If your air conditioner goes on the fritz, or your washing machine blows up, or your WarnerMedia streaming service conks out, there just might be Gremlins in your queue. The studio announced today that a 10-episode animated prequel series to Joe Dante's 1984 comedy-horror is on its way, titled Gremlins: Secret of the Mogwai. The series will be written by Tze Chun (Gotham), who will also serve as co-executive producer.
The original Gremlins introduced the Mogwai, a race of loveable furry creatures that burn under the light, multiply in water, and turn into a hideous, nasty version of themselves if you feed them after midnight. (Hopefully, the prequel series explains when "after midnight" officially ends, a detail that has infuriated me more than it probably should for 27 years.) Secrets of the Mogwai will tell the story of a young Sam Wing, the future shop owner who sells a Mogwai named Gizmo to Hoyt Axton's Randall Peltzer in Gremlins.
The animated series will premiere on the still-untitled streaming service alongside Denis Villeneuve's Dune series, the Ansel Elgort-led Tokyo Vice, and whatever J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot TV arm are up to.
Here's the official synopsis for Gremlins: Secret of the Mogwai:
In the animated television adaptation, we travel back to 1920s Shanghai to reveal 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.
-
"Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai" will be produced by Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Animation. The series will be written by Tze Chun and executive produced by Darryl Frank ("The Americans, "Animaniacs," "Amazing Stories"), Justin Falvey ("The Americans," "Animaniacs," "Amazing Stories") and Sam Register ("Teen Titans Go!" and the upcoming series "Animaniacs") with Chun and Brendan Hay ("Dawn of the Croods," "Robot Chicken") serving as co-EP. Dan Krall ("Coraline," "Scooby-Doo!") will serve as supervising producer.
