User blog:ARTaylor/35 Years of Gremlins

Today is the thirty-fifth anniversary of the premiere of Gremlins. The film follows a young boy who gains a strange creature called a Mogwai as a pet and accidentally unleashes a wave of destructive creatures upon a small town.

The film was a massive success at the box office, becoming the fourth highest grossing of the year. It received mixed responses from critics, though it has gained in appreciation over time and currently is considered one of the greatest of the year.

The film was particularly controversial for its depiction of violence. The film was a black comedy that balanced its darker imagery with light humor and a Christmas setting. It was the subject of numerous parental complaints. The film along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom helped the MPAA create the PG-13 rating as a rating for those movies that are too dark for the younger oriented PG but not dark enough for the adult oriented R.

The film features the talents of Frank Welker as head Gremlin Stripe, archival audio of Marvin Miller as Robbie the Robot, as well as Peter Cullen and Bob Bergen, Bob Holt, Michael Sheehan doing additional voices for the other Mogwai and Gremlins.