Mark Jones’s 1993 cult classic Leprechaun launched a long-running horror franchise that eventually became known for its gruesome, over-the-top kills. However, the inspiration for the original movie was a lot less dark. “The Lucky Charms commercials had the cute little leprechaun advertising cereal,” Jones explained during a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I said, ‘We can turn this into something evil.’”

Evil, but child-friendly, that is. While speaking with ComicBook.com in 2023, Jones revealed that he was actually planning on gearing Leprechaun toward younger audiences. “I originally wrote it to be comedy-horror, and I said I didn’t want to do a straight slasher,” the director recalled. Furthermore, Jones claimed that there was a toned-down version of the film lying around somewhere that he was hoping to find.

The Original ‘Leprechaun’ Was Almost a ‘Scooby-Doo’-LIKE Movie

“The kids loved it, because I wanted it to be a kid’s horror movie, like Scooby-Doo, but live-action,” Jones continued. The studio, on the other hand, was pushing for a hard R rating. Battles ensued behind the scenes, but the final cut ended up being more adult-oriented. Later on, when studio execs saw how Warwick Davis’s character still managed to appeal to children, they acknowledged that they probably should’ve listened to Jones.

As for what was changed, Jones said they god rid of a few cartoonish sequences in favor of additional violence. “There were scenes of the leprechaun being run over by the truck, and we don’t see them, and there’s tire tracks, and he digs himself up, and he’s got tire tracks down the back,” Jones remembered. Because Leprechaun was Jones’s first movie, he, unfortunately, didn’t have the final say in the matter. Ultimately, the studio heads decided to axe a number of comedic elements that, ironically, went on to become a staple of the series down the road.