An outstanding essay. Your analysis is spot on. I'm always particularly amused by the bit where Gerald tells Billy "Peltzer, this is a bank, not a pet store." and his boss says: "Very good, Gerald." Some first-rate dressing down of employees there, Gerald. You'll definitely be a millionaire if you keep that up.

Some great fun poking holes in the dark fairy tale premise too, which is always amusing (when is it safe to feed them again, what happens if a gremlin is on a plane and they cross a timezone, etc). I always thought Kate's speech about her father was absurd, and apparently the filmmakers did too, as they send up the scene in Gremlins 2.

I knew everything you mentioned about the trivia (The Time Machine, etc) already, except the Chuck Jones bit, so thanks for pointing that out.

Here's my take on the film, if you're interested:

https://medium.com/fan-fare/gremlins-vicious-fun-for-all-the-family-e56b3eaec322