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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Following its premiere season run from last May to June, Tze Chun’s Gremlins animated prequel series returns to Max for a second season. Subtitled The Wild Batch, the new season takes on a new adventure with more mythology to the iconic Gremlins franchise. I got to see all five episodes of the Season 2 Part I, and they up the ante of the premiere season.
Gremlins Season 2 Part I is written by series creator, showrunner, and executive producer Tze Chun (Once Upon a Time, Gotham, I’m a Virgo), executive producer Brendan Hay, and staff writers Anna Christopher, Sarah Nerboso, and Felicia Ho; and is directed by Jasmine Goggins, Vaughn Ross, Stephanie Gonzaga, and Alex Chiu.
In this review, I will discuss Gremlins: The Wild Batch. As this article’s title suggests, no spoilers will be present.
NOTE: Spoiler language was sent to the writer and editor of this piece beforehand by public relations representatives. The following writing in this article does not touch upon explicit details regarding narrative and character development.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s Gremlins: The Wild Batch Logline
According to Warner Bros. Discovery Press, here is the official logline for Gremlins: The Wild Batch.
Taking place one year after the events of season one, GREMLINS: THE WILD BATCH follows Gizmo, Sam, and Elle as they travel from their home in Shanghai to San Francisco, bringing even more magic, mystery and Mogwai mayhem. Hot on the trail of a new brood of evil Mogwai, our heroes journey deep into the American West, coming up against new supernatural creatures and picking up a few mysterious characters along the way.
Warner Bros. Discovery Press
Discussion
Gremlins: The Wild Batch continues the Wang family story and further suggests how Sam Wing (voiced by Izaac Wang) might eventually establish his antique store in Chinatown, San Francisco. (See Gremlins and its sequel, Gremlins: The New Batch, for more.) Teased in the premiere season’s finale, intelligent Mogwai, “Noggin” (voiced by George Takei) takes over as the main antagonist of Season 2 Part I. With the help of historical consultant, Amy Kohout, these five new episodes take the journey to the Bay Area, including an island that rings a bell for locals of the area.
With the screenwriters having revised the rules of Mogwai-supervising responsibilities, the series’ characters have more to work with in North America. The writers take those rules and test the waters of possibility. The gags behind the application of Mogwai met by sunlight and touched by water prove feasible for the season so far. They intelligently play in favor of the comedic and horror elements that Gremlins is known for. Applying “never feed Mogwai when the moon is at its highest peak” is a rule that requires a strong set-up, and the moon is seldom seen for that to truly happen.
Aside from the creatures beneath a movie theater and Grandpa Wing’s (voiced by James Hong) one surprise line delivery, the premiere episode—“Always Be Ready for Adventure”—is a fun recap of the first season. It transitions the location setting from Asia across the Pacific Ocean seamlessly. For the sake of historical purposes, it’s nice to see the Gremlins series highlight prison in the following episode, “Never Take the Tour”. Screenwriter Anna Christopher makes prison seem so delightful despite the darker details that older audiences may notice. Moreover, the season is best when it strikes a sense of harmony between man and Mogwai.
The Power of the West
Needless to say, The Wild Batch has witty screenwriting that not only contributes to the vaster Gremlins lore but also the earlier history of the world. The pre-teen characters and Noggin experience a bit of the diaspora upon arrival in California. This isn’t too intense, but it involves not knowing what teddy bears or baseball is. Their stay in the Bay Area still consists of maintaining the importance of family dynamics, with a handful of characters dealing with either child-parent separation or sibling dynamics.
Noggin’s survival as the last of Shanghai’s Mogwai leads him to take refuge overseas. With his brilliance, he stumbles upon political power, which for some reason feels reminiscent of The Godfather. Here, the articulate Mogwai gains leadership skills by learning from a local mob boss, Boss Chang (voiced by Keone Young). This is one of the more endearing parts of the season that fans might come to appreciate, even if it doesn’t take place over the extension of episodes.
Viewers are also reminded about what makes immigration a hopeful act: the American Dream. Given the politics of the Western world today, it’s a somewhat touching fact that underrepresented demographics witness what made living decade after decade worth persevering for. The existence of the Prohibition Era makes itself known, but it isn’t a huge aspect of the story’s time setting, much like the Bay Era’s then-active prison.
Technical Components
The Wild Batch continues the show’s imaginative narration with the thrilling help of music composer Sherri Chung’s score and the storyboard artistry. The sequences here and there keep the pace of the narrative, such as the prevention of Gizmo (voiced by A.J. Locascio) being fed “after midnight”, Sam Wing and Elle (voiced by Gabrielle Nevaeh Green) finding their way through the Californian fog, Wing defending Chang’s restaurant from Mogwai, the inevitable proliferation of the Mogwai by way of the water, and the ultimate fight against the Mogwai over control of San Francisco.
Art director Tara Rueping and the animation team never cease to appeal to fans, introducing new anthropomorphic creatures to the new episodes, from talking dragons to sentient lion statues. Small details like the electrocution of one Mogwai or the attempted murder of another are praiseworthy. The Bay Area atmosphere is eerily empty, and there is a reason behind that. This location setting sticks out the most when human characters occupy the surface.
The Crew Behind Gremlins: The Wild Batch
Anna Christopher (Scream: The TV Series Season 2), Felicia Ho, and Sarah Nerboso serve as the staff writers of the series.
Amy Kohout serves as the historical consultant.
Ryan Samsam serves as the editor for the first and fourth episodes. Mike Williamson edits the second and fifth episodes. Sheila McIntosh edits the third episode.
Youssef Bouhassis, Mike Jones, and Paul Neal (Disenchantment, Merry Little Batman) are the assistant editors.
In post-production, Harrison T. Barth, Michele Beeson, and Gabriel Gianola—the team behind Batman: The Long Halloween, Harley Quinn, My Adventures with Superman, Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, Batman: Caped Crusader—return as the series’ assistant editors.
Sherri Chung (Batwoman) scores the music of the series.
Sarah Noonan (Danny Phantom, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Batman: The Long Halloween, Young Justice, Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake, Merry Little Batman, My Adventures with Superman, Batman: Caped Crusader) and Agnes Kim (Batman: The Long Halloween, Young Justice, Harley Quinn, My Adventures with Superman, Batman: Caped Crusader) serve as the voice cast directors.
Kristi Reed (We Bare Bears, Infinity Train, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, Summer Camp Island, Pantheon, Merry Little Batman) spearheads the voice direction.
Animators
Tara Rueping returns as the series’ art director.
Jacob Eaton and Ray Mendoza Landa storyboard the first and fourth episodes. Kristine Lee and Stephan Park (The Venture Bros. Season 7, Invincible) storyboard the second and fifth episodes.
Jessica Cuffe storyboards the season premiere. James Lien storyboards the second episode.
Brendan Clogher (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, The Venture Bros. Season 6, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power), Andrew Kim, Tracy Liang, and Jessica Zammit storyboard the third episode.
Mira Chua storyboards the fourth episode. Christina Tsui storyboards the mid-season finale.
Cuffe is credited as the storyboard revisions director for the second through fifth episodes.
Whitney Amarantus and Polyna Kim serve as the storyboard revisionists for all five episodes of Season 2 Part I.
Julia Braid is a storyboard revisionist for the first through third episodes. Jacob Brain is a storyboard revisionist for the fourth and fifth episodes.
The Voice Cast Behind Gremlins: The Wild Batch
Izaac Wang (Good Boys, Raya and the Last Dragon, Didi) voices Sam Wing.
Gabrielle Nevaeh Green reprises her role as the voice of Elle, a French orphan living on the streets of Shanghai.
A.J. Locascio (Voltron: Legendary Defender, X-Men ’97) voices Gizmo. Locascio also voices a prison guard and an evil Mogwai.
Simu Liu voices Chang Junior, a prison inmate. Liu also voices Crewmember #1.
James Hong (Mulan, the Kung Fu Panda franchise, Turning Red, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Wendell & Wild) voices Grandpa Wing and a customer at Wing Medicine.
Ming-Na Wen (Mulan and Mulan II, Spawn, Adventure Time, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett) and B.D. Wong (the Jurassic Park/World franchise, Mulan, Gotham, Mr. Robot) voices Sam Wing’s parents, Fong and Hon Wing, respectively. Wen also voices a customer at Wing Medicine and May Lee. Wong also voices Police #1 and Zhu.
George Takei (the Star Trek franchise, Mulan and Mulan II, Hit-Monkey) voices Noggin, an intelligent Mogwai sibling-offspring of Gizmo.
Guest and Minor Voice Roles
Keone Young (Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, American Dragon: Jake Long, Star Wars: Rebels) voices Boss Chang, Chang’s father and a leader of the Chinatown triad.
Will Forte (The Lego Movie and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Scoob!, America: The Motion Picture, Sausage Party: Foodtopia) voices a prison warden.
Michael Paul Chan voices “the Lion”. Kelly Hu voices “the Lioness”.
Bowen Yang (The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, Fantasmas, Wicked) reprises his role as the voice of the Celestial Administrator. Yang also voices Sailor #1.
Ronny Chieng (M3GAN, History of the World: Part II) and Jimmy O. Yang (HBO’s Silicon Valley, Sausage Party: Foodtopia) voice dragons under Shanghai, Big Big and Little Big, respectively.
Henry Lubatti appears as the voice of Vachel, Elle’s father. Lubatti also voices a prison guard named McDouglas and a white supremacist prison inmate named Wilbur.
Eric Bauza (Invincible, X-Men ’97) voices Police #2, Sailor #2, a blonde prison guard, Bobo, an evil Mogwai, Gangster Lo, and Charlie.
Moujan Zolfaghari voices Lucky.
SungWon Cho (Sausage Party: Foodtopia, Batman: Caped Crusader) voices Gangster #1. Tina Huang voices Gangster #3 and Zhou.
Grey DeLisle (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Invincible, Batman: Caped Crusader) voices an old woman. Kari Wahlgren (Rick and Morty, Invincible, Batman: Caped Crusader) voices an evil Mogwai.
Keisuke Hoashi voices a Fishmonger and Wang.
Louis Ozawa (The Man in the High Castle, Hunters) voices Fan Fan.
Voice Performances and Character Developments
What’s new about Locascio’s Gizmo this time around is his sleepwalking side, which I personally refer to as “Red Eyes”. Some unknown thing or entity is possessing the lovable creature, and these first five episodes of the season don’t exactly provide any answers as to what is taking over him. The Wild Batch establishes the character’s dynamic with Noggin, who yearns for companionship just like every other character. Yet, what sets Noggin apart from the others is his choice between love and fear. Noggin also takes on a new name, Algernon, which sounds like an homage to the story by American author, Daniel Keyes. If there is anything to appreciate about the new season of Gremlins, it’s minutiae such as this.
Elle’s past catches up to her and unlike Phoebe Cates’s character from the live-action films, Elle attempts to work through her trauma. Developing this young character beyond her servitude to the prior season’s antagonist is a good step forward. She further represents the theme of classism that the animated series doesn’t touch too much on. Still, Elle learns that forgiveness is a key tenet to human growth, which makes her as great a character as those around her.
Final Thoughts on Gremlins: The Wild Batch Part One
The former half of Gremlins Season 2 is off to a decent start, but it also remembers to be as creative as its premiere season. Now that the rules have been re-established, The Wild Batch experiments with time and space in ways that comprise a coherent narrative. With only five episodes releasing this month—and five more to come at a later date—, there continues to be promise for the future of Gremlins, and I cannot wait to see where that will lead and what new antagonisms lie ahead for the main characters.
4/5 stars
Tze Chun’s Gremlins Season 2, The Wild Batch, streams via Max, starting October 3rd!
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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
