Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is a 2023 CG animated fantasy series prequel to the Gremlins film franchise. It is developed and showrun by Tze Chun (Once Upon a Time, Gotham) and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Joe Dante served as a consultant on the project.
Long before he ran a little shop in Chinatown, Mr. Wing was Sam (Izaac Wang), a 10 year old boy living with his family in 1920s Shanghai. One day, while out on the town with his grandfather (James Hong), Sam encounters Gizmo the Mogwai (AJ Locascio). Together, the two set out on an epic adventure to return Gizmo home and stay one step ahead of a dangerous villain (Matthew Rhys). Also in the cast are Ming-Na Wen, B.D. Wong, Gabrielle Green, and original cast member Zach Galligan.
The series launched on Max May 23, 2023. A second season has already been ordered.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai contains examples of the following:
- Action Girl: Elle is forced to step up when their original plan to take down the shapeshifter goes wrong and has to beat him with brute force. Since he is actually much smaller than he pretends to be, this works well enough.
- Actor Allusion: Matthew Rhys portrays the series’ Big Bad - a manipulative villain with dark magic, glowing green eyes, and soul-swallowing abilities. He previously portrayed such a character on The Owl House.
- Amnesia Danger: Played with Sam in the fourth episode. He did not lose any of his medicine skills so all he needs to have is for somebody to ask him to mix an antidote. After all he doesn't know that he is suffering from amnesia.
- The Artful Dodger: Elle starts out very much as a classic example being very cynical and resourceful.
- Badass Boast: Mr. Greene gives a very good one after no-selling the magic Sam's grandfather used to knock out all of his goons before countering with a far more powerful spell.Mr. Greene: Adorable. I learned that trick as a child. Here is something I mastered as an adult.
- Bad Boss: Mr. Greene is not treating Elle well. Despite her doing everything he wants her to, he flat out tells her that she will never be able to pay off her debt and will serve him forever as his left hand (useful but not essential).
- Later on it becomes clear that he treats his other henchmen even WORSE being completely uncaring towards their injuries and refusing to remember or even hear their names.
- Beard of Evil: The Big Bad, Mr. Greene, has a thick black beard.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Evil Sorcerer Mr. Greene and Claw, the Gremlin leader. Both are evenplaced as Evil Overlooker on the poster of the series.
- Black Comedy: Gizmo's reaction when Sam's grandfather points out how dangerous the Mogwai are, bringing up a time where they turned a thriving metropolis into a ghost city? An impish smile and a shrug.
- Bloodless Carnage: In the third episode one of Mr. Greene's henchmen gets his finger bitten clean off by a Mogwai with not a drop of blood found.
- Body Horror: Much to Elle's horror Mr. Greene unhinged his own jaw before swallowing the soul of Sam's grandfather, which is currently about the size of a bowling ball.
- Call-Forward:
- The trailer uses a remix of the Gremlin Rag leitmotif from the films.
- The tune Gizmo sings in the first episode Cold Opening has the beginnings of the melody of Gizmo's leitmotif.
- The opening title sequence is a flythrough of Mr. Wing’s shop from the original movie, ending on Gizmo's box being opened by what is clearly a Gremlin.
- It's revealed that Gizmo is a close enough translation of his actual name.
- Elle’s dislike of the Mid-Autumn Festival due to it being related to her parents’ grim deaths when they attempted to steal lanterns, brings to mind Kate’s dislike of Christmas because of her dad dying trying to go down the chimney as Santa in the first film.
- Im episode five Sam's parents use the Wand of Sunlight against Mr. Greene as he covers his eyes and says "Bright Light! Bright Light!" in a very high pitched voice. Then he stops the act and points out that it does nothing to him since he is human.
- In episode six, one Gremlin drinks a potion that gives him the ability to speak and understand all languages, basically making him a precursor to Brain Gremlin in The New Batch.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: First Sam's grandfather towards Mr. Greene's goons. Sadly Mr. Greene then pulls one on him.
- Cynic–Idealist Duo: Elle (Cynic) and Sam (Idealist).
- Doting Parent: Both of Sam's parents are very protective of him, leaving him with little experience of the outside world. On the other hand they managed to teach him amazing skills in medicine.
- Dwindling Party: The second episode features a non-lethal version. First Sam's grandfather is trapped and devoured by Mr. Greene. Then Sam's father has to keep a door shut to buy his wife and Sam some time to escape. Finally Sam's mother is forced to use herself as a decoy so that Sam and Gizmo have a chance to escape. This results in both parents being captured by the villains as well, leaving Sam and Gizmo on their own.
- Eccentric Mentor: Sam's grandfather is very much a weird and goofy person but also very knowledgable about mystical creatures and magic.
- Establishing Character Moment: Gizmo is introduced admiring the beauty of the place around him, singing his favorite song... and then rushing towards the aid of his fellow Mogwai when they are under the attack of a giant bird.
- Genre Savvy: After seeing her boss perform dark magic and making it very clear that she will not leave his employ alive, Elle jumps ship the first chance she has: Knocking Mr. Greene out and escaping with Sam and Gizmo in return for enough treasure to outrun her boss for the rest of her life.
- Heel–Face Turn: Elle starts out as an employee of Greene’s but switches sides in episode 2 after witnessing the extent of his powers and cruelty.
- Hidden Elf Village: According to the trailer, there is a secret village full of Mogwai, and the mission of the first season is to return Gizmo to it.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Gizmo is forced to perform for a group of cruel entertainers as a catdog. It works mostly since barely anybody knows what a Mogwai looks like. Sam's grandfather recognizes him instantly as do Elle's group of street urchins since Mr. Greene gave them instructions to look for one.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Titles: The titles are all various rules, both relating to mogwai (“Never Get Them Wet”) and otherwise (“Don’t Drink the Tea”).
- Imposter Forgot One Detail: The shapeshifter from episode 3 really does not manage to replicate Sam's personality at all. But sometimes instead of human feet, he has goat feet.
- Immortality Inducer: Episode 3 confirms that Gizmo and the other mogwai are essentially immortal as long as they aren’t injured badly. As a result, there is a previously unrevealed rule that if one eats a mogwai (provided that it hasn’t eaten after midnight), that person gains the creature’s immortality. Green’s plan is to capture the mogwai and auction them off to those desiring immortality, using water to make more.
- Insistent Terminology: Mr. Greene casually corrects Sam that he did not eat his grandfather, he swallowed him.
- Kick the Dog:
- Elle is treated very poorly by her boss despite being highly useful, which he is willing to admit openly towards her.
- Mr. Greene also uses the knowledge he has gained from Sam's grandfather to claim that his second to last thought was to wonder if Sam would be able to do what his grandfather asked of him. It brings the paralysed Sam to tears.
- Last Chance to Quit: Surprisingly Mr. Greene does offer both Sam's grandfather and later on Sam to leave without further trouble if they just give him what he wants: Gizmo. The offer is strongly implied to be geniune since he does NOT care about them, he only wants the Mogwai.
- Monster of the Week: After the first two episodes the series uses other monsters beyond the Gremlins as episodic threats that are defeated at the end of the episode. But at the same time the overall story still advances like the third episode revealing Mr. Greenes motivation and the fourth episode dealing with Elle's backstory as well as the fallout of her betrayal. While the fifth episode shows a lot more geniune teamwork between the protagonists.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Sam's grandfather has his soul swallowed by Mr. Greene at the start of the second episode.
- Monster of the Week: Next to the Gremlins and Mr. Greene, there are other threats after the protagonists.
- Monstrous Cannibalism: After Claw shrinks one of her minions with the knife of creation, another gremlins picks up his unfortunate mate with chopsticks and eats him.
- Mythology Gag:
- When the Gremlins cut the power to Greene's ship, Greene demands that his henchmen sound the alarm, followed by the Gremlins poorly imitating alarm sounds. This is an obvious reference to Gremlins 2 where a similar thing happens with Kate in the elevator.
- Noggin consuming a potion that makes him intelligent and articulate is similar to the Brain Gremlin, albeit with magical potions as opposed to technological ones.
- Never Say "Die": Averted by Mr. Greene in episode six.Mr. Greene: Refuse and if I may be blunt, you will die.
- Later episodes actively avert this, including Elle making frequent mentions of her being Back from the Dead after briefly getting killed by a giant fish in episode seven.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Mr. Greene can often get uncomfortably close to others, especially Elle. It is creepier than most examples because of his ability to perform paralysing body strikes.
- Obviously Evil: The Mogwai's that spawn from Gizmo at the end of the first episode act that way but their leader also clearly looks the part. After becoming Gremlins, they all look the part.
- Neither does Mr. Greene leave much doubt about his nature.
- Origins Episode: The series tells how Gizmo came to be in Mr. Wing's possession, and why Mr. Wing refuses to sell Gizmo to anyone prior to Gremlins.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Both Gizmo and Elle are very confused when Sam is suddenly acting like a jerk in the third episode. Then he doesn't even know that Gizmo can talk. By this point they realize that they are dealing with an imposter.
- Painted CGI: There are some painterly details to both character hair and eye highlights.
- Parents in Distress: Both of Sam's parents are captured by Mr. Greene and he makes it very clear that the only reason they are still alive is that he intends to use them against Sam.
- Pet the Dog: In a very twisted way over the course of episode 3 and 4 it becomes clear that Mr. Greene was actually treating Elle a bit better than his other henchmen, at least he bothered to remember her name.
- Retcon: The series ignores the fact that Gizmo was given his name by Billy's father in the first movie, by making it that Mr. Wing called him it first, due to mistranslating him saying his actual name.
- Retired Badass: Sam’s grandfather is a retired adventurer with a long resume of exciting exploits and a box of secret compartments.
- The Roaring '20s: The series is set in 1920s Shanghai.
- Sherlock Scan: Greene is able to tell that Sam’s grandfather was a treasure hunter from his skin, posture, and clothes.
- Street Urchin: Elle is the boss of an entire network of them, able to send messages back and forth. This is what allows them to spot Gizmo and brings Mr. Greene into the story.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: How Gizmo gets his name. Sam repeatedly mispronounces his name, and when he gets to Gizmo, the Mogwai just shrugs.
- Tempting Fate: In the trailer, Sam asks how dangerous Mogwais can be… just as he knocks a jar of water onto poor Gizmo. Now what were those rules again?
- This Cannot Be!: In the trailer, this is Grandpa’s reaction to seeing Gizmo.
- Token Good Teammate: Elle is the only employee of Mr. Greene who showed any kind of morals.
- Traintop Battle: Episode three ends on one. It is actually geniunely dangerous for all the parties involved.
- Villains Out Shopping: The Gremlins often only want to have fun. The problem is that their kind of fun is always chaotic and usually dangerous.
- Voice Changeling: Creepily Mr. Greene can perfectly mimic the voice of Sam's grandfather after swallowing his soul.
- Weakened by the Light: As usual Mogwai and Gremlins do not like light and are hurt by direct sunlight.
- You Are Who You Eat: Once Mr. Greene swallows and injests somebody with dark magic, he is able to learn everything they knew, which is a big problem once he has eaten Sam's grandfather. And Nuwa. And one of the Mogwai.
