Animated 'Gremlins' prequel series in the works

July 1 (UPI) -- WarnerMedia announced Monday it ordered an animated series that will serve as a prequel to the 1980s live-action blockbusters Gremlins and Gremlins 2.

Set in 1920s Shanghai, Season 1 of Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai will include 10 half-hour episodes.

It will "reveal the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing (future shop owner Mr. Wing in the 1984 movie) met the young Mogwai called Gizmo," a press release said. "Along with a teenage street thief named Elle, Sam and Gizmo take a perilous journey through the Chinese countryside, encountering, and sometimes battling, colorful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore."

The show will be produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Animation.

No voice cast has been announced.

The original live-action Gremlins and its 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch was set in a fictional American town and starred Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates and Keye Luke.

Comedian Howie Mandel voiced the puppet character of Gizmo, a cute, fuzzy creature with the ability to spawn malevolent, reptilian-looking predators from its body when it gets wet or eats after midnight.