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Teenager Galligan receives an unusual Christmas gift from his father (Axton): a cute little furry creature called a "mogwai." There are three warnings associated with caring for the creature: never get it wet, never let it into the sunlight, and never feed it after midnight, no matter how much it whines. Everyone marvels at the unusual little mogwai; but, of course, the rules are soon broken, and the cute creature gives birth to dozens of little mogwais, which then evolve into gremlins--totally repugnant, evil, lizardlike creatures that set about destroying the entire town. Yes, Dante gleefully trashes cliches and sentimental Capra-esque notions, but one should not forget this movie was given a "PG" rating and cynically aimed to draw an audience of small children who would no doubt be terrorized by this myth-shattering film. The justifiable furor over this film and INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM forced the MPAA to create the "PG-13" rating.