wait remember gargoyles it was Walt Disney animation series that centered around a gang
of living breathing philosophizing gargoyles Stone Decor by day living breathing gargoyles by
night once active in medieval Scotland a group of gargoyles is reawakened in modern day or at
least the modern day of the 90s New York City originally having no names other than the leader
Goliath the Gargoyles choose names based off of well-known geographical features of New York like
neighborhoods streets Burrows or Rivers this is how we end up with Brooklyn Bronx Hudson Broadway
and Lexington with their loyal Ally and Goliath's love interest Elisa who is a detective with the
NYPD together they fly about the city at night both keeping people safe when they can and dealing
with their new semi-hidden lives in a judgmental Society Greg Wiseman also known for creating The
Spectacular Spider-Man and young justice among a myriad of other cool things is the creator of
gargoyles one of the main Inspirations for the show was a Disney show called Adventure of the
gummy bears that show is about a group of bears that are the last of their gummy race much like
gargoyles they crave a future in which these kind-hearted gentle Bears can live beside and
Thrive with humans Wiseman wanted to capture the same Rich mythology and backstory with a medieval
setting to mirror the mythological part but he wanted it to be edgier more respectable are you
telling me that these Bears the gummy variety don't bring enough Edge all right man whatever
Weissman had always had a fascination with gargoyles in his high school days so he decided it
would be fun to make the monsters be the good guys changing the perception of them looking scarier
evil and really just being big lovable creatures of the night since its premiere on October 24th
1994 it's accrued a large community base of dedicated fans and the show itself is regarded
as one of the best superhero-esque animations of its time due to its deep storylines and complex
interpersonal or intergarg oil Dynamics so tis the season let's take a look into this show that as a
kid I can never watch Watch past Sundown is it too late to go and talk about the gummy bears instead
he wants to dominate us
in medieval Scotland a group of gargoyles protects wyvern Castle but after being lured away from his
post one fateful night and he and the rest of the clan are blamed for the castle being
overrun and also in a misunderstanding regarding the well-being of the princess the Royal Mage
curses the Gargoyles to turn to Stone only to be reawoken one thousand years later aided by
ex-wyvern Clan member Demona for a lot of the series our main villain of the story is David
zanatos who plays a Lex Luthor kind of figure he's a billionaire member of the Illuminati who
purchases and moves wyvern Castle into Manhattan believing that if he owns the Gargoyles that they
will be loyal to him in furthering himself as a selfish and power-hungry individual now like they
literally put the castle on a skyscraper how does how do you even how does that work Goliath is the
leader of the group once known as the wyvern Clan now dubbed the Manhattan Clan he shoulders most
of the responsibility for his clan and has all the qualifications of a good leader well minus
a short temper his strong moral compass often leads him to delegating and playing ambassador
to the humans often but when he does have to fight enemies he does so very very well and he
is not easy to take down he's actually shown in season 1 episode 10 to be reading Dostoyevsky
and although it doesn't say which of his works it is he is known for his writings on existentialism
psychology and modernism he seems to have an inherent interest in the intellectual side of
humanity showing that he's a multi-dimensional being challenging the initial Judgment of what
a gargoyle is and speaking of philosophy the show touches on a new moral dilemma virtually
every episode the show does not shy away from discussing learning from and blatantly showing
the audience more important and impactful themes whether it is on an episode to episode basis or
over small story arcs the group faces Prejudice on all sides and is constantly being pulled in
different radical directions Goliath's strong moral code and loyal family both allow the team
to stay on track with what they truly believe is right and just in his case he believes that he
can achieve a world where people and gargoyles coexist in the end they strive to better their
community and help the people around them in whatever way they can but while they do that
they must also protect themselves from outside harm I have some things to attend to elsewhere
we now return to gargoyles
Elisa is one of the first humans the group meets during a pretty illegal search of one of the
main villains xanato's Lair she stumbles into the wyvern Castle which has been relocated on top of
the evil villainous Tower like I said how to get up there that's how but either way it's it's sick
it's dope I like it the gothic side and emo phase of me is seeping back out just looking at it there
she runs into Goliath and accidentally Falls over the edge of the castle in her fright Goliath saves
her and because of this they begin to talk and have a conversation leading to her understanding
that despite their monstrous appearance that they have humanity and are no different than herself
they quickly bond with her and she becomes their human liaison or window into the human world over
time she and Goliath fall in love despite their physical differences this causes a lot of jealous
attacks from Goliath's ex-lover our favorite Immortal problematic Wing Beauty Demona Demona
poses some more interesting ethical dilemmas in the series she bounced back and forth from hero
Dylan a lot and her descent into villainry is understandable garnering a lot of sympathy she
Harbors a lot of hatred and loneliness in her heart which makes her actions very emotionally
charged in combination with that her power hungry personality allows her to put herself first above
anyone else as a coping mechanism for a lot of her trauma she never seems to take responsibility
for her actions and overcompensates a lot of her insecurities by establishing her superiority the
rest of the founding group members are Lexington Brooklyn Broadway Hudson and Bronx Lexington is a
very intelligent and science Savvy Tech Pro who likes to experiment with modern technology and
Machinery despite his intelligence he has proved to be naive in the beginning of the series but
Brooklyn initially is The Reckless and easy to anger member of the group but he's also curious
in nature with a cynical sense of humor he offers a mix of a fun character that also has a moodier
side to him Brooklyn does have one of the more severe character Evolutions in the series and him
becoming Goliath second in command Broadway is the sweetheart of the group he is very positive
and sports a childish sense of wonder for all the new things modern New York has to offer he's very
passionate about good food good entertainment and his open-minded nature allows him to be the
focus of many of the show's episodes that touch on insightful and complex topics Hudson is Goliath's
mentor and Broadway's biological father which neither of them are aware of you are the five
leader of the wyvern Clan and both him and Goliath have a mutual respect that allows him to step down
as a leader and help Goliath in his position with wisdom whenever it is needed serving as
a classical grandfather-esque figure he is very averse to Modern Technologies and ways of living
the last founding member of the Manhattan Clan is Bronx who takes on the role of the family
dog as a kind of gargoyle-like animal he is a strong fighter and he's incredibly loyal
to his pack although he can't talk he is still regarded as an important founding member of the
Manhattan Clan and I just love that the show received lots of attention for their crew of
voice actors majority of which had also been prominent somewhere in the Star Trek media
franchise but this is a gargoyles video and not a Star Trek one with a cast that individually shine
as their roles the show's conversations and dialogue hit the respective tones that flesh
out who these characters are Marina Sirtis Jonathan Frakes Sally Richardson Whitfield
Frank Welker bill Jeff Bennett Edward Asner Tom adcox Hernandez Keith David and a massive
list of other amazing voice actors all do their best to blend this frankly darker Disney show
with Rich characters that have interconnected storylines it all comes together very nicely
so to have this aspect of the show mix so well with the way it all looks is impressive
gargoyles is known very well for its dark and brooding tone as well as color palette and art
style that heavily align with the gothic themes The Shakespearean references and inspiration is
very overt and equally appropriate given that he would have been alive in the late 16th century
towards the tail end of the European Gothic style it even goes as far as to have a villain named
Macbeth at one point so they're really not trying to hide it are they and if they were
trying to hide it it'd look like this inspired by classic Greek tragedies and in addition to
his comedic Works Shakespeare also is known for writing lots of tragedies with heavy drama high
stakes and droning monologues about tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow which tend to tip over the
line into philosophical and ethical musings on many occasions the brooding Darkness behind the
tragic play Falls nicely into the gothic style we see a perfect example of this right off the
bat when Goliath decides to follow his gargoyle family into a Stony death well I guess a kind
of death like oh okay Romeo do what you gotta do I guess no that's the wrong Romeo but seriously this
was like the go-to move in Greek tragedies and also in Shakespeare's tragic works as
well and it's not the last time this Trope is explored Gothic literature also appropriately
dubbed Gothic horror is intimately associated with the architectural Gothic Revival style
that was popularized in the mid-1700s truly a goth girl era Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and
Charlotte bronte's Jane Eyre are great examples of the gothic literature and melodramatic style
of the time and of course Victor Hugo gets an honorary mention for his novel the humpback of
Notre Dame wait did I did I just say humpback The Hunchback of Notre Dame closely associated
with the horror genre with human nature and ethical questions were posed in the form of
monsters and physical manifestations setting stories like these and Gothic structures does
a few things for the audience in all of the aforementioned works that includes gargoyles
in it inspires a sense of all in the subliminal ornateness of the architecture and also dates
these stories heavily connecting them to the feeling of isolation in the past and Gargoyles
the style serves as a reminder of when they originally lived especially when you juxtapose
it with the metallic minimalist buildings that surround wyvern Castle the Gargoyles
are not only lonely in their unfamiliarity with the new times but also with the people
where'd it go gargoyles will return we now return to gargoyles
gargoyles as an architectural concept were introduced and utilized in the gothic style from
around the 13th century they were implemented as a gutter system to regulate water flow on
spiers walls and flying buttresses they took the form of a winged dragon-like creature that
originated from an ancient French tale of a sea serpent named gargoyle which translated to throat
that resided in the river sen which ran through prominent towns of France like Paris Notre Dame
and Ruan home of the Ruan Cathedral tying back into the idea of a water Disposal system the
root is also found in English words today like gurgle or gullet like I mentioned earlier with
gargoyle's translation meaning throat they were created so that they could have a practical water
Disposal system that was equally as ornate as the rest of the intricate Cathedrals that they adorned
in Paris it was a common understanding that the Gargoyles would take flight after Sunset to fly
around the city protecting paris's many cafes sound like some of the other gargoyles we know
the concept of these gargoyles being architectural addition to a castle no less in the year 994 A.D
in medieval Scotland is not historically accurate in the least but then again you know what's also
not historically accurate magical stone creatures that come alive at night so I won't be too picky
about it it's magic stuff so I'll suspend my disbelief so I can just enjoy the series
gargoyles uses classic literary devices to enrich the drama behind the story being told
making the characters more three-dimensional and the story more engaging it's darkened and new RS
color palette has in the past been compared to other 90s cartoons like the 90s iteration
of Batman cartoons or even Batman Beyond it has a specific gray contrast heavy palette
with simple 2D animation that is both beautiful and detailed with a grainy texture but despite
its very beautiful animation and interesting characterization the show was never renewed
for any more content after its third season titled Gargoyles the Goliath Chronicles which both fans
and Wiseman himself don't consider to be Canon due to Wiseman being replaced as a producer he was
left on only as a consultant for that series and he didn't particularly like that third season at
all he expressed his frustrations in an interview at how they weren't taking his suggestions and
sometimes they would do the exact opposite of what he told them to do or what he told them not
to do and fans were equally as frustrated with how the season turned out quality wise Wiseman
suggests that it's more of an alternate universe more than anything all in all the series had 78
episodes in its three seasons combined Weissman is very open on online forums about the show and
made a pretty lengthy post addressing popular questions about why the show wasn't renewed for
a fourth season some of the reasons that could have compounded resulting in its non-renewal
was lousy ratings not a lot of Disney shelf space limited money time and resources that
couldn't justify the quality of animation and production that the show demanded changes in
management and just in general bad Network airing strategies there was no one particular reason why
this show didn't go further than three seasons it really just was some sort of combination of
everything there that attributed to Disney pulling the plug it did however Branch out into quite a
few gargoyles comics in the mid-2000s with both SLG and Marvel there is even a spin-off comic
series titled gargoyles bad guys which focuses on five villains from the gargoyle oils universe
and continuity wise anything that Wiseman has attached himself to in the comic field sense is
Canon for gargoyles and anything that was written and produced without him with the same name is
considered not canon Wiseman has specified that if the series were to ever be seen again whether in
spin-off television content or picking up where it left off it would be up to Disney and Disney
alone given that Marvel has taken some liberties with producing the comics and that Disney owns
Marvel now as well it's very understandable to assume that they would never sell their creative
license to anyone else to make more gargoyle's content but he has recommended using the old
Revival tactic of keeping the fandom flame alive and letting Disney know it's something that the
viewers would like to see and that it would be a financially viable investment Wiseman said to
himself I've always wanted to do more I've got a timeline for this show that's 315 pages long
I've got notebooks and comp books full of ideas for it spin-off Notions and all sorts of things
literally nothing would make me happier than to go back back and do more gargoyles so it's
obvious he's on board to further his vision it's just up to Disney since the series started there
has been a few games produced no a gargoyle's quest on the Game Boy has no relation in 1994
gargoyle's Stone Warriors battle card game was released this was followed by a Sega Genesis game
simply titled gargoyles and funny enough while making this video they recently just announced
that Disney's d23 Expo that this gargoyles game is getting remastered for consoles and PC I couldn't
ask for better timing on this maybe I cover it on my gaming channel Jordan and a much lesser
known handheld LCD game called gargoyles Night Flight being released in 1995. a board game titled
gargoyle's Awakening was released in August of 2021 but has received some pretty negative reviews
overall given that there is still merchandise and gains being produced and released to this
day over 20 years since the series premiered its last episode there's clearly still a lot
of fan interest in this series concept world and characters oh and Disney would eventually dive
into merch even though the show never focused on trying to sell you a toy but hey Disney will
but what about you is more gargoyle's content something you would like to see in the future let
me know all that and your thoughts on the series in general down in the comments thanks so much
for watching make sure to hit the like button and subscribe for more content like this or I'll turn
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