History Trivia / Gremlins

** Creator/TimBurton was considered to direct the movie before Creator/JoeDante was hired. However, Burton was turned down as he didn't direct a full-length film at the time.

** A scene would've occurred where the heroes found the aftermath of a Gremlin attack on a [=McDonalds=] - all of the patrons have been devoured, including a baby, and the [=McDonalds=] food would've been untouched. It was cut for being too dark and sad.

** Pat Hingle and Creator/EmilioEstevez auditioned for the roles of Rand and Billy Peltzer. On the DVD commentary, Creator/JoeDante praises Hingle's screen test as a Creator/FrankCapra-esque character who realizes that his best days are long behind him as being too good for the movie, because he would have stolen the show from Gizmo and the gremlins had he been cast.
** Other actors considered for the part of Billy were Creator/KevinBacon, Creator/KevinCostner and Creator/JuddNelson.
** Creator/JonPertwee and Creator/{{Mako}} were both seriously considered for Mr. Wing.
** Spielberg considered hiring Creator/TimBurton to direct after seeing his short films. He decided against it because at the time Burton had never directed a full-feature length film.

** During production of the sequel, there were plans for an animated series. There was even a blurb for it in the ''He's 50, Folks'' magazine celebrating WesternAnimation/BugsBunny's 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, the poor box-office performance of the sequel resulted in the television series getting canceled. However, 30 years after the project was scrapped, [[NetworkToTheRescue HBO Max decided to rescue this series for their platfom]], with the show being renamed from ''Gizmo and the Gremlins'' to ''Gremlins: Secrets of the Mowgwai''.

** During production of the sequel, there were plans for an animated series. There was even a blurb for it in the ''He's 50, Folks'' magazine celebrating WesternAnimation/BugsBunny's 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, the poor box-office performance of the sequel resulted in the television series getting canceled.

* The entire concept of these movies was brought about from Spielberg's unproduced script loosely based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly–Hopkinsville_encounter the Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter]]. The idea was eventually separated into three movies: this one, ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', and ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''.

* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals: Inverted. In the commentary, Joe Dante calls Mushroom (the dog playing Barney) "the all-purpose cutaway," because if Barney is in the scene and Joe doesn't know what to cut to, Mushroom has a priceless facial expression that'll sell it. Highlights include: Looking worried and offended when Mrs. Deagle is threatening to kill him, looking curious when Gizmo first appears, looking frightened when Gizmo first multiplies. He even moves in synch with the Gizmo puppet in several shots.

* ThrowItIn: Gerrold orders "vodka martini, shake don't stir," from Kate at Dorry's in an attempted ShoutOut to [[Film/JamesBond]]. However, Judge Reinhold kept fumbling the line, seemingly unable to get out the correct "shaken, not stirred." Eventually they decided to just let the line stand, since it made Gerrold seem even more pretentious and clueless.

* ThrowItIn: Gerrold orders "vodka martini, shake don't stir," from Kate at Dorry's in an attempted ShoutOut to [[Franchise/JamesBond]]. However, Judge Reinhold kept fumbling the line, seemingly unable to get out the correct "shaken, not stirred." Eventually they decided to just let the line stand, since it made Gerrold seem even more pretentious and clueless.

* ActorAllusion: The Futtermans are played by Dick Miller and Jackie Joseph, cast as a married couple specifically because of their frequent acting collaborations in Creator/RogerCorman movies.

** Pat Hingle and Creator/EmilioEstevez auditioned for the roles of Rand and Billy Peltzer. On the DVD commentary, Creator/JoeDante praises Hingle's screen test as a Creator/FrankCapra-esque character who realizes that his best days are long behind him as being too good for the movie, because he would have stolen the show from Gizmo and the gremlins had be been cast.

** The first movie was going to be DarkerAndEdgier. Gizmo was going to become a gremlin (specifically, the Gremlin leader Stripe), in the second act, but this was deemed too confusing to audiences. Billy's mother was also going to be murdered by the gremlins, with her head rolling down the stairs. Additionally, Billy would have been your typical 80's HollywoodNerd and not only traveled around the town with two companions during the madness (a love interest and a bully-turned-emergency-ally), but wielded a sword. He still wields a sword in the final film but it's limited to only one scene. As to his companions, presumably they morphed into Kate and Gerald. Also, Billy's dog would have been eaten.

** Pat Hingle and Creator/EmilioEstevez auditioned for the roles of Rand and Billy Peltzer. On the DVD commentary, Creator/JoeDante praises Hingle's screen test as a FrankCapra-esque character who realizes that his best days are long behind him as being too good for the movie, because he would have stolen the show from Gizmo and the gremlins had be been cast.

** Mr. Jones is played by Chuck Jones.

** Other actors considered for the part of Billy were Creator/KevinBacon, Creator/KevinCostner and Creator/KevinCostner.

** The first movie was going to be DarkerAndEdgier. Gizmo was going to become a gremlin in the second act, but this was deemed too confusing to audiences. Billy's mother was also going to be murdered by the gremlins, with her head rolling down the stairs. Additionally, Billy would have been your typical 80's HollywoodNerd and not only traveled around the town with two companions during the madness (a love interest and a bully-turned-emergency-ally), but wielded a sword. He still wields a sword in the final film but it's limited to only one scene. As to his companions, presumably they morphed into Kate and Gerald.

** Other actors considered for the part of Billy were Creator/JuddNelson, Creator/KevinBacon Creator/KevinCostner.

** Other actors considered for the part of Billy were Creator/JuddNelson and Creator/KevinCostner. Nelson was rejected after he got into a fight with Creator/StevenSpielberg and hurled an ashtray at his head.

** Other actors considered for the part of Billy were JuddNelson and KevinCostner. Nelson was rejected after he got into a fight with StevenSpielberg and hurled an ashtray at his head.

** Other actors considered for the part of Billy were JuddNelson and KevinCostner.