Editing Gremlin (section)

==Popularization by Roald Dahl==

[[File:Hawker Hurricane, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Members' day 2018 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Royal Air Force pilot and author [[Roald Dahl]] flew a [[Hawker Hurricane]] during WWII which he incorporated into his 1943 children's novel ''[[The Gremlins]]'']]
British author [[Roald Dahl]] is credited with getting the gremlins known outside the Royal Air Force.<ref name=rodl>Donald 2008, p. 147.</ref> He would have been familiar with the myth, having carried out his military service in [[No. 80 Squadron RAF|80 Squadron]] of the Royal Air Force in the Middle East. Dahl had his own experience in an accidental crash-landing in the [[Western Desert (North Africa)|Western Desert]] when he ran out of fuel. In January 1942, he was transferred to [[Washington, D.C.]] as Assistant [[Air attaché]] at the British Embassy. It was there that he wrote his first children's novel, ''[[The Gremlins]],'' in which "Gremlins" were tiny men who lived on RAF fighters. In the same novel, Dahl called the wives of gremlins "[[Fifinella]]s", their male children "Widgets", and their female children "[[Flibbertigibbet]]s". Dahl showed the finished manuscript to [[Sidney Bernstein, Baron Bernstein|Sidney Bernstein]], the head of the [[British Information Services|British Information Service]], who came up with the idea to send it to [[Walt Disney]].<ref name=rodl/>{{refn|Dahl claimed that the gremlins were exclusively a [[Royal Air Force]] icon and he originated the term, but the elf-like figures had a very convoluted origin that predated his original writings.|group=N}}

The manuscript arrived in Disney's hands in July 1942, and he considered using it as material for a live action/animated full-length feature film, offering Dahl a contract.{{refn|Dahl was given permission by the [[Air Ministry|British Air Ministry]] to work in Hollywood and an arrangement had been made that all proceeds from the eventual film would be split between the RAF Benevolent Fund and Dahl.<ref name="Conant 2008, p. 43">Conant 2008, p. 43.</ref>|group=N}} The film project was changed to an animated feature and entered pre-production, with characters "roughed out" and storyboards created.<ref name="Conant 2008, p. 43"/> Disney managed to have the story published in the December 1942 issue of [[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|''Cosmopolitan'']] magazine. At Dahl's urging, in early 1943, a revised version of the story, again titled ''[[The Gremlins]]'', was published as a picture book by [[Random House]]. (It was later updated and re-published in 2006 by [[Dark Horse Comics]]).{{refn|The book had an autobiographical connection as Dahl had flown as a Hurricane fighter pilot in the RAF, and was temporarily on leave from operational flying after serious injuries sustained in a [[crash landing]] in [[Libya]]. He later returned to flying.|group=N}}

The 1943 publication of ''The Gremlins'' by Random House consisted of 50,000 copies, with Dahl ordering 50 copies for himself as promotional material for himself and the upcoming film, handing them out to everyone he knew, including the British ambassador in Washington [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]], and the US First Lady [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] who read it to her grandchildren.<ref name=rodl/> The book was considered an international success with 30,000 more sold in Australia but initial efforts to reprint the book were precluded by a wartime paper shortage.<ref>Sturrock 2010, p. 188.</ref> Reviewed in major publications, Dahl was considered a writer-of-note and his appearances in Hollywood to follow up with the film project were met with notices in [[Hedda Hopper]]'s columns.<ref>Conant 2008, pp. 43–46.</ref>{{refn|In 1950, Collins Publishing (New York) published a limited reprint of ''The Gremlins.''|group=N}}

The film project was reduced to an animated short and eventually cancelled in August 1943, when copyright and RAF rights could not be resolved. But thanks mainly to Disney, the story had its share of publicity, which helped in introducing the concept to a wider audience. Issues #33–41 of ''[[Walt Disney's Comics and Stories]]'' published between June 1943 and February 1944 contained a nine-episode series of short silent stories featuring a Gremlin Gus as their star. The first was drawn by Vivie Risto, and the rest of them by [[Walt Kelly]]. This served as their introduction to the [[comic book]] audience as they are human gremlins who lived in their own village as little flying human people.

While Roald Dahl was famous for making gremlins known worldwide, many returning Air Servicemen swear they saw creatures tinkering with their equipment. One crewman swore he saw one before an engine malfunction that caused his [[B-25 Mitchell]] [[bomber]] to rapidly lose altitude, forcing the aircraft to return to base. Folklorist Hazen likewise offers his own alleged eyewitness testimony of these creatures, which appeared in an academically praised and peer-reviewed publication, describing an occasion he found "a parted cable which bore obvious tooth marks in spite of the fact that the break occurred in a most inaccessible part of the plane". At this point, Hazen states he heard "a gruff voice" demand, "How many times must you be told to obey orders and not tackle jobs you aren't qualified for? – This is how it should be done." Upon which Hazen heard a "musical twang" and another cable was parted.<ref>Hazen 1972, p. 466.</ref>

Critics of this idea state that the stress of combat and the dizzying heights caused such hallucinations, often believed to be a coping mechanism of the mind to help explain the many problems aircraft faced while in combat.

{| class="wikitable"
|+
Differences between Dahl versions
|-
!!!  In ''[[The Gremlins]]''!! In ''[[Sometime Never: A Fable for Supermen|Sometime Never]]''
|-
! Habitat
| Formerly in the prima forest and swamps of England, later in hangars (the Spandules, a different breed of Gremlins, live in clouds)|| In one forest in England before the [[Industrial Revolution]] then moved underground
|-
! Food source
| Used [[postage stamp]]s || Snozzberries
|-
! Social Structure
| Uncertain; rivalry between gremlins of different habitats; no established families || Ruled by one Leader, human-like society
|-
! Intelligence
| Comparable to children, no clear culture of their own|| Fully comparable to human; read human books
|}