WarnerMedia has confirmed a 10-episode series order to Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, a half-hour animated prequel to the original 1984 Gremlins live-action movie. The project, from Amblin Television and Warner Bros Animation, had been in the works for months with an informal green light.
The animated TV adaptation, written by Tze Chun, tells the original story of the shop owner Mr. Wing character from the 1984 movie and its 1990 sequel, played by Keye Luke. Set in 1920s Shanghai, it reveals how 10-year-old Sam Wing met the young Mogwai called Gizmo. Along with a teenage street thief named Elle, Sam and Gizmo take a perilous journey through the Chinese countryside, encountering, and sometimes battling, colorful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore. On their quest to return Gizmo to his family and uncover a legendary treasure, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist and his growing army of evil Gremlins.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai will be produced by Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros Animation, divisions of the movie franchise’s producers Warner Bros and Amblin Entertainment. The series is executive produced by Amblin TV’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, Sam Register (Animaniacs), with Chun and Brendan Hay (Robot Chicken) serving as co-executive producers. Dan Krall (Coraline) is a supervising producer.
This is the second animated series for Amblin TV, which also has Animaniacs at Hulu.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is part of a rampup at WarnerMedia, which has been greenlighting series ahead of the streaming platform’s launch. Pickups include Dune: The Sisterhood, Station Eleven, Made For Love, Tokyo Vice and Love Life.