Gremlins
Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous.
Country
Production
Budget
$11 000 000
Revenue
$164 603 007
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Operator
John Hora
Composer
Artist
James H. Spencer
Audition
Susan Arnold
Editing
Short description
When Billy Peltzer is given a strange but adorable pet named Gizmo for Christmas, he inadvertently breaks the three important rules of caring for a Mogwai, unleashing a horde of mischievous gremlins on a small town.
What's left behind the scenes
- The scene featuring the gremlin with a chainsaw was conceived during filming by Joe Dante and Zach Galligan, both fans of Tobe Hooper's horror film 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'.
- The gremlin leader hides in a toy store, specifically behind an E.T. alien doll from Steven Spielberg's film of the same name.
- After viewing the rough cut, studio executives informed director Joe Dante and producer Steven Spielberg that, in their opinion, there were too many gremlins in the film. In response, Spielberg suggested removing all the gremlins from the plot entirely and calling the movie 'Humans'.
- Chris Columbus's script underwent several revisions before it was approved. In the original version, the gremlins kill a dog, decapitate a woman, and throw her head down the stairs. These episodes weren't even filmed because director Joe Dante and Warner Bros. wanted a film geared toward a family audience.
- Gizmo's facial expressions sometimes changed because the puppet was created in several copies with different faces, and the puppets were swapped when necessary. Each puppet had corresponding equipment in its head responsible for the movement of the mouth.
- The table in the children's room is cluttered with old comics, while the children themselves are watching cheap science fiction from the 50s – director Joe Dante couldn't resist alluding to the main love of his childhood.
- One of the gremlins watching "Snow White" has round Mickey Mouse ears.
- Howie Mandel, who provided the voice for Gizmo, had previously voiced children in comedy projects. Mandel's voice contributed significantly to the authenticity of Gizmo's character. Before filming the singing episode, many professionals were auditioned, including an opera singer. Ultimately, Gizmo was voiced by a girl whom the film's composer, Jerry Goldsmith, had heard at his own synagogue.
- Initially, Stripe and Gizmo were the same character, but then producer Steven Spielberg began insisting on making one of the gremlins good, so that the audience could empathize with him.
- Zach Galligan (who played Billy) later recounted that computer graphics didn't exist at the time, so all the gremlins were animatronic puppets costing between $30,000 and $40,000. When everyone left for the day, the trunk of the car had to be opened so security could make sure no one was trying to smuggle a puppet off the set.
- Steven Spielberg broke his leg and ended up playing the episodic role of an inventor in a wheelchair.
- The scene of the gremlin attacking with a chainsaw was conceived during filming at the behest of Joe Dante and Zak Gilligan, fans of Tobe Hooper's horror film 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'.
- Steven Spielberg broke his leg and consequently played a small role as a disabled inventor.
- The reason for implementing a rule that excluded bright lighting in the film was that it was 1984, and director Joe Dante and Steven Spielberg's production company, Amblin Entertainment, were unable to showcase the gremlin puppets in a high-quality and convincing way, as the level of cinematic special effects at the time left much to be desired. This problem was successfully camouflaged by using dim lighting in the frames. This is a trick regularly used in science fiction films. Three years earlier, Dante had already employed this technique in the horror film 'Howl' (1980), where the monsters were intentionally shown in the dark to hide the flaws in the special effects.
- The gremlin leader hides in a store behind toys, specifically behind an E.T. alien doll from Steven Spielberg's film of the same name.
- The teacher, played by Glynn Turman, was originally supposed to die with dozens of syringes stuck in his face. At the request of Steven Spielberg, this scene was reshot and showed the death of this character with only one syringe in the buttock.
- The city sets used were the same ones from Robert Zemeckis's sci-fi comedy 'Back to the Future' (1985). They were filmed near the Universal Studios building.
- Special effects coordinator Chris Wallace suggested using puppets instead of stop-motion animation. As a compromise, studio executives proposed filming a monkey in a suitable costume. To test the viability of the idea, they tried it in Joe Dante's office, where the animal 'lost its mind,' resulting in the monkey wrecking the room and fouling everything. Consequently, it was decided to use puppets after all.
- The city sets were the same as those used in Robert Zemeckis's science fiction comedy "Back to the Future" (1985). They were filmed near the "Universal Studios" building.
- After watching Tim Burton's short films (which he made early in his career), executive producer Steven Spielberg considered hiring him to direct the movie, but ultimately abandoned the idea because Burton had not yet directed a feature-length film at that time.
- The table in the children's room is cluttered with old comics, and the children themselves are watching cheap 1950s sci-fi—director Joe Dante couldn't resist nodding to the primary love of his childhood.
- The scene of the Gremlin attack with a chainsaw was conceived during filming at the behest of Joe Dante and Zach Galligan, fans of Tobe Hooper’s horror film 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'.
- These creatures were conceived by Chris Columbus, a graduate of the New York private film and acting institute who lived in Manhattan at the time. As he later recounted, the area was quite pleasant during the day, but at night hordes of mice and rats would appear.
- After viewing the still-not-fully-edited footage, the studio executives told director Joe Dante and producer Steven Spielberg that they believed there were too many gremlins in the film. In response, Spielberg suggested removing all the gremlins from the plot altogether and calling the film "People."
- Special effects artist Chris Wallace suggested using puppets instead of stop-motion animation. As a compromise, the studio executives proposed filming a monkey in a suitable costume. They decided to test the idea in Joe Dante's office, where the animal "lost it," destroying the room and making a mess. As a result, it was decided to use puppets after all.
- Howie Mandel, who provided the voice for Gizmo, had previously voiced children in comedic projects. Mandel's voice largely contributed to the authenticity of Gizmo's character. Before filming the singing scene with Gizmo, many professionals were auditioned, including an opera singer. Ultimately, a girl heard by Jerry Goldsmith, who composed the film's music, in her own synagogue sang for Gizmo.
- Initially, Stripe and Gizmo were the same character, but producer Steven Spielberg began insisting that one of the gremlins be made good so that the audience could empathize with him.
- These creatures were conceived by Chris Columbus, a graduate of a private New York institute of cinematography and acting who once lived in Manhattan. As he later recounted, the area was pleasant enough during the day, but at night, literal hordes of mice and rats would appear.
- The script contained practically no lines for the gremlins or Mogwai. Almost all of their lines consisted of fragments of what they had just heard or were the result of reacting to sudden sounds.
- The reason for introducing the rule excluding bright lighting in the film was that it was 1984, and director Joe Dante and Steven Spielberg’s production company, Amblin Entertainment, were unable to convincingly and qualitatively depict the Gremlin puppets, as the level of special effects in cinema at that time left much to be desired. This problem was camouflaged by using dim lighting in the frame. This is a trick frequently used in science fiction films. Three years earlier, Dante had already used it in the horror film 'The Howl' (1980), where the creatures were deliberately shown in darkness, which concealed the shortcomings of the special effects.
- After watching Tim Burton's short films (which he shot early in his career), executive producer Steven Spielberg began to consider making him the director of a film, but ultimately abandoned the idea because Burton had not yet directed a feature-length film at that time.
- Chris Columbus's script went through several revisions before it was approved. In the original version, the gremlins kill a dog, decapitate a woman, and throw her down the stairs. These episodes weren't even filmed because director Joe Dante and Warner Bros. needed a film geared towards a family audience.
- The teacher played by Glynn Turman was originally meant to die with dozens of syringes stuck in his face. At Steven Spielberg's request, the scene was reshot, and the character's death was shown with only a single syringe in his buttocks.
- The poster for 'Rockin'' Ricky Rialto', which flashed on the screen before the opening credits, parodies Indiana Jones.
- Zach Galligan (who played Billy) later recounted that since there was no computer graphics at the time, all the gremlins were animatronic puppets costing between $30,000 and $40,000. When everyone left for home at the end of the shooting day, they had to open their car trunks so security could ensure no one was trying to smuggle a puppet off the set.
- It was especially difficult to work with the Gizmo puppets, as they were smaller and broke more often. A scene was specifically added to the script in which the gremlins hang Gizmo on the wall and throw darts at him. This idea was taken from the film’s creative team’s list of “The Most Horrible Things to Do to Gizmo.”
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