History Headscratchers / Gremlins

** Even if becoming a gremlin won't turn Gizmo evil, there is another good reason for him to refuse to eat after midnight considering what gremlins are capable of. If Gizmo becomes a gremlin and then gets exposed to water, he'll produce more gremlins who likely won't be as nice as him. And it is shown that when gremlins get wet, they spawn ''gremlins'' rather than ''mogwai''. Plus remember that in both films, multiple mogwai were produced because Gizmo got wet by accident. Gizmo knows it could likely happen again in the future and would want to keep the risk of producing more gremlins as low as possible. It's better to regenerate as a mogwai than as a gremlin.

** Even if becoming a gremlin won't turn Gizmo evil, there is another good reason for him to refuse to eat after midnight considering what gremlins are capable of. If Gizmo becomes a gremlin and then gets exposed to water, he'll produce more gremlins who likely won't be as nice as him. And it is shown that when gremlins get wet, they spawn ''gremlins'' rather than ''mogwai''. Plus remember that in both films, multiple mogwai were produced because Gizmo got wet by accident. Gizmo knows it could probably happen again in the future and would want to keep the risk of producing more gremlins as low as possible. It's better to regenerate as a mogwai than as a gremlin.

* If the rules are so important, then why not tell them of the toyconsequences? The kid just said to not wet them or feed them after midnight, but never says WHAT happens if you do.

* How did Mr. Wong acquire the Mogwai to begin with? Surely no one told him DaRules; he'd have had to figure them out the hard way. So was there a Mogwai outbreak in China in the mid- to late-twentieth century that news of which was kept strictly hush-hush by the Chi-Com government? I smell pre''eeeeeeeeee''quel....

* Are the Peltzers or Mr. Wing at all liable for the damage and vandalism inflicted upon the town by the gremlins? Who would qualify as the owner? Mr. Wing seems to think thet the kid gave the mogwai to Rand without his permission and the Pelzers think they owned it because they exchanged money to get one.

* Why is Mr. Hanson projecting an educational film to a class in a school building on Christmas Eve? Do schools in New York State open that late in the year?

* At the end of the film, when Gizmo's elderly keeper Mr. Wing reclaims him, the old guy's remarks about Western attitudes to nature Bug Me. Yes, he did have grounds to be annoyed with Randall for buying the mogwai under-the-table, and yes, the Peltzers did act like jerks who need a lecture on pet care from Victoria Stilwell. But going beyond accusations of personal carelessness, and claiming that "your society" doesn't understand Nature's creatures? Er, hello? You're ''traditional Chinese'', buddy! Doesn't your own society's "understanding" of Nature's creatures consist of A) how to cook them, and B) what parts of them to grind up for quack medicines and aphrodisiacs? There's a ton of real-world endangered species that'd be thriving today, without ''your'' culture's concept of "understanding", so get off your high horse about Gizmo watching television.
** You complain about his narrow minded attitude about western people with a racist comment... Yeah sounds about righy.
*** It's actually a perfectly valid sentiment [[JerkassHasAPoint expressed in a racist way.]] Western society utterly ''tramples'' over some of nature's gifts, Eastern over others. Humans are human that way.
*** Whatever the intention of the complain, it does have a point: Traditional Chinese culture isn't particularly respectful towards nature compared to Traditional Western culture, so Mr. Wing's dressing down of the Peltzer family misses the mark. But if we can't find an In-Universe explanation, we must remember that the film was released in 1984, when anyone looking exotic enough (such as an old Chinese fellow) would qualify as a MagicalAsian with hidden and arcane wisdom beyond Western comprehension.
** Show a little more respect for Film/CharlieChan, will you?
** No, the problem with Mr. Wing's speech is that none of it applies to Billy. Billy proved he was pretty damn ready to raise a mogwai; it was his obnoxious neighbor kid that got Gizmo wet, and it was his obnoxious dad who wanted to market Gizmo & Co. as pets. Billy did the responsible thing by bringing a mogwai to the science teacher for analysis, going after Stripe, and then going to the police when the situation got out of hand. And after the police proved useless, Billy saved the entire town, at great risk to his life and limb. Sorry, Mr. Wing, but Billy Peltzer earned that little muppet.
** It was still Billy who fell for the "stopped clock" trick pulled by the other mogwai, and unwittingly fed them after midnight. He clearly underestimated that most mogwai actually want the rules to be broken, so they can be transformed into their more powerful forms. He also underestimated how dangerous they can be even in mogwai form, since he never suspected that they might be responsible for the attempted murder of his dog (though to be fair, at least one other character in the film had explicitly sworn a death wish on him). Mr. Wing did at least acknowledge the bond that Billy had formed with Gizmo, and that he might be ready "one day". What always bugged me regarding Wing's speech was his attitude toward television...given that it was inspiration from characters he'd seen on TV which enabled Gizmo to save the day in both movies. Wing doesn't know that, I suppose, but I'm not sure what point the movie's making.
** In the novel, it was an accident with the clock, the Mogwai were hungry and Stripe noticed the TV was powered to a wire, he bit through the wire to try and get Billy's attention at around 11:30, he bit through the wrong wire. 30 minutes later, Billy switched off the TV, realized the Mogwai were hungry and got them food after checking the time.
*** Why would Billy have any reason to think the Mogwai would actually want to break the rules? Since the rules themselves are rather vague about the consequences of breaking them, (Sure, tell us that exposing it to light may kill it, but don't tell us feeding it after midnight may kill us), you couldn't really expect Billy to be on guard for that. Yes, Billy was essentially raising an animal he had no way to understand, but that was his dad's fault, not his. If Mr. Wing had shown up a few hours earlier, I don't think we'd have seen him driving a VW into a bar, blowing up a movie theater, or tracking a homicidal gremlin through a department store. And, while we're on the subject, Gizmo's kind of a slacker in this regard, too. He knew what Stripe and the other Mogwai were up to, and didn't try to warn Billy at all. And in Gremlins 2, if Gizmo had just stayed put like he was told, none of the events of the movie would have happened. Every character in the film is just asking for gremlin anarchy *except* for Billy.
*** I suppose it's just a matter of Billy getting involved in something that he doesn't understand, no matter how level his head and how good his intentions. True, it was his father who brought the Mogwai home in the first place, against Wing's wishes, but he gave it to Billy (and was absent for most of the movie anyway), so responsibility for ensuring that the rules weren't broken ultimately rested upon his son. It's never stated what breaking rules two and three will actually do, but it's still made clear that they're to be avoided at all costs. As for Gizmo, he seemed genuinely unaware that the other Mogwai had just tricked Billy into breaking the third rule - at the time, he was merely repulsed by their lack of table manners, and didn't eat the chicken himself because he presumably wasn't hungry. You could argue that he too let his guard down (since he knows, either by instinct or past experience, that the other mogwai are no good, and becomes terribly depressed the moment they're spawned) or maybe he just felt powerless to stop them at this stage (although Billy is able to fight the gremlins from the beginning, Gizmo doesn't learn to do so until the climax, when he kills Stripe). When the mogwai go into their cocoon stage, he suddenly become very agitated - I got the impression that those little cries of his were intended as warnings, but neither Billy nor his mother could understand him. Despite their bond, Gizmo is, for the most part, unintelligible to Billy (he was surprised that Mr. Wing could understand him at the end). I agree that most of the other characters in both movies were just asking for it, though, and that Billy is presented in a much more favourable light by comparison. I suppose that's why his rewards are a) being promised that he and Gizmo will be reunited one day at the end of the first movie and b) being reunited with Gizmo and actually getting to keep him in the second.
** [[Film/KillBill Silly Rabbit]], lectures about nature are from Asians, elves, aliens and Indians only!
** [[BlueandOrangeMorality The Chinese don't let wild animals breed rapidly and run rampant across town.]]

* Mr. Futterman mentions the gremlins as the things that caused mechanical problems during WWII, but the mogwai was bought from a Chinese shop, in a Chinatown and has a Cantonese name. It was Japan that we fought in WWII. It just seems like a stretch that the writers would try to connect the two like that.
** The writers didn't make up the part about the Gremlins sabotaging planes. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlin Gremlins]] are actual folkloric creatures who are supposed to do just that and had been depicted in media long before the movie. As for the Chinese shop, it just fits (in a racist, oriental kind of sense) that the mysterious generic Asian (Chinese) guy would have certain mysterious mythological creatures such as Gremlins.
** The old man also never refers to the monsters as gremlins, and he's probably the only one who would know their proper name. Billy is the one who started calling them that. He had recently had a conversation with Mr. Futterman about little monsters that wreck things, was now ''faced'' with little monsters that wreck things, and decided to use that term. Might qualify as an IronicEcho.
** China was ''also'' fighting Japan during World War II. It was a World War after all, not just USA v Japan. I don't remember the exact quote but I doubt Mr. Futterman was implying that it was anything to do with the Japanese anyway. It was just an observation.
** Variations of sprites exist in folklore all over the world. Who says gremlins can't exist between two nearby countries in the ''same continent?''
** Mogwai actually are creatures of Chinese folklore (They're a type of sprite). And, according to the myths, when it rains, Mogwai..well...become horny and start to breed like rabbits (hence the whole "Water=Babies for Mogwai/Gremlins" scenario). The film simply merged the two mythologies together to form a single creature.
** Japan had previously conquered China in the early 20th century, so it wouldn't be surprising that some Mogwai/Gremlins made it to Japan via soldier/politician/idiot who wanted a fascinating pet.
* No mention of this scene yet? In the first movie, two policemen drive up to a house to see a man screaming for help as a bunch of gremlins maul him. The two officers look at each other, decide they're uncomfortable and drive off, leaving the man to his death. And this is NEVER addressed! By the very definition of their job, these two policemen just murdered a man through inaction.
** Their brake line is cut by a gremlin, and their car crashes; the only person who gets worse comeuppance is Mrs. Deagle.
** Actually, given that the movie takes place in the U.S., [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia Warren v. District of Columbia]] says that their job description doesn't force them to provide individual protection to people. That said, they had never seen gremlins in their lives before, so understandably they were unnerved. Mind you, they seemed rather callous about it.
** RuleOfFunny (the scene was played in a comedic light). And yes, as another troper has noted, they do receive their comeuppance.
** You think them driving off is bad? Originally they were even more callous; Frank (the sheriff) was supposed to say "The hell with him!" as he rolls up the car window and speeds off. Spielberg objected to this, and so the line was cut, although you can still see the actor mouthing the line.
** They were pretty bad cops to begin with. Both were drinking on duty (granted, on Christmas Eve in a very small and sleepy town, but still.) So they were probably still a little drunk when that happened. And they're small-town cops, who probably don't deal with many crisis situations in the first place. They were just out of their element. Moreover, the whole scene was crafted because, as Joe Dante says in the commentary, "Whenever you have a movie like this, and police, you have to have a scene with the police, and it's always the same scene." Billy at the police station and then the police leaving "Santa" to die then getting killed is just a way to get the cops out of the picture so Billy (and Gizmo) can be the hero, without making the audience feel ''too'' bad about two cops being killed.
** The guy died? I was under the impression that the Gremlins did were annoying and probably harm him but didn't kill him, on camera at least.
* I hope Creator/ChuckJones didn't get bothered by any Gremlins.
** Nah, if he had, then his concept of a gremlin would have looked a ''lot'' more like metamorphosed mogwai than an imp wearing footie pyjamas ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic jump suit]]?) with a missile nose sticking out each side of its head.
*** I assume not, since he ''has a cameo'' in the first film.

* How come nobody ever told Mrs. Deagle that Animal Cruelty is a ''crime''?
** Even if someone had the guts to do so, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney she wouldn't care]].
* Why do the Peltzers have a toy robot in the stocking if their only child is a teenager?
** There are plenty of adults that enjoy toy robots.
** Just ask any adult {{Transformers}} fan. [[BrokenBase Just don't go into any specifics.]]
** I'm in my 30's and I have a little wind-up robot on my computer desk right now.
*** Yeah, but keep in mind that when the film was released (TheEighties) an adult having childish hobbies would have been considered a weirdo with little positive connotations. Which in fairness is a bit how the Peltzer family is presented.
** Doylist explanation: The various versions of the script waffled back and forth with how old (and how mature) Billy was supposed to be, and elements of earlier drafts where he was significantly younger remain (his ten-year-old best friend, love of comics and toys, etc.)
** Who said the gifts in that stocking were specifically Billy's? The toy robot may have been a gag gift for Billy's inventor dad, something for him to put on his work desk for fun. Or it might have even been a gift for Gizmo -- many people put up stockings for the family pet. And Gizmo had already shown a propensity for playing with toys.

* Regarding the death of Mr. Hanson, what is kept in an elementary school science class that can be injected into a person to kill them? When Billy finds Hanson, you can still see there's some clear fluid of some sort inside the syringe. So what did he get injected with?
** Who said it was the liquid that killed him? Gremlins are quite well equipped in that department themselves. The syringe could've been a sedative or just some random stuff it jabbed into him, because, well, crazy and evil. And was it even confirmed that the man was dead?
*** I thought the implication was that the gremlin injected an air bubble into his bloodstream and gave him an [[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_embolism embolism.]] Are you sure the syringe had anything in it?
** I always tough that the Gremlin just killed him (With claws, bites, knifes, bazookas, falling pianos... they are gremlims, after all) and finally, he put the syringe in his ass "as revenge" for what he did before. The syringe made the scene more fun for me when I saw the movie as child, as it was a "funny, slapstick death", instead of just plain horror.

* How did the mogwai manage to wrap the dog in christmas lights and hang it from the pole, all without anyone hearing? Or was it actually Mrs. Deagle?
** It is heavily implied that the evil Mogwai did it with Stripe pretending to be asleep and then opening his eyes when Billy leaves his bed to investigate the dog's cries. And it must probably been an extensive team effort with the dog more confused then panicked and only starting to howl when it was left outside to freeze.

* Why didn't Billy ask the sheriff and his deputy to take a look at his house? That should prove not only that the Gremlins exist, but the kind of mayhem just four of them can cause. It might not convince them that there are more of them, but seeing that half of Billy's story is true, they should be more inclined to believe the other half.
** They do seem to be lazyu, incompetent cops, besides being already groggy and reluctant to do any actual work on Christmas Eve.

* Gizmo sure was cute, but Billy already had a dog. Would a second pet really be his dad's first choice as a perfect gift?
** Lots of families have multiple pets.

* What happened to the gremlin at the school? I guess we can assume he made it to the theater and was killed with the others but this was never explained. When first watching this movie I was wondering if at the end of the movie we would see he survived and
** that would lead into the sequel but that was not the case.

* Wait, if only clear water can cause the spawning of more Mogwai and Gremlins, why did the Pool, which should be full of Chlorine, spawn more Gremlins?
** Scientific answer: ratios. The pool had a high enough water to chlorine ratio to count as "water," while beer, soda, and so on does not. Mystical answer: Mogwai and Gremlins are magical creatures, and so what affects them is governed by our perceptions. Beer is not water, it is beer; orange juice is not water, it is orange juice; but water in a swimming pool or paintbrush cleaning glass is water, no matter how much chlorine or paint is mixed with it.
** Chlorine swimming pools have to be tested every darn day or so to see how much chlorine is left in it, and have more added until it gets into the right range. A significant amount of chlorine only happens if you "shock" the pool, which means you can't use it for swimming until the chlorine level falls. Give it just a couple of days of forgotten maintenance (or deliberate waiting before draining the water out), and the chlorine level is so low that it doesn't even register on the test strips.
*** Which makes sense, as the pool was presumably closed for Christmas and not being re-treated with chlorine daily with nobody using it.

* Am I reading too much into things, or was the implication of the Santa scene supposed to be that its the REAL Santa getting attacked by the Gremlins, and the cops just assumed it was an actor? Which is somehow supposed to add to the general black comedy of the evening's events?
** The cops identify the man by name (Dave something) and note "he plays Santa every year," meaning he's just a guy who goes around Kingston Falls on Christmas Eve pretending to be Santa.

* How did Rand Peltzer get the Mogwai away from New York City undetected? It's bad enough he brought his son home a new pet with some pretty hefty strings attached. Taking a live creature out of the city could have led to police attention and much worse.
** You seem to be inferring that Rand would have had to fly home with Gizmo, but that's not the case. He takes him from the Chinatown in NYC to his hometown, Kingston Falls which is established in the lore as a small town also in New York state. Given he's shown driving back to Kingston Falls again in the third act, we can infer that he drove there at the start of the movie. So by travelling by car, there's very little chance that police could pick up on him transporting a Mogwai out of NYC to upstate; he was able to easily conceal the creature just walking out of the store and through Chinatown in the case Gizmo came with.
** Bear also in mind that this is the mid-1980s, when slipping things through a checkpoint was easier.
* Are the Peltzers or Mr. Wing at all liable for the damage and vandalism inflicted upon the town by the gremlins? Who would qualify as the owner? Mr. Wing seems to think thet the kid gave the mogwai to Rand without his permission and the Pelzers think they owned it because they exchanged money to get one.
* Why is Mr. Hanson projecting an educational film to a class in a school building on Christmas Eve? Do schools in New York State open that late in the year?

* When Stripe multiplies in the pool at the YMCA shouldn't he be spawning mogwais instead of gremlins it doesn't make sense cuz I thought only Gizmo was able to multiply.
* How did Mrs. Peltzer get pinned down by the Christmas tree gremlin? I'd understand if it was a large group of gremlins, but it's only one. The gremlins themselves are no bigger than a small dog, and I can't imagine their grip being that strong either. She could've knocked him off by just jumping upwards really hard.

* Why did Mrs. Deagle have a pricey "Imported Bavarian Snowman" to begin with? First of all, she doesn't seem to give a damn about Christmas - she despises carolers and keeps a bucket of water on hand to douse them, and we get a good look at her house and there are no other decorations up, inside or out. And speaking of her house, it's actually rather squalid inside, suggesting that despite her wealth she hoards her money and lives frugally. So what's she doing with an expensive holiday decoration?

*** Yeah, but keep in mind that when the film was released ([[TheEighties|mid 80s]]) an adult having childish hobbies would have been considered a weirdo with little positive connotations. Which in fairness is a bit how the Peltzer family is presented.

* If the rules are so important, then why not tell them of the consequences? The kid just said to not wet them or feed them after midnight, but never says WHAT happens if you do.