Gremlins creature maker Chris Walas has shared his very first designs of the Mogwai character. After arriving in theatres in 1984, Gremlins quickly became a box office hit, giving director Joe Dante his first PG success. Audiences had previously known Dante for R-rated horror classics Piranha and The Howling.

With Steven Spielberg’s backing and a script by Chris Columbus, Gremlins had plenty of appeal, and six years after the success of the first film, a sequel arrived. This time around, Dante had a co-director in Chuck Jones, and Columbus shared scripting duties with Charles S. Haas. The film was a box office bomb, suggesting the days of audiences being interested in Gremlins and Mogwais had long since passed. However, the first Gremlins film continued to resonate with fans, and the sequel began to find its own legion of supporters. Talk of the possibility of a third entry in the franchise became increasingly common, and as of 2017, Gremlins 3 is reportedly in development. But while fans continue to wait for a third film, an animated series, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, is set to arrive on HBO Max at some point in 2021.

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With Gremlins on the verge of making its return to pop-culture after such a lengthy hiatus, interest in the franchise is arguably rising. Walas has managed to help add to that growing popularity by showing off some original sketches of a Mogwai and a Gremlin via his official Twitter account. While the first sketch of what a Gremlin looks like is surprisingly close to what the creatures ended up looking like in the film, the Mogwai design is still in a very rough stage. Both sketches can be viewed below:

Walas points out the tarsier influence in the original Mogwai sketch, which can still be seen today, though not as pronounced. The tarsier is a small tree-dwelling primate that is found primarily in the jungles of South East Asia. The most apparent primate characteristics are in Gizmo’s eyes. However, Walas eventually realized that the Mogwai needed to be both cute and exotic looking – traits that would keep it popular with audiences, particularly children.

Given that the new animated Gremlins series offers a look into the early days of the Mogwai before it came to live with the Peltzer family, there’s a good chance that the HBO series will explore the history of the furry creatures. The ongoing success of The Mandalorian’s Baby Yoda character has shown that audiences still love cutesy characters. With HBO’s second season renewal of Secrets of the Mogwai already taking place, fans might finally be able to learn more about one of Gremlins’ most beloved characters.

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Source: Chris Walas

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Mike Jones
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Mike Jones is an author, screenwriter, world traveller and cinephile. His work has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, and he’s also a Berlinale Talents alumnus. Cinema has always moved him in a big way and aside from having seen The Talented Mr Ripley more times than any other living person, he maintains a pretty darn healthy physical media collection. His favourite filmmakers include: Jordan Peele, David Lean, Alfred Hitchcock, Mike Leigh, Steven Spielberg, the Dardenne Brothers, Noah Baumbach, Michael Haneke, Barry Jenkins and Andrea Arnold. Often jet-lagged, Mike once turned down a certain A-list celebrity’s offer to join them for a night of partying after a strange encounter in an airport.

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