It spawned two sequels, Munchie and Munchie Strikes...
. Many of these films were not critical successes, and Hobgoblins was lampooned on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. Both Critters and Ghoulies actually began development before Gremlins. The anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Pet Shop of Horrors
Pet Shop of Horrors
is a Japanese horror manga created by Matsuri Akino. The series focuses on the eccentric Count D, proprietor of a mysterious pet shop located in the heart of Chinatown, and the numerous patrons who visit his shop....
has also been compared to Gremlins. The Manga of Petshop of Horrors even makes reference to the movie on the first page of the first volume. While the results of breaking the rules are suggested later on to be met with an unsympathetic response from Count D. The tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
-themed horror film Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman
Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman
Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman is the 2000 sequel to the 1996 horror/comedy film Jack Frost.-Plot:Sam Tiler has been struggling to recover from the encounter with the Mutated Snowman known as Jack Frost , ever since he rampaged through his hometown last Christmas...
parodies Gremlins.
There were rumors that the talking doll Furby
Furby
A Furby was a popular electronic robotic toy resembling a hamster/owl-like creature which went through a period of being a "must-have" toy following its launch in the holiday season of 1998, with continual sales until 2000...
was so similar to the character Gizmo that Warner Bros. was considering a lawsuit in 1998, but Warner representatives replied that this was not true. (A Gizmo version of Furby was later produced.) In music, the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai
Mogwai
The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:...
are named after the film's creatures, although the guitarist of the band, Stuart Braithwaite, comments that "it has no significant meaning and we always intended on getting a better one, but like a lot of other things we never got round to it".
External links
- Gremlins in the Mix - Article on Gremlins and genre-blending
- April 27, 1982, Second Draft screenplay by Christopher Columbus