10 Things You Didn’t Know About Gremlins
They say it is the most wonderful time of the year… and it is certainly a wonderful time of year to relive some holiday movie classics.
One such classic is 1984’s Gremlins. Mixing elements of horror, fantasy, comedy and action, Gremlins has something for everyone and has stood the test of time.
I dusted off my 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray and checked out some of the special features including two commentary tracks with Director Joe Dante. In one of the tracks, Dante is joined by some of the stars of the film… Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Dick Miller and Howie Mandel. In the other track, Dante is joined by special effects artist Chris Walas and producer Michael Finnell.
Those commentary tracks were the source material for this post as I present 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Gremlins…
1. At the beginning of the movie there are two movies on the marquee of the Kingston Falls movie theater, A Boy’s Life and Watch the Skies. This was done as a nod to Steven Spielberg, who was one of the Executive Producers on Gremlins. A Boy’s Life was the working title for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Watch the Skies was the working title for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, both films directed by Spielberg.
2. At the beginning of the movie after his car wouldn’t start, Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) finds himself walking to his job at the bank with his trusty dog Barney following behind him. Unfortunately Mushroom, the dog that played Barney, wouldn’t follow Galligan, so they had to use a monofilament line to serve as an invisible leash.
3. Emilio Estevez was under serious consideration to play Billy Peltzer. And while Hoyt Axton was always the first choice to play Billy’s father, Randall Peltzer, Pat Harrington Jr. of One Day at a Time fame was considered at one point.
4. Howie Mandel was convinced by his friend Frank Welker, who was cast as the voice of Stripe, to audition for the voice of Gizmo. It would end up being Howie Mandel’s first voice over gig, but not his last.
5. Chris Columbus’ original idea for Gizmo was that Gizmo would transform into Stripe part way through the movie. But Steven Spielberg made the call that Gizmo should become Billy’s sidekick and one of the heroes of the movie.
6. The original script for Gremlins was much darker than the finished product and included Billy’s mother being decapitated by the Gremlins. The Murray Futterman (Dick Miller) character was also killed in the original script. And if that wasn’t enough, the Gremlins ate Barney the dog!
7. One character who actually did die in the movie was biology teacher Roy Hanson (Glynn Turman) however his death was toned down for the final cut. When they first shot Mr. Hanson’s death scene, he met his demise with a face full of hypodermic needles. The scene was re-shot with Hanson only having one hypodermic needle in his kiester.
8. The scene at Dorry’s Bar where Kate Beringer (Phoebe Cates) finds herself forced to serve a bar full of Gremlins took three days to shoot. The stench of stale beer on the set was said to be almost unbearable.
9. Director Joe Dante specifically told Zach Galligan to not destroy the neon candy sign in the Montgomery Ward’s window… despite that direction, Galligan destroyed the neon candy sign anyway.
10. James MacKrell who played WDHB TV reporter Lew Landers, also played reporter Lew Landers in another Joe Dante directed film, 1981’s The Howling.
