The Gremlins

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For other uses, see Gremlin (disambiguation).

Roald Dahl childrens book
The Gremlins

Cover of the first edition of The Gremlins
Book #	1
Year Realeased	1943
Publisher	Originally Walt Disney, reprinted by Dark Horse Comics
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	James and the Giant Peach

The Gremlins is a children's book, written by Roald Dahl, and published in 1943. It was Dahl's first children's book, and was written for Walt Disney, optioned for a film that was never made, in part because no one could establish exactly who owned the word "gremlin." On 25 September 2006, a reprinted edition of the book was released by Dark Horse Comics.

The story concerns mischievous little mythical creatures, the Gremlins of the title, that were often used by Royal Air Force pilots as an explanation for mid-air mechanical troubles and mishaps. In Dahl's book, the gremlins are motivated to sabotage English planes by the destruction of their original home, a forest, to make way for an airplane factory. The principal character in the book, Gus, has his plane destroyed over the English Channel by a gremlin, but is able to convince the gremlin as they parachute into the water that they should join forces against a common enemy—Hitler and the Nazis—rather than fight each other. Eventually, the gremlins are re-trained by the RAF to help repair, rather than sabotage, the English planes, and they also help restore Gus to active flight status after a particularly severe crash. (This was a kind of autobiographical reference for Dahl, who had flown as a lieutenant in the RAF, and was barred from flying after serious injuries sustained in a crash landing in Libya. He later returned to flying.) The book also contains picturesque details about the ordinary lives of gremlins: baby gremlins, for instance, are known as widgets, and females as fifinellas.

The Dahl creations were subsequently used by Warner Bros. in several WWII cartoons, most notably Russian Rhapsody and Falling Hare, which starred Bugs Bunny. Several variations on gremlin characters were also used in World War II propaganda and as mascots for air units, such as Fifinella, who was used by the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) on their patches.

In 1984 a Hollywood film called Gremlins was released; however, besides featuring similarly destructive and mischievious creatures, this film is not connected to Dahl's book. In September of 2006, Dark Horse Comics reprinted a faithfully restored version of The Gremlins as well as creating a series of Gremlin inspired toys and figurines.