Welcome back to Behind The Scenes Saturday!! Since it’s the holiday season, I wanted to pay tribute to one of my favorite Christmas movies, Gremlins! Gremlins absolutely terrified me as a kid, now it’s one of my go-tos to put me in the holiday spirit. So, remember it’s always after midnight somewhere, don’t spill your water, and enjoy these fun pictures and bits of trivia!!

(Trivia provided by IMDb.com)

(Pictures provided by google.com, instagram.com, and IMDb.com)

(SPOILER ALERT!!!)

• Since both this film and Back To The Future were filmed on the Universal Studios backlot, the set used for Kingston Falls was used for Back To The Future as well.
• In Cantonese, “Mogwai” means “Devil” or “Demon” or “Evil Spirit.”
• Kate’s (Phoebe Cates) Santa story was so controversial that the studio executives insisted on removing it. They felt that it was too ambiguous on whether the story was supposed to be funny or sad. The film’s director, Joe Dante put his foot down and refused to cut the scene, saying it represented the movie as a whole. The whole film had a combination of comedic and horrific elements. The film’s executive producer, Steven Spielberg didn’t like the scene, but he let Dante keep it in despite having creative control.
• Originally, Stripe and Gizmo were going to be the same character. However, Steven Spielberg insisted that one of the gremlins should be a good guy that audiences could identify with. Joe Dante later expressed that this decision was the reason why the film was so fondly remembered.
• Before deciding on using animatronics, the filmmakers tried having monkeys play the gremlins. This idea was quickly scrapped after the test monkey panicked when they put the gremlin head on him.

• Zach Galligan (Billy) stated that each animatronic cost roughly $30,000-$40,000. Every time everyone left the lot for the day, security would have them open the trunks of their cars to make sure they weren’t stolen.
• When the studio saw the first cut of the film, they noted to Steven Spielberg and Joe Dante that there were too many gremlins. Spielberg responded by suggesting that they cut all of the gremlins out and just call the film People.
• The film’s writer, Chris Columbus’s first draft of the script was a lot darker. The original version had the gremlins killing the dog, Barney (Mushroom), and cutting off Lynn’s (Frances Lee McCain) head and tossing it down the stairs. These scenes were never even shot because Joe Dante and Warner Bros. wanted the film to be more family oriented.
• Because the Gizmo puppets were smaller than the others, they broke down more often and they were more frustrating for the crew. To satisfy the crew, they created a list called “Horrible Things To Do To Gizmo.” One of the suggestions was to hang him on a wall and throw darts at him, and that was later added to the movie.
• One of Phoebe Cates’ screams at Dorry’s Tavern was genuine as she saw an enormous cockroach crawl out in front of her.

• Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus had such a great working relationship on this film, that they created two more projects immediately after this one: The Goonies (Spielberg’s idea) and Young Sherlock Holmes (Columbus’s idea).
• Steven Spielberg was a big fan of Tim Burton’s earlier short films and he considered having Burton direct this film. He later decided against it as Burton never directed a full-length feature film before.
• Because the filmmakers had difficulty hiding the special effects issues with the puppets, the No Lights rule was created for the gremlins. By keeping the puppets mostly in the dark, the filmmakers were able to hide the special effects problems. Joe Dante also did this trick with the werewolves in his previous film, The Howling.
• The filmmakers only ever had one issue with filming with Mushroom the dog. He wouldn’t follow Zach Galligan across the street as they were walking through town, so they had to be tethered with a mono-filament line. Besides that, Mushroom had ideal reactions and he worked very easily with the gremlin puppets. Joe Dante said that Mushroom was a joy to work with.
• Mrs. Deagle (Polly Holliday), the richest and greediest woman in town, named all of her cats after different forms of currency. Some of the names we hear are: Kopeck, Ruble, Peso, Drachma, and of course, Dollar Bill.

• Phoebe Cates stated the studio had concerns that she wasn’t “wholesome enough” to be in this film after she was in Fast Times At Ridgemont High. Joe Dante watched that film and declared that she was “awfully wholesome.”
• Zach Galligan was the first one to point out that the No Food After Midnight rule was silly because it’s always after midnight somewhere.
• During one night of filming, there were problems with the gremlin puppets that were so severe, that the entire cast fell asleep on set during the delay.
• Zach Galligan auditioned with Phoebe Cates before and he felt very comfortable with her. When it came to this audition, he rested his head on her shoulder and gazed at the camera. Steven Spielberg said, “Oh my God, look at that! He’s in love with her already. I don’t need to see anything else.”
• Phoebe Cates stated that kissing Zach Galligan was like kissing your brother. Galligan blamed Spielberg for being on set that day and making him nervous. Joe Dante stated that Spielberg’s main concern was making sure Gizmo was in the shot.

• The educational film about the hearts and pumping of blood shown in the school is called Hemo The Magnificent. It was written and directed by Frank Capra, who also directed It’s A Wonderful Life, which Lynn is later seen watching.
• Although he followed the basic outline of the script, Hoyt Axton (Randall) supposedly improvised nearly all his lines.
• After Corey Feldman’s character was cut from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Steven Spielberg added him to this film. On both films, he’s the best friend of the main characters.
• Joe Dante was down to his last few bucks when he landed this job. He was working on a new film with AVCO Embassy Pictures when the studio was sold and the film was cancelled. Dante was not compensated for his work and he was left broke. When he received this script, he was convinced that it was sent to the wrong address.
• Zach Galligan admitted that it wasn’t difficult acting opposite Gizmo. He said, “Because pretending a lifelike puppet is a live animal is no harder than pretending a woman you’ve just met has been your wife for 15 years. It was also beneficial having practical special effects, because I was reacting to a thing that was really there in front of me, as opposed to stuff you are attempting to imagine, as you would with CGI. You can even see it in the performance of the dog, Barney, which must be one of the top 10 animal performances in movies. He was convinced the puppets were real. The affection he had for me was genuine, too, because I’d spent days playing with him and petting him. Every time he saw me I was this endless treat machine.”

• The little mogwai balls that popped out of Gizmo and expanded were actually little air bladders that puppeteers inflated from under the table.
• When Phoebe Cates asked the explosives guy how big the explosion was going to be, he said, “Well, we packed it pretty good.” She asked him what he meant and she got her answer when the explosion happened. She said, “In the event, it was deafening. And the heat was so intense, I thought it had singed my eyebrows. It blew the doors off the theatre, as you can see in the film, and it shattered windows on a building at Universal a mile away.”
• At Dorry’s Tavern, Gerald was supposed to order a martini “shaken, not stirred,” referencing James Bond. However, Judge Reinhold kept fumbling the line, saying, “shake, don’t stir.” They ultimately decided to keep the line the way Reinhold said it because it made the character seem more pretentious and clueless.
• Zach Galligan talked about how Phoebe Cates taught him the importance of always having your character add a little something to the scene. She then bent down, picked up a piece of sawdust and put it on his shoulder.
• On the Deagle Real Estate sign, the hours of operation are from 10:30-11:15 Mon-Fri, a mere 45 minutes.

• The reason Billy is friends with a 13-year-old boy is because the character was originally that age, and Corey Feldman was already cast as the friend, Pete before Billy was later aged up.
• During production, Phoebe Cates’s parents gifted her a moped, but they took it back after she had numerous crashes on-set.
• Judd Nelson, Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Ralph Macchio, and Emilio Estevez were considered for the role of Billy.
• After working with him on this film, Joe Dante wondered whatever happened to John Louie (Wing’s Grandson). He previously spoke about wanting to be a director, but he ended up becoming an M.D. instead.
• The gremlin that tried to shoot Kate ended up shooting a picture of a World War II era B17. This is a nod to the fact that the term “gremlin” began as RAF slang.

• After many edits, Edward Andrews’ (Mr. Corben), Judge Reinhold’s, and William Schallert’s (Father Bartlett) roles were greatly reduced.
• Keye Luke (Mr. Wing) had remarkably young-looking skin despite being 79 years old at the time of filming. He actually had to be made up to look older for the film.
• James Mackrell reprises his role of new reporter Lew Landers from The Howling.
• Jon Pertwee and Mako were considered for the role of Mr. Wing.
• Zach Galligan asked Keye Luke what his secret to younger-looking skin was, expecting an “ancient Chinese secret!” joke. Instead, Luke told him to cut fried foods.

• The part where Stripe tried killing Billy with a chainsaw was not in the original script. Joe Dante and Zach Galligan added the scene as an homage to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
• Mr. Hanson’s (Glynn Turman) death scene was originally more gruesome. He was originally found with multiple hypodermic needles all over his body. Steven Spielberg requested a re-shoot with just one needle sticking in his butt. The scene STILL freaked me out as a kid haha.
• After Lynn stabbed one of the gremlins, there was a shot of it trying to pull the knife out of its body. The effect was too distressing and the shot was ultimately cut. However, you can still see the effect over her shoulder as she’s microwaving the other gremlin.
• In the script, Murray Futterman (Dick Miller) and his wife, Shiela (Jackie Joseph) were killed by the gremlins. The filmmakers felt this was too harsh and remedied it by mentioning their survival on tv at the end of the film. Dick Miller and Jackie Joseph later played bigger roles as the Futtermans in Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
• A deleted scene showed Gerald survived the gremlins’ attack by hiding in a bank vault and leaving Mr. Corben for them to kill. After, he lost his sanity and when he told Billy and Kate what happened, they put him right back in the vault.

• An early draft in the script had Pete killed off by being eaten alive by the gremlins while a group of Christmas carolers drowned out his screams. In the novel, it’s revealed that Pete was deeply saddened by Mr. Hanson’s death and he even blamed himself for it. He ended up running away from home and he was never seen again. In the final cut of the film, his fate is ultimately unknown.
• The fountain was filled with liquid nitrogen and the puppeteer operating dying Stripe wore special protective gear to avoid injury.
• Steven Spielberg has a cameo in the film as a man in an electric wheelchair at the science convention. He passes by Randall while he’s on the phone.
• The film’s composer, Jerry Goldsmith also has a cameo at the convention. He is the man in the telephone booth who glances at the camera.