Gremlins: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

This is an article for the movie Gremlins. See Gremlin for the fantastical beings.

Gremlins is a 1984 movie directed by Joe Dante. It stars Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates. A sequel called Gremlins 2: The New Batch was released in 1990.

Plot

Randy Peltzer (played by Hoyt Axton) goes on a trip to New York City and decides to pick up a present for his son Billy (played by Zach Galligan). He happens upon a small shop in Chinatown which sells him a small, cute, furry creature called a Mogwai. Though it seems innocent enough, the shop's owner warns him that he must obey three rules about taking care of the creature: he must not let it near bright light, he must not get water on it, and, most importantly, never feed it after midnight.

Randy names the creature Gizmo and brings it home to his son. Unfortunately, Billy and his friends start breaking the rules about caring for it. They get water on Gizmo, causing him to instantly multiply. Even worse, the new Mogwai that have spawned from Gizmo get ahold of food after midnight, and transform into hideous green gremlins which wreck havoc upon Billy's town. Together with his girlfriend Kate (played by Phoebe Cates), Billy must stop the gremlins before they can cause any more damage.

Gremlins won the following awards:

• the 1985 Saturn Award for Best Director, Best Horror Film, Best Music, Best Special Effects, and Best Supporting Actress (Polly Holliday) from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films
• the 1985 Golden Screen Award
• the 1985 Young Artist Award for Best Family Motion Picture - Adventure

The film was also nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama (Corey Feldman).

• writing credits: Chris Columbus
• music: Jerry Goldsmith, Noel Regney
• runtime: 106 minutes
• sound: 70 mm 6-Track/Dolby
• aspect ratio: 1.85 : 1
• release date: June 8, 1984
• budget: $11,000,000
• total gross (USA): $148,170,000
• MPAA rating: PG