Telemetric Bat Gremlin Movie Prop

Screen Used Flying puppet as seen in Gremlins 2: The new Batch

Introduction

Some of the most imaginative Gremlin designs in Gremlins 2 came out of the Splice o’ Life laboratory in the Clamp Center—including the unforgettable Vegetable Gremlin. After drinking the experimental "bat formula," this Gremlin sprouted wings, teamed up with the Brain Gremlin to get injected with liquid sunblock, and burst through a window to terrorize unsuspecting New Yorkers.

The Bat Gremlin’s design stands apart from every other creature in the film, with its origins tracing back to the early R&D phase at Rick Baker’s Cinovation Studios. Tom Hester developed one of the initial concepts for a “generic Gremlin,” which eventually got turned into the Bat Gremlin design. In an early behind-the-scenes photo, Tom can be seen holding one of these prototypes.

The Bat Gremlin is one of the most iconic and complex creatures in Gremlins 2, brought to life through a mix of puppetry, animatronics, and visual effects. According to actor Dick Miller, as many as four different Bat Gremlin puppets were created for various shots throughout the film. Throughout this article, we'll be going over the various styles of puppets including the "flying Bat" in our collection.

In the Bat Gremlin’s first appearance, a brown Gremlin drinks the bat formula, triggering a dramatic transformation. The scene features a wide full-body shot of a puppet known as the “Matt” Gremlin, with blue-screened stop-motion wings unfurling behind him. This version appears to be a brown pole-arm puppet, designed to achieve a clean, unobstructed full-body view without revealing elbow rods or puppeteers. A hole was likely cut into the wall behind the puppet to discreetly route the telemetric control cables, while the animated wings were optically composited in post-production.

The next dramatic reveal shot presents the Bat Gremlin in all his glory. If you look closely, he’s standing in the exact same position as the previous, entirely different-style Gremlin—suggesting the filmmakers likely reused the existing hole in the back wall to route cables for the new puppet.

The animatronic Bat Gremlin seen in the laboratory scene was likely a pole-arm style puppet, supported by a large rod extending from its back and operated by multiple puppeteers positioned behind the gray wall. Facial expressions, along with eye and ear movements, would have been controlled via a 1989-era computer system.

After the Brain and Bat Gremlins discuss sunblock, the Bat prepares to take flight and wreak havoc across New York. To depict his takeoff, the production shifted to stop-motion animation, as capturing a wide shot of the Bat Gremlin in flight using practical effects would have been nearly impossible.

The stop-motion work was handled by Doug Beswick’s team of skilled animators—Jim Aupperle, James Belohovek, and Yancy Calzada—and was filmed at the Chandler Group in Marina del Rey, California.

If you look closely, this version of the Bat Gremlin has all its control mechanisms routed through the ears, which is why it’s typically only shown from the upper face down on screen. Despite that limited camera angle, the puppet was fully built to move its feet, flap its wings, open and close its mouth, and scratch Mr. Futterman's forehead.

Photos of the Telemetric Bat Gremlin

Here are a few photos of the surviving Bat Gremlin puppet from our collection. It’s a formidable piece, taking up a significant amount of space in the room. The previous owner streamlined the puppetry controls to reduce its footprint, allowing it to be displayed more cleanly and efficiently.