Artwork by Jeff Zornow Printed on our super soft 4.5oz 100% pre-shrunk ringspun cotton shirts Custom Printed on Demand About Gremlins (1984) Joe Dante's Gremlins (1984) was originally written by Chris Columbus as a much darker horror film—in the original script, the Gremlins decapitate Billy's mother and eat his dog—before Steven Spielberg's involvement as producer softened it into a horror comedy that still pushed boundaries. The film, along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, was directly responsible for the creation of the PG-13 rating after parents complained that the PG rating didn't adequately warn them about the intense content. Creating the Mogwai and Gremlin puppets required a team of over 100 artists and technicians, with each hero puppet costing approximately $30,000 to build and requiring multiple operators to control. Gremlins grossed $212 million worldwide and spawned an equally anarchic sequel, while its three rules—don't expose them to light, don't get them wet, and never feed them after midnight—became some of the most quoted movie rules in cinema history.
