In the 1984 film Gremlins, the Mogwai Billy Peltzer receives as a pet is named Gizmo.
Billy’s father buys the unusual creature in New York City’s Chinatown and brings it home to Kingston Falls as a Christmas gift. The Mogwai is small, furry, and gentle, but its care comes with three strict rules: keep it away from bright light, never get it wet, and never feed it after midnight.
The name “Gizmo” also suits the character’s role in the story, since the word can mean a gadget or curious device. Gizmo is friendly and inventive, while the Mogwai called Stripe becomes the principal source of danger after the rules are broken.
Gremlins was directed by Joe Dante and written by Chris Columbus. Although marketed as a comic fantasy horror film, its darker scenes helped inspire debate about the appropriate rating for films aimed partly at younger audiences. The movie’s success led to the 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch.