Editing Gremlins (section)

=== Development ===
[[File:Chris Columbus.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Chris Columbus (filmmaker)|Chris Columbus]] conceived of the idea for ''Gremlins'' and wrote the initial draft as a [[spec script]].]]
The story of ''Gremlins'' was conceived by [[Chris Columbus (filmmaker)|Chris Columbus]]. As Columbus explained, his inspiration came from his loft, when at night "what sounded like a platoon of mice would come out and to hear them skittering around in the blackness was really creepy".<ref name="Behind Scenes">{{cite AV media |people=[[Chris Columbus (filmmaker)|Columbus, Chris]] |date=2002 |title=Steven Spielberg presents ''Gremlins'': Behind the Scenes |medium=DVD |publisher=Warner Home Video}}</ref> He then wrote the original screenplay as a [[spec script]] to show potential employers that he had writing abilities. The story was not actually intended to be filmed until [[Steven Spielberg]] took an interest in turning it into a film.<ref name="DVD" /> As Spielberg explained, "It's one of the most original things I've come across in many years, which is why I bought it."<ref name="Featurette" /> Spielberg considered [[Tim Burton]] to direct the film after seeing his [[short film]] ''[[Frankenweenie (1984 film)|Frankenweenie]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://cutprintfilm.com/features/an-oral-history-of-gremlins/ | title=An Oral History of 'Gremlins' (1984) |last=Costill |first=David |website=Cut Print Film | date=December 23, 2016 }}</ref>

After deciding to executive produce the film himself, Spielberg chose Dante as his director because of his experience with horror-comedy; Dante had previously directed ''[[The Howling (film)|The Howling]]''; however, in the time between ''The Howling'' and the offer to film ''Gremlins'', he had experienced a lull in his career.<ref name="DVD" />  Dante began doing storyboard work on the film while also working as a director on ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]'' (1983), a film on which Spielberg also served as a director.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_037_c2c_1984_Gremlins_smog777-DREGS|title=Gremlins director Joe Dante provides a behind-the-scenes look at this summer's big-budget creature-feature.|last=Everitt|first=David|publisher=Fangoria (37)|year=1984|pages=[https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_037_c2c_1984_Gremlins_smog777-DREGS/page/n21 20]–22}}</ref> The film's producer was [[Michael Finnell]], who had also worked on ''The Howling'' with Dante. Spielberg took the project to Warner Bros. and co-produced it through his own company, [[Amblin Entertainment]].

Designer Chris Walas spoke on the creation of the initial concept of the creatures, “After reading the script, my first idea was to take the [[tarsier]], a little primate, and give it cartoony proportions. I wanted the big eyes to make it cute. I showed it to Mike Finnell and Joe Dante and they asked for some tweaks, so I made the next one. This is more like a puppy. Big, floppy ears. It’s not based on any one dog in particular — just a Cocker Spaniel or something. Fortunately they did not go with it. These were the only two Mogwai I sculpted before the final one.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-06-30 |title=Gremlins Week: The Evolution Of Gizmo |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/evolution-gremlins-gizmo/ |access-date=2024-08-10 |website=Empire |language=en}}</ref>

The film's script went through a few drafts before a shooting script was finalized. The first version was much darker than the final film. Various scenes were cut, including one which portrayed Billy's mother being decapitated during her struggle with the gremlins, with her head thrown down the stairs when Billy arrives. Dante later explained the scene made the film darker than the filmmakers wanted. There was also a scene where the gremlins ate Billy's dog and a scene where the gremlins attacked a [[McDonald's]], eating customers instead of burgers. Also, instead of Stripe being a ''mogwai'' who becomes a gremlin, there was originally no ''mogwai'' named Stripe; rather, Gizmo was supposed to transform into Stripe the gremlin. Spielberg overruled this plot element as he felt Gizmo was cute and that audiences would want him to be present throughout the film.<ref name="DVD" />

The film mentions an urban legend<ref>{{cite web | title=Santa Claustrophobia | url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/santa-claustrophobia/ | work=[[Urban Legends Reference Pages]] | date=October 23, 1999 | access-date=December 7, 2020 | archive-date=May 3, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503010423/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/santa-claustrophobia/ | url-status=live }}</ref> in which Kate reveals in a speech that her father died at Christmas when he dressed as [[Santa Claus]] and broke his neck while climbing down the family's chimney. After the film was completed, studio executives insisted upon its removal, because they felt it was too ambiguous as to whether it was supposed to be funny or sad. Dante refused to take the scene out, saying it represented the film as a whole, which had a combination of horrific and comedic elements. Spielberg did not like the scene but, despite his creative control, he viewed ''Gremlins'' as Dante's project and allowed him to leave it in.<ref name="DVD" /> A parody of this scene is featured in ''[[Gremlins 2: The New Batch]]''.