Gremlins director Joe Dante went on the record accusing The Mandalorian creators of copying his designs and using them for Baby Yoda.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle's Datebook, Dante said that one of the characters in Gremlins, the adorable creature named Gizmo, "is essentially like a baby." He added, "Which brings me, of course, to the subject of Baby Yoda, who is completely stolen and is just out-and-out copied. Shamelessly, I would think."
Baby Yoda, or Grogu, is a main character in the Star Wars series The Mandalorian on Disney+. Din Djarin, the titular Mandalorian, is sent to track Grogu down and turn him in to the Galactic Empire.
The Mandalorian premiered in 2019 and has had two eight-episode seasons. A teaser trailer for Season 3 recently hit Reddit, and saw protagonist Djarin (Pedro Pascal) on his way to the planet of Mandalore. Returning to the show are the characters Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and Greef Karga (Carl Weathers). Grogu is also featured in the teaser.
Regardless of whether Baby Yoda is a blatant rip-off of Gizmo, the Gremlins franchise remains beloved. In addition to the first film, Gremlins (1984), and its sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), there is a third film on the horizon, which is rumored to be slated for a 2023 release. Red Dawn writer Carl Ellsworth is attached to pen the screenplay, and Harry Potter director Chris Columbus is reportedly responsible for the characters.
In addition to a third Gremlins film, Warner Bros. Animation is currently working on an animated prequel series: Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai. The first episode of the show will make its debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which takes place this week, and the series will eventually land on a new WarnerMedia streaming service.
The synopsis for Gremlins: Secret of the Mogwai explains that, in the new show, "We travel back to 1920s Shanghai to reveal the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing (future shop owner Mr. Wing in the 1984 movie) 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 army of evil Gremlins."
The original Gremlins is currently available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle