Gremlins 2: The Hilarious Legacy of Spielberg's Vision

A Wild and Unapologetic Sequel

"Gremlins 2: The New Batch" kicks off with a real Looney Tunes short directed by the legendary Chuck Jones, setting the tone for a film that only gets more chaotic and unpredictable from there. This sequel is packed with an array of fourth-wall-breaking cameos, and it features an impressive lineup of Gremlins, each with their own unique traits. From the Sexy Lady Gremlin to the Big Brainy Gremlin, who delivers a show-stopping performance of "New York, New York" in a musical revue, the film is a wild ride.

The absurdity of the film was so extreme that when Key & Peele created a sketch called “'Gremlins 2' Brainstorm,” which detailed every bizarre creative decision that made it into the movie, writer and director Joe Dante confirmed that it was exactly how things unfolded. In an interview, he explained why the film could be so over-the-top:

“Nobody had come up with an idea of how to make another Gremlins movie for quite a while. And they had tried. They spent some money, they hired some writers, they wrote some script, but they hadn't understood the appeal of the first movie anyway; so it was very difficult for them to imitate it. So out of desperation they came back to me and Mike Finnell, the producer, and said 'If you'll give us this picture by this date we'll let you do whatever you want.'"

With a blank check in hand, Dante and his team set out to create a sequel that would completely dismantle the concept of making a follow-up to the original "Gremlins." The result was a film so filled with new ideas, characters, and jokes that the initial cut was extremely long. However, this length became a problem because the film needed to maintain a fast pace to keep the audience engaged. As a result, many scenes were cut during the editing process.

To help fans understand what was lost, Dante and his producer Mike Finnell recorded a special commentary for these deleted scenes. During this commentary, they shared a humorous story about what Steven Spielberg, who produced both "Gremlins" films, thought of their latest creation:

"I remember after the first screening, which was very long and had all this stuff in it, Steven called and so I said 'What'd you think' and he said 'Too many gremlins!'"

Spielberg's comment was particularly funny given that the word "gremlins" is literally in the title. It seems like he didn’t fully grasp the concept of the film. The irony is that when they were working on the original "Gremlins," it was the studio executives who thought the film had too many gremlins. At the time, Spielberg reportedly said, "Shall we cut them all out and call it 'People?'"

Spielberg’s notes on the original film helped make it less gruesome and introduced the heroic Gizmo as a counterweight to the villainous gremlins. This balance turned the film into a rare Christmas classic that can be enjoyed by the whole family and is also beloved by horror fans. It seems that Dante didn’t heed Spielberg’s advice for the sequel, though it might have been better if they had changed the title to "Gremlins 2: Too Many Gremlins."

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