In 1984, producer Steven Spielberg, writer Chris Columbus, and director Joe Dante brought a new breed of cuddly creatures to the big screen, hoping to draw in fans of other odd critters like Yoda and E.T. The star of this film is the adorable "mogwai" (Chinese for "devil") named Gizmo, who propagates some very odd offspring that terrorize a small town on Christmas Eve. Released the same weekend as Ghostbusters, this horror-comedy was a hit with audiences, earning $212 million on an $11 million budget. The flick spawned a 1990 sequel, subtitled The New Batch, and a TV series, with a forthcoming third film, Secrets of the Mogwai, in the works. On the merchandising side, the Gizmo plush became an instant hit as one of the top toys of Christmas '84. And, of course, there were plenty of knock-offs, from Critters, to Munchies, to Ghoulies. Perhaps most notably, the film's violence and gore, packaged in family-friendly wrapping paper, led to the creation of a new MPAA rating category: PG-13. But forty-one years later, are we still going gaga for Gremlins? Or have these vicious vermin overstayed their welcome like unruly in-laws at the holidays?

For more geeky podcasts visit GonnaGeek.com

You can find us on iTunes under ''Legends Podcast''. Please subscribe and give us a positive review. You can also follow us on Twitter @LegendsPodcast or even better, send us an e-mail: [email protected]

You can write to Rum Daddy directly: [email protected]

You can find all our contact information here on the Network page of GonnaGeek.com Our complete archive is always available at www.legendspodcast.com, www.legendspodcast.libsyn.com

Show Music:Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/