‘Gremlins’ Star Zach Galligan Reunites With Gizmo for Viral Mountain Dew Commercial

Gremlins star Zach Galligan recently reunited with the adorable Gizmo for a hilariously nostalgic viral Mountain Dew commercial. In the clip, Galligan reprises his role as Billy Peltzer from the Gremlins films and is sitting with Gizmo on the couch. Gizmo motions that he wants to try some of Billy’s new zero-sugar Mountain Dew. Billy urges Gizmo to be careful, which he agrees he will, but accidents do happen.

As Gizmo is chugging the soda, he spills some on himself, which is bad news because, as Gremlins fan will remember, when Gizmo gets wet he spawns more Mogwai, which is the name for the creatures in the franchise. Gizmo falls to the coffee table in front of him as tiny furballs begin shooting off of his body while he flails. At this moment, a teen girl walks in, Billy’s daughter, with a punk-looking gremlin on her shoulder. She starts to say something but as soon as she sees the chaotic scene unfolding, she rolls her eyes and walks away.

Galligan spoke with Yahoo Entertainment about the ad, and noted that while his Gremlins co-star Phoebe Cates — who played Billy’s girlfriend, Kate Beringer — is not in the ad, he presumes “fans would like to make that assumption.” Galligan adds: “But the fact of the matter is that there’s no mention or visual picture of Phoebe anywhere in the ad. We know that Billy has gotten married, but we don’t say who the mom is. Let’s just say that she probably is the daughter of Phoebe and I. Why ruin a good story with the truth?”

The actor also commented on what might happen if a third Gremlins movie ever fully develops, saying that he isn’t sure Cates “would come back,” but he “certainly” hopes she would. The actress has not worked in Hollywood for the past two decades, now owning and operating Blue Tree, a high-end New York boutique. “She’s very successful at what she does now, and shows absolutely no sign of having anything to do with acting,” Galligan said. “I think she’s very happy and satisfied with being a successful businesswoman, which she was back then. She was always an extremely formidable and capable young woman and she’s proven that.”