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'Gremlins' Prequel Concept Art Revealed, Featuring A Younger Gizmo

gremlins prequel concept art
By Ben Pearson/

Move over, Baby Yoda: Baby Gizmo might be coming soon to a TV near you.

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, the animated prequel series that is currently in the works at HBO Max, has released its first piece of concept art, and it features a younger Gizmo than the one we've seen in the two live-action Gremlins movies. Could Baby Gizmo fever be about to sweep the nation? Check out our first look at some Gremlins prequel concept art below.

We'll do everyone a favor and skip the "never feed them after midnight" references. We're all adults here – adults who, if the reaction to Baby Yoda is an indicator, will most likely swoon at the cuteness of Baby Gizmo when he's eventually revealed in his full glory.

This piece of concept art depicts a young Mr. Wing (an elderly character played by Keye Luke in the original movie) walking through the streets with young Gizmo by his side. I'm very curious to know what style the show will ultimately adopt – this concept art has a painterly, hand-made, sort of King's Quest vibe to it, but the final series could very easily end up looking nothing like this.

Secrets of the Mogwai writer Tze Chun shared this message on Twitter:

Here is the synopsis for Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, which is a ten-episode, half-hour series that's being executive produced by Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, and Sam Register, with Tze Chun and Brendan Hay serving as co-executive producers:

In the animated television adaptation, 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 growing army of evil Gremlins.

Joe Dante, who directed the 1984 original movie and its completely bonkers 1990 sequel, will serve as a consultant on this animated series, but Howie Mandel will not be returning to provide the voice of Gizmo. Sorry to all of the Howie-heads out there. You'll just have to get your fix with episodes of America's Got Talent: The Champions and old reruns of Deal or No Deal.

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