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Gargoyles (TV series)

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Gargoyles
File:Gargoyles logo color.png
Gargoyles logo.
Created byFrank Paur
Greg Weisman
StarringKeith David
Salli Richardson
Jeff Bennett
Bill Fagerbakke
Thom Adcox Hernandez
Brigette Bako
Ed Asner
Frank Welker
Marina Sirtis
Jonathan Frakes
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes78
Production
Running time22 minutes
Original release
NetworkSyndication/ABC
ReleaseOctober 24, 1994 –
February 15, 1997
This article is about the animated series. For the stone statues, see gargoyle.

Gargoyles is an acclaimed American animated series created and produced by Greg Weisman and Frank Paur and aired from October 24, 1994 to February 15, 1997. It was at the time hailed as one of the more ambitious Disney animated series in history, targeting an older demographic and taking a darker edge.

The series was known for its complex story arcs and drama, a prime example being the controversial first-season episode "Deadly Force," which addressed the consequences of gun violence. Character arcs were heavily employed throughout the series. As the series progressed, it became deeply meshed with medieval history, including the story of Macbeth, and worldwide mythologies such as the King Arthur mythos, as well as the works of William Shakespeare, most notably A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Starting with the second season, a voice-over by series star Keith David was heard over the opening sequence:

One thousand years ago, superstition and the sword ruled. It was a time of darkness. It was a world of fear. It was the age of gargoyles. Stone by day, warriors by night, we were betrayed by the humans we had sworn to protect, frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years. Now, here in Manhattan, the spell is broken, and we live again! We are defenders of the night. We are Gargoyles!

A rabid fanbase kept the property alive following its cancellation, prompting Disney to reinvest in the franchise. The Gargoyles storyline currently continues in a comic book also titled Gargoyles written by Weisman and produced by Slave Labor Graphics.

Plot

The series features a clan of warrior creatures known as Gargoyles that turn to stone during the day. Led by their leader Goliath in the year 994 A.D., they protect Castle Wyvern and its resident humans on the coast of Scotland until betrayal causes a massacre of the clan and a magic spell forces the six survivors into stone sleep, until the castle rises over the clouds. In 1994, a billonaire named David Xanatos purchases the castle and moves it atop of his New York City skyscraper, breaking the spell (rising the castle over the clouds). Awakening in modern day Manhattan, the gargoyles must adapt to this new world as they vow to protect the citizens of New York.

Characters

Main article: List of Gargoyles characters
Owen Burnett, David Xanatos, Demona, Goliath and Elisa Maza.

A myriad of gargoyles, humans and creatures from mythology and superstition feature prominently throughout the series. Although series creators considered the series and ensemble piece, storylines revolve primarily around Goliath and the Manhattan Clan.

Episodes

Main article: List of Gargoyles episodes

A total of 78 half-hour episodes were produced. The first two seasons aired in the Disney Afternoon programming block. The third and final season aired on Disney's One Saturday Morning format on ABC as Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles. Except for the first episode of the season, "The Journey," these episodes were produced without the involvement of series creator Greg Weisman, and are largely not considered canonical.

In 1995, Disney released a direct-to-video feature film entitled Gargoyles the Movie: The Heroes Awaken, which was in fact the series's five pilot episodes edited together into one feature.

Comics

Marvel

In 1995 Marvel released a Gargoyles comic book series. The books did not directly follow the continuity of the series, but it did reference specific events that took place within it. Greg Weisman, television series co-creator, did not have any direct involvement in the story development of the book, but was consulted on some plot points to be sure the book stayed within certain boundaries. The series ran for 11 issues. Weisman was hired to write the script for issue 12, but Marvel cut ties with Disney before the issue could be produced. Weisman still has his unpublished script for issue 12. The Marvel series was tonally darker than the television series, dealing largely with Xanatos' experiments to create creatures and machines to defeat the Gargoyles.

Cover to Creature Comics' Gargoyles #1, by Greg Guler.

Slave Labor Graphics

Main article: Gargoyles (SLG comic)

On 21 June 2006, Slave Labor Graphics, in association with CreatureComics.com, began producing a new Gargoyles comic written by series creator Greg Weisman. The comic continues the storyline of the animated series, picking up immediately after the second season finale, "Hunter's Moon, Part III". The first two issues of the comic translate the only third season episode Weisman considers to be canon, "The Journey" (which he wrote), with issue #3 beginning the new storyline. Weisman has also talked about possibly using the unpublished script he wrote for the Marvel series becoming an issue for this series.

DVD releases

In 2004, the tenth anniversary of its premiere, the first season of the series was released on DVD. The first half of the second season was released in December 2005.

As of June 30, 2006, as Weisman announced at the Gargoyles Gathering Convention in Los Angeles, the DVD set for Season 2, Volume 2 is in jeopardy of not being released. According to Weisman's blog, "Volume 1 did not sell enough copies." Buena Vista reports low sales for the last volume, which means the next and final set may not be scheduled for release in 2006.

Influences

Series creator Weisman, a former English teacher, has often cited his goal of ideally incorporating every myth and legend into the series eventually. Perhaps because of Shakespeare's similar use of existing source material, many Shakespearean characters and stories found their way into the show's storylines.

Weisman has also noted, among many other influences, the impact that Gummi Bears and Hill Street Blues had on the series. The latter in particular inspired the ensemble format of the series and the 30-second "Previously, on Gargoyles..." recap found at the beginning of later episodes. The former was an influence on the original comedy development of the show, which was subsequently changed and made darker and more serious before being released.

Star Trek connection

A remarkably large number of voice actors for the show had been actors on various Star Trek series, resulting in several online jokes. Examples include:

Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard on ST: TNG) was also originally considered for the role of Macbeth.

Planned canonical spinoffs

Weisman and his development team, before the cancellation of Gargoyles, planned several spinoffs featuring tangential characters from the series, as well as continuing the story of the Manhattan Clan. Only one of the projects ever entered active development: the series Bad Guys, for which a leica reel was produced.

  • Timedancer -- A story about Brooklyn being caught by the wayward Phoenix Gate thrown into the time stream by Goliath. This spinoff details Brooklyn's 40-year (20 years biologically for a gargoyle) journey through time while trying to catch the gate and return home to Manhattan. During his travels, he ends up in Xanadu, China where he picks up the gargoyle beast Fu-Dog, the future where he and Fu-Dog contribute to the fight against the Space-Spawn, and also to feudal Japan where he meets his future mate Katana. They eventually return to Manhattan just five minutes after his departure along with their children Nashville and Tachi. The spinoff would have also featured the enhanced Archmage and Caliban of Shakespeare's Tempest as antagonists and shown how Brooklyn, Puck, Mary and Finella helped Xanatos and Demona form their eventual alliance that would free the gargoyles from their stone sleep.
  • Pendragon -- A spinoff series about King Arthur and the English gargoyle Griff as they search for Arthur's mentor Merlin, the biological son of Oberon by a mortal woman. Along the way they clash with the Illuminati and journey to such places as Tintagel, Stonehenge, and Antarctica in their search for Merlin. Eventually they find the wizard and a fourth character, Blanchefleur, the estranged wife of the Fisher King. Eventually, Arthur would have also pursued the Holy Grail in the hands of Illuminati leadership and at the end of his travels would have founded the kingdom of New Camelot in Antarctica, which would also become the site of a gargoyle clan.
  • Dark Ages -- A prequel that would have dealt with the original Wyvern Clan. It would have covered the time period before the creation of Castle Wyvern and ended with the massacre. This spinoff concerned the development of Goliath, Demona, Hudson, Coldstone/Othello, Coldfire/Desdemona, Coldsteel/Iago, the Archmage, Prince Malcom, the Captain of the Guard and also Hudson's mate and their daughter Hippolyta, both of whom would have been killed by the end of the series. Major events would have included the construction of Castle Wyvern, Malcom and the gargoyles' part in the Scottish Civil War that would lead to Malcom's brother Kenneth becoming High King of Scotland, and how the alliance between Malcom and the Archmage was formed.
  • Bad Guys -- A series featuring former enemies of the Gargoyles joined together by the Director, an American public servant. The team would have been led by Robyn Canmore, one of the hunters, and would have included Dingo, Matrix, Yama of the Ishimura Clan (exiled for what he did in Bushido) and Fang (one of the mutates of the gone astray). All of the team members would have been blackmailed into joining with Robyn and Dingo been wanted by law enforcement in America and Yama through the secret of his clan dwelling in Ishimura. The primary purpose of the team would have been to combat the Illuminati and would have also dealt with the various members redeeming themselves. There would have also been a romance between Dingo and Robyn whose descendants (the Monmouths) would be in conflict with the Castaways and the Quarryman in the future. Of the spin-offs, this was the only one that was almost made before being cancelled and a leica reel that was made is shown each year during the Gathering.
  • Gargoyles 2198 -- A future spinoff to the gargoyles series, 2198 would have dealt with the Earth being invaded and occupied by the Space-Spawn, who have kidnapped the newly formed gargoyle clan of Queen Florence Island along with the human and gargoyle leaders there and stolen the Master Matrix (the computer processor for much of the world and the weather control center of New Camelot) located in Antarctica. The primary characters were to be Samson, the descendant of Goliath through Angela and de-facto leader of the Manhattan clan, Delilah, presumably a clone of the gargoyle created by Sevarius, and Zafiro, a descendant of the Guatemala clan. They would have also been joined by Owen, incapable of transforming into Puck due to the fact that Alexander now the leader of the UN has been kidnapped by the Space-Spawn, Demona who is apparently still unredeemed, Nick Maza, a descendant of the adopted child of Goliath and Elisa and of the Natsilane family, a timedancing Brooklyn from the past accompanied by Fu-Dog, Nokkar of the N'Kai who has failed in his task of stopping the Space-Spawn from taking Earth along with two robots resembling Lexington who are now without guidance due to the fact that the Master Matrix was stolen. The team would have mainly dealt with the Space-Spawn and their proxies the Illuminati who have decided to turn collaborator and the Quarryman who blame the gargoyles for the invasion. The cast would have eventually be split with Nokkar, Demona, Nick Maza, Zafiro and one of the Lexington robots going into space to fight the Space-Spawn.
  • New Olympians -- Would have dealt with the New Olympians introduced in the Gargoyles episode of the same name (a half-fae, half-human race) and their relations with humans after they make contact with the United Nations. The main characters would have been Taurus (the minotaur security chief of New Olympus and the new ambassador to the human world), Talos (a New Olympian robot who advises the New Olympians due to the fact that he was built thousands of years ago in ancient Greece by Daedalus), Sphinx (a young New Olympian student) and Terry Chung (a human who stumbles upon New Olympus and precipitates the New Olympians into making contact with humanity). The New Olympians themselves would have been split into three factions made up of those who still fear humanity (Ekidna, Kiron, and one of Boreas' sons), those who want humanity to worship them again (Helios, Jove) and those who just want to co-exist (Taurus, Talos, Boreas). Like Gargoyes, New Olympians would also have had an inter-species romance between Sphinx and Terry along the vein of a Romeo and Juliet relationship.

There was initially intense speculation concerning the intentions of the producers had the series continued, but many have been since debunked by Weisman in the "Ask Greg" forum. Weisman has, however, also revealed some of his own plans for the show, had it continued; one notable announcement was his intention that Lexington was gay. Weisman said:

I believe, in my opinion Lex is gay -- though he may not yet realize it. And that we would be consistent with that knowledge... as I believe we have been up to this point. But that in the current world climate we would not be addressing it on the show at all. Not explicitly or implicitly. It's a damn shame, and since we're talking about episodes that don't exist it would be easy for me to be brave now and pretend that we'd be open about it, but that would be a lie of expectation, and I try to be more honest than that with the fans. All I promised was consistency. It may sound like a subtle distinction, but believe me it is not. It may also sound like a cop-out, and believe me, IT IS. But it's a cop-out that comes out of the fact that if I even attempted an implicit portrayal, it flat out would not get on the air. And I could stand my ground. And I would get fired. And then there'd be no consistency either. Someday, I hope to live in a braver more understanding world... but we ain't there yet. And I think what we're doing is at least a step in the right direction.[1]

While no other series have entered production since the cancellation of Gargoyles, there have been organized fan fiction efforts to explore Pendragon, Timedancer, Bad Guys and Dark Ages.

Weisman has stated that he intends to incorporate some elements of these spinoffs into the current comic book, but has not gone into details yet.[citation needed]

Fandom

Perhaps more than any other Disney production, the series has inspired an intense fan following. Disney acknowledged this with their selection of Gargoyles as their first animated series released for DVD retail in a season collection format.

Fan Fiction

Out of displeasure with the third season deviation from Weisman's plan, fans created a virtual season fan fiction series, The Gargoyles Saga, to continue the franchise expanding its stories and creating a series of spinoffs. Fan fiction has also attempted to realize the Timedancer, Pendragon, and Dark Ages series.

Convention

The Gathering of the Gargoyles is an annual convention begun in 1997. The Gathering features several special guests including series co-creator Greg Weisman, Keith David (the voice of Goliath) and Thom Adcox (the voice of Lexington). The gathering has featured several recurring special events such as a radio play where gathering attendees audition and take part, a masquerade ball where attendees dress up as their favorite character, an art show where the many talented artists within the fandom can display and auction off or sell their artwork, and several mug-a-guest panels where special guests sit around with fans and just talk about whatever comes to mind (sometimes going late into the night). Weisman is known to show the leica reel of Bad Guys at Gatherings.

  • 1997 - New York, New York
    • June 19 - June 21
    • Special Guests
      • Greg Weisman, series co-creator
      • Keith David, voice of Goliath
  • 1998 - New York City, New York
    • August 14 - August 17
    • Special Guests
      • Greg Weisman, series co-creator
  • 1999 - Dallas, Texas
    • June 25 - June 27
    • Special Guests
      • Greg Weisman, series co-creator
      • Thom Adcox, voice of Lexington
  • 2000 - Orlando, Florida
    • August 4-6
    • Special Guests
      • Greg Weisman, series co-creator
      • Thom Adcox, voice of Lexington
      • Vic Cook, storyboard artist
      • Greg Guler, character designer
  • 2001 - Los Angeles, California
  • 2002 - Williamsburg, Virginia
    • June 28 - June 30
    • Special Guests
      • Greg Weisman, series co-creator
      • Greg Guler, character designer
  • 2003 - New York, New York
    • June 27 - June 29
    • Special Guests
      • Greg Weisman, series co-creator
      • Thom Adcox, voice of Lexington
      • Vic Cook, storyboard artist
      • Nichelle Nichols, voice of Diane Maza
  • 2004 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • August 6 - August 8
    • Special Guests
      • Greg Weisman, series co-creator
      • Thom Adcox, voice of Lexington
      • Keith David, voice of Goliath
  • 2005 - Las Vegas, Nevada
    • July 29 - August 1
    • Special Guests
      • Greg Weisman, series co-creator
      • Dave Schwartz, art director
      • Dan Vado, president of Slave Labor Graphics
      • Thom Adcox, voice of Lexington
  • 2006 - Los Angeles, California
    • June 23 - June 26
    • Special Guests (projected)
      • Greg Weisman
      • Frank Paur
      • Michael Reaves
      • Ed Asner voice of Hudson
      • Keith David voice of Goliath
      • Bill Fagerbakke voice of Broadway
      • Brigette Bako voice of Angela
      • Jeff Bennett voice of Brooklyn and Owen Burnett
      • Greg Guler
      • Thom Adcox voice of Lexington
      • Carl Johnson - music composer for the series
      • Many more to be announced
  • 2007 - To Be Announced

Parody/Reference

JLA Showcase #1

In 1999 Greg Weisman published a story for DC Comics JLA Showcase #1 80-Page, which is cover dated February 2000. The one shot consist of various Justice League stories. The story published by Weisman was set during the time of the Justice League Europe. It is title, "Flashback Of Notre Dame". Roster included: Captain Atom, Flash, Kilowog, Metamorpho and Blue Jay. The story has Captain Atom, The JLE and Bette Souchi/Plastique meeting a group of Gargoyles at Notre Dame Cathedral. After the usual misunderstanding/battle, the JLE help The Gargoyles return to their home island Brigadoon.

The story, while being a parody is a homage to Gargoyles. This version of the clan are more batlike then the characters they parodied and have names based from Paris, France. The story's full of injokes (such as The Gargoyles home island Brigadoon, being a reference to Avalon). The names of the clan (and Gargoyle they're based off of) are:

  • Behemoth/Goliath (Clan Leader)
  • Diabloique/Demona (Behemoth's Ex-Wife)
  • Seine/Hudson (Behemoth's Mentor)
  • Angelique/Angela (Daughter of Behemoth and Diabloique)
  • Montparnasse/Broadway (Boyfriend to Angelique)
  • Montmarte/Brooklyn (Behemoth's Lieutenant)
  • Champs Elysees/Lexington (Monmartes' Brother)
  • Left Bank/Bronx (Clan's Dog)
  • Thomeheb/Thailog (Behemoth's Brother)
  • Cyrano/Othello (one of Behemoth's rookery siblings)
  • Christian/Iago (another of Behemoth's rookery siblings)
  • Roxanne/Desdemona (yet another of Behemoth's rookery siblings)

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command

The episode "Clone Rangers" was produced by Greg Weisman. Zurg steals DNA from Members of Team Lightyear to clone them. In a rush to proceed with the plan, he frees the clones before they develop fully. Hence, ends up with child versions of Buzz, Mira Nova and Booster. References are as follow:

  • Buzz's Clone is named Zzub, similar to Thailog being a reverse of Goliath.
  • Zurg obtains DNA of Team Lightyear (except for XR, because of him being machine) through use of robotic bugs. Similar to methods used in The "Reckoning".[1]
  1. ^ http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/archives.php?lid=100
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