Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai

Known as Secrets of the Mogwai in the first season and The Wild Batch in the second, this show is a good entry in the Gremlins franchise. It feels like a mature series aimed at kids, never talking down to its audience, not shying away from cursing, alcohol or violence and portraying social issues in the Prohibition both in China and later the US.

The animation is gorgeous. A form of painted CGI, some of the backgrounds and animation are true 2D; this is best exemplified by water in the second season.

Where it falters a bit is that Sam's voice actor seems have an issue with intonation. I don't know if it was because he's going through puberty or something, but he sounds a bit off. An overall trivial detail.

A strong recommendation.

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is a fantastic surprise-visually gorgeous, rich in storytelling, and full of heart. It's everything I hoped a prequel could be. The show dives into the origins of Gizmo with a deep respect for the original films while introducing a whole new layer of mythology and character development.

The animation is beautifully crafted, with a style that blends Eastern folklore and classic Gremlins chaos in the best way. The balance between humor, action, and darker themes is handled really well, making it suitable for older kids and longtime fans alike.

It's clear the creators put love into expanding the Gremlins universe. Whether you're a diehard fan of the originals or completely new to the series, Secrets of the Mogwai is a must-watch. A perfect 10 stars from me!

As a huge Gremlin fan ever since I was a kid ( I had the novel and the story records), this series strikes a wonderful balance between expanding on the lore while paying fan service. The callbacks to the first two films are copious. I really enjoyed all the references and the actor doing Gizmo hits it on the head! I was a little worried this would have been dumbed down but I found myself invested about 2 minutes in. The animation is beautiful. I just wished they dropped all 10 at once.

Hopefully this will get the VIPs motivated to continue to expand the universe with another live action film (no CGI) or a live action series (again, no CGI please).

More garbage that has absolutely no ideas whilst simultaneously destroying anything which gave the originals any character or individuality, insulting the wretched viewer with some extremely generic animation, generic characters, generic narratives and some god awful voice acting. There's enough mediocrity and garbage in the world already we don't need more. Avoid please.

Fans of comedy-horror are bound to know Joe Dante's 1984 movie "Gremlins" and its 1990 sequel "Gremlins 2: The New Batch".* Well, we now have an origin story. The protagonist is Sam Wing, the owner of the shop from which the dad bought Gizmo in the first movie. "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai" depicts him as a boy in 1920s Shanghai, coming into possession of Gizmo and having to protect him from a malevolent sorcerer.

As with the movies, the rules are to keep mogwai away from bright light, don't get them wet, and don't feed them after midnight; sure enough, the rules get broken, and chaos ensues. The miniseries manages to be fun every step of the way. You're sure to love it. Returning cast members from the movies are Zach Galligan (Billy in the movies, Henchman #2 here) and Haviland Morris (Marla in the second movie, Theodora here); Matthew Rhys (Riley) appeared in Steven Spielberg's movie "The Post" as the recently deceased Daniel Ellsberg.

*You may recall that the sequel depicted a mogul who was supposed to be Donald Trump (with a little bit of Ted Turner).