Gen Z readers, let me tell you a tale: back in the 80s, one of the biggest movies of the decade was a comedy horror, written by the future Harry Potter director, loosely based on a book by Roald Dahl, and featuring the voice of the bald guy from America’s Got Talent. Seriously.
Gremlins (1984) followed the titular troop of mischievous little creatures who pretend to be cute pets but were actually aggressive demonic monsters. Somehow a generation wasn’t completely scarred by watching this, and a sequel, Gremlins II, followed in 1990.
In a modern decade far, far away, another cute lil’ franchise character came along. Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian has become a cultural phenomenon, a clear ploy by Disney to get us all to watch the Star Wars spinoff, but no one’s really complaining.
The director of the Gremlins movies, however, isn’t a happy chappy. In a new interview with San Francisco Chronicle’s Datebook, he claimed that Baby Yoda is stolen from Gizmo, the leader of the Gremlins.
“I think the longevity of (the Gremlins movie) is really key to this one character (Gizmo), who is essentially like a baby. Which brings me, of course, to the subject of Baby Yoda, who is completely stolen and is just out-and-out copied. Shamelessly, I would think,” he argued and probably not without reason.
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Look, Dante may be joking here, but it’s a lot more fun to believe that he’s genuinely creating beef between two cute and furry lil’ movie characters. Judging by this hilarious SNL sketch though, Baby Yoda has other ideas about who his true rival is.
Now’s surely the time for the much-discussed Gremlins 3 to finally make it to the big screen so Gizmo can reclaim his crown from Baby Yoda. In the meantime, HBO Max is developing a Gremlins animated series, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, that is expected to premiere later this year.
For more on this topic, follow the Film & TV Observer.
Watch this clip from Gremlins:
