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ericaportfolio · 6 months ago

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Disney’s The Gremlins Over the Years Chapter 2: Gremlin Gus (Part 1)

Due to the recent events with Epic Mickey Rebrushed, I decided to make posts dedicated to Disney's infamous characters from the canceled WWII movie The Gremlins. The character designs of these guys have changed many times during the concept art process and over the years. If you just discovered this post, here is Chapter 1 in the link below.

Today, this is a collection of our favorite bowler hat fellow, Gremlin Gus. For those discovering this, in summary, Disney was making WWII movies and shorts for the war effort. They were going to adapt Roald Dahl's first book about these guys, and several things like people getting tired of war movies and figuring out how to make the movie, which was canceled. Just like the story, Gremlin Gus's role in the story changed as well. Here's the breakdown of Gremlin Gus over the years. Also, get ready for SPOILERS!

TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of War, World War II History, Nuclear Warfare, the Nazis and Hitler, and Death.

Early Concept Art: From the early versions of Gremlin Gus by Bill Justice, Disney animator and engineer, There were versions where he looked ancient, slightly old but fit, or, possible theory, his natural hair color is white, but he aged poorly due to stress. Shout out to ZOLTAR'S FORTUNE on eBay, posting the Photocopies (the last three).

Cosmopolitan Magazine (1942): The earliest release of "The Gremlin" story was in the December 1942 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. Someone posted the full Article on the site, but I might post another one for each illustration. So stay tuned for that! But for now, here are Gremlin Gus's Designs. In the colored cover of "Introducing the Gremlins," Gremlin Gus has his green skin, a brown helmet, a broken horn, a pair of glasses, his bowler hat between his horns, and missing his mustache. In the original story, the Gremlins once lived in the forest of England, staying out of the way of the humans building towns or fighting each other. That was until the 1940s when World War II started. A bunch of workmen began to cut down the entire wood to build a plane factory to fight against the Nazis. The Gremlins swear revenge by sabotaging the planes without knowing what's happening in the outside world. One day, Pilot Gus of the Royal Air Force (RAF) fights in the Battle of Britain, where he becomes the first human to see a Gremlin. So Pilot Gus and his buddies get harassed by these guys, including their leader, Gremlin Gus. Will the pilots find a way to befriend these little guys before someone gets hurt?

Concept Art Upgrade: Now, here's starting to look like the Gremlin Gus we know! These would eventually be the final book and promotion designs.

The (Controversial) Life-Saver Ad (1943): AKA the ad Roald Dahl hated, but Walt Disney thought differently. Here, Gremlin Gus has a green helmet, his bowler hat is missing, and he has pale skin.

Dell War Heroes (April 1943): This is a sample from a six-page adaptation of the story featured in a Dell War Heroes comic book. The writer and artist are unknown. Here, Gremlin Gus has a green helmet, his bowler hat is now on his horn, had pale skin, and orange gloves. The most significant difference between the Article and this comic is that Gremlin Gus accidentally hurt Pilot Gus, and the plane they were in caught on fire. After a close parachute escape, Pilot Gus confronts Gremlin Gus when he finally learns why the Gremlins were sabotaging the aircraft. With that, Pilot Gus showed sympathy, saying that if the Gremlins started helping the RAF pilots fight and win the war, the Gremlins would get a new home. The same new home in Return of the Gremlins that the Gremlins have to fight to save years later.

The First Treatment (May 18, 1943): The first version of the movie treatment was 155 pages long. Gremlin Gus is both the leader of the Gremlins and the teacher of the widgets, the children of the Gremlins. While reading a newspaper, he discovers a pilot named Rip Wilson (a renamed version of Pilot Gus), who looks like a young Fred Astaire, hasn't had a situation regarding the Gremlins. Later, Gremlin Gus overhears Rip, saying he doesn't believe in Gremlins. With that, the Gremlins make him sick and get Rip into an accident. However, the Gremlins save Rip because they don't want to kill him. They just wanted to destroy the plane in revenge. Later in the hospital, Gremlin Gus reveals what happened to their woods. This causes Rip to explain what's going on with the war and how much of a threat Hitler is to everyone. At the very same time, the radio that's been on in Rip's room broadcasts a speech of Hitler insulting the Gremlins for destroying their planes. This causes the Gremlins to convert to the Allies' Cause to defeat the Nazis.

Disney's The Gremlins Book (June 1943): Finally, here's the Gremlin Gus we know and love! Here is one of Bill Justice's colored paintings from the book. I highly recommend looking through all the paintings from the book because Bill Justice does justice to these guys! The part where Pilot Gus and Gremlin Gus escape the plane and the deal the Gremlins will get a new home from the comic was added to the book. Though Gremlin Gus doesn't accidentally hurt Pilot Gus. But there's a moment in the book in the original Article where Pilot Gus is sick, and Gremlin Gus tries to tell him not to go and does get hurt. At the end of the book, the reformed Gremlins help Pilot Gus get back into the air.

Walt Disney Comics and Stories #33 (June 1943): A new group of pilots believed the Gremlins were fairytales in this two-page adaptation. Jokes on them since what they said enraged the Gremlins that they mess with the guys. Gremlin Gus has green skin, a nose, a yellow helmet, and brown gloves.

The Second Treatment (June 9, 1943): In this 100-page long treatment, instead of being the leader of the Gremlins, Gremlin Gus's and Gremlin Jamface's characters are merged when Gremlin Gus is caught befriending a human pilot. Gremlin Gus is put on trial, where he explains the RAF pilots are the good guys fighting against the Nazis invading their homes. Suddenly, an unexploded German bomb crashes into the court gathering, proving Gremlin Gus correct. In this version, the writers were trying to get away from Gremlins harming the aircraft to make them "sympathetic" and focus on the Gremlin society and why they're destructive. Any material of Hitler in the first treatment is all gone in the second one and was replaced with the bomb. However, there was another version of the story where the Gremlins did have their own version of a Gremlin Hitler that Gremlin Gus and the others had to defeat before joining the Allies before he caused problems for everyone, too.

Donald Vs. The Gremlins (July 1943): This is the crossover we would get years later by Walt Kelly. Gremlin Gus has yellow gloves, a brown belt, and brown shoes.

Walt Kelly's Comics (July 1943-1944): Walt Kelly would make 8 comics about Gremlin Gus or both Gremlin Gus and two widgets getting in trouble at the airfield for a year. Here, Gremlin Gus has a Green helmet and gloves, a red shirt and boots, blue pants, green skin and nose, and missing his bowler hat.

Storyboard Short (1943): This is a sample of a 1943 storyboard when the production went from feature film to short film. The story drastically changed when the movie was cut down to an animated short. Instead of living in the woods, they lived in their cloud kingdom, making fun of humans trying to learn how to fly. That was until WWII broke out, and the modern warfare planes began to destroy the Gremlins' home. The Gremlins vow to destroy the aircraft for causing chaos and disrupting their lives. In the short, the story goes back and forth between the human pilots and the Gremlins interviewing their their bosses after an incident where Wellington aircraft caused damage while making an emergency landing. These are my favorite snippets of Gremlin Gus.

B-17F, 560th Bomb Squadron (1943 - 1946): This Gremlin may not look like Gremlin Gus, but this is one of his famous insignias and patches. The patch would be worn by members of the 388th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 560th Bomb Squadron, Eighth Air Force.

Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen (1948): The last book Roald Dahl wrote something about the Gremlins was an adult novel and character names changed to prevent lawsuits (except this one pilot, Stuffy, got to keep his name). In this story version, the gremlins were the world's rulers, but the humans forced them underground. They briefly returned to the surface during the Battle of Britain and began sabotaging the RAF aircraft. They eventually decide to go back underground, believing humanity will destroy themselves, which happens with two more World Wars that are very similar to the Fallout TV Show opening.

Gremlin Gus's Counterpart in this story is named the Leader. The Leader takes on a bit of a villainous role, having black and lidless eyes that glowed "with a strange hypnotic, almost fanatic lustre", a bowler hat greener than others, and a deep voice. But just like all villains, this one keeps his people underground once again to watch the humans die out so they can take over the world again; they get their comeuppance, but this time, the Leader doomed his people. When they emerged again, nothing was left, and the Gremlins disappeared, too. Despite the book not being that good, it was quite a sad read when I managed to get a copy of this book years ago. The book was never reprinted, so I had to get help from the local library to find a copy. The book was a flop with primarily negative reviews. Still, it did get some praise from the Glasgow Herald and The Saturday Review. It's also historically one of the first books about Nuclear Warfare. Recently, @gremlin-tails made a blog with the whole book posted online for reading. The link to the entire book is down below.

Fun Fact: If you guys remember Snoozeberries from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, they're actually the berries the Gremlins eat in the story.

Part 2 Coming Soon...

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poetryblaugh · 7 years ago

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Who am I? I ask you... This foreign being In my clothes In my shoes

I was once innocent, naïve My days spent amongst the fallen leaves Playing with the fragments of my mind

Dancing shadows, incorporeal The ghasts that I considered real Friends and invited to my games All crippled, wrong, and all broken, lame I gifted names on their wings Freedom, Light, Hate and Fear My shadows, my friends My ethereal companions

These games were primal, regressive, pure A sort of state that one could not fear One that shattered as often as it mended It healed in day, it reveled at dawn Left cracks behind in days long gone

In these games, a certain formula would appear The angels, the shadows, all huddled in fear Awaiting some strange premonition Spoken by an artificial leer

And I was the tiger, the wolf, the deer The animal nature that lingered there So I ran within my head In games of claws, and so I said:

"You, my warriors- You, my faith You, my creatures, You, my race Run beside me forever more Never leave, never stop, never moan nor roar For leagues we'll dash, settle and roam To meet our fate and say hello To meet what things we've grown to loathe

Follow me, climb the trees Cross the cliffs, split your knees I am master of your will I am keeper, man, and till Prepare your lives Give them to me Give naught to nothing, no thing I see Give yourselves to be with me Speak no lies, spread no truth Do not to others what is not done to you..."

And as soon spoken these words were The games faded, lost all allure The creatures forged in solitude Became dull, lifeless, crude All once wild became tame All my visions had a name A purpose, a class All concealed in panes of glass I understood my life And it understood mine

I sought a way to drive it out This knowledge that I had found Reaching for blank promises Under stilted skies The shadows knew, gave sleepless nights Pondering being, meaning, light And only music drowned their cries Only daylight purged my eyes Of the daemons in my sleep Reaching for others to keep Tucked within their fiery glow Reaching to reap what I sowed And so I went to other minds Making other lives mine I adapted, I changed I gave myself pain To harness emotion To change my ways

But only to find I no longer knew what it meant To feel

To know What feeling was How am I? How was your day? Answers came, just to escape

So I forged waking dreams Identities and lives To harness what the shadows gave To emulate what shadows take Drowned in knowledge, faith, opinion The truth faltered and died

I tried to trap them on the page A world from which no-one escapes But they laughed and took my mind Took my skill, my passion, my time

And so I moved Away from life My connections blurred My letters awkward Friends that I had once made Seemed to be inferior minds The shadows did not lurk in theirs Only lurked in mine Sadly reminiscing in the sand Tracing words I could not send Sitting, staring, distant friends Shed like skin and left to mend The patches that I had torn out When I cast them off my mount The shadows cried, the shades all gaped Moving house meant moving fate

They strained for a way to remind Me of suppressed wishes, to deny me access To portals that closed in my life Making a god to whom I'd sell my friends A limited existence, no more to list till I die And I thought I left them behind, Trapped in wood, in rust, in rhyme But as I gained an idle mind

They grasped my lies

Lies became me I became lies

The days moved on, days I did not behold A fury beggar, not rich nor poor in the cold Days of light, days of debts Days where dawn meant no sunsets I told my lies, what wise words I sought For them to become just jokes, minds who never thought Foolish to think I could protect what shadows cursed and wrought

My mind bent, flexed and straught In a display of running tempers A solution to my failing days A balm for my dying mates Easily brought to rage Easily forced to age Into rigid futures

Creeping through the spirits I raised I scrabbled, groped, my face ablaze In fury, sorrow, guilt, shame Desperate measures, idle times In dark forsaken lives

Running moons, slick ground Listening to televised sounds Realities parted at the seams Moon and grass, dew and dreams Slinking through another's field As the wolf I was could not heal Become a man, a brick-caged den Release my nature in the eyes Of those who tempted orders beyond their ken A cloth garrote, a crate of meat A sickening stench that was me

Fleeing from the debris The shelled flotsam lost at sea Hiding faces in the stream

Shrapnel flies and hits the wall Crying voices cease their call Buried in feathers that fall From the wings of angels

Meet my fate and save my date A memory of lost days Seek my childhood, seconds late To save my early ways

And I fell, fell to dust From ashes sprang earthly lust Created for lying, a day born anew A replacement for science, another for you Coming in landing, dying in blue Screaming in mansions, in figurative news

I picked my minds, I searched them through Only the traits I had I must choose But all I ended with were unmatched minds A patchwork of traits not mine

Another retooled to fit my face Another to add to my growing race Of carbon-copy supermen Over faceless masses I would stand Looking into souls I lent And trafficked for no payment

Often I waited, eons on end In the minds of men and sought Perfection, a goal left unreached Enticing, inciting, my gaze impeached By masses with torn soles and feet Left to look again and seek A new solution for the weak Looking for an answer Looking for a quest

I searched, I ran I groped and pined Waiting in an endless line Searching my mind For my memory, fleeting Rapt in beads of rime

And so all I gained Was sent to me here To sit and retain it And sit through the ages In paranoid fits of rage

Sometimes I could find release Cutting my bonds, my chain, my leash Trying to find that lost vestige That fabled being who once was me But when my true self came to be I was a deviant, a liar, a freak Nothing was left in society For the boy trapped inside me

The child who forged fantasy Under those distant, dripping trees Nothing left No-one for me A child grown Too quickly

So I buckled Fell to my knees And in that moment I became me

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