Remember Gargoyles (A Very Good Cartoon Series)

[Paul Cousins]

Hello.

For you fans of good anime/animation; reruns of a VERY GOOD cartoon series called Gargoyles is returning to basic cable/satellite.

If you don't remember or have never heard of it, Gargoyles is the only GREAT cartoon series that Disney produced (please don’t hold the fact that it was produced by Disney, against it). It was action/drama series with an excellent plot and well thought-out characters. It was produced in 1994, in the same vain as Fox's Batman The Animated Series, with that dark gothic style, BUT BETTER!!

The show is about a group of honorable gargoyles in 994 AD that were wrongly cursed into a permanent stone sleep (in the series gargoyles turn to stone during the day, by are turn back to flesh at night) over a serious misunderstanding (the person who does curse them is not a villain, he just messed-up big time). Fast-forward to 1994 AD, in the heart of New York City, they are finally free of their curse and the adventure real begins.

More detailed information on the Gargoyles series, it’s episodes and the cast & crew of the show can be found here: http://www.tvtome.com/Gargoyles/

The Gargoyles Cartoon Series is now off of Toon Disney and ON ABC Family at 11:00 AM Eastern for an hour (2 Episodes) on Saturdays and Sundays. ABC Family is on most basic cable and satellite packages, so I know you probably have this channel.

The show was two seasons long, 66 episodes in all. And before you ask, I don't consider "The Goliath Chronicles" to be a true third season because Eisner himself had that season butched because the show was too good a series.

I recommend you tape the episodes, so you can fast forward through the commercials. And watch them when you have the chance. They are much better to watch than the Reality TV crap that comes on Prime Time.

As an anime/animation fan, if you have not seen this series before, IT IS A MUST SEE!! Barring the slightly dated animation, this show rivals in quality with some of the best anime currently on; think Beauty and the Beast Romance better than Inu Yasha, better characterization than Cowboy Bebop, and a plot the rivals in quality to Big O (S1 & S2) and Babylon 5.

The music score (composed by Carl Johnson, who also composed the music in Fox’s Batman: The Animated Series) for the Gargoyles series has some of the best orchestra pieces I have ever heard; the theme music (heard in both the intro and ending) is so strong and vibrant that it is amazing.

Also, it is the only cartoon based show, besides Generation One Transformers, has their own dedicated Convention, called The Gathering. This year’s convention will be their 8th year running.

And Star Trek fans, you will get a lot out of this series because most of the voice actors are from the cast of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, most notably: Jonathan Frakes (Riker from TNG) voices the villain David Xanatos (Zan-nan-tos; think a none-aristocratic, multi-billionaire Treize Khushrenada [Gundam Wing character]) and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi from TNG) voices the villainess gargoyle named Demona, who has more too her than she first appears in the beginning of the series.

DO NOT play a Star Trek drinking-game while watching Gargoyles, you WILL BE drunk (or close to it) by the first half of the episode and you risk a very real chance of death by alcohol poisoning by the end of that episode.

Please understand, in the Gargoyles show, they threw everything including the kitchen sink into this series; from magic to sci-fi, from elves to aliens, from magical shapeshifing to cyborgs to genetic engineering, from stone golems to androids, from magical bending of reality to nano-technology, from magical weapons to sci-fi exo-suits, from ghosts to astral projection, from magical lands to New York, from time-travel to globe-trotting. From Egyptian Gods to Viking Gods. Avalon, King Author and Excalibur. Also, they took characters from Shakespeare, most notably Macbeth and the fairy-folk from a Mid-Summer Night's Dream.

The above, was the SHORT list.

There are also Shakespearian inspirations in the Gargoyles series from Othello, The Merchant of Venice and Henry V.

And yes there is death and murder in this series.

Also, quite a few members of the cast use guns, A LOT!!

Please note, there are absolutely NO coincidences in this series; everything pans out.

Also, the voice actors and actresses from Gargoyles read like a who’s who list of GOOD Hollywood actors and actresses.

Most of the actors/actresses’ information I got from Murdok Gargoyles’ TV Tome Website: http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet...079/Gargoyles/

And Sapphire and Ricardo A. Lafaurie Jr. from The Avalon Archive The Castle: http://avalon.gargoyles-fans.org/castle/voices.html

WARNING!! The amount of acting talent in this show may shock you!!


Besides those I listed above which were:

Jonathan Frakes (Riker from Star Trek: TNG) voices David Xanatos

Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi from Star Trek: TNG) voices the gargoyle Demona


The rest of notables’ actors and actresses in the regular cast are:

Keith David (‘The Thing’ Remake, Spawn The Animated Series, Pitch Black/Chronicles of Riddick) voices Goliath and Thailog

Salli Richardson (singer) voices police officer Elisa Maza

Bill Fagerbakke (football player-assistant coach Dauber Daubinski on the ABC comedy series, Coach) voices Broadway

Edward (Ed) Asner (yes, THAT Edward Asner) who voices the old gargoyle Hudson

Tom Wilson (played Biff Tannen and Griff Tannen in Back To The Future Trilogy) Detective Matt Bluestone

Laura San Giacomo (played Maya Gallo in the comedy series “Just Shoot Me”) voices Fox Xanatos (David Xanatos’ wife)

Jeff Bennett voices Brooklyn and Owen

John Rhys-Davies (the actor who played Gimli in the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy and Professor Maximillian P. Arturo from the show Sliders) voices Macbeth

Frank Welker (voice acted G1 Transformers Megatron and Soundwave) lends his voice for the gargoyle-dog Bronx


And the reoccurring guest stars are:

Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek: TNG) the magical trickster Puck

Rachel Ticotin (Melina in Total Recall, Con Air, Natural Born Killers, Falling Down) voices Police Captain Chavez

Tim Curry voices the evil geneticist Dr. Sevarius

Jim Belushi voices Fang

Kath Soucie (Futurama, Cubert Farnsworth, Michelle and Additonal Voices; Swat Cats and many more cartoons) voices Weird Sisters, Princess Katherine and Maggie Reed

Clancy Brown (Kurgan from Highlander I and voices Lex Luthor JLA/Superman WB/CN cartoons) voices Wolf and the 1000 plus year old Viking Ghost Hakon

Matt Frewer (Max Headroom, Psi Factor) voices Jackal

Cree Summer (Singer, voices Felicia from Dark Stalkers) voices Hyena

Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager) voices Anastasia Renard and Titiania

Michael Dorn (played Worf from ST:TNG/STS9) voices Coldstone

Robert Culp voices Halcyon Renard, Fox's father

Peter Scolari (played Wayne Szalinski from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids TV Series) voices Preston Vogel

John Saint Ryan voices King Arthur

Ed Gilbert (voice acted several cartoons, died May 8, 1999 to lung cancer) voices Castle Wyvern’s Captain of the Guard (994 AD)

Paul Winfield (died of a heart attack March 7, 2004) voices Jeffrey Robbins

Nichelle Nichols (played Lt. Nyota Uhura from the Original Star Trek Series) voices Diane Maza (Elisa Maza’s mother)

Lawrence Bayne (Davenport from La Femme Nikita series) voices Raven

LeVar Burton (Geordie LaForge from Star Trek: TNG and Reading Rainbow) voices Anansi (Ep 47; Mark of the Panther)

Rob Paulsen voices Helios (Episode 50: The New Olympians)

Roddy McDowall voices Proteus (Episode 50: The New Olympians)

Avery Brooks (Benjamin Sisko from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) voices the alien Nokkar (Episode 52: Sentinel)

Jim Jonah (J) Cummings (he has too many cartoon series for me to name) voices Dingo (and later Matrix)

William Morgan Sheppard (Blank Reg from Max Headroom, Professor from Seaquest, The Soul Hunter from Babylon 5) voices Petros Xanatos (David Xanatos’ father), Norse God Odin and King Kenneth

David Warner (voices Ra's Al-Ghul from Fox’s Batman: The Animated Series/Superman/Batman Beyond, voices Alpha from MIB cartoon; starred in movie Waxwork; and a played in movies Star Trek V and Star Trek VI) voices Archmage

Richard Grieco voices Anthony Dracon

Darren McGavin (played Carl Kolchak from Kolchak: The Night Stalker) voices G.F. Brenton/Dominic Dracon

Diedrich Bader (plays Oswald Lee Harvey, The Drew Carey Show) voices the Hunter Jason Conover/Jason Canmore and Charles Canmore in Hunter’s Moon Trilogy (Episodes 63, 64 and 65)

Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder (plays Detective Claudette Wyms from The Shield and played Dr. Angela Hicks from ER) voices Desdemona/Coldfire

Sheena Easton (Singer) voices Molly/Banshee and Robyn Canmore

Efrem Zimbalist Jr (voices Alfred Pennyworth from Fox's Batman: The Animated Series/Superman/JLA, played William Edgars on Babylon 5) voices Mace Malone

James Avery (Philip Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) voice the Shaman (Episode 46: Walkabout)

Sarah Douglas (Conan The Destroyer and Superman I, II, V) voices Una - (Episode 42: M.I.A.

Colm Meaney (played Miles O'Brien from ST:TNG/STS9, also played in The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain) voices Mr. Dugan (Episode 45: The Hound of Ulster)

Greg Berger (voice of Grimlock / Long Haul / Outback / Skyfire from G1 Transformers, voices Agent Kay in MIB cartoon) voices Leo (Episode 42: M.I.A.

Roxanne Beckford voices Beth Maza and Tea

Terrence Mann voices Oberon

Tony Shalhoub (Monk and the comedy Wings) voices The Emir (Episode 43; Grief)

Tony Jay voices Anubis (Episode 43: Grief)

Hector Elizondo (played Dr. Phillip Watters from Chicago Hope) voices Zafiro (Episode 51: The Green)

Clyde Kusatsu voices Dr. Arnada and Kai

Ian Buchanan (played James Warwick from The Bold and the Beautiful and voices Ultra-Humanite in JLA CN) voices Constantine (Episode 34: Avalon Part I)

Emma Samms voices Gruoch (Macbeth’s deceased wife)

Gregg Rainwater voices Coyote Trickster and Natsilane

Greg Weisman (creator of the Gargoyles series) voices a commando in Season 1 Episode 2: Awakening, Part II

Links to lists of the cast can be found here: http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet...079/Gargoyles/

And here: http://avalon.gargoyles-fans.org/castle/voices.html


It should be noted that Greg Weisman, the creator of the Gargoyles series, is a genius. He planned this show to go much further than it did, all the way to 2198 and an alien invasion by something called the "Space-Spawn"; http://www.dracandros.com/Jebgarg/tge/spcspawn.htm

ABC Family is to Season 1 Episodes11 and 12 next Saturday (April 3rd, 2004). But don't worry, here some links to jog your memory for the episodes you missed.

http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servle...2079/Gargoyles/ http://www.dracandros.com/Jebgarg/tge/basetge.htm http://www.gargoyles-fans.org/episodes.html

For me, Gargoyles is tied with G1 Transformers as my all time favorite cartoon series ever. And it earned that spot.

And last but not least, Season 1 of Gargoyles is suppose to be released on DVD Boxset by the end of this year (2004, the Tenth Anniversary of the premiere of the Gargoyles Series) and depending on sells, they may release Season 2, that is why I am informing you, who I know are anime/animation fans, so I can get as many eyeballs to watch this series, because though I look forward to having Season 1 of Gargoyles in my DVD Collection (It is GOOD), I WANT Season 2 of Gargoyles in my DVD Collection (It is MIND-BLOWINGLY GOOD!!).

It has been stated that ABC Family plans to keep Gargoyles on at least till the Fall Schedules. At Four Episodes every weekend (on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 12:00PM Noon Eastern), that is enough time for the show to be repeated twice. Plus there only 2/3 of the way through Season 1, Season 2 being the cluncher for fans. There is a window of opportunity here that if we take advantage of it will at the very least increase DVD Sells of the S1 DVD Boxset of Gargoyles (increasing the possiblity of an S2 DVD Boxset release), with the best possible outcome being... Well see the last line of those original posts on DVD Sells on the "Family Guy".

Word of mouth (including on the web) are our best tools.

But I cannot do it alone.

[Stormhorse]

Amen, Paul!
Gargoyles was nothing short of miraculous, the complexity of the characters, the intelligence and subtlety of the stories, the dialogue, everything!

(and yes, The Goliath Chronicles was sheer vandalism, pure and simple. It was "dumbed down" to something on the level of My Little Pony, bloody awful, painful to watch, crap.)

[soccerscaper]

I'm glad that they are bringing this show back. I truly enjoyed it while it was on and would also like to get the DVDs. Thanks for the heads up!

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by Stormhorse
Amen, Paul!
Gargoyles was nothing short of miraculous, the complexity of the characters, the intelligence and subtlety of the stories, the dialogue, everything!

(and yes, The Goliath Chronicles was sheer vandalism, pure and simple. It was "dumbed down" to something on the level of My Little Pony, bloody awful, painful to watch, crap.)

Stormhorse, Soccerscaper; ABC Family has stated that they are planning to keep this until the Fall Schedule. That gives us 6 months for word of mouth and we have at least 8 months till the S1 DVD Boxset release (don't forget to tell your friends about the S1 Boxset DVD release). Which gives us plenty of time to get this machine up and running.

Also, don't forget to tape this series, it is worth taping.

[Kent]

One of the greatest cartoon series I have ever seen, besides Beast Wars. I have been looking for the DVD's and now I know why I haven't been able to find them. Thanks for the heads up Paul Cousins I'll be sure to catch this On Saturday!!

[FieryHands]

I loved this show from the moment I saw the Gargoyles trailer at a Star Trek convention. Yeah, the third season was crap, but such is the fate of most good shows that fall into the hands of the wrong people.

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by FieryHands
I loved this show from the moment I saw the Gargoyles trailer at a Star Trek convention. Yeah, the third season was crap, but such is the fate of most good shows that fall into the hands of the wrong people.

The question now is how well the DVD sells will be. I think they will be quite good if word of mouth gets around.

[AgentSun]

there's a box set?!

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by AgentSun
there's a box set?!

Not yet, it is reported on Toon Zone that they are going to release a DVD Boxset of Season 1 of Gargoyles (to mark it's tenth anniversary of it's original premiere on Fox) at the end of 2004. And if sells are good (let's pray for that) they will probably release Season 2 on DVD.

But you can catch the series on ABC Family, Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 AM to Noon Eastern (two episodes each day). I recommend recording them.

[AgentSun]

indeed, i would if i could, but alas i am a college student deprived of cable tv.

[grinner]

I have heard that the Box Set is going to be released early to the middle of next year...

[blue]

Gargoyles was great.

[Paul Cousins]

Originally posted by grinner
I have heard that the Box Set is going to be released early to the middle of next year...

Let us both hope we are wrong and that the S1 DVD Boxset is released sooner.

[darius]

It was a great show, right up there with Darkwing Duck

[Paul Cousins]

Now there was a funny show. Could you imagine how crazy (and good) a show it would have been if Dinsey had teamed up Tailspin's Baloo with Ducktales' Launchpad McQuack.