Dark Horse unleashes Gremlins
Written by Adam A. Donaldson
Wednesday, 02 July 2008 05:43
But another figure that Disney collaborated with was Roald Dahl, the author of James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda. Like Dali’s project, Dahl’s came to not after months of work, but Dahl managed to turn the endeavour into his first book. And while said book was released with the intent of creating buzz for the supposedly forthcoming film, it became a success in its own right, though one that disappeared into the annals of history for over 60 years.
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The book was called The Gremlins: A Royal Air Force Story. It was a concept that Dahl had toyed with while. As a First Lieutenant in the RAF, he was stationed in Washington DC during World War II. Lt. Dahl was a military attaché to the British embassy there but for the first year of the war he was a pilot until an injury grounded him and made him unfit to fly. Taking the time to start fleshing out the stories that had been rolling around in his head for years, Dahl first tackled the tale of the Gremlins, those mischievous creatures that British pilots blamed for mechanical malfunctions in their planes that had no immediate or obvious explanation. In the year 1943, Disney was going full-steam in cranking out pro-American and Allied war films, getting Donald Duck to tell people to but war bonds and the like. The Gremlins seemed like a perfect fit, combining a timely tale with loveable characters and a positive message for kids who may have had family members far away from home fighting the Nazis or the Japanese. When the film didn’t come to pass, Dahl took his story and the Disney artwork and published the book. Only 5,000 copies were ever made and soon Dahl’s Gremlins went back to being a figment of our collective imaginations.
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The story follows an RAF pilot named Gus who, while battling Nazis in the skies over England, suffers a mechanical failure that forces him to take an emergency landing. When further failures occur on subsequent flights, Gus notices the problem: a short, little green man with horns and crash helmet wearing suction cup boots. He’s purposefully damaging the plane. Gus’ fellow pilots report similar circumstances and the men decide to figure out what these ‘gremlins’ are all about. It turns out that they’re from a wood up north where they lived in the trees, only to be uprooted when an airplane factory was built on their land. Seeing the planes as a threat to their existence, the Gremlins decided to sneak aboard each assembled plane and work from the inside to bring them down.
Reading The Gremlins from a historical perspective one can understand why it would have appealed to a wartime audience. The idea of life being displaced by the war effort on the home front would not have been a theme uncommon to children in the 40s. Kids used to having Mom at home all the time were now watching Mom leave for work every morning, either to a factory or contributing to the war in some other way away from the house, all while Dad was far from home in the fighting.
The other interesting component comes later in the book as the pilots get to know the gremlins and understand where their anger over the planes comes from. Gus makes a deal with his gremlin, simply named ‘Gremlin Gus,’ and says that if the gremlins help the RAF with the war effort, then Gus will take it upon himself to secure all the gremlins a new home when the fighting’s over. Consciously, part of the book’s magic is to offer children hope that someone was watching over their fathers and keeping them safe. Also, it invokes the Air Force concept of the importance of one’s wingman and that in the midst of a tremendous war effort, even the smallest contributions can’t be taken for granted.
The anniversary edition of the book is represented intact with a new introduction by film writer and critic Leonard Malton. Created outside the parameters of a typical children’s book, The Gremlins is illustrated with production art and sketches – the original art that Disney animators cooked up while the film was in development. It’s great to look at; very classically Disney with clean lines and a lively spirit. The book contains black and white illustrations of tremendous detail, as well as some full colour paintings and little concept sketches of the Gremlins up to mischief. Leaping off the page, it’s surprising to think that this movie never reached the actual filming stage and what you’re just looking at is a bunch of ideas; elaborate doodles on a ‘cocktail napkin’ if you will.
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Dark Horse has done film history a great service by resurrecting these characters. Not only is it a piece of lost history, but it’s a fascinating insight into two of the most creative minds of the last century. Also, I hope this will do much to rectify the bad name of ‘Gremlins’ after Joe Dante got through with it in the 80s, I’ve always believed that gremlins were meant to help, not hinder.
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