Gargoyles is an American animated series created by
Greg Weisman, produced by Greg Weisman and Frank Paur and originally aired from
October 24, 1994, to February 15, 1997. Gargoyles is known for its relatively
dark tone, complex story arcs and melodrama. Character arcs were heavily
employed throughout the series, as were Shakespearean themes.
A video game and comic series were also created in
1995. The show's storyline continued from 2006–2009 in a comic book series of
the same name, written by Weisman and produced by Slave Labor Graphics.
The series features a species of
nocturnal creatures known as Gargoyles that turn to stone during the day,
focusing on a clan led by Goliath. In the year 994, the clan lives in a castle
in medieval Scotland alongside humans, until many of them are killed by
betrayal and the remainder are magically frozen in stone until the castle
"rises above the clouds."
A millennium later, in 1994,
billionaire David Xanatos purchases the Gargoyles' castle and has it
reconstructed atop his New York City skyscraper, awakening the six remaining
Gargoyles. In trying to adjust to their new world they are aided by a
sympathetic NYPD officer, Elisa Maza, and quickly come into conflict with the
plotting Xanatos. In addition to dealing with the Gargoyles' attempts to adjust
to modern New York, the series also incorporated various supernatural threats
to their safety and to the world at large.
Episodes
A total of 78 half-hour episodes
were produced. The first two seasons aired in the Disney Afternoon programming
block. The controversial third and final season aired on Disney's One Saturday
Morning format on ABC as Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles. With the exception
of the first episode of the season, "The Journey", these episodes
were produced without the involvement of series creator Greg Weisman and are
not considered canonical by him.
A total of 78 half-hour episodes
of Gargoyles, an American animated television series, were produced. Gargoyles
was created by Greg Weisman, produced by Greg Weisman and Frank Paur and aired
from October 24, 1994 to February 15, 1997. The first two seasons aired in The
Disney Afternoon programming block, the third and final season aired in
Disney's One Saturday Morning format on ABC as Gargoyles: The Goliath
Chronicles.
In the first season, which
premiered with the five-part pilot episode "Awakening," the survivors
of a clan of 10th-century Scottish gargoyles are brought back to life in
modern-day New York City, having been frozen in stone sleep for a thousand
years. With the help of police detective Elisa Maza, they learn about the
changes that have taken place in the world and begin to figure out where they
belong in it.
The second season premiered on
September 4, 1995. Roughly half of these episodes focus on a small group of
characters - Goliath, his daughter Angela, Elisa, and Bronx - who are sent on a
series of quests by the magical island of Avalon, informally dubbed the
"World Tour." The third season, subtitled The Goliath Chronicles,
premiered on September 7, 1996. Because of major staff and writer changes,
series creator Greg Weisman considers these episodes non-canon and instead has
chosen to continue the storyline with the comic books published by Slave Labor
Graphics. The only exception is the season premiere "The Journey,"
which Weisman wrote himself.
Although the first two seasons
were considered successful, Gargoyles did not live up to Disney's expectations
as a commercial rival to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.This result, combined
with poor ratings for the third season, led Disney to cancel the series. The
Goliath Chronicles aired its final episode on February 15, 1997.
Cast
The voice cast featured several
actors who are alumni of the Star Trek franchise including Marina Sirtis and
Jonathan Frakes (respectively, Deanna Troi and William Riker on Star Trek: The
Next Generation), who were featured regularly as principal cast members. Other
Star Trek actors such as Michael Dorn (Worf on TNG), Brent Spiner (Data on
TNG), Colm Meaney (Miles O’Brien on TNG and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), LeVar
Burton (Geordi La Forge on TNG), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on Star Trek: The
Original Series), Avery Brooks (Benjamin Sisko on DS9), Paul Winfield (Clark
Terrell in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), David Warner (various characters,
most notably Gul Madred in "Chain of Command", a two-part episode of
TNG) and Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager) were guest or
recurring stars in the series.
Development
Series creator Weisman, a former
English teacher, has often cited his goal of ideally incorporating every myth
and legend into the series eventually. Many Shakespearean characters and
stories found their way into the show's storylines, particularly Macbeth and A
Midsummer Night's Dream.The series was also influenced by medieval Scottish
history. Weisman also cited the influences of Disney's Adventures of the Gummi
Bears and Hill Street Blues 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 made darker and more serious before production. Some aspects of
the series Bonkers, which Weisman helped develop, also influenced the show to
some degree. Most noticeably, the relationship of toon cop Bonkers and his
human partner Miranda Wright was used as a template for the relationship of
gargoyle Goliath and Elisa Maza, as was the then-recent movie Beauty and the
Beast.
New York artist Joe Tomasini
brought a suit against Disney, claiming that his copyrighted screen play and
character designs had been copied during the development and production of
Gargoyles. The case was ultimately thrown out, after it was proven that Disney
did not have access to Joe Tomasini's creations.
Reception
The show was only moderately
successful at the time, yet did not fall into obscurity. In 2009, IGN ranked
Gargoyles 45th place on the list of top 100 animated series of all time
("A decent success at the time, Gargoyles has maintained a strong cult following
since it ended more than a decade ago. In 2010, Hollywood.com featured it on
the list of six cartoons that should be movies. In 2011, UGO.com included it on
their list of legendary medieval and fantasy TV shows "that rock your
face".
Comics
Disney Adventures
Gargoyles comics were published in the magazine Disney Studios Adventures, 11 stories total. A two-part story "Stone Cold" is notable in that it provided a story idea that was later used in the TV series in the episode "The Price". Another story, "The Experts", was intended as tie-in advertising for Disney'sMarvel
In 1995, Marvel Comics issued a Gargoyles comic book series which ran for 11 issues. The books did not directly follow the continuity of the series, but they did reference specific events that took place within it. The Marvel series was tonally darker than the television series, dealing largely with Xanatos' experiments to create creatures and machines to defeat the Gargoyles. Greg Weisman, television series co-creator, did not have any direct involvement in the story development of the comic series, but was consulted on some plot points to be sure it stayed within certain boundaries.Weisman was eventually hired to write for the comic, but Marvel cut ties with Disney before his run could be produced. Weisman still has his unpublished script for the comic, and would eventually use it as issue #6 of Gargoyles SLG comic. The characters Beth Maza (who appeared in a photo in "Deadly Force") and Petros Xanatos appeared in the comics before their full debut on the show.
Slave Labor Graphics
In August 2008, Greg Weisman announced that, due to Disney increasing its licensing fees, Slave Labor Graphics would not be renewing its license of Gargoyles after it ran out on August 31, 2008. The final two issues of Bad Guys and four of Gargoyles were released in the comic trades collecting both series in August 2009. Weisman also stated that SLG president Dan Vado has not given up on the Gargoyles franchise and hopes to pursue the idea of Gargoyles graphic novels in the future.
Merchandise
Action figures
A series
of 22 five-inch action figures (along with two vehicles and a castle playset)
was released by Kenner in 1995.
Card game
The collectible
card game Gargoyles Stone Warriors Battle Card Game was published by Parker
Brothers in 1994.
Video
game
Main
article: Gargoyles (video game)
The
Gargoyles video game was released in the United States by Buena Vista
Interactive exclusively for the Sega Genesis (a Super Nintendo version was also
planned, but it was never released in 1995. The game was a side-scrolling
platform action game. Its plot was considered non-canon and involved the Eye of
Odin attempting to destroy the world.
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