An animated ‘Gremlins’ prequel TV show is in the works.
The fantasy movie was first released in 1984, and told the story of a gadget salesman who buys a mysterious creature known as a Mogwai – who goes by the name of Gizmo – from a store in Chinatown, and is given strict instructions not to expose him to bright light, water, or to feed him after midnight.
When the salesman and his son fail to follow the rules, the result is a gang of nasty gremlins who wreak havoc on the city.
And now, more than 30 years later, an animated prequel series entitled ‘Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai’ has been ordered by WarnerMedia to be shown on its upcoming as-yet-untitled streaming service.
The prequel will be comprised of 10 episodes, each of which are half an hour long, and tell the story of how Sam Wing – the future owner of the shop in Chinatown from the original movie – came to be in the possession of Gizmo.
An official description for the series reads: "In the animated television adaptation, we travel back to 1920s Shanghai to reveal the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing 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, colourful 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."
Tze Chun will write the script, whilst Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, and Sam Register will executive produce, with Chun and Brendan Hay serving as co-executive producers. Dan Krall will serve as supervising producer.
As of the time of writing there’s no launch date for the series or for WarnerMedia’s streaming service, though the service is thought to be debuting some time in 2020.
Animated Gremlins prequel in the works
