I started watching this cartoon on toon disney recently, and I have to say this is the coolest cartoon ever. It weaves nordic,celtic and greek mythology along with modern day myth(Zanatos is an Illuminati member). The story line has foreshadowing, allusion, paradox and manifest destiny. It was obviously never meant for kids, but does anyone else love this show as much as me? The story line is so much more complex and intriguing than anything I’ve seen lately(even if I get the feeling I’m watching Star Trek:TNG). I assume that I’m just watching reruns, but it still is so entertaining.
Yup I love this show! Too bad they cancelled it. I don’t think I ever watched the ending to it. It has continuity so if you miss one episode your probally missing a good part of the story. Goliath is da man!
I agree.
I used to watch the show every day. It really is a great show. I remember I thought it would be really cool if they made some kind of live-action movie of it, with computer-generated gargoyles or something.
The show was cool, it had a nice plot (which in most cartoons nowadays is pretty much non-existant) and I gotta say that that theme song/intro was cool (hey, I always like things for the little details like the music. Sometimes I play video games for the sole purpose of listening to the music!)
There is still a channel showing re-runs. I must find it and start watching again!! I used to watch that cartoon every day!
Gargoyles is, IMHO, the best cartoon ever. I have, I believe, seen every episode.
I used to watch it on CBS all the time after school, until suddenly it was gone and on ABC on Saturdays. It only lasted a few weeks on ABC, and I like to pretend that those episodes don’t exist. The main difference was that in the episodes I saw on ABC, the world had been notified of the Gargoyles’ existence and a movement against the Gargoyles was organized. They weren’t terrible episodes, but I think they weren’t as good as the originals.
***SPOILER:
If you didn’t see the “last” episode, it was absolutely great! I put “last” in scare quotes because it wasn’t the last made, but it is the last in the story arc before the newer episodes on ABC.
In the end, the heroes are in danger and it looks like there’s no way out. That’s when a helicopter appears. They fear it’s another enemy, but the door opens, and it’s Xanatos helping them to safety, and redeeming himself in the process. They go back to living on Xanatos’ castle, their newest home (the clock tower) having been destroyed.
***END SPOILER
I love how everything, in the end, came full circle. I also love how myths of various cultures were used, usually in an intelligent and thoughtful way. I liked the fact that there was a smart, intelligent, female cop who did more than just get in trouble and have to be rescued. I liked the fact that so many Star Trek regulars lended their voices to the show (Jonathan Frakes [Xanatos], Kate Mulgrew [Lady Titania], Brent Spiner [Puck], Levar Burton [Anansi, the giant spider], Avery Brooks [the alien on, I think, easter island], Michael Dorn [several different characters, such as Coldstone and a guard on the Olympians’ island], Colm Meany [Father of the kid in “The Hound of Ulster”], etc.). I love all of the interesting characters. I love how the cartoon was “dark”, but didn’t revel in darkness. I liked the overarching theme of forgiveness. I liked the ocassional tasteful time-travel episode. I liked the opening music. I liked the animation. I liked how in the original Gargoyles movie, Xanatos says “Hell”. I like the layers of subterfuge and deceit in the show, the “politics” of it all. I liked the humor, for the most part. I love how almost none of the episodes ended on a corny joke with all the characters laughing in unison. I liked how things were made to be at least mostly believable. I liked how characters were generally kept around long enough (or brought back often enough) to be well developed. Simply put, I loved the depth of the show. To find that in any cartoon (or any TV show, for that matter) is rare.
OK, enough gushing! 
All I gotta say is that if I could find someone with every episode on tape, they’d be my new best friend and have near-absolute dominion over me so long as I could watch the episodes whenever I wanted.
I have all the eps of this show on tape. It’s currently being broadcast on ToonDisney (it was a Disney production, after all). HOWEVER, there is one episode they don’t show!
The title is “Deadly Force”. The main plot has Xanathos dealing in particle beam weapons. The sub-plot has Broadway playing with Elisa’s gun and accidentally shooting her. (she lives, of course). I e-mailed the Disney folks and they gave me an answer that really didn’t answer my question!
For the record, there 65 episodes of the original show and 13 episodes when it when to ABC on Saturday mornings where it was known as “Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles”.
I agree that it was one the better efforts to come out the evil kingdom of the mouse.
You are my Lord and Master. bows humbly
I remember that one! When I first saw it, I was impressed that any cartoon would dare show someone getting shot and actually hospitalized in such a realistic manner. I was also impressed with the episode (I think it was called “The Hunter” … or maybe it was “Hunter’s Moon Part I”) where the young Hunter gets his face scratched by a gargoyle and actually bleeds! Blood, on a cartoon!
I like this one too.
Did anyone else notice how may of the episodes sounded like Star Trek reunions With Michael Dorn, Jonathon Fraser, Brent Spiner, Captain Janeway(Kate I forget her last name), and Deanna Troi(I forget all of her name) et al. doing voice work I sometimes wondered if they had a deal with the Federation.
I did like how Xanatos rescued the Gargoyles, much to his own peril, since they saved his son. Even the most brutal capitalist has his soft spots.
That’s Frakes, not Fraser, Kate Mulgrew, and Marina Sirtis.
I’m pretty sure Patrick Stewart did a voice in an episode or two, too.
I saw it too. I still could not believe that it was done by Disney, with its dark themes. The animation showed the Japanese how it is to be done. Every single character in the series, major and minor, was greatly portrayed; there was no Jar Jar Blinks or Wesley Crusher among the dramatis personae, either in Scotland or in New York. I don’t think any show ever achieved that distinction. Xanatos was one of the best characters ever created in all of art and literature. Too bad that when he married Fox, he was replaced as a villain by an anti-Gargoyle group that was a well-done-but-still-a-ripoff of the anti-mutant groups featured in X-Men.
I wonder why? The episode was released on a compilation tape along with one entitled ENTER MACBETH. I suppose if you really wanted a copy, you might be able to find one on eBay.
KC
I kind of remember the episode where Broadway shot Elisa. As I recall, it actually showed a fair amount of blood. Damned if you can get that into a cartoon nowadays.
I wish I could still watch the show, but I don’t get Toon Disney.
Spoken like someone who hasn’t watched too much Japanese anime, but that’s okay. (FYI, somebody please watch the credits for me, I’m pretty sure Gargoyles was actually done by a Korean animation studio, though I could still be having Aeon Flux flashbacks here. And, yes, I know it was done by Disney, but even they can outsource, right?)
Personally, Gargoyles was my favorite American cartoon series ever (with the possible exception of nostalgia-enhanced memories of Silverhawks) because it was very well done in almost every aspect. In fact, the only thing that ever bothered me with Gargoyles was that a) I had to race home to watch it (inevitably missing an ep or two) and b) that the network would randomly decide to skip ahead/back to another point in the series, often going to another storyline altogether.
Favorite Gargoyles moment: Macbeth vs. King Arthur. Now that’s a fight!
I do watch a lot of Japanese animation. Although the art is lush and the action looks good, the animation sometimes looks right out of Hanna-Barbera’s small-budget years; i.e. the characters look stiff instead of flowing, and the jaws don’t move.
I would have to say that Gargoyles is my favorite TV series (not just cartoon, series!) of all time. It’s the only series that I’ve seen every single episode of repeatedly, and will still watch whenever it’s on.
I think that it’s worth reiterating that you almost never find this kind of depth on TV–show me one sitcom in which characters developed and matured as much as the characters Gargoyles, and I’ll be impressed. They learned, they grew, they faced long-term consequences from their actions. They had flashes of bitterness (the Brooklyn-Demona scenes are fantastic); they changed in response to traumatic events (Broadway crushed every gun he got his hands on after “Deadly Force”). They all had reasons for being the way they were–even the villains had reasons for their actions and attitudes (especially as compared to the usual flat “I want to rule the world” pure-evil villains of most action cartoons).
Deepest of all is the underlying theme of redemption–no one is beyond hope. MacBeth, Fox, Dingo, even Xanatos were people–they had good sides, and those good qualities showed more and more as the series progressed. I like to think that even Demona would have been redeemed if the series had gone on long enough.
Enough ranting–I suspect I’m preaching to the choir, anyway.
Deflagrate muri tempi et intervallia
Oh, how I miss The Gargoyles. sigh
I loved them like I loved the film noir Batman cartoon.
Why don’t great shows like that ever last as long as we might wish them to?
Such as? Oh, and I double checked, and Gargoyles was done by a Korean/Japanese animation studio. Go figure.
Because we want them to last forever… sigh
OOC, what are you considering the “film noir Batman cartoon”? Batman, the Animated Series? Or that before they added Nightwing and company?
[slight hijack]
I’m also in the club of people whose favorite TV series’ are cartoons (disclaimer: not a real club, AFAIK)
My favorite show (no longer on the air, not even in reruns. :() is Samurai Pizza Cats. I could write up a whole thread about why it’s a good show, but that would be hijacking this thread too much.
[/slight hijack]
[advancing slight hijack]
KJ: That show was frickin’ hilarious! Very spoofy in a way, but that just made it that much better! Too bad it’s off the air (as with most/all the good cartoons), but what can you do, huh?
[/advancing slight hijack]
Pizza Cats
Very funny, a great little primer for anime in general and surprisingly risqué! Among other things, how many kids’ shows can claim a villain who’s a transvestite?
Fred fred fa-RRRED!!!
Gargoyles
Bearing in mind that I fully agree with everyone’s comments about the show, I just want to play devil’s advocate for a moment and mention something that bugged me slightly (very slightly).
As the series went on (I haven’t seen the Goliath Chronicles) and the story kept evolving (and evolving in very intriguing and impressive ways) they undid the original plot framework, what with all the eggs surviving, and those same young gargoyles still alive 1000 years later, it took some of the tragedy out of it. Y’know, betrayed, alone, trapped in stone for a thousand years (you can just hear Keith David’s voice, can’t ya?).
But that’s the only thing I could possibly have against the show. Someone mentioned that few TV shows ever develop characters with this kind of depth. I’d go further and say that almost no shows develop their worlds with this kind of depth. They didn’t just throw a bunch of characters from myth, history and literature together and have done with it. They went further and organised it into a coherent worldplan - the three races: humans, gargoyles and the faery. Truly inspired stuff!