When doing extensive background work for the Gremlins 2: The New Batch episode of the Revenge of the ’90s podcast, my crack team of two hundred primate researchers found a tremendous nugget: There was once a Warner Bros. Studio Store in the World Trade Center.
For those of a younger generation, you might be asking just what in the hell a Warner Bros. Studio Store might be.
Well, believe it or not, but major studios like Warner Bros. and Disney used to have hundreds of retail locations throughout the country as another way to help people – especially those poor parents who wandered into one of these stores with their young children – separate themselves from their hard-earned money.
There was once a Warner Bros. Studio Store in Tower City, a downtown shopping mall in Cleveland, Ohio. It had everything a ’90s kid could want – endless Looney Tunes merchandise, superhero stuff up the wazoo and… well, the most terrifying thing in the world, which sticks with me to this day. In the rafters of the store, lurking in the shadows, there were actual Gremlins hanging out, and my young self could only assume they were waiting to catch me off-guard so they could drop down and tear my face off.
Every trip to the Warner Bros. Studio Store was equal parts exhilarating and traumatizing, but I was entranced by those creatures every time, waiting for me in the upper corner, ready to descend upon me if I spent too much time gawking at a Bugs Bunny shirt or a ceramic plate featuring the DC roster of superheroes.
So why am I telling you all of this? Back to the point here: There was a Warner Bros. Studio Store in the World Trade Center. And yes, it was still there when the towers fell on September 11, 2001. In fact, you can find photos of what was left of the store among the ruins that day.
This all begs the question: What role did the Gremlins inside the World Trade Center Warner Bros. Studio Store play in 9/11 and ultimately bringing down the towers?
You saw what they did in Gremlins 2, after all, wreaking havoc inside the Clamp Center. Those little bastards would have brought New York City to its knees if they hadn’t been stopped by the heroic efforts of Billy and Kate once again. Who’s to say those little beasts weren’t doing the same thing inside the World Trade Center that fateful day – or in the planes for that matter? We might have a Gremlins epidemic on our hands in this country and not even realize it.
Anyway, I’ve had a few beers and I’m not quite sure what I’m getting at anymore.
Go watch Gremlins 2, I guess. It’s way better than you might remember.