Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Encyclopedia
Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a 1990 American horror comedy film, and the sequel to Gremlins
(1984). It was directed by Joe Dante
and written by Charles S. Haas
, with creature designs by Rick Baker. It stars Zach Galligan
, Phoebe Cates
, John Glover
, Robert Prosky
, Haviland Morris
, Dick Miller
, Jackie Joseph
, Robert Picardo
and Christopher Lee
; additionally, Frank Welker
(who played Stripe in the first film) reprises his role as a gremlin. The story continues the adventures of the creature Gizmo (voiced by Howie Mandel
), who spawns numerous small monsters when wet. In the first film, Gizmo's offspring rampaged through a small fictional town. In Gremlins 2, Gizmo multiplies within a skyscraper in New York City
. The new creatures thus pose a serious threat to the city should they be able to leave the building, and much of the story involves the human characters' efforts to prevent this disaster.
As with the first film, Gremlins 2 is a live action horror comedy film; however, Dante put effort into taking the sequel in new anarchic
directions. The film is meant to be more cartoon-like than the darker original, and the violence is fairly slapstick. There are also a number of parodies of other films and stories, most notably Gremlins itself, as well as the Rambo films, The Wizard of Oz
, Marathon Man
and The Phantom of the Opera
. As with the first film, critical response varied. Some critics who thought the first film was too dark gave Gremlins 2 better reviews, but it received a colder reception from fans who thought otherwise.
), the source of the menacing Gremlins who destroyed the town, loses his home upon the death of his owner Mr. Wing (Keye Luke
) and the demolition of his antiques store. Gizmo is taken to the main office building of Clamp Enterprises in New York City
by a scientist looking for specimens, where coincidentally his old friend Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan
) and Billy's fiancee Kate (Phoebe Cates
) work after moving a few years ago; Billy regularly visits Grandpa Fred (Robert Prosky
) to give him encouragement due to his lame television gig. Billy works in the design department, where his boss, Marla Bloodstone (Haviland Morris
), constantly gives him contradictions to his work. Upon hearing a janitor whistling Gizmo's song, Billy learns he heard it in the Genetics Lab, run by Doctor Catheter (Christopher Lee
), and ends up successful in sneaking in and rescuing Gizmo. Billy hides Gizmo in one of his desk drawers just as to everyone's surprise, the owner of the company, eccentric Daniel Clamp (John Glover
) arrives, having decided to take a more direct interest in the affairs of his workers. Becoming quickly impressed with one of Billy's sketches for a recent project, Clamp befriends Billy, seeing him as an ideal worker. Marla, impressed with Billy, invites him to dinner to discuss their future employment.
Before heading out, Billy informs Katie of Gizmo's presence, and after calming her down and re-explaining the rules about Mogwai, heads off to dinner. Gizmo, in the meantime, accidentally gets wet due to a janitor's poor attempt to fix a drinking fountain, and spawns a new batch of Mogwai - duo George and Lenny, insane Daffy, and their sadistic leader Mohawk (reminiscent of Stripe in the first film, and also voiced by Frank Welker
). Gizmo is imprisoned by George, Lenny, and Mohawk in the building's central air system and leave while Daffy ruins Billy's sketches. Katie arrives and mistakes Daffy for Gizmo and takes him home. However, when Billy returns, after dodging Marla's attempt to seduce him, they realize other Mogwai must still be in the Clamp building and might feed after midnight. They take Daffy as proof in case none believes them if things get out of hand, but Daffy escapes. Billy attempts to prevent them from multiplying by breaking into the main valve for the water, but is quickly arrested, unaware that the other Mogwai have cocooned themselves on the pipes above him.
The next day, Billy is bailed out of jail by Katie and they begin focusing on clearing out the building before the Gremlins hatch from their cocoons. However, it is too late, the Gremlins have hatched and have found Gizmo; Mohawk begins torturing Gizmo for enjoyment while the other Gremlins begin causing mayhem with the automated systems. Billy and Katie buy some gift shop flashlights and split up; Katie meets Marla and becomes convinced Billy is having an affair, telling him that he is in trouble if they survive the Gremlins (again). She goes about her job while Billy attempts to convince security about the Gremlins, but is met with constant jokes and questions about them. Mohawk bursts from one of the control panels and injures one of the techs before being chased off by Billy. In the meantime, Katie has brought a tour group to a cookery show, but finds George, Lenny and Daffy ruining the program. They load microwave with metal, causing it to explode and triggering the sprinkler systems, causing them to multiply into a huge army of Gremlins and making everyone flee the scene.
Their multiplication is caught by security and the head of security, Forster (Robert Picardo
), decides Mr Clamp needs to be informed of the chaos. Katie tries to use an elevator to meet up with Billy, but finds the Gremlins have taken it over and stalled it; Daffy's tinkering with the elevator causes it to crash into the ground floor, with the other Gremlins acting as a cushion of green goo. In the meantime, Clamp is attacked by a Gremlin who replaced his secretary (whose fate is left unclear) and succeeds in forcing it through a shredder. Billy and Forster arrive, informing Clamp of the impending danger posed by the Gremlins. Clamp firmly believes in not involving the police to avoid bad press, instead, he plans on having Billy and Forster solve the problem before things get too out of hand.
Elsewhere, the Gremlins' chaos has become public as their first at is to pummel movie critic Leonard Maltin
, who detests the first film, saying that it is senseless violence from mean-spirited, ugly creatures. Others have infiltrated the Genetics lab and have begun drinking the various mutagenic formulas there, much to the confusion of the scientists. Catheter believes his assistants have made a massive blunder, noticing one of the Gremlins has drunk a formula that increases intelligence. Said Brain Gremlin (voiced by Tony Randall
) explains that their bodies allow quick evolution through introduced formulas, allowing his intelligence, another Gremlin to become a being of living electricity, another a living vegetable garden, and other has its face burned by acid (mimicking the Phantom of the Opera). Yet another Gremlin drinks a formula, but gains the features of a bat this time; the Brain Gremlin gives him "genetic sunblock", allowing the Bat Gremlin to fly outside in daylight without dying, asking him to see the city for them. Brain Gremlin takes some of the others to a stock exchange in the building, where he advises a caller to "invest in canned food and shotguns" while the rest enter the lobby and chase everyone out. Katie runs through the chaos (kicking another Flasher Gremlin) and activates the long-winded fire alarm, alerting everyone above to leave the building.
Outside, the Bat Gremlin attacks the Futtermans Murray and Sheila (Dick Miller
and Jackie Joseph
), Billy's neighbours from Kingston Falls who have come over for a visit, but Murray Futterman covers it in cement, turning it into a new gargoyle
for the church. Back in the Clamp building, the Gremlins have begun helping themselves to the merchandise left behind, enjoying themselves. Billy and Forster meet up with Catheter and try to convince him that the Gremlins are not a by-product of one of his experiments.
At this time, the film, quite literally, rips in half and nothing but a white screen is seen with Gremlin hands making shadow puppets (they have broken the fourth wall
). They then put on a nude female volleyball movie instead. A mother in the theater demands management do something about the Gremlins as a man from the projector room runs down, complaining that the Gremlins want to watch "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" instead. Unfazed, the manager Paul Bartel
calmly asks patron Hulk Hogan
to scare the Gremlins into putting the film back on. Succesful in imtimidating the Gremlins, Hogan appologises for the interruption of the film and promises it will not happen again (possibly an indirect threat to the Gremlins).
With the film back on, Grandpa Fred notices the Gremlins have stopped all the channels and decides that he needs to cover the story from within the building as everyone else has fled. Taking a tourist with a camera, Fred begins his anchor career. Billy, Forster and Catheter arrive at the lab to retrieve ammunition to kill the Gremlins, but the Electric Gremlin kills Catheter before being sucked into the phone by Billy. Forster, on the other hand, is sexually attacked by a Gremlin turned female by drinking one of the formulas and is forced to flee. Mohawk arrives and shoots at Billy, but ends up hurting a fellow Gremlin instead, much to its and the other Gremlins' amusement; Billy flees safely. Taking a spider formula, Mohawk goes into a hallway and drinks it.
In the meantime, Clamp has cleaned himself after his first Gremlin encounter and notices Fred anchoring on his only broadcasting channel, telling people about the Gremlins' existence, much to his surprise now that he can't keep it a secret. Gizmo, meanwhile, has been left alone and finally snaps, deciding it was time to fight back against the Gremlins and begins training himself. Billy meets back up with Clamp, explaining it will by doomsday if the Gremlins get outside and that they are only in the building due to sunlight's effect on them; the Electric Gremlin attacks, but Billy manages to place it on hold in Clamp's answering machine. Clamp decides to air his "end of the world" tape, but Billy assures him of a plan to fast-forward the clocks 3 hours to trick the Gremlins into gathering in the lobby to be boiled alive. Clamp decides to use his secret escape route and assures Billy that he'll come up with an optical illusion to trick the Gremlins.
Keeping the reporters null on facts, Clamp heads off to get preparations ready; Mr Futterman uses the secret exit to sneak back in to help Billy. In the meantime, Kate and Marla become trapped in spider webs created by Mohawk, where Marla reveals that she hadn't done anything with Billy; she only saw him as a way to get a better job. Elsewhere, Billy was knocked out by Daffy and almost subjected to unneeded dental care before Futterman saves him. Fred, interested in Brain Gremlin's intelligence, talks to him on a talk show and learns the Gremlins wish to have a "civilization" of their own, but their murderous tendencies cause them to falter.
Elsewhere, a now centaur-like spider Mohawk has found prey in his web and began advancing on them. However, Gizmo busts through one of the vents and sets him on fire, killing his torturer. Reunited with Billy and Futterman, Marla and Katie learn of the plan to fry the Gremlins by tricking them with a large prop of night-time New York. However, it begins to rain outside, making the plan a failure.
In the meantime, the Brain Gremlin has gathered his kin in the lobby (where Fred and his camera man hid in garbage bins), having them begin their own rendition of New York, New York
with some other songs. Billy improvises a plan B; soak the Gremlins and releases the Electric one from the phone line to fry them. The plan goes off without a hitch, the Gremlins die (some comically) as Brain Gremlin finishes the song. Nothing remains of the Gremlins but the puddles of goo.
Clamp arrives with armed men a bit too late and slips in the goo. Billy introduces Gizmo to Clamp, who gets a new idea: suction cup furry toys modeled after him. He also, gives Clamp the picture of his home town to wipe off with, but Clamp has another idea: he wants to build a quiet town just like it for his next project as it is just the thing he's been looking for. He promotes Billy to head of the design department with an increase in his pay, makes Marla his human relations person, and makes Fred a proper anchor, giving him a credit card to go shopping for a proper look.
Clamp receives a call from Forster that says he is trapped high up in the bathroom; he gives Forster half a day off and informs him that they will soon be up. It is then revealed Forster has been cornered in the bathroom by the female Gremlin, who was not in the lobby, who wishes to marry him. Forster seemingly gives up on resisting her and decides to go along with the "marriage".
Jerry Goldsmith
as cameos as a yogurt customer. John Astin
cameos as a Janitor. Henry Gibson
cameos as an employee that gets fired for smoking. Rick Ducommun
cameos as a security guard. Joe Dante
cameos as the director of Grandpa Fred's show. Dick Butkus
and Bubba Smith
cameo as themselves getting attacked at the salad bar.
by Chuck Jones
in the film featuring the Looney Tunes
characters Bugs Bunny
, Daffy Duck
and Porky Pig
. Jones had actually quit animation before returning to work on Gremlins 2. Dante explained the animation at the beginning of the film was meant to "set the anarchic tone."
The first scene appears at the very beginning of the movie, and features the classic "Looney Tunes" opening card, causing people to assume it is the short cartoon that usually plays before a movie begins; however, when Bugs Bunny appears on top of the WB shield, Daffy interrupts the intro, and steals the shield from Bugs. Daffy attempts to recreate the opening with himself in place of Bugs Bunny, but the shield overshoots, causing the entire title card to fall apart. Daffy surrenders the stardom, claiming that since he won't star in the cartoon, they might as well just skip straight to the movie. Bugs is willing to do so, and spins Daffy off screen for the movie title to appear.
The DVD includes a longer version of the cartoon short. In it, Daffy is informed by Bugs that he has been promoted to executive and is subsequently put in charge writing the title of the movie. When Daffy mistakenly writes the title Gremlins 2 as "Gremlin Stew", Bugs corrects the error. Daffy then attempts to rename the film The Return of Super-Daffy Meets Gremlins 2 Part 6: The Movie, but Bugs rejects this for being too long, changing it back to Gremlins 2 (rendered in the font of the official logo). Daffy then quits his new job and Bugs decides to add in the subtitle, saying it looks "a little skimpy". This material was removed from the film because early audiences expected a live-action film and were bewildered by the lengthy animated sequence.
asked its director Joe Dante to make a sequel straight away. Dante declined, because he saw Gremlins as having a proper ending, and thus a sequel would only be meant to be profitable. Moreover, the original film was a taxing experience for Dante, and he wanted to move on. Work on Gremlins 2 continued without him, as the studio approached various directors and writers. Storylines considered included sending the gremlins to cities like Las Vegas
or even the planet Mars. After these ideas fell through, the studio returned to Dante, who agreed to make the sequel after receiving the rare promise of having complete creative control over the movie; he also received a budget triple that of the original film's. Dante later acknowledged that by this point too much time had passed between the films, thus possibly reducing Gremlins 2s appeal.
Gremlins 2 was shot in New York in June 1989, the film was released in 1990, and as the filmmakers later noted, this was a time when cable television, genetics, and frozen yogurt were becoming more common and influential. This left a mark on Gremlins 2. Gremlins 2 exaggerated what could be seen on cable television at the time, although as the filmmakers noted in 2002, that humour might be lost on present-day audiences. Cable television later grew to provide the same variety. Genetics in 1990 is reflected in the laboratory scene in Gremlins 2, and frozen yogurt is what the mogwai eat after midnight.
The recommended screenwriter, Charlie Haas, brought to the project the basic storyline of moving the gremlins to New York City, and he also imagined a corporate head (the character Clamp) being Billy's boss and at the center of the new disaster. When the Warner Bros. executives grew concerned about the expense of portraying the gremlins attacking an entire city, Haas came up with the idea of confining the action within Daniel Clamp's "smart building". Haas also included a great deal of material in his screenplay that proved too elaborate to produce, including having a cow–hamster hybrid running on a treadmill in the laboratory.
In keeping with Dante's desires to satirize the original film, the sequel has some meta-reference
s and self-referential humor
. These include a cameo appearance by film critic Leonard Maltin
. He holds up a copy of the original Gremlins home video and denounces it, just as he had in reality; however, his rant is cut short when gremlins pounce on him. Partly for this scene, one academic called Dante "one of contemporary cinema's great pranksters".
Additionally, when Billy is trying to explain the rules regarding the mogwai to staff in the building, the staff find them quite absurd and derisively interrogate Billy on their precise meaning; at one point considering the thought experiment
of a mogwai in a plane which crosses a time zone. This scene originates from the fact that the filmmakers themselves saw the rules as irrational, and some questions in the scene were based upon those raised by fans of the original film.
At one point in the film, Dante attempted to involve his audience in the story by making it seem as if the gremlins had taken control of the theatre where Gremlins 2 was showing. The film strip appears to be broken by the gremlins, who then engage in shadow puppetry
over a white screen. Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan
then appears in a cameo appearance and intimidates the gremlins into running the rest of Gremlins 2. This joke was inspired by a similar stunt in William Castle
's film The Tingler
(1959). The studio feared that people might leave the theatre if they thought the film had broken; Dante therefore secured the inclusion of the sequence by assembling some people for a preview of the film. When the scene was shown, the real-life audience found it enjoyable and stayed in the theatre. Dante later described this scene as one of the most widely enjoyed jokes in Gremlins 2. When Gremlins 2 made its debut on home video, the filmmakers altered the scene, to make it seem as if the viewer's VCR had been broken by the gremlins. This time actor John Wayne
forces the gremlins into continuing the film, although voice impersonation was needed since Wayne had been dead since 1979. Notably, a clip from Falling Hare
, a film released in 1943 featuring Bugs Bunny and a gremlin, appears in this version.
The original version of the film was longer, but executive producer Steven Spielberg
claimed that there were too many gremlins, and several scenes were cut as a result. One deleted scene portrayed three of the main gremlins, Daffy, Lenny, and George, sneaking into television host Grandpa Fred's studio and "helping" him host, acting on the premise that Grandpa Fred's show was intended to be scary.
Jackie Joseph returned to play Mr. Futterman's wife. Keye Luke also returned to play Mr. Wing, Gizmo's original owner. When Luke heard his character would die in Gremlins 2, he quipped, "Remember, when you make Gremlins 3, I'm a flashback!". Hoyt Axton
was meant to return as Billy's father, the inventor. He would have appeared at the end of the film, having designed special clothing for Gizmo that would ensure Gizmo would never come into contact with water again. At the last moment, the filmmakers decided not to shoot the scene to reduce time.
New performers included Robert Picardo
, who had previously worked with Dante and producer Michael Finnell
in films such as The Howling
(1981). He plays Forster, one of Billy's crueler bosses. Robert Prosky
played Grandpa Fred, a television host, and his character was based upon Al Lewis's character Grandpa Munster
. Joe Dante has a brief cameo as the director of Grandpa Fred's show. John Glover
played Clamp (character based upon Donald Trump
and Ted Turner
) and brought to the role an enthusiastic innocence that overrode the fact that his character had been written as a villain
, which Dante thought lightened the film in general.
Christopher Lee (who previously worked with Spielberg in 1941
) played the mad scientist
Dr. Catheter. Lee imagined his role as light-hearted; but Dante encouraged him to portray the scientist as evil
to better match the atmosphere of the laboratory set. Lee was revered on the set for his experience. In a deleted scene, Dr. Catheter examines a bat
injected with "genetic sun-block". He then says to his colleague, "I'm told they sometimes feed on blood"; this is a reference to Lee's performances as Count Dracula
in the Hammer Horror
films. Later, as the Bat Gremlin is transforming, Dr. Catheter experiences Deja-vu (the audience hears Dracula
music).
s, the original film relied on Chris Walas
, who moved on to pursue a directing career. Dante turned to Academy Award-winner Rick Baker
to create the effects for Gremlins 2. Baker was not interested, as he saw Gremlins 2 as too much work for a project in which he would not be the creator but rather a successor to Walas. He was eventually persuaded to accept the job when it was suggested he could make the gremlins and mogwai more diverse.
In the first film, when Gizmo multiplied, his off-spring closely resembled himself, except for the leader, Stripe. Here, the four mogwai Gizmo produces each possess their own distinct personalities and physical features. Additionally, each mogwai has a name, although the names were used in the script and never spoken aloud in the film. Two of the mogwais were George, black without a stripe and a caricature of Edward G. Robinson
, and Lenny, buck-toothed, named for the principal characters in Of Mice and Men
, whom they resemble in both appearance and demeanor. Daffy was named for his manic behaviour, and the leader, Mohawk, for his mohawk hairstyle
. Based on the original film's character, Stripe, Frank Welker
also voices Mohawk. While both the mogwai and gremlin versions of Stripe had fur stripes, Baker hit upon the idea of giving the Mohawk mogwai a fur stripe and giving the Mohawk gremlin something scalier. Gizmo was also redesigned; the puppet was generally larger and its design was simplified. Dante commented Gizmo may look less real in Gremlins 2, but the result was that Gizmo could convey more emotion
.
Later on, when the mogwai evolve into gremlins and multiply, they further diversify by running amok in the bio-lab and ingesting various drugs. One turns into a sunlight-resistant hybrid with a bat, thus becoming the Bat Gremlin. Mohawk becomes part-spider
. One becomes part-vegetable (Vegetable Gremlin, as Dante named it), and another consumes a drug and turns into a femlin
, referred to in at least one script as the "Girl Gremlin" and in the official trading card series and other promotional materials as "Lady Gremlina" with shiny red lips and mascara. Yet another has acid thrown onto his face, quickly presenting a mask of the Phantom of the Opera
.
As with the first, puppetry
was involved, and some of the puppets were mechanical. An actor holding a puppet would have to have wires strapped to him. Gremlins 2 also includes more stop motion
animation than the first film; the Bat Gremlin was portrayed through some stop motion animation. Film technology since the original had improved, and as a result the creatures can be seen walking more. Gizmo is able to dance, although this scene took the longest to make. Because there are more gremlins in Gremlins 2 than the original, additional filming lasted five months. Many of the effects had to be completed after the actors had finished their work.
, who also has a cameo in the film alongside his wife. In the latter half of the film, Gizmo, inspired by the Rambo films and tired of the abuse he has suffered at the hands of the gremlins, takes revenge on Mohawk. Gizmo shoots the Mohawk spider-gremlin with a makeshift bow and flaming arrow. For the scene in which Gizmo prepares for this move, Goldsmith – who had also authored the music in the Rambo films – employed a variant of Gizmo's theme in the style of the Rambo theme. The soundtrack was released 31 August 1990 through Varèse Sarabande
and features twelve tracks of score at a running time just under forty minutes.
The scene featuring Mohawk transforming into a spider-like monster features a portion of the song "Angel of Death
" by thrash metal band Slayer
. In another scene, the Brain Gremlin leads hundreds of gremlins to sing Frank Sinatra
's "New York, New York
". Dante claimed that "The musical number is a shameless steal" from the film Dames
(1934).
. Roger Ebert
, who had approved of the first film, observed that Gremlins 2 was meant to satirize sequels. Nevertheless, he felt it did not manage to differentiate itself from the original enough and was not as good. He went on to claim that the film lacks a well-constructed plot, and once the gremlins arrived the film simply becomes a "series of gags." He thus gave the film two and a half stars, out of a possible four.
Hal Hinson of The Washington Post caught on to how the Looney Tunes animation is meant to imply "anarchic wit," but nevertheless felt both the cartoon short and the film itself are failures. He saw the beginning as too slow and, like Ebert, thought the film is too similar to the first. Hinson did, however, approve of the characterization of the gremlins and their version of "New York, New York." He also noted that turning the gremlins against Clamp resembles anti-corporate "poetic justice."
In contrast, while one reviewer for Films in Review, like Ebert, argued the film resembles the original and abandons its plot when the gremlins arrive, he also felt the film's appeal could be found partly in its self-consciousness of these facts and its in-jokes and satire. He also complimented Cates as "wholesomely bewitching," and Galligan as "a suitably naive foil for the scaly fiends."
Desson Howe of The Washington Post also approved of the film, including its special effects and the parodies of Trump, Turner, genetics labs, cable television, and the film Marathon Man
.
Some critics thought the film has qualities the original lacked, such as wit. A critic for National Review called the film "much freer and wittier than the first one," though he felt the sequel shies away from becoming an important piece of satire.
The cover of an issue of Entertainment Weekly
in July 1990 also exclaimed that "actor John Glover... and director Joe Dante made Gremlins 2 wittier, better, and more subversive than the original." Some critics who found the first film too dark also gave Gremlins 2 more positive reviews. Leonard Maltin, who appears in the film, gave it three out of four stars for its references to other films, Glover's imitation of Turner and Trump, and Lee's performance.
An Allmovie critic complimented the sequel by saying the "original's violence and mean-spiritedness are gone, making this follow-up somewhat more kid-friendly." The film was nominated for several Saturn Award
s, namely for Best Director, Best Fantasy Film, Best Music, and Best Special Effects. Glover and Picardo were both nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award.
Still, the film did not perform as well at the box office. The trailer introduced the film to audiences by displaying a surface of water intercut with scenes from the original. A narrator goes over the rules regarding how to safely handle mogwai. After the narrator says, "You didn't listen [to the rules]," scenes from the sequel are shown, revealing the gremlins morphing into strange new creatures and then ending with the Brain Gremlin speaking. Gremlins 2 was released into US theatres on June 15, 1990, the same day as Dick Tracy. In its first weekend it made $9,702,804, and it ultimately made $41,482,207. It was thus only the thirty-first highest grossing film of the year, behind a few other films in the comedy, horror or fantasy genre, such as Back to the Future Part III
($87,727,583), Edward Scissorhands
($56,362,352), and Arachnophobia
($53,208,180). It did, however, outperform Predator 2
($30,669,413), Child's Play 2
($28,501,605) and The Exorcist III
($26,098,824).
Gremlins 2 also played in other countries. Canadian audiences reportedly enjoyed one scene in which Billy and his boss meet at a Canadian-themed restaurant, where the waiters are dressed like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
. The film was released in Norway on July 5, Finland on July 6, Colombia on July 12, and much of Europe in the rest of July, including in the United Kingdom and Spain on July 27. It opened in France and Argentina in August and reached Australia on September 20. It earned £7,400,000 in the United Kingdom. Later, the film made an additional $20,800,000 in rental stores.
The new merchandise released alongside the film included PVC figures, plush, and other collectibles by the now-defunct Applause company in 1990. Much later, action figures by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association
(NECA Toys) based on characters such as the Brain and Mohawk Gremlins were released. NECA is also releasing mogwais and gremlins from the film in late 2011 an 2012; there will be mogwai and gremlin versions of Daffy, Lenny and George, as well as a mogwai version of Mohawk. The Electric gremlin, flasher gremlin and the Phantom of the Opera gremlin will also be released in action figure form by NECA. There are also newer versions of Gizmo being released, including his Rambo look. Greta, a newer version of Mohawk and Mohawk in Spider form are also being planned for the future.
There were also children's books like Gremlins 2: The New Batch: Movie Storybook, by Michael Teitelbaum, published by Goldencraft in December 1990. Golden Books published Gizmo to Rescue in July 1990. David Bischoff
wrote a novel based on the film published by Avon Books in June 1990. A unique aspect of the novel is how Bischoff adapts the sequence where the film breaks. In the novel, the Brain Gremlin subdues and locks Bischoff in his bathroom before taking the reins for a little bit to explain that the Gremlins take over at this point in the film, his displeasure at Bischoff using the nickname "Mr. Glasses" instead of his official name, and begins a treatise on politics before Bischoff breaks his way out of the bathroom with an axe and subdues the Brain Gremlin. The novel then continues where the film picked up after the film break.
The Spanish company Topo Soft
developed a sidescrolling Gremlins 2: The New Batch video game for Amiga
, Atari ST
, Commodore 64
, DOS
, MSX
, Amstrad CPC
and the ZX Spectrum
, distributed by Erbe Software in Spain and by Elite
abroad, being the first time a Spanish video game company got an exclusive license from a Hollywood movie to make a videogame. Hi-Tech Expressions also released a DOS game at around the same time, but it was poorly received. Sunsoft released versions for the Nintendo Entertainment System
and Game Boy
in 1990.
Gremlins
Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante, released by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature—called a Mogwai—as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel,...
(1984). It was directed by Joe Dante
Joe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
and written by Charles S. Haas
Charles S. Haas
Charles S. Haas , also known as Charles Haas or Charlie Haas, is an American screenwriter and actor, and novelist....
, with creature designs by Rick Baker. It stars Zach Galligan
Zach Galligan
Zachary Wolfe "Zach" Galligan is an American actor.-Biography:Galligan was born in New York City, the son of Carol Jean , a psychologist, and Arthur John Galligan, a lawyer who was a founding partner of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro. He has a sister, Jessica, and attended Columbia University...
, Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
, John Glover
John Glover (actor)
John Soursby Glover Jr. is an American actor, perhaps best known for a range of villainous roles in films and television, including Lionel Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville.-Personal life:...
, Robert Prosky
Robert Prosky
Robert Prosky was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:Prosky, a Polish American, was born Robert Joseph Porzuczek in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Helen and Joseph Porzuczek. His father was a grocer and butcher...
, Haviland Morris
Haviland Morris
Haviland Morris is an American film, television, and Broadway actress.-Early life:Morris was born in New Jersey and spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong. Her father worked in the electronics industry...
, Dick Miller
Dick Miller
Richard "Dick" Miller is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 films, particularly those produced by Roger Corman, and later in films of directors who started their careers with Corman, including James Cameron and Joe Dante, with the distinction of appearing in every film made...
, Jackie Joseph
Jackie Joseph
Jackie Joseph is an American character actress, voice artist, and writer known for portraying the film characters of: Audrey Fulquard in the original The Little Shop of Horrors, Sheila Futterman in both Gremlins films, and the voice of Melody in the animated television series Josie and the...
, Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
and Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
; additionally, Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
(who played Stripe in the first film) reprises his role as a gremlin. The story continues the adventures of the creature Gizmo (voiced by Howie Mandel
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
), who spawns numerous small monsters when wet. In the first film, Gizmo's offspring rampaged through a small fictional town. In Gremlins 2, Gizmo multiplies within a skyscraper in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The new creatures thus pose a serious threat to the city should they be able to leave the building, and much of the story involves the human characters' efforts to prevent this disaster.
As with the first film, Gremlins 2 is a live action horror comedy film; however, Dante put effort into taking the sequel in new anarchic
Anarchic comedy film
Anarchic comedy is a genre of cinema using nonsensical, stream-of-consciousness humor. Films of this nature stem from a theatrical history of anarchic comedy on the stage. Jokes and visual gags are utilized, usually in a non sequitur manner that eschews narrative for sheer absurdity...
directions. The film is meant to be more cartoon-like than the darker original, and the violence is fairly slapstick. There are also a number of parodies of other films and stories, most notably Gremlins itself, as well as the Rambo films, The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, Marathon Man
Marathon Man (film)
Marathon Man is a 1976 thriller film based on the novel of the same name by William Goldman. The film was directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, and Laurence Olivier. The original music score was composed by Michael Small....
and The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera
Le Fantôme de l'Opéra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910...
. As with the first film, critical response varied. Some critics who thought the first film was too dark gave Gremlins 2 better reviews, but it received a colder reception from fans who thought otherwise.
Plot
Several years after the destruction of Kingston Falls, the mogwai Gizmo (voiced by Howie MandelHowie Mandel
Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
), the source of the menacing Gremlins who destroyed the town, loses his home upon the death of his owner Mr. Wing (Keye Luke
Keye Luke
Keye Luke was a Chinese-born American actor. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed with RKO, Universal and, later, MGM and is generally acknowledged as the leading Asian-American actor of this era of American cinema.-Background:...
) and the demolition of his antiques store. Gizmo is taken to the main office building of Clamp Enterprises in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by a scientist looking for specimens, where coincidentally his old friend Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan
Zach Galligan
Zachary Wolfe "Zach" Galligan is an American actor.-Biography:Galligan was born in New York City, the son of Carol Jean , a psychologist, and Arthur John Galligan, a lawyer who was a founding partner of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro. He has a sister, Jessica, and attended Columbia University...
) and Billy's fiancee Kate (Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
) work after moving a few years ago; Billy regularly visits Grandpa Fred (Robert Prosky
Robert Prosky
Robert Prosky was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:Prosky, a Polish American, was born Robert Joseph Porzuczek in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Helen and Joseph Porzuczek. His father was a grocer and butcher...
) to give him encouragement due to his lame television gig. Billy works in the design department, where his boss, Marla Bloodstone (Haviland Morris
Haviland Morris
Haviland Morris is an American film, television, and Broadway actress.-Early life:Morris was born in New Jersey and spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong. Her father worked in the electronics industry...
), constantly gives him contradictions to his work. Upon hearing a janitor whistling Gizmo's song, Billy learns he heard it in the Genetics Lab, run by Doctor Catheter (Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
), and ends up successful in sneaking in and rescuing Gizmo. Billy hides Gizmo in one of his desk drawers just as to everyone's surprise, the owner of the company, eccentric Daniel Clamp (John Glover
John Glover (actor)
John Soursby Glover Jr. is an American actor, perhaps best known for a range of villainous roles in films and television, including Lionel Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville.-Personal life:...
) arrives, having decided to take a more direct interest in the affairs of his workers. Becoming quickly impressed with one of Billy's sketches for a recent project, Clamp befriends Billy, seeing him as an ideal worker. Marla, impressed with Billy, invites him to dinner to discuss their future employment.
Before heading out, Billy informs Katie of Gizmo's presence, and after calming her down and re-explaining the rules about Mogwai, heads off to dinner. Gizmo, in the meantime, accidentally gets wet due to a janitor's poor attempt to fix a drinking fountain, and spawns a new batch of Mogwai - duo George and Lenny, insane Daffy, and their sadistic leader Mohawk (reminiscent of Stripe in the first film, and also voiced by Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
). Gizmo is imprisoned by George, Lenny, and Mohawk in the building's central air system and leave while Daffy ruins Billy's sketches. Katie arrives and mistakes Daffy for Gizmo and takes him home. However, when Billy returns, after dodging Marla's attempt to seduce him, they realize other Mogwai must still be in the Clamp building and might feed after midnight. They take Daffy as proof in case none believes them if things get out of hand, but Daffy escapes. Billy attempts to prevent them from multiplying by breaking into the main valve for the water, but is quickly arrested, unaware that the other Mogwai have cocooned themselves on the pipes above him.
The next day, Billy is bailed out of jail by Katie and they begin focusing on clearing out the building before the Gremlins hatch from their cocoons. However, it is too late, the Gremlins have hatched and have found Gizmo; Mohawk begins torturing Gizmo for enjoyment while the other Gremlins begin causing mayhem with the automated systems. Billy and Katie buy some gift shop flashlights and split up; Katie meets Marla and becomes convinced Billy is having an affair, telling him that he is in trouble if they survive the Gremlins (again). She goes about her job while Billy attempts to convince security about the Gremlins, but is met with constant jokes and questions about them. Mohawk bursts from one of the control panels and injures one of the techs before being chased off by Billy. In the meantime, Katie has brought a tour group to a cookery show, but finds George, Lenny and Daffy ruining the program. They load microwave with metal, causing it to explode and triggering the sprinkler systems, causing them to multiply into a huge army of Gremlins and making everyone flee the scene.
Their multiplication is caught by security and the head of security, Forster (Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
), decides Mr Clamp needs to be informed of the chaos. Katie tries to use an elevator to meet up with Billy, but finds the Gremlins have taken it over and stalled it; Daffy's tinkering with the elevator causes it to crash into the ground floor, with the other Gremlins acting as a cushion of green goo. In the meantime, Clamp is attacked by a Gremlin who replaced his secretary (whose fate is left unclear) and succeeds in forcing it through a shredder. Billy and Forster arrive, informing Clamp of the impending danger posed by the Gremlins. Clamp firmly believes in not involving the police to avoid bad press, instead, he plans on having Billy and Forster solve the problem before things get too out of hand.
Elsewhere, the Gremlins' chaos has become public as their first at is to pummel movie critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
, who detests the first film, saying that it is senseless violence from mean-spirited, ugly creatures. Others have infiltrated the Genetics lab and have begun drinking the various mutagenic formulas there, much to the confusion of the scientists. Catheter believes his assistants have made a massive blunder, noticing one of the Gremlins has drunk a formula that increases intelligence. Said Brain Gremlin (voiced by Tony Randall
Tony Randall
Tony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...
) explains that their bodies allow quick evolution through introduced formulas, allowing his intelligence, another Gremlin to become a being of living electricity, another a living vegetable garden, and other has its face burned by acid (mimicking the Phantom of the Opera). Yet another Gremlin drinks a formula, but gains the features of a bat this time; the Brain Gremlin gives him "genetic sunblock", allowing the Bat Gremlin to fly outside in daylight without dying, asking him to see the city for them. Brain Gremlin takes some of the others to a stock exchange in the building, where he advises a caller to "invest in canned food and shotguns" while the rest enter the lobby and chase everyone out. Katie runs through the chaos (kicking another Flasher Gremlin) and activates the long-winded fire alarm, alerting everyone above to leave the building.
Outside, the Bat Gremlin attacks the Futtermans Murray and Sheila (Dick Miller
Dick Miller
Richard "Dick" Miller is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 films, particularly those produced by Roger Corman, and later in films of directors who started their careers with Corman, including James Cameron and Joe Dante, with the distinction of appearing in every film made...
and Jackie Joseph
Jackie Joseph
Jackie Joseph is an American character actress, voice artist, and writer known for portraying the film characters of: Audrey Fulquard in the original The Little Shop of Horrors, Sheila Futterman in both Gremlins films, and the voice of Melody in the animated television series Josie and the...
), Billy's neighbours from Kingston Falls who have come over for a visit, but Murray Futterman covers it in cement, turning it into a new gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
for the church. Back in the Clamp building, the Gremlins have begun helping themselves to the merchandise left behind, enjoying themselves. Billy and Forster meet up with Catheter and try to convince him that the Gremlins are not a by-product of one of his experiments.
At this time, the film, quite literally, rips in half and nothing but a white screen is seen with Gremlin hands making shadow puppets (they have broken the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
). They then put on a nude female volleyball movie instead. A mother in the theater demands management do something about the Gremlins as a man from the projector room runs down, complaining that the Gremlins want to watch "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" instead. Unfazed, the manager Paul Bartel
Paul Bartel
Paul Bartel was an American actor, writer and director. Bartel was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy Eating Raoul, which he wrote, starred in and directed.-Life and career:...
calmly asks patron Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
to scare the Gremlins into putting the film back on. Succesful in imtimidating the Gremlins, Hogan appologises for the interruption of the film and promises it will not happen again (possibly an indirect threat to the Gremlins).
With the film back on, Grandpa Fred notices the Gremlins have stopped all the channels and decides that he needs to cover the story from within the building as everyone else has fled. Taking a tourist with a camera, Fred begins his anchor career. Billy, Forster and Catheter arrive at the lab to retrieve ammunition to kill the Gremlins, but the Electric Gremlin kills Catheter before being sucked into the phone by Billy. Forster, on the other hand, is sexually attacked by a Gremlin turned female by drinking one of the formulas and is forced to flee. Mohawk arrives and shoots at Billy, but ends up hurting a fellow Gremlin instead, much to its and the other Gremlins' amusement; Billy flees safely. Taking a spider formula, Mohawk goes into a hallway and drinks it.
In the meantime, Clamp has cleaned himself after his first Gremlin encounter and notices Fred anchoring on his only broadcasting channel, telling people about the Gremlins' existence, much to his surprise now that he can't keep it a secret. Gizmo, meanwhile, has been left alone and finally snaps, deciding it was time to fight back against the Gremlins and begins training himself. Billy meets back up with Clamp, explaining it will by doomsday if the Gremlins get outside and that they are only in the building due to sunlight's effect on them; the Electric Gremlin attacks, but Billy manages to place it on hold in Clamp's answering machine. Clamp decides to air his "end of the world" tape, but Billy assures him of a plan to fast-forward the clocks 3 hours to trick the Gremlins into gathering in the lobby to be boiled alive. Clamp decides to use his secret escape route and assures Billy that he'll come up with an optical illusion to trick the Gremlins.
Keeping the reporters null on facts, Clamp heads off to get preparations ready; Mr Futterman uses the secret exit to sneak back in to help Billy. In the meantime, Kate and Marla become trapped in spider webs created by Mohawk, where Marla reveals that she hadn't done anything with Billy; she only saw him as a way to get a better job. Elsewhere, Billy was knocked out by Daffy and almost subjected to unneeded dental care before Futterman saves him. Fred, interested in Brain Gremlin's intelligence, talks to him on a talk show and learns the Gremlins wish to have a "civilization" of their own, but their murderous tendencies cause them to falter.
Elsewhere, a now centaur-like spider Mohawk has found prey in his web and began advancing on them. However, Gizmo busts through one of the vents and sets him on fire, killing his torturer. Reunited with Billy and Futterman, Marla and Katie learn of the plan to fry the Gremlins by tricking them with a large prop of night-time New York. However, it begins to rain outside, making the plan a failure.
In the meantime, the Brain Gremlin has gathered his kin in the lobby (where Fred and his camera man hid in garbage bins), having them begin their own rendition of New York, New York
Theme from New York, New York
"Theme from New York, New York" is the theme song from the Martin Scorsese film New York, New York , composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. It was written for and performed in the film by Liza Minnelli...
with some other songs. Billy improvises a plan B; soak the Gremlins and releases the Electric one from the phone line to fry them. The plan goes off without a hitch, the Gremlins die (some comically) as Brain Gremlin finishes the song. Nothing remains of the Gremlins but the puddles of goo.
Clamp arrives with armed men a bit too late and slips in the goo. Billy introduces Gizmo to Clamp, who gets a new idea: suction cup furry toys modeled after him. He also, gives Clamp the picture of his home town to wipe off with, but Clamp has another idea: he wants to build a quiet town just like it for his next project as it is just the thing he's been looking for. He promotes Billy to head of the design department with an increase in his pay, makes Marla his human relations person, and makes Fred a proper anchor, giving him a credit card to go shopping for a proper look.
Clamp receives a call from Forster that says he is trapped high up in the bathroom; he gives Forster half a day off and informs him that they will soon be up. It is then revealed Forster has been cornered in the bathroom by the female Gremlin, who was not in the lobby, who wishes to marry him. Forster seemingly gives up on resisting her and decides to go along with the "marriage".
Cast
- Zach GalliganZach GalliganZachary Wolfe "Zach" Galligan is an American actor.-Biography:Galligan was born in New York City, the son of Carol Jean , a psychologist, and Arthur John Galligan, a lawyer who was a founding partner of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro. He has a sister, Jessica, and attended Columbia University...
as Billy Peltzer - Phoebe CatesPhoebe CatesPhoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
as Kate Beringer - John GloverJohn Glover (actor)John Soursby Glover Jr. is an American actor, perhaps best known for a range of villainous roles in films and television, including Lionel Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville.-Personal life:...
as Daniel Clamp - Robert ProskyRobert ProskyRobert Prosky was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:Prosky, a Polish American, was born Robert Joseph Porzuczek in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Helen and Joseph Porzuczek. His father was a grocer and butcher...
as Grandpa Fred - Robert PicardoRobert PicardoRobert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
as Forster, chief of security - Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
as Doctor Catheter - Haviland MorrisHaviland MorrisHaviland Morris is an American film, television, and Broadway actress.-Early life:Morris was born in New Jersey and spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong. Her father worked in the electronics industry...
as Marla Bloodstone - Dick MillerDick MillerRichard "Dick" Miller is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 films, particularly those produced by Roger Corman, and later in films of directors who started their careers with Corman, including James Cameron and Joe Dante, with the distinction of appearing in every film made...
as Murray Futterman - Jackie JosephJackie JosephJackie Joseph is an American character actress, voice artist, and writer known for portraying the film characters of: Audrey Fulquard in the original The Little Shop of Horrors, Sheila Futterman in both Gremlins films, and the voice of Melody in the animated television series Josie and the...
as Sheila Futterman - Gedde WatanabeGedde WatanabeGedde Watanabe is an American theatre, film, and television actor.He was in several dramatic productions in high school, both acting and singing...
as Mr. Katsuji, a Japanese tourist - Keye LukeKeye LukeKeye Luke was a Chinese-born American actor. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed with RKO, Universal and, later, MGM and is generally acknowledged as the leading Asian-American actor of this era of American cinema.-Background:...
as Mr. Wing, Gizmo's elderly owner - Kathleen FreemanKathleen FreemanKathleen Freeman was an American film, television, and stage actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed tart maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors, almost invariably to comic effect.-Early life:Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois...
as Microwave Marge, hostess of a cooking programme - Twin actors Don Stanton and Dan Stanton as Martin and Lewis, Dr. Catheter's assistants
- Jason Presson (star of Dante's ExplorersExplorers (film)Explorers is a 1985 family-oriented science-fiction fantasy film written by Eric Luke and directed by Joe Dante. It was the first feature film for both Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix.It was filmed in 70mm color with 6-track sound, and runs for 109 minutes...
) as Alex, the Yogurt Jerk - Belinda BalaskiBelinda BalaskiBelinda Balaski is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her large supporting role in Joe Dante's The Howling , and has continued to appear in most of Dante's films including an important role in "Piranha" and cameos in "Gremlins", "Gremlins 2", "Matinee", and Small Soldiers...
as the mom in the movie theatre - Paul BartelPaul BartelPaul Bartel was an American actor, writer and director. Bartel was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy Eating Raoul, which he wrote, starred in and directed.-Life and career:...
as the theatre manager - Kenneth TobeyKenneth TobeyKenneth Tobey was an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early years:Born in Oakland, California, Tobey was headed for a law career when he first dabbled in acting at the University of California Little Theater...
as the theatre projectionist - Hulk HoganHulk HoganTerrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
as Himself - Julia SweeneyJulia SweeneyJulia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
as Peggy, the lab receptionist - Charles S. HaasCharles S. HaasCharles S. Haas , also known as Charles Haas or Charlie Haas, is an American screenwriter and actor, and novelist....
as Casper, Dr. Catheter's assistant - Leonard MaltinLeonard MaltinLeonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
as Himself
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
as cameos as a yogurt customer. John Astin
John Astin
John Allen Astin is an American actor who has appeared in numerous films and television shows, and is best known for the role of Gomez Addams on The Addams Family, and other similarly eccentric comedic characters.-Early years:...
cameos as a Janitor. Henry Gibson
Henry Gibson
Henry Gibson was an American actor and songwriter, best known as a cast member of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and for his recurring role as Judge Clark Brown on Boston Legal.-Early life:...
cameos as an employee that gets fired for smoking. Rick Ducommun
Rick Ducommun
Richard "Rick" Ducommun is a Canadian actor and comedian, often seen in supporting roles on both television and the silver screen.Ducommun was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan...
cameos as a security guard. Joe Dante
Joe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
cameos as the director of Grandpa Fred's show. Dick Butkus
Dick Butkus
Richard Marvin "Dick" Butkus is a former American football player for the Chicago Bears. He was drafted in 1965 and he is also widely regarded as one of the best and most durable linebackers of all time. Butkus starred as a football player for the University of Illinois and the Chicago Bears. He...
and Bubba Smith
Bubba Smith
Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith was an American professional football player who became an actor after his retirement from the sport. He first came into prominence at Michigan State University, where he twice earned All-American honors as a defensive end on the Spartans football team...
cameo as themselves getting attacked at the salad bar.
Voices
- Howie MandelHowie MandelHoward Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
– Gizmo - Tony RandallTony RandallTony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...
– Brain Gremlin - Frank WelkerFrank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
– Mohawk - Jeff BergmanJeff BergmanJeff Allen Bergman is an American voice actor, who provides the modern day voices of various classic cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, George Jetson, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, and Huckleberry Hound.-Life and career:Originally from Philadelphia,...
– Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (Looney Tunes segments) - Mark DodsonMark DodsonMark Dodson is a prolific record producer and sound engineer, who mostly works with artists in the heavy metal genre. He is best known for producing albums by Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies.-Biography:...
– Daffy Gremlin, Lenny, George, Other Gremlins, TV network announcer - Kirk Thatcher – Most of the Gremlins
- Neil RossNeil RossTheodoric Neilson "Neil" Ross is an English voice actor and announcer, born in London, England and now resident and working in Los Angeles, in the United States. He has provided voices for in many American cartoons, particularly those based on Hasbro products and Marvel Comics, and numerous...
– Announcer - Joe DanteJoe DanteJoseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
– Beanie Gremlin, Witch Gremlin
Looney Tunes segments
Along with the main plot, there is animationAnimation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
by Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
in the film featuring the Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
characters Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
, Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
and Porky Pig
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
. Jones had actually quit animation before returning to work on Gremlins 2. Dante explained the animation at the beginning of the film was meant to "set the anarchic tone."
The first scene appears at the very beginning of the movie, and features the classic "Looney Tunes" opening card, causing people to assume it is the short cartoon that usually plays before a movie begins; however, when Bugs Bunny appears on top of the WB shield, Daffy interrupts the intro, and steals the shield from Bugs. Daffy attempts to recreate the opening with himself in place of Bugs Bunny, but the shield overshoots, causing the entire title card to fall apart. Daffy surrenders the stardom, claiming that since he won't star in the cartoon, they might as well just skip straight to the movie. Bugs is willing to do so, and spins Daffy off screen for the movie title to appear.
The DVD includes a longer version of the cartoon short. In it, Daffy is informed by Bugs that he has been promoted to executive and is subsequently put in charge writing the title of the movie. When Daffy mistakenly writes the title Gremlins 2 as "Gremlin Stew", Bugs corrects the error. Daffy then attempts to rename the film The Return of Super-Daffy Meets Gremlins 2 Part 6: The Movie, but Bugs rejects this for being too long, changing it back to Gremlins 2 (rendered in the font of the official logo). Daffy then quits his new job and Bugs decides to add in the subtitle, saying it looks "a little skimpy". This material was removed from the film because early audiences expected a live-action film and were bewildered by the lengthy animated sequence.
Background
The original Gremlins was a financial success, and Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
asked its director Joe Dante to make a sequel straight away. Dante declined, because he saw Gremlins as having a proper ending, and thus a sequel would only be meant to be profitable. Moreover, the original film was a taxing experience for Dante, and he wanted to move on. Work on Gremlins 2 continued without him, as the studio approached various directors and writers. Storylines considered included sending the gremlins to cities like Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
or even the planet Mars. After these ideas fell through, the studio returned to Dante, who agreed to make the sequel after receiving the rare promise of having complete creative control over the movie; he also received a budget triple that of the original film's. Dante later acknowledged that by this point too much time had passed between the films, thus possibly reducing Gremlins 2s appeal.
Gremlins 2 was shot in New York in June 1989, the film was released in 1990, and as the filmmakers later noted, this was a time when cable television, genetics, and frozen yogurt were becoming more common and influential. This left a mark on Gremlins 2. Gremlins 2 exaggerated what could be seen on cable television at the time, although as the filmmakers noted in 2002, that humour might be lost on present-day audiences. Cable television later grew to provide the same variety. Genetics in 1990 is reflected in the laboratory scene in Gremlins 2, and frozen yogurt is what the mogwai eat after midnight.
Plotting
With more control over the film, Dante engineered a project that he later referred to as "one of the more unconventional studio pictures, ever". Dante included some material that he believed Warner Bros. would not have allowed had they not wanted a sequel to Gremlins. Allowed to break a number of rules in filmmaking, he also later claimed it was the film into which he had put the most of his personal influence. Dante imagined Gremlins 2 as a satire of Gremlins and sequels in general. Another basic description of Gremlins 2 was that, as Dante said, an hour into the film it becomes "extremely cartoony".The recommended screenwriter, Charlie Haas, brought to the project the basic storyline of moving the gremlins to New York City, and he also imagined a corporate head (the character Clamp) being Billy's boss and at the center of the new disaster. When the Warner Bros. executives grew concerned about the expense of portraying the gremlins attacking an entire city, Haas came up with the idea of confining the action within Daniel Clamp's "smart building". Haas also included a great deal of material in his screenplay that proved too elaborate to produce, including having a cow–hamster hybrid running on a treadmill in the laboratory.
In keeping with Dante's desires to satirize the original film, the sequel has some meta-reference
Meta-reference
Metareference, a metafiction technique, is a situation in a work of fiction whereby characters display an awareness that they are in such a work, such as a film, television show or book. Sometimes it may even just be a form of editing or film-making technique that comments on the...
s and self-referential humor
Self-referential humor
Self-referential humor or self-reflexive humor is a type of comedic expression that—either directed toward some other subject, or openly directed toward itself—intentionally alludes to the very person who is expressing the humor in a comedic fashion, or to some specific aspect of that...
. These include a cameo appearance by film critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
. He holds up a copy of the original Gremlins home video and denounces it, just as he had in reality; however, his rant is cut short when gremlins pounce on him. Partly for this scene, one academic called Dante "one of contemporary cinema's great pranksters".
Additionally, when Billy is trying to explain the rules regarding the mogwai to staff in the building, the staff find them quite absurd and derisively interrogate Billy on their precise meaning; at one point considering the thought experiment
Thought experiment
A thought experiment or Gedankenexperiment considers some hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences...
of a mogwai in a plane which crosses a time zone. This scene originates from the fact that the filmmakers themselves saw the rules as irrational, and some questions in the scene were based upon those raised by fans of the original film.
At one point in the film, Dante attempted to involve his audience in the story by making it seem as if the gremlins had taken control of the theatre where Gremlins 2 was showing. The film strip appears to be broken by the gremlins, who then engage in shadow puppetry
Shadow play
Shadow play or shadow puppetry Shadow puppets have a long history in China, India, Turkey and Java, and as a popular form of entertainment for both children and adults in many countries around the world. A shadow puppet is a cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen...
over a white screen. Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
then appears in a cameo appearance and intimidates the gremlins into running the rest of Gremlins 2. This joke was inspired by a similar stunt in William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
's film The Tingler
The Tingler
The Tingler is a 1959 horror-thriller film by American producer/director William Castle. It is the third of five collaborations with writer Robb White and stars Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, Patricia Cutts, Pamela Lincoln, Philip Coolidge and Judith Evelyn.The film tells the story of a scientist...
(1959). The studio feared that people might leave the theatre if they thought the film had broken; Dante therefore secured the inclusion of the sequence by assembling some people for a preview of the film. When the scene was shown, the real-life audience found it enjoyable and stayed in the theatre. Dante later described this scene as one of the most widely enjoyed jokes in Gremlins 2. When Gremlins 2 made its debut on home video, the filmmakers altered the scene, to make it seem as if the viewer's VCR had been broken by the gremlins. This time actor John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
forces the gremlins into continuing the film, although voice impersonation was needed since Wayne had been dead since 1979. Notably, a clip from Falling Hare
Falling Hare
Falling Hare is a 1943 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Robert Clampett, starring Bugs Bunny. The title is another play on words. The word "hair" and "hare". As "falling hair" refers to impending baldness, while in this cartoon's climax, the title turns out to be descriptive of Bugs' situation....
, a film released in 1943 featuring Bugs Bunny and a gremlin, appears in this version.
The original version of the film was longer, but executive producer Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
claimed that there were too many gremlins, and several scenes were cut as a result. One deleted scene portrayed three of the main gremlins, Daffy, Lenny, and George, sneaking into television host Grandpa Fred's studio and "helping" him host, acting on the premise that Grandpa Fred's show was intended to be scary.
Casting
Several actors from the original film returned to make Gremlins 2, including Galligan, Cates, and Dick Miller. Miller reprised his role as Billy's neighbor Mr. Futterman, who the gremlins severely injured (both physically and mostly mentally) in the first film, in an expanded role in this film. In the second, he plays a part in wiping out the creatures by turning the hose on them. Character actressCharacter actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
Jackie Joseph returned to play Mr. Futterman's wife. Keye Luke also returned to play Mr. Wing, Gizmo's original owner. When Luke heard his character would die in Gremlins 2, he quipped, "Remember, when you make Gremlins 3, I'm a flashback!". Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
was meant to return as Billy's father, the inventor. He would have appeared at the end of the film, having designed special clothing for Gizmo that would ensure Gizmo would never come into contact with water again. At the last moment, the filmmakers decided not to shoot the scene to reduce time.
New performers included Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
, who had previously worked with Dante and producer Michael Finnell
Michael Finnell
Michael Finnell is a film producer active from the 1970s to the present. He has produced several horror-comedy films, particularly with director Joe Dante. Finnell worked for American producer Roger Corman before emerging as a producer in his own right....
in films such as The Howling
The Howling (film)
The Howling is a 1981 werewolf-themed horror film directed by Joe Dante. Based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the screenplay is written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless...
(1981). He plays Forster, one of Billy's crueler bosses. Robert Prosky
Robert Prosky
Robert Prosky was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:Prosky, a Polish American, was born Robert Joseph Porzuczek in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Helen and Joseph Porzuczek. His father was a grocer and butcher...
played Grandpa Fred, a television host, and his character was based upon Al Lewis's character Grandpa Munster
The Munsters
The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era,...
. Joe Dante has a brief cameo as the director of Grandpa Fred's show. John Glover
John Glover
John Glover may refer to:*John Glover *John Glover , American general*John Glover , English-Australian painter*John Montgomery Glover , U.S. Representative from Missouri...
played Clamp (character based upon Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
and Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
) and brought to the role an enthusiastic innocence that overrode the fact that his character had been written as a villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
, which Dante thought lightened the film in general.
Christopher Lee (who previously worked with Spielberg in 1941
1941 (film)
1941 is a 1979 period comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Belushi, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee and Dan Aykroyd...
) played the mad scientist
Mad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
Dr. Catheter. Lee imagined his role as light-hearted; but Dante encouraged him to portray the scientist as evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
to better match the atmosphere of the laboratory set. Lee was revered on the set for his experience. In a deleted scene, Dr. Catheter examines a bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
injected with "genetic sun-block". He then says to his colleague, "I'm told they sometimes feed on blood"; this is a reference to Lee's performances as Count Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
in the Hammer Horror
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
films. Later, as the Bat Gremlin is transforming, Dr. Catheter experiences Deja-vu (the audience hears Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
music).
Special effects
For special effectSpecial effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s, the original film relied on Chris Walas
Chris Walas
Chris Walas is an American special effects/make-up artist and director.-Biography:His main body of work is with special effects in a wide variety of movies from science fiction to action-adventure. His work on The Fly led to his directorial debut on The Fly II...
, who moved on to pursue a directing career. Dante turned to Academy Award-winner Rick Baker
Richard A. Baker
Richard A. "Rick" Baker is an American special makeup effects artist known for his realistic creature effects.- Personal life :...
to create the effects for Gremlins 2. Baker was not interested, as he saw Gremlins 2 as too much work for a project in which he would not be the creator but rather a successor to Walas. He was eventually persuaded to accept the job when it was suggested he could make the gremlins and mogwai more diverse.
In the first film, when Gizmo multiplied, his off-spring closely resembled himself, except for the leader, Stripe. Here, the four mogwai Gizmo produces each possess their own distinct personalities and physical features. Additionally, each mogwai has a name, although the names were used in the script and never spoken aloud in the film. Two of the mogwais were George, black without a stripe and a caricature of Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
, and Lenny, buck-toothed, named for the principal characters in Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
, whom they resemble in both appearance and demeanor. Daffy was named for his manic behaviour, and the leader, Mohawk, for his mohawk hairstyle
Mohawk hairstyle
The mohawk is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair...
. Based on the original film's character, Stripe, Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
also voices Mohawk. While both the mogwai and gremlin versions of Stripe had fur stripes, Baker hit upon the idea of giving the Mohawk mogwai a fur stripe and giving the Mohawk gremlin something scalier. Gizmo was also redesigned; the puppet was generally larger and its design was simplified. Dante commented Gizmo may look less real in Gremlins 2, but the result was that Gizmo could convey more emotion
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
.
Later on, when the mogwai evolve into gremlins and multiply, they further diversify by running amok in the bio-lab and ingesting various drugs. One turns into a sunlight-resistant hybrid with a bat, thus becoming the Bat Gremlin. Mohawk becomes part-spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
. One becomes part-vegetable (Vegetable Gremlin, as Dante named it), and another consumes a drug and turns into a femlin
Fifinella
Fifinella was a female gremlin designed by Walt Disney for a proposed film from Roald Dahl's book The Gremlins. During World War II, the Women Airforce Service Pilots asked permission to use the image as their official mascot, and the Disney Company granted them the rights.-Origins:The story of...
, referred to in at least one script as the "Girl Gremlin" and in the official trading card series and other promotional materials as "Lady Gremlina" with shiny red lips and mascara. Yet another has acid thrown onto his face, quickly presenting a mask of the Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera
Le Fantôme de l'Opéra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910...
.
As with the first, puppetry
Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance which involves the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to have originated 30,000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects...
was involved, and some of the puppets were mechanical. An actor holding a puppet would have to have wires strapped to him. Gremlins 2 also includes more stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animation than the first film; the Bat Gremlin was portrayed through some stop motion animation. Film technology since the original had improved, and as a result the creatures can be seen walking more. Gizmo is able to dance, although this scene took the longest to make. Because there are more gremlins in Gremlins 2 than the original, additional filming lasted five months. Many of the effects had to be completed after the actors had finished their work.
Music
As with the first film, the music in Gremlins 2 was composed and conducted by Jerry GoldsmithJerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
, who also has a cameo in the film alongside his wife. In the latter half of the film, Gizmo, inspired by the Rambo films and tired of the abuse he has suffered at the hands of the gremlins, takes revenge on Mohawk. Gizmo shoots the Mohawk spider-gremlin with a makeshift bow and flaming arrow. For the scene in which Gizmo prepares for this move, Goldsmith – who had also authored the music in the Rambo films – employed a variant of Gizmo's theme in the style of the Rambo theme. The soundtrack was released 31 August 1990 through Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...
and features twelve tracks of score at a running time just under forty minutes.
- "Just You Wait" (2:11)
- "Gizmo Escapes" (3:43)
- "Leaky Faucet" (3:45)
- "Cute..." (1:58)
- "Pot Luck" (3:00)
- "The Visitors" (3:31)
- "Teenage Mutant Gremlins" (3:23)
- "Keep It Quiet" (3:10)
- "No Rats" (2:23)
- "Gremlin Pudding" (2:13)
- "New Trends" (3:39)
- "Gremlin Credits" (4:52)
The scene featuring Mohawk transforming into a spider-like monster features a portion of the song "Angel of Death
Angel of Death (song)
"Angel of Death" is the opening track on the American thrash metal band Slayer's 1986 album Reign in Blood. The lyrics and music were written by Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman and are based on Nazi ″physician″ Josef Mengele, who conducted human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp during...
" by thrash metal band Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
. In another scene, the Brain Gremlin leads hundreds of gremlins to sing Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's "New York, New York
Theme from New York, New York
"Theme from New York, New York" is the theme song from the Martin Scorsese film New York, New York , composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. It was written for and performed in the film by Liza Minnelli...
". Dante claimed that "The musical number is a shameless steal" from the film Dames
Dames
Dames is a 1934 Warner Bros. musical comedy film directed by Ray Enright with dance numbers created by Busby Berkeley. The film stars Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, ZaSu Pitts, and Hugh Herbert...
(1934).
Songlist
- Fats DominoFats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
– "I'm Ready" - Jeff BeckJeff BeckGeoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
– "Sling Shot" - Jeff Beck – "Situation"
- SlayerSlayerSlayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
– "Angel of DeathAngel of Death (song)"Angel of Death" is the opening track on the American thrash metal band Slayer's 1986 album Reign in Blood. The lyrics and music were written by Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman and are based on Nazi ″physician″ Josef Mengele, who conducted human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp during...
" - Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
– "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" - Tony RandallTony RandallTony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...
– "New York, New York" - Thompson TwinsThompson TwinsThe Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
– "Bombers in the Sky" - Damn YankeesDamn Yankees (band)Damn Yankees was an American hard rock supergroup.-History:The band was formed in 1989, consisting of Tommy Shaw of Styx, Jack Blades of Night Ranger, Ted Nugent of The Amboy Dukes and a successful solo career, and Michael Cartellone...
– "Damn Yankees" - Jasmine GuyJasmine GuyJasmine Guy is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is best known for her starring role as Whitley Gilbert in the television sitcom A Different World.-Biography:...
– "Tuff Boy" - Private Life – "Touch Me"
- Gordon LightfootGordon LightfootGordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
– "If You Could Read My MindIf You Could Read My Mind (song)"If You Could Read My Mind" is a song by Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. It reached number one on Canadian music charts and was his first recording to appear on the American music charts, reaching number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in January 1971. Later in the year, it...
" - Faith No MoreFaith No MoreFaith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
– "Surprise! You're Dead!"
Reception
Film critics varied in their reviews of Gremlins 2, it scored a 66% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, who had approved of the first film, observed that Gremlins 2 was meant to satirize sequels. Nevertheless, he felt it did not manage to differentiate itself from the original enough and was not as good. He went on to claim that the film lacks a well-constructed plot, and once the gremlins arrived the film simply becomes a "series of gags." He thus gave the film two and a half stars, out of a possible four.
Hal Hinson of The Washington Post caught on to how the Looney Tunes animation is meant to imply "anarchic wit," but nevertheless felt both the cartoon short and the film itself are failures. He saw the beginning as too slow and, like Ebert, thought the film is too similar to the first. Hinson did, however, approve of the characterization of the gremlins and their version of "New York, New York." He also noted that turning the gremlins against Clamp resembles anti-corporate "poetic justice."
In contrast, while one reviewer for Films in Review, like Ebert, argued the film resembles the original and abandons its plot when the gremlins arrive, he also felt the film's appeal could be found partly in its self-consciousness of these facts and its in-jokes and satire. He also complimented Cates as "wholesomely bewitching," and Galligan as "a suitably naive foil for the scaly fiends."
Desson Howe of The Washington Post also approved of the film, including its special effects and the parodies of Trump, Turner, genetics labs, cable television, and the film Marathon Man
Marathon Man (film)
Marathon Man is a 1976 thriller film based on the novel of the same name by William Goldman. The film was directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, and Laurence Olivier. The original music score was composed by Michael Small....
.
Some critics thought the film has qualities the original lacked, such as wit. A critic for National Review called the film "much freer and wittier than the first one," though he felt the sequel shies away from becoming an important piece of satire.
The cover of an issue of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
in July 1990 also exclaimed that "actor John Glover... and director Joe Dante made Gremlins 2 wittier, better, and more subversive than the original." Some critics who found the first film too dark also gave Gremlins 2 more positive reviews. Leonard Maltin, who appears in the film, gave it three out of four stars for its references to other films, Glover's imitation of Turner and Trump, and Lee's performance.
An Allmovie critic complimented the sequel by saying the "original's violence and mean-spiritedness are gone, making this follow-up somewhat more kid-friendly." The film was nominated for several Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
s, namely for Best Director, Best Fantasy Film, Best Music, and Best Special Effects. Glover and Picardo were both nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award.
Still, the film did not perform as well at the box office. The trailer introduced the film to audiences by displaying a surface of water intercut with scenes from the original. A narrator goes over the rules regarding how to safely handle mogwai. After the narrator says, "You didn't listen [to the rules]," scenes from the sequel are shown, revealing the gremlins morphing into strange new creatures and then ending with the Brain Gremlin speaking. Gremlins 2 was released into US theatres on June 15, 1990, the same day as Dick Tracy. In its first weekend it made $9,702,804, and it ultimately made $41,482,207. It was thus only the thirty-first highest grossing film of the year, behind a few other films in the comedy, horror or fantasy genre, such as Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction comedy Western film. It is the third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson. The film...
($87,727,583), Edward Scissorhands
Edward Scissorhands
Edward Scissorhands is a 1990 romantic fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The film shows the story of an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands. Edward is taken in by a suburban family and falls in love with their teenage daughter...
($56,362,352), and Arachnophobia
Arachnophobia (film)
Arachnophobia is a 1990 American comedy horror film directed by Frank Marshall and starring Jeff Daniels and John Goodman. It was the first film released by Hollywood Pictures....
($53,208,180). It did, however, outperform Predator 2
Predator 2
Predator 2 is a 1990 science fiction action film starring Danny Glover, Gary Busey, María Conchita Alonso, Rubén Blades, and Bill Paxton. Written by Jim and John Thomas and directed by Stephen Hopkins, the film is a sequel to 1987's Predator, with Kevin Peter Hall again playing the role of the...
($30,669,413), Child's Play 2
Child's Play 2
Child's Play 2 is a 1990 American horror film, the sequel to Child's Play, written by Don Mancini and directed by John Lafia . It was released on November 9, 1990. Veteran actors Gerrit Graham and Emmy and BAFTA-winner Jenny Agutter, star as Andy's foster parents...
($28,501,605) and The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III is a 1990 American supernatural thriller written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the second sequel of The Exorcist series and a film adaptation of Blatty's novel, Legion . The film stars George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, Ed Flanders, and Nicol Williamson...
($26,098,824).
Gremlins 2 also played in other countries. Canadian audiences reportedly enjoyed one scene in which Billy and his boss meet at a Canadian-themed restaurant, where the waiters are dressed like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
. The film was released in Norway on July 5, Finland on July 6, Colombia on July 12, and much of Europe in the rest of July, including in the United Kingdom and Spain on July 27. It opened in France and Argentina in August and reached Australia on September 20. It earned £7,400,000 in the United Kingdom. Later, the film made an additional $20,800,000 in rental stores.
Merchandising
As with the first film, merchandising accompanied Gremlins 2. This may have been integral to the film's purpose. As one critic wrote, "it's a savvy, off-the-wall comedy that acknowledges, yes, it is just one more silly rip-off sequel, produced to sell off the merchandise inspired by the first film." One reference the film makes to the original, an allusion to the merchandising surrounding Gizmo, drew criticism. Some critics saw the mention of merchandise as tasteless. This type of product placement has since become more common.The new merchandise released alongside the film included PVC figures, plush, and other collectibles by the now-defunct Applause company in 1990. Much later, action figures by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association
National Entertainment Collectibles Association
The National Entertainment Collectibles Association or NECA is an American manufacturer of collectibles typically licensed from films, video-games, sports, music, and television based in New Jersey...
(NECA Toys) based on characters such as the Brain and Mohawk Gremlins were released. NECA is also releasing mogwais and gremlins from the film in late 2011 an 2012; there will be mogwai and gremlin versions of Daffy, Lenny and George, as well as a mogwai version of Mohawk. The Electric gremlin, flasher gremlin and the Phantom of the Opera gremlin will also be released in action figure form by NECA. There are also newer versions of Gizmo being released, including his Rambo look. Greta, a newer version of Mohawk and Mohawk in Spider form are also being planned for the future.
There were also children's books like Gremlins 2: The New Batch: Movie Storybook, by Michael Teitelbaum, published by Goldencraft in December 1990. Golden Books published Gizmo to Rescue in July 1990. David Bischoff
David Bischoff
David F. Bischoff is an American science fiction and television writer.-General Background:Born in Washington D.C. and now living in Eugene, Oregon, Bischoff writes science fiction books, short stories, and scripts for television...
wrote a novel based on the film published by Avon Books in June 1990. A unique aspect of the novel is how Bischoff adapts the sequence where the film breaks. In the novel, the Brain Gremlin subdues and locks Bischoff in his bathroom before taking the reins for a little bit to explain that the Gremlins take over at this point in the film, his displeasure at Bischoff using the nickname "Mr. Glasses" instead of his official name, and begins a treatise on politics before Bischoff breaks his way out of the bathroom with an axe and subdues the Brain Gremlin. The novel then continues where the film picked up after the film break.
The Spanish company Topo Soft
Topo Soft
Topo Soft was one of the Spanish software house for 8-bit home computers that emerged during the eighties. They were part of the Golden Era of Spanish Software. It disappeared due to economic problems in the nineties related with the late arrival of 16-bit computers in Spain...
developed a sidescrolling Gremlins 2: The New Batch video game for Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
and the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, distributed by Erbe Software in Spain and by Elite
Elite Systems
Elite Systems is a UK video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. They are best known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games...
abroad, being the first time a Spanish video game company got an exclusive license from a Hollywood movie to make a videogame. Hi-Tech Expressions also released a DOS game at around the same time, but it was poorly received. Sunsoft released versions for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
and Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
in 1990.