Why You Need To See Gremlins: A Puppet Story

(This guest article was written by Gremlins fan and amazing artist Aelia Petro. Check out and buy some of her incredible work at https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtByAelia and visit her on facebook https://www.facebook.com/ArtByAelia/)

UPDATE 7/22: The documentary is now available through July 30th over at https://hollywoodtheatre.org/events/gremlins-a-puppet-story/

Today is a good day to be a Gremlins fan. A great day, in fact. Why? Because Chris Walas, father of the Gremlins has dug deep within his personal archives to bring us the behind-the-scenes documentary we’ve always wanted!

Although there is a featurette, (which dates to production and has been on most iterations of the DVD/Bluray), it doesn’t have much behind-the-scenes content. Additional features were released with the Diamond Luxe edition Bluray, with some new content, but that too was fairly limited. But now Gremlins: A Puppet Story gives us an entirely new look at what it took to make one of the most beloved movies of the 1980’s.

Focusing largely on pre-production, this documentary provides a spectacular in-depth look at the creative process that took the titular critters from words on a script page to a foam-latex reality. Whether you already know a lot about the production or not, this documentary is a wonderful viewing experience.

A lot of fans are familiar with the fact that making Gremlins was a stressful experience for the crew. In Gremlins: A Puppet Story, the viewer gets a first-hand look at the early puppets and their limitations. We get to see the various rigs which were each designed for a single, specific action. We get a sense of the toll of uncertainty on the crew. We get to see how much work was done before the movie was green-lit (and it’s a LOT!). Have you ever wanted to see the test footage which earned that green light?
Now’s your chance! Watching the evolution of the puppets is fascinating, and underscores the incredible advances made by certain puppets later in production, namely the “super arms” and the “super gremlin”.

A Puppet Story is an intimate affair. It explores the human aspect of Gremlins as much as it does the mechanical/technical. This is not a cold, impersonal exploration of a film. This is Chris Walas’s personal story of struggle and success. The story of a largely inexperienced crew that came together to create and puppet innovative monsters the likes of which had not been seen before. Walas welcomes the viewer into his home, to tell us his story… and what a story it is!

This documentary is currently streaming for a limited time. Tickets are just $10 and benefit Hollywood Theatre. It’s only available until July 23, 2020, so don’t miss your chance to witness the creation of these iconic 80’s monsters!

Gremlins: Recall A Brand-New Fan Film

Well this is a nice Christmas bonus for us Gremlins fans!

Writer & Director Ryan Patrick has unleashed Gremlins: Recall, a modern-day take on the Gremlins concept.

With a heavy reliance on practical effects, and some great cinematography, this is an exciting addition to the Gremlins fan film collective!

Check it out on youtube below!

Then when you finish the video, check out the incredible behind-the-scenes video on how the practical puppets were made to work.

I plan on writing up a review of the fan video later this week, but while there are some cute nods to the original film, Ryan Patrick and co take this in a different direction with a different kind of sentimentality than either of the first two Gremlins films.

I hope you enjoyed the film as you can tell a lot of work was put into it.  Let me know what you think!

{Rumor Mill} Gremlins coming to LEGO Dimensions?!

Leaked footage from an upcoming LEGO Dimensions trailer, presumably planned to be featured at E3 next week has gotten the Gremlins Universe all abuzz with this one moment, screencaptured by @BrentOnInternet (https://twitter.com/BrentOnInternet/status/740347698302222336)

The rumors on multiple websites claim that the new LEGO Dimensions game will have:

Sonic the Hedgehog, Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them, Goonies, Ghostbusters, Powerpuff Girls, Adventure Time, Teen Titans and Mission Impossible

Goonies, Ghostbusters and Gremlins all in the same game? Along with Finn & Jake and the Powerpuff Girls? This can’t be. This is extremely exciting. At least we seem to have confirmation that Gremlins will be in the game, via the trailer that was quickly taken down.

More details as they become available!

Sources:

Destructoid
Brent Waller On Twitter
Press-Start

{Gremlins 3 News} ‘Gremlins’ Reboot Will Be ‘A Completely Different Direction’

Thanks to a tip from Andre Meadows (of Black Nerd Comedy fame, check him out!) it looks like the latest tidbit of news on the “New Gremlins Film” front comes from MTV News of all places.

The full article is here over at MTV.com has Gremlins screenwriter Chris Columbus stating:

“Oh, god, a completely different direction,” Columbus continued. “It’s not a remake of the first movie at all. Because the first movie’s very dear to my heart.”

That means not only will we get the same mogwai mischief, it also means that even 25 years later, you don’t want to feed them after midnight.

“It’s the same universe, the same rules, same Gremlins, but not the same,” Columbus added. “There’s elements of it. What I’ve learned — I haven’t even seen ’Star Wars’ — but what I’ve learned in the trailer is, people want to stay connected to what they fell in love with. So when I saw Harrison Ford and Chewie, I was like… I had tears in my eyes, and I think everyone collectively across the world geeked out at that moment.”

What does this mean?

Honestly, not a whole lot yet again. We know Warner Bros wants to make a new film, but a lot of stars have to align to get any movie made, let alone one of the most unique film franchises of the 80’s and 90’s . So we know there is some kind of progress, but how much? Is this just Chris trying to hype up the idea of a new film? His “Force Awakens” analogy is curious and somewhat hopeful but at the same time we don’t want to have fan service just for the sake of fan service. What if that was the only scene Chewie and Han were in in the new trilogy? Just a 5 second cameo, to make the fanboys happy. Obviously this isn’t the case, but sadly Zach and Phoebe don’t have the same effect the general populace of gasping in nerd-tastic excitement.

Chris Columbus, Joe Dante and Stephen Spielberg truly love the Gremlins franchise, this is obvious since there hasn’t been a million direct-to-video sequels starring once-relevant stars and barely having the creatures at all until the final scenes. They haven’t just sold the rights off unconditionally for a few bucks like many would have with such a difficult franchise as Gremlins. Let’s hope they keep the love for the franchise a bit longer while the Hollywood machine does its thing.

We have waited 25 years from the last Gremlins film, we can wait a few more until the next one.

Digital Spy looks at the stars of Gremlins 30 years later

Digitalspy has put up a “Where are they now” for the cast of Gremlins since it has been 30 years since the original film released. Check it out here: http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/feature/a615460/30-years-since-gremlins-stars-of-the-christmas-cult-classic-then-and-now.html

While most of the information is accurate, it doesn’t mention a few points like Glynn Turman’s role in the cult-favorite “John Dies At The End” or the Back To The future/Gremlins connections. Of course they manage to sneak in a jab at Corey Feldman’s past drug problems, and we are reminded yet again of how much the world lost an incredibly versatile talent in Hoyt Axton (Rand Peltzer in Gremlins)

This sadly seems to be more than Warner Bros has been doing to promote Gremlins’ 30th anniversary, and considering the delays on the 30th anniversary edition Gremlins Blu-Ray in some territories, it certainly feels to some fans that Gremlins is nowhere near the priority they feel it should be.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments below!

Thanks to longtime reader and contributor Aelia P. for the tip on this article! Check out her fantastic art at http://www.artbyaelia.com/