Gremlins Online!

Yesterday, Variety broke he news that the upcoming Gremlins animated series would be called “Gremlins: Secrets Of The Mogwai” and be a prequel series set in 1920’s Shangai.

From Variety:

The series, which Variety exclusively reported back in February, will be titled “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.” Set in 1920s Shanghai, the series will tell the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing (future shop owner Mr. Wing in the 1984 movie) met the young Mogwai called Gizmo. Along with a teenage street thief named Elle, Sam and Gizmo take a perilous journey through the Chinese countryside, encountering, and sometimes battling, colorful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore. On their quest to return Gizmo to his family and uncover a legendary treasure, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist and his growing army of evil Gremlins.

This seems to be an interesting take on the Gremlins mythos, as diehard fans know about the long history Mr. Wing has had with the Mogwai thanks to George Gipe’s novelization. The novelization claims Mr. Wing saved the Mogwai in World War II, and had been caring for the creature since then. Obviously this is a different version of events, but likely inspired in part by the novelization.

Sadly this series, which has 10 half-hour long episodes, will likely not have any returning characters due to the timeframe when it takes place. Also due to Keye Luke passing away in 1991, we will not have the pleasure of hearing more of Mr. Wing’s sage wisdom anytime soon.

Hopefully WB sticks to canon and does not name the Mogwai “Gizmo” as we all know Rand Peltzer named the creature such due to the Mogwai’s affinity for gadgets.

The show is being headed up by Tze Chun, who is known for his work on the Gotham TV series, as well as Once Upon A Time, Little America and various other productions.

While this may not be Gremlins 3, we are certainly excited to see new developments with the brand, and hopefully this will be a fantastic addition to a beloved franchise.

While it may or may not be connected, Randy Falk of NECA has mentioned that there will soon be plenty of new Gremlins to add to our collections. It is speculated that this means NECA has the Secrets Of The Mogwai license and could be making figures for new Gremlins and possibly the mentioned mythical spirits from the series.

There is no confirmed release date for the WB streaming service or Secrets Of The Mogwai at this time. I will be sure to update everyone when more information becomes available.