Earl spawned from Gizmo as a Mogwai. After eating past midnight, it became a gremlin. He is a major antagonist in Gremlins.
History[]
Gremlins[]
Mogwai[]
Earl along with another mogwai
Earl was created when Billy took a mogwai to the local science teacher Mr. Hanson. Billy's teacher poured water on the mogwai (albeit a very small amount). As a result of the drip, only one Mogwai was created, which was named Earl. Earl was originally more playful and nicer than the other mogwais created, he even played with other mogwai and was not all mean, unlike the other Mogwais. Mr. Hanson's way of getting information from the mogwai was to take blood samples from the little guy, which made sweet Earl lust for something, and that something was revenge.
Lust for Revenge[]
That night, Mr. Hanson performed some more tests on Earl while eating a sandwich. Mr. Hanson notices it is getting late and decides to go home, leaving the sandwich with a betrayed Earl. The mogwai wants all the torture to stop, so he reaches for the sandwich, using the tinfoil it is wrapped in to pull it towards his cage. He says, "Yum Yum" when he grabbed the sandwich, the common phrase that evil Mogwai and Gremlins say when finding something good to eat.
The next day, Earl begins his metamorphosis, something which thrills Mr. Hanson. Pete Fountaine discovers the cocoon, with Mr. Hanson explaining it is the pupa stage.
Right at the end of a science lesson, Earl hatches and comes out of his cocoon. Mr. Hanson lets his class go home since the bell rang and afterwards, he goes to the nearest phone to call Billy and tell the young man about the newly hatched cocoon.
Gremlin[]
Mr. Hanson goes back to his classroom and gets a snickers bar for Earl. But searches for him with the lights off. He wants the newly hatched creature to come out, so he can take a look at him. He asks, "You're not still mad about that blood test, are you?", meaning Mr. Hanson knew that Earl did not like the blood tests. Hanson turns off the still running movie projector and continues to search for Earl, but is startled when the projector is turned back on, followed by some ruckus and sounds of scampering. Mr. Hanson finally tracks Earl under his desk and tries to lure him out with the Snickers. He hears chewing noises. And a satisfied Earl uttering the words “Yum, yum” He is lulled in to thinking that Earl is pleased with him again, but then feels the sharp pain of Earl’s sharp teeth sinking into his hand.
Earl, all caged up
Billy gets there to see Mr. Hanson, but it is too late. Roy Hanson had been killed by Earl, who has stuck a needle in his butt in an act of revenge as a way of showing him how it felt. Billy proceeds to reach for a telephone on Hanson’s desk but gets his hand clawed by Earl who is crouched on the other side. Earl’s claws then pull a red apple from Mr. Hanson's desk. A bite sound is heard, followed by a noise of disgust, and then the Yiddish word "Treif" is uttered. The apple is tossed from the other side of the desk. A moment later Earl reaches back up and takes a couple test tubes back down where the sound of crushed glass is heard. Some loud creaks are then heard as Billy looks over the desk where Earl was hiding, and sees that the creature had escaped through an air vent. Billy quickly goes to get a band-aid for himself in the school infirmary, when Earl pops out of the cabinet and spooks him. Earl then leaves through a vent in a door and escapes into the hallway. Presumably to flee the building. When Billy calls his mom to warn her about the other gremlins Earl breaks the phone wire and causing the line to go dead, Billy then quickly heads home to save his mother, Earl isn't seen again for the rest of the film. It is unknown what happened to him afterward.
Trivia[]
- It is possible that Earl had chosen to be an Eternal, but Mr Hanson's test made him thirsty for revenge, giving him motive as a Gremlin.
- After taking a bite of the apple, Earl is heard uttering the word; Treif “a Yiddish word meaning; not kosher or unfit to eat” before throwing the apple.
- Earl was the first gremlin to be seen on screen (though very briefly).
- Revealed in the cast commentary of the film, Earl is supposedly voiced by Howie Mandel who also voiced Gizmo.
- He likes to eat sandwiches and glass, but he hates apples. (When Earl took out an apple from the desk and bit it, he spit it out, though it could be a fake apple)
- It is possible Earl didn't know that eating after midnight would transform him into a gremlin.
- Earl is the third mogwai or gremlin to talk in the film, after Gizmo and the mogwai that spawned him, who can be heard saying "uh oh," when Billy poured a drop of water on him.
- Earl is the only known gremlin in the first film that was neither shown nor mentioned to have been killed.
- Earl is the only gremlin of the first batch whose death is not shown.
- It is possible that he appears in Lego Dimensions as one of the mogwais in the quest "Missing Mogwai".
- Earl is one of for Mogwai/Gremlins in the first film to have a proper name instead of a nickname based on something that they do or something that happened to them in the film. The others are Stripe, Haskins and Muncher.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Earl/Gallery