The 1984 comedy horror classic, Gremlins (which has a probable third installment on the way, while we’re on the subject), pulled a surprising amount of inspiration from real life. For example, the Gremlin Gizmo and the rest of his mogwai cohort were based on the Chinese legend of the mogwai, which are “evil spirits” who mate when it rains. Kind of like Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in The Notebook.
But, as any good chiropterologist will tell you, there is another connection between fantasy and reality when it comes to Gremlins—the similarity between those same cute little fluffballs that transform into the murderous mogwai and the Niumbaha superba, or pied bat.
Behold:
VS
Note the big ears, the flared nostrils, the black and white fur, the way they both imitate race car drivers from television. Okay, not the last one, but there’s definitely an uncanny resemblance here.
On top of that, both mogwai and Vesper bats—the family to which pied bats belong—are nocturnal (or at least averse to light). And even though pied bats are native to South Sudan and mogwai originate in Asia, they both could probably be found if you looked hard enough through the back alleys of your local Chinatown.
Pied bats definitely don’t have those mogwai eyes down, though. But we can remedy that with a GIF of Gizmo down by the fire.
What do you think about the resemblance between the pied bat and the mogwai? Do you think there’s a striking similarity between the two creatures, or is this a mistake on par with buying an unidentified creature from Mr. Wing’s grandson? Let us know in the comments section below!
—
Images: Warner Bros. ZooKeys, Movieclips
