This past Friday night, I had a very unique experience that typically only happens in LA. Because this is a movie-lover’s town, there are dozens of opportunities to watch older movies pretty much every day of the week.

On Friday night, there was a screening of Gremlins and Gremlins 2 at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. Normally I might have passed up this opportunity but I noticed one minor detail about the screening – Joe Dante was going to be there to take part in a Q and A. So obviously, I had to attend.

Joe Dante is one of my top 5 filmmakers. He sits up there with John Ford, Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis. Let me recap the movies he has directed that have made an impact on my life.

Gremlins – One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time. That opening sequence where Billy runs through town is amazing. This movie serves as a good bridge between Halloween movies and Christmas movies – as does Nightmare before Christmas.

Innerspace – I first saw this movie while my family was house-sitting for an extremely rich family. We were essentially homeless for a short time so this movie (and that amazing house) provided an escape from our present circumstances. Dennis Quaid and Martin Short = the perfect odd couple.

Explorers – the film that inspired me to dream incredible dreams… and still does. (I can excuse the sort of lame ending because the beginning is so magical.)

The Burbs – possibly my favorite comedy of all time. Tom Hanks’ finest comedy for sure.

Gremlins 2 – This is an excellent example of a director putting his entire voice into a film. It’s way more wacky than the first movie and I really like that. Still, the first one is my favorite of the two.

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So I went to the screening and noticed immediately that the theater was filled with over a hundred fan-boys. Everyone in that theater absolutely LOVED the films of Joe Dante, just like me. So that was odd, being in a room full of my clones.

Joe took the stage and introduced the movie. He informed us that this was the preview version that he screened before the final cut. There were 6 additional minutes in the film but I’d seen all of the additional scenes on the DVD release.

Then we watched the film. After the film, Joe and Glynn Turman came on stage. Glynn Turman played Mr. Hanson, the science teacher.

Here are some of the notes I took on the Q and A.

Before he made Gremlins, Joe was at low point in his career. He had just made The Howling, which made money, but he didn’t make any because he was not in the director’s guild.

Steven Spielberg saw The Howling and contacted him about making Gremlins. Spielberg intended Gremlins to be the first film produced under his Amblin company and it was. Warner Brothers had to make the film because Spielberg wanted it made and they had a deal with him. They also wanted Joe to direct it because they wanted the film made for extremely cheap and since he still wasn’t in the DGA, they wouldn’t have to pay a lot.

The first version of the script was not a comedy. Chris Columbus (now a famous director) wrote the script as a gruesome horror film. He never intended for it to get made. He just used it as a writing sample.

Joe said, “Chris Columbus’ original script was definitely more of a horror film than what we developed Gremlins into. His original version had the monsters killing the dog and cutting off the mom’s head and tossing it down the stairs. We realized as we continued developing the project we needed to have a different tone.”

The film became a comedy as Joe started to put his touch on the film. He’s a filmmaker with a definite voice – something I strive to have.

The film ended up costing $11 million – way more than Warner Brothers wanted to pay initially. But Joe was firm that he couldn’t make the movie for less because of all the puppetry involved.

Steven Spielberg had final say on the design of Gizmo. He didn’t like any of them until they decided to color Gizmo like Spielberg’s cocker spaniel. He approved the next version.

Glynn Turman was asked about working with Mogwais. He said it was an exercise in concentration because there were so many guys operating it, it was hard to focus and forget about all those guys.

Joe was asked about the production. He said the worst part of production was after the initial production with the actors. He shot for a month and a half after everyone left with just the puppets. He said it was a nightmare.

One cool bit of movie trivia – the close-ups of Gizmo were done with a giant Gizmo head.

Glynn Turman pointed out that the script was Top Secret. Each script was given a code on each page so they’d know who leaked the script if it ever got out.

They talked about Mr. Hanson’s death. They initially shot a version where Billy finds Mr. Hanson laying on the ground with 6 needles stuck in his head. They had to use the alternate which was Mr. Hanson’s body underneath the desk.
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Come back tomorrow for part 2 and hear Joe Dante’s thoughts on the sequel.