The Gremlins 2 Final Group Photo

The Story Behind One of the GREATEST Practical Effects Photos Ever Taken

Introduction

We're living in a time when many practical effects movie monsters feel like a distant memory, easily replaced by beautifully lit and technically perfect computer models. But back in the day, bringing your favorite horror icons to life was a labor-intensive process, from sculpting and molding to intricate animatronics and meticulously crafted paintwork.

In 1990, practical effects peaked under Rick Baker’s Cinovation Studios with a vastly under-appreciated movie, Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Only 3 years later, Jurassic Park would be released, signaling the start of the hyper-realistic computer graphics age and the slow downward slope for truly real movie monsters.

No matter your opinion of Gremlins 2, it remains a remarkable achievement in terms of the sheer scale of puppets involved. The film had five main characters: Gizmo, Mohawk, Lenny, George and Daffy. On top of that, a host of secondary characters emerged from the Splice o’ Life lab, including Greta, Vegetable, Spider, Brain, Bat, Phantom, and countless background gag creatures.

The scale was daunting. Each main character had multiple versions—typically at least four puppets per Mogwai and Gremlin—each fitted with intricate cabling and mechanisms to achieve expressive, lifelike movement.

At some point in 1989 towards the end of production, the decision was made by Rick Baker to do a large group photo to encapsulate the sheer enormity of what was created. Never before had such an incredible amount of puppets been assembled in one place and pushed the envelope in scale with practical effects. 

Cinovation Studios shop foreman, Bart Mixon was assigned to the task of organizing and taking the photo and many of the original puppet sculptors and crew such as Jim McPherson, Steve Wang, Norman Cabrera, and Lennie MacDonald were there to assemble the giant group photo.

Bart Mixon:

“This group photo had to have been taken after we wrapped the shoot, as many of these puppets were kept at Warner Brothers during production for use during the shoot. I suspect Rick expressed an interest in documenting the huge number of puppets we had created for G2, but I can't really say if the idea originated with him or me or another member of the crew - but most likely Rick.”

Steve Wang:

“From what I remember, Rick had planned to do a crew shot with all the puppets we built. This was something he always did on each project, so yes, it was planned. There are photos going around of all of us mixed in with these gremlins in this same set up.”

Bart Mixon:

“Since this was after the show had wrapped, we had down sized considerably from the 75 plus artists we had during the shoot, but key crew members were still in the shop. I know Lennie MacDonald was there and key in helping with the set up. I suspect Tom Hester and Norman Cabrera and Matt Rose were there too, along with Jim Leonard and a few members of the mechanical department, but not sure who. This was a true group effort.”

Steve Wang:

“I don’t think any of us really know how many puppets we were building except possibly Bart Mixon, since he was the guy organizing and coordinating the build. But we had around 70+ people on the crew and we knew we had built an army.”

Jim McPherson:

"In general, someone would move the puppets into place, and I’d go in to adjust things. Sometimes an ear would be misaligned, or a puppet wouldn’t be looking at the camera or posed with the right character attitude. I’d keep fixing those kinds of issues until we ran out of time. If all the George puppets looked good, I’d move on to fixing others. Some adjustments were small, but sometimes I’d have to make bigger tweaks, like shifting an entire puppet to a different angle."

Bart Mixon:

“I believe this was the main angle for this shot, maybe a few a little tighter but the point of this was to show the massive numbers. The shop had a set of movable metal stairs that could be rolled about to get on top of offices or reach high spots on storage shelves and I set up on top of that. The photo was shot on 35mm - I used Rick's shop camera which was very nice ”

Norman Cabrera:

“The shot was taken with the camera on a tripod set up from above the offices looking down to the main shop. There were three offices. Rick’s office, a foyer and an administrative office. The tripod was set up above the administration office looking down. This was shot at the main shop on Ruberta Ave in Glendale where all of the sculpting and most of the painting and fabrication happened. There were two units unit next door where molds, foam and mechs were done.”

Bart Mixon:

“I once had a count of all the puppets we had made, but have since forgotten the exact number. While this is all the hero puppets and the bulk of what was created, there was probably at least another 100 or so deep back ground puppets that are not here as well as the first Spider Mohawk that got destroyed by the fire while filming.”

Jim McPherson:

"Overall, the puppets held up better than we expected—nothing really tore the way we thought it might. We had a lot of appliances like fingers and wrists, and since we were working in the shop, painters were constantly airbrushing and touching things up. New appliances would get matched exactly in color and sealed with SC-89. Small cracks could be glued and painted over. There were a lot of different types of appliances, and honestly, most of them looked great. The only ones that stood out as rough were some brush-painted or unseamed puppets, or ones like the burned Mohawk that had gone through fire effects."

Bart Mixon:

“This was at the end of an 18 month project so I think we were all exhausted but we certainly appreciated how special this entire job had been.”

Norman Cabrera:

“We all were very proud and quite aware we did something very cool from Rick on down. It was a huge job that took about a year and a half. There is a version of this pic that has all of us in the crew in it too. One of the best times I ever had working on a film.”

Jim Leonard:

"What you have to understand is that Rick’s was a truly special place—it felt like a family. Early on, we were getting to know each other, learning and growing together. The talent under that roof was incredible, and I’ve never experienced anything like it since. We were pioneering, both artistically and mechanically, creating characters that had never been seen on the big screen before. The energy was infectious—people didn’t want to go home. I remember having to kick folks out of the shop at 1 a.m. because they just wanted to keep working. Everyone gave their absolute best, and I think that passion is what comes through in Gremlins 2."