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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr. Weissman- first of all I would like to thank you for your time and
devotion to answering all of the questions of us fans. It really means
alot to us what you're doing and we greatly appreciate you're efforts.
Now, I have several questions mainly on Duval and the Iluminati, but I'll
try and keep them not too specific. 1. Was Duval a knight of the Round
Table? 2. How did Duval survive through the centuries, obviously sorcery,
but of what kind? Who is responsable? 3. Did Duval ever see the Grail?
4. How has Duval's attitude changed over the centuries? 5. What are his
motives? 6. Is Duval good, evil, or somewhere in between? 7. You said
that Duval would be an enemy of Arthur, does he hate Arthur? 8. Does he
know of Arthur's return? 9. Does Arthur know who he is? 10. How does
Duval feel about gargoyles? 11. Does Merlin know who Duval is? 12. Does
the Director know who Duval is? 13. What kind of position is the Director
in, is he some billionare industrialist such as Xanatos or some other
occupation such as a politician? 14. Is the Director immortal? 15. What
is the relationship between Duval and the Director? 16. What is the name
of the biological son of Oberon and Titania? 17. This may be an off the
wall question, but do you believe that there exists some shadow society
such as the Illuminati in real life? Many do. 18. Can you briefly
describe your experience to Tintagel such as when you were there, why, and
the effect it had on you? Again, I truly appreciate you're time. I hope I
didn't have too many questions for you, I tried to keep several of them as
"Yes" or "No" questions to make your job easier.

Greg responds...

1-12 & 15. Man, "Illuminator", bad timing. I just promised "Xanatos" I
wouldn't give out any Duval clues in this post. Ask me again later, and I'll
try to be a little more forthcoming.
13. He's a civil servant.
14. No.
16. Did I say that they had a son? Was that the word I used?
17. I believe in most everything, up to a point. But if the Illuminati (or
something like it) does exist, then I'm not too impressed with the results.
18. The first time I was at Tintagel was during the summer of 1981. I had
just graduated from high school here in Los Angeles. I went to France and
England with my Dad, Mom, my younger sister Robyn and my younger brother
Jon. I was really into King Arthur in those days and had gotten my father
interested as well, so our trip through England was something of an
ArthurQuest. Of course, we went to Tintagel. I remember I was wearing my
high school sweatshirt, you know the kind... big, over-sized, grey thing with
a hood. There was a light, very fine rain, so my hood was up. Tintagel is
impressive: it's location, it's scope, the ruins themselves. I climbed over
every inch of that thing. I intentionally moved off away from the rest of my
family, so that it would take some time to find me if they wanted to head
out. I climbed to the top of the cliff, overlooking the castle ruins. The
light rain continued above me, but the surf pounded below. And looking off
to sea, I could see that a major storm was literally sitting just off shore.
Lightning. Thunder. High winds. Rolling seas. Torrential Rain. The
works. And just in case that wasn't awe-inspiring enough, something else
happened. The black clouds parted directly in front of me, and the sun shone
down. Like a spotlight on the water. So I stood there, in the light rain,
and watched the sun shining down through the midst of a lightning storm. I'm
not sure how to describe what I was feeling. But "religious awe" is probably
the best I can do. It seemed to prove the existence of God to me. I removed
my hood and stood there. Then I knelt and touched the ground. I felt like
it was charged with some kind of power. Eventually, the storm died down and
the sun went away. And it was just another cloudy day in England. I walked
down the hill.
It would be easy for me to be cynical about this experience. Neither my
parents nor my siblings recall any weather phenomena that equates with what
I've just described. They weren't standing with me, but they were all on the
cliffside. It's certainly possible that I've exaggerated the whole thing
over the years. But in my mind, I saw the hand of God at work. I don't see
any reason to question that, even if I don't quite know what to do with it.
In 1992, I returned to Tintagel with my wife Beth. We stayed in a Bed &
Breakfast overnight so I went to the castle twice. First with Beth, and
then again by myself the next morning. I figured it wouldn't live up to my
memory of the place. But it did. I didn't see the big show-stopper again,
but I felt the same rush I had felt eleven years before. I also had the
opportunity to go through "Merlin's Cave" under the cliff, which I hadn't
been able to do in '81 because of the tide.
I'm told that every year, erosion removes a little bit more of Tintagel. I'm
told that Arthur could not have been born there. I'm told a lot. But I know
what I felt. For me, it's a place of power. There's only one feeling in my
life that has ever topped it: the love I feel for my wife and two children.
If Tintagel wasn't enough, than the fact that I found her and had them, is
all the proof I'll ever need of God's existence.
Now, are you sorry you asked? (GDW/12-8-97)

Response recorded on December 08, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman. How's it going. My favorite eps are "The Edge", "The Mirror",
"Hunter's Moon", "City of Stone", and "Awakening". I thought they all had
excellant scripts, and great stories. The others were good too, though some
of the World Tour eps bothered me. 1. What are you currently working on
now? 2. Do you watch Seinfeld (the second best entertainor)? 3. What would
have happened with Demona and Angela's relationship? 4. My friend wants to
know if you watch and what you think of Babylon Five. Sorry. 5. Please
don't ever reveal the true identity of Duval here. I would rather find out
in an episode if you ever make more. 6. Are there any other groups of fay
besides Oberon's Children? 7. What led you to decide to bring the fay into
the series. 8. You said that Demona would have had two more great loves.
Can you tell us about them? Would they have both been gargoyles? Thanks for
taking the time to answer my questions, and some of the one's my friend
sitting next to me asked me to put in. See ya around.

Greg responds...

1. Nothing I'm ready to talk about yet. Nothing that will definitely happen.
2. Yeah, I watch Seinfeld.
3. A lot.
4. You don't have to apologize. No, I don't watch B5. I did see the pilot,
and it didn't grab me. Later, a number of people recommended it to me, but
by the time I tuned in, I couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on.
Frankly, it made me nervous that GARGOYLES would have the same effect on a
new viewer.
5. I think I've pretty much given his identity away already, but I won't
give any clues in this post, I promise.
6. No. But there are a lot of subsets within Oberon's Children.
7. I wanted to open things up, bring more magic and mystery into things.
Create the opportunities for more stories, and more myths and legends to
reinterpret.
8. You don't want to hear about Duval, but you don't mind me revealing the
identities of Demona's last two great loves? That's too selective for one
post. :) (GDW/12-8-97)

Response recorded on December 08, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

Hello once again, Greg! Thanx for answering all of our questions. I've
gotta couple more for you: 1) How did you decide on what Puck was going to
look? (the white hair, his clothes, etc.) 2) Or how any of the other
tricksters for that matter? (i.e., Coyote, Anansai, etc.) 3) Didja have
any more plans for Anubis? What were they? 4) You gave a response to a
question a long time ago that said to the effect that you would probably
not write the Encyclopedia because there would most likely not be a
publisher. In the latest response section you said that you would determine
the timeline for the series when you wrote the rest of the Encyclopedia.
Did you find a publisher?! Thanx again for your time.

Greg responds...

1. I had some imput, but the real credit should go to my partner Frank Paur
who oversaw design for the series. (And of course to whoever designed the
character for "The Mirror". I'd guess that was Greg Guler, but I'm honestly
not sure anymore.)
2. I knew I wanted Coyote to be reminiscent of both James Dean and a young
Peter Maza. Anansi was going to be a giant spider, so that was easy. Raven
had many forms, dictated by the script. Credit for how they actually looked
should go to Frank (and producer Dennis Woodyard and our designers).
3. Sure. But I'm not telling now.
4. I never said I wouldn't write it. In fact, I've almost finished writing
it, but I doubt I'll be able to find a publisher, which is what I said.
(GDW / 12-5-97)

Response recorded on December 05, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr. Weisman. I am a sophmore in the most boring high school in the
most boring city in the world. I recently got into film making, directing,
and screen play writing. Anyways, I've heard that you are co-producer do?
do you get to direct at all? choose how things are going?? Um thanks. OH
yeah, where did you find out about all the myths and legends??? Oh yeah, I
think that as far as character development went, through out the show...the
trio and Demona evolved perfectly, but in my opinion, Goliath didn't really
change too much. did you have any ideas on developing him? oh yeah, have
you seen Clerks? or any other Kevin Smith movies? If not...check them out,
you deserve some humor on your hands. -the film making guy.

Greg responds...

The best description of my job is Writer-Producer. I'm responsible for story
and script. But I also oversee voice and play a major role in watching
over the entire production. In other words, I produce. I don't direct.
Although you should keep in mind that directing in Animation is very
different from directing in live-action. The end result (and much of the
brainwork) is the same, but the process is very different. (I did voice
direct one episode, but that's not the same as directing.)
I did a lot of reading on myths and legends, cuz the topic fascinates me.
Much of this began in school. I was rarely bored in my English and History
classes in school. I was lucky. I had great teachers almost without
exception in those two subjects. But I also WANTED to learn, even on those
rare occasions when my teachers weren't that great. I don't mean to
lecture, but if you're bored in school, fix it by finding
something you'd like to learn about and pursuing it in a serious and
passionate fashion. Myths and legends are as good a place to start as any.
I think Goliath went through some changes, but they were subtler than the big
obvious changes that, say, Brooklyn or Xanatos went through. But I will
admit that Goliath acted as an anchor for the series. He was a strong,
basically optimistic and capable leader. He didn't require as much change
as some of the others did. Still, I had plenty of plans to continue to
evolve the character. The changes might still have been subtle, but taken
over the run of the series, I think you would have seen a substantial
evolution.
I haven't seen Clerks, and I'm not sure I know who Kevin Smith is... did he
direct Clerks? (I have two very young children. My wife and I don't get
out to movies very often. Am I boring or what?) (GDW / 12-5-97)

Response recorded on December 05, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

OW!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY HAND HURTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!DO YOU KNOW A GOOD
MASSAGE THERAPIST?????

Greg responds...

Nope. Sorry. (GDW / 12-5-97)

Response recorded on December 05, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

Thanks for answering some of my questions earlier! (And you're right about
me mistaking "you six" for "Ussex".) Here are a few more: 1) Okay, we know
Oberon has a son, a wife, and a mother. Obviously he had to have had a
father. So is Oberon's father around, and if so, who was he? 2) For that
matter, does Oberon have any siblings? 3) Is Oberon the most powerful fay,
or is there any fay more powerful than even him? (I'm talking about just
plain, brute magical strength here.) 4) You said that there were three
races in Nokkar's intergalactic war. The Space-spawn are one. What were
the other two (if Nokkar's race wasn't one of those other two)? 5) This
one has to do with Demona (again): I was thinking about her, and about
her genocidal plans, when I realized something. The Wyvern Massacre,
brutal and devastating as it was, wasn't enough to push Demona to the point
of exterminating humans. In fact, she actually _allied_ with a human
(Macbeth) about 45 years later. And I doubt her second clan meant as much
to her as her own. So this leads me to think that there was _some other_
event in her life, something that you haven't shown us yet, that really
made Demona not just hate humanity, but hate humanity _so much_ that she
wanted to destroy each and every last one of them. Am I right? 6) In the
proposed "Future Tense" cycle, about how old was Samson supposed to be,
anyway? I'm not asking for an _exact_ age, just an approximate idea of how
old he is. Is he a child? A teenager? An old man? Thanks for
answering these questions.

Greg responds...

1. I'm not saying right now. I didn't plan on revealing Mab right away
either. You're just getting ahead of me.
2. Yes.
3. Mab is more powerful. No one else.
4. Nokkar's race IS one of the other two. (And keep in mind, I said
three races were the main players in the conflict. I never said
there were the only players.)
5. No. There were other events, but they were more cummulative than
defining. Wyvern is still the defining moment. She wasn't genocidal
immediately after Wyvern, because I don't think genocide occured to her. She
was alone (largely) and hunted. I don't think she felt that powerful. Her
brief alliance with Macbeth only confirmed her feelings about humanity. But
it also gave her immortality. The ability to start making some long term
plans. As I said, other things happened. But nothing as devastating as
Wyvern.
6. Samson will be born in 2058. The inciting incident of that
proposed spin-off series was to take place in 2158. I'm sure you can do
the math. (GDW / 12-5-97)

Response recorded on December 05, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

This question is from the Gargoyle shows. In Future tense why do you kill
everybody in Goliath dream and when Angela died why didn`t Golaith react
well its just that I know that the gargoyle were frozen in stone but
why?

Greg responds...

Puck wanted to devastate Goliath enough that he would be willing to turn over
the Phoenix Gate. Death makes for great devastation (which is why we
included it in the story). Goliath didn't immediately react to Angela's
death, because (frankly) he didn't know he could at first. (GDW / 12-5-97)

Response recorded on December 05, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

Hi, Greg. I have another question for you. Thanks for your time :)
**Owen can become Puck only when Alex is in trouble or is being taught. In
all other times, is Owen physically unable to become Puck, or is it just a
law he must follow?

Greg responds...

It's a law he must follow which makes him physically unable to become Puck...
unless he can think of a loophole. (GDW / 12-5-97)

Response recorded on December 05, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

Hi! I really loved the show. One question. 1. Why did Puck choose to help
Xanatos fight against Oberon to keep Alexander?Thank you.

Greg responds...

When push came to shove, Puck/Owen cared about Xanatos, Fox and Alex.

Thanks for numbering your questions, although when you only have one, it
isn't that necessary. (GDW/12-5-97)

Response recorded on December 05, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

Here are some questions greg how did princess Elena(katherine's mom and
wife to prince malcom,,excuse spelling) get the pheonix gate....who owned
it before her.....who made the pheonix gate.... When exactly does the clan
know of demona's link with macbeth.......in "The Price".....everyone thinks
macbeth is dead,,,,and yet he tells Xanatos "Most of my clan is gone and I
am a stranger in a strange land--DEMONA AND MACBETH ARE IMMORTAL..HAS IT
BROUGHT THEM HAPPINESS?" how does hudson know this.......what does this old
guy know...does he know the futre of brooklyn....does he know that brooklyn
will go into timedancing stuff..... Please...what did Titania whisper
into fox's ear? Who is merlin's dad.....is Oberon related to
merlin........Waht is the name of Oberon's kid.

Greg responds...

Elena got the Gate from her father. The Gate exists, like the protagonist of
Robert Heinlein's "All You Zombies". Goliath, Elisa and the Avalon clan
learned of the link after the death of the Magus and before the good-bye
scene at the beach. The rest of the Manhattan Clan learned of the link when
Goliath and Angela returned to the Tower, sometime after saving Alex from
Oberon. As I've said before, Hudson knew Demona and Macbeth were immortal.
That's obvious. They're not dead. They're really old. He didn't know any
details about the how or why. He didn't know about the link, though their
behavior did suggest a connection of some sort. Why would Hudson know
Brooklyn's future? I'm skipping the Titania question on purpose. Oberon is
Merlin's dad.
In the future, please number your questions. (GDW/12-5-97)

Response recorded on December 05, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

hi all powerful and exulted creator!!! i would like to have your opionon on
elisa and goliath's relationship and how you feel they would have children,
seening as half of the fanfic authors are going in that direction,just
basically how long would she be pregnant, what sort of problems you could
see happening, i f it would even happen,etc?(one thing though she would not
lay and egg, right,cause humans don't) also would it be possible for bronx
and boudicca to have puppies, because your explanation as to how the dogs
come about would seems to say no. just one more thing, do the hatchilings
turn to stone during the day? i don't remember for sure, but it seemed that
during the flashback in avalon show that tom and katherine were playing
with the young hatchlings during the day. thanks so much for the best
cartoon on ever!!!!!!!!

Greg responds...

Eventually, way, way down the line, I see Elisa and Goliath addressing the
issue of children. All sorts of options are available, except natural
procreation between two widely and wildly divergent species. Elisa could
never be pregnant with Goliath's child without assistance from science or
magic. I've already stated that I don't see them going that way. But I do
see them raising a child together. But not without serendipity (and
some tragedy) playing a role. I don't want to say anymore right now.
As to Bronx and Boudicca, of course they could have offspring. One every
twenty years if they saw each other at the right times. I'm not sure what
"explanation" you're referring to that would lead you to believe otherwise.
And yes, hatchlings do turn to stone during the day. The lighting in the
scene you're referring to is misleading. It's night time.
In the future, please number your questions. (GDW/12-5-97)

Response recorded on December 05, 1997

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Here's another tidbit you've never seen. A cut scenelet from "Hunter's Moon,
Part Two". It takes place during Act Two. Goliath, Brooklyn and Lex have
spotted the Huntership. Goliath glides in and latches onto the craft,
digging his talons into the metal hatch. He rips it free and lets it fall...

EXT. STREET - NIGHT

VINNIE is out for a stroll. Suddenly, the steel hatch SMASHES to the
sidewalk in front of him, digging a big chunk out of the sidewalk. Vinnie
takes, looks up. Shakes his head.

VINNIE: (gasp, then) Can you believe it?

CUT TO:

And we're back inside the Huntership with Goliath, Lex and Brooklyn. That
little touch of Vinnie in the night was scripted and I think boarded, but it
was cut before the show was shipped because we were too long. It's a silly
moment, but it does help motivate Vinnie a little more for his role in "The
Journey," and anyway, I thought you all might get a kick out of it. (GDW / 12-5-97)


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Anonymous writes...

(1) Some how the Arch Mage rescues himself using the portal. I really don't
understand how this is possible. Though he later states "I'm glad he's gone!"
about himself. Was the Archmage mentor actually someone else who looked like
him or creative license? #2 So if the entire clan is from Scotland how come
only Hudson had an accent? #3 Awakenings, Scenes were added when televised
that also were not on the tapes (most all references to the eggs) Any reason
why? Other than Vows were there any other eps that were added too or deleted.
Thank you very much for this chance to find out a little more about a very
impressive show.

Greg responds...

1. I've already explained the working time paradox that allowed the Archmage to save himself. If you haven't seen the explanation, check the archives for this page. If you have.... well, all I can say is that it seems pretty straight-forward to me, though you're not the only one who didn't get it. In any case, his "mentor" was not a look-alike. He was the more powerful Archmage of the future. And from my point of view, no "creative license" was taken, unless you count time travel itself as creative license. The classic story of this kind of time travel working paradox is by Robert Heinlein.
It's called "All You Zombies". Maybe reading that would help clear up "Avalon", Part Two for you. It's worked for others.

2. Hudson had had the most contact with Scotish humans.

3. In the movie version of "Awakening", which we originally produced for the DisneyWorld Premeire, my boss decided that references to the eggs slowed down the film and raised questions that "the movie" would not even attempt to answer. Since we were cutting the length down for time anyway, I reluctantly agreed to remove egg references. I had no idea that Disney's Home Video Division would later decide to use this edited version for the video. As to "Vows", I've mentioned before that mistakes were corrected in that and many other episodes after they first aired. (6-23-97)

Response recorded on June 23, 1997

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Anonymous writes...

hey greg! Got a behind the scenes question. 1) During the voice session(or whatever it is called) when the actiors and actresses voice the characters.
How do they talk along with the lip movement of the gargoyle characters?
Meaning do you have the big screen in front of them playing so the actors speak exactly when the chatacters do? how do you ppl do that? 2) You said you had rejected names for Elisa and Demona(ie dakota, or Elisa Chavez etc.) did you have Rejected names from the other characters. Such as goliath, Angela, or the trio? If so what were the origional names that you guys decided not to be used for those charcters? Thanks. ~Demonalisa

Greg responds...

1. We do the voice work first. Animators animate to the voices, not the other way around.
On extremely rare occasions we did something called ADR (short for Automatic Dialogue Replacement). This is something done as a last minute fix in both animation and live action. In that case, we do have a screen. The actor (usually, one at a time) looks at the lip movements, practices getting the rhythm down that he or she needs to match, and then speaks the line (cued by an electronic tone which tells the actor exactly when to start speaking).
ADR is a tremendous pain in the rear, so we avoided it whenever possible.
2. I've answered this... in the same answer where I listed Elisa and Demona's old names. I'm not sure how you could have missed it. No other names for Angela. No other names for Goliath that we considered for more than a minute or two. The trio had names like Coco, Lassie and Amp in the original comedy development.
ANOTHER RAMBLE FROM GREG:
"Once upon a time there were three brothers..." PART TWO
[Disclaimer: I should have mentioned this somewhere before or after Part One. The historical framework for this story is all true. Most of the details, on the other hand, I'm making up.]
The year is 962. King Indulf is 58 years old. Prince Culen is 40. Neither are happy men. Culen is childless. He is heir to the throne, but it's beginning to look like Indulf's dynasty will end with his only son. Assuming it even lasts that long.
No one likes Indulf very much. The main problem is that everyone knows that he has kept (the former Queen) Katharine and her young son Malcolm prisoner in Edinburgh Castle. This alone is enough to make people believe that he is a tyrant. After that, any little infraction on Scottish liberty is viewed as more evidence that Indulf is unfit to rule. Honestly, Indulf wouldn't mind dumping both prisoners, but, aye, there's the rub. Katharine and Malcolm are the only insurance Indulf has against Malcolm's older brothers Duff and Kenneth.
And as Indulf's popularity has waned, Duff's has waxed. Even noblemen who had once helped Indulf to the throne approach the fifty year old Duff and his thirty year old brother Kenneth and pledge their support if only Duff will act. But Duff stubbornly refuses to risk Katharine or Malcolm's lives. What kind of King would he make if he can't even keep a vow made to his own father on the man's deathbed?
Malcolm isn't exactly a happy child. He's eight years old, and he's never been outside the walls of Edinburgh castle. He has only one friend. A peasant boy named Robbie who's twice his age. Robbie's a short, stout lad with a face like a bulldog, but he's loyal and helps Malcolm with some petty acts of ceremonial sabotage that would only earn Malcolm a reprimand if he was caught, but would certainly cost Robbie his life.
Malcolm's mother Katharine is a strong woman but she knows the situation is intolerable. She conceives a plan, and through Robbie, sends a letter to Duff. Duff and Kenneth consider her proposal. They argue about it. But, ultimately, they agree. They summon Robbie, who knows nothing of Katharine's plan. They give him no details, only a date. They send him back to Katharine. Then Duff and Kenneth gather their forces.
Word of Duff's rebellion reaches Indulf, but he's slow to react. After all, he has his hostages, safe at hand. But then on the pre-arranged date, Duff and Kenneth march on Edinburgh Castle. They demand Indulf's unconditional surrender. Indulf orders his guards to bring Katharine and Malcolm to him. Soon, Katharine is dragged before the king. But Malcolm cannot be found. Indulf orders Culen to personally search every inch of the castle. Duff and Kenneth and their armies settle down to wait.
Culen searches for hours. Katharine seems anxious. Still, Malcolm cannot be found. Indulf draws his sword and threatens to cut Katharine in two if she doesn't reveal Malcolm's whereabouts. She hesitates, but finally agrees.
She leads them to the tallest tower in the castle. Malcolm isn't there.
Indulf threatens to throw her off the ledge, but she points to the ground below. There in the moonlight, Malcolm can be seen riding away from the castle, his purple cape flapping in the breeze, toward the safety of Duff's camp.
Indulf is furious! But he still has Katharine. Duff still won't attack.
But Katharine doesn't agree. Her tone becomes threatening. She commands Indulf to open the castle gates and let Duff's troops enter. He laughs at her. Why would he do that? "Because," she tells him as she climbs out of his reach onto a battlement, "If you don't open the gates, I will jump off this tower." Indulf starts to laugh again, but the impulse catches in his throat. It all becomes clear. If Katharine throws herself to her death, than his last hostage is gone. Worse, his last hostage is martyred. Duff and Kenneth will lay siege to Edinburgh and in time, they would ultimately triumph and then... And then things might go very badly for a tyrant.
He makes a quick decision. He and his son will be granted safe passage to Ireland immediately following his "voluntary" abdication of the throne to Duff. Culen protests, but Katharine agrees to his terms. She remains on the tower's battlement until the gates are open and Duff and Kenneth are at her side. "Hurry," she says, and rushes with her step-sons to the Castle's small cemetary.
Robbie is already there, still wearing Malcolm's purple cape. He is digging up a fresh grave. Some of Duff's men are helping him, but Duff and Kenneth push them aside and personally begin to dig. Katharine falls to her knees, pulling dirt aside with her hands until a waiting woman is brought to comfort her. The coffin is unearthed. Robbie has a crow, and snaps off the lid with the kind of bull-like strength he would one day be famous for. Malcolm lies still in the grave. Suddenly he gasps for air. He is alive. He had been buried alive with a slim wooden tube to provide air. But he had spent hours below ground. And the tube had been only barely sufficient. Much longer and he would have succumbed. But now the brave boy rocks back and forth in his mother's arms. He smiles at his good friend Robbie. And then he is introduced to his two older brothers for the very first time. He has worshipped them from afar his whole life. But it is they who are impressed.
Duff, soon to be King Duff, lifts Malcolm to his feet. "Prince Malcolm," he says, "I am honored to be your brother."
TO BE CONTINUED


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Anonymous writes...

Hi! Me again! Anyway, I have 2 questions: 1.what would youhave done with the gargoyles had the series contiued without the Goliath Chronicles ever happening (You can tell by now that I REALLY dislike Goliath Chronicles) 2.What happened in the gargoyles comics that did not happen in the series?

Greg responds...

1. This is too big a question to answer here.
2. 11 issues worth of stuff. I consulted on the comics, but I'm hardly an authority on them, so you'll have to look to another source for that information.


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Anonymous writes...

This question has been bugging me for some time. I hope you can answer it.
;) Between the time of 1054 (I think that was the date) and 1994, did Demona have any contact with any other gargoyles, or was she truly 'alone' the whole time?

Greg responds...

Demona is always alone, even in a crowded room. But basically, the answer to your question is a story (actually many stories) for another day.


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Anonymous writes...

Did Thailog ever really love Demona? Or did he plan on betraying her right from the beginning?

Greg responds...

From the beginning, yes, though that doesn't mean he wasn't physically attracted to her.


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Anonymous writes...

Are the children of Oberon immortal? What are the details if so? Can they legitimately be called faeries?

Greg responds...

"Faeries" is one name. The Fair Folk is another. So is Dark Elves.
Changelings. Fae. The Children of Oberon. The Third Race. The Aesir Gods. (The Vikings took certain very powerful Children of Oberon to be gods. For that matter, so did the Egyptians. So did at least two Native American tribes and the Hauka tribe of Nigeria. (At least, that's how we played it in the GARGOYLES Universe.)) The generic name doesn't matter so much. Because it changes depending on who you're talking too.
As to their immortality, it depends on how you define it. Certainly they are extremely long-lived. Certainly they are difficult -- but not impossible -- to kill. Certainly, they are almost all shape-shifters, so no matter how old they are, they can always look as young as they desire. So, again, it depends on point of view.


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Anonymous writes...

(1) Hi? (2) I really would like to stop talking about Goliath Cronicles, but I have one more question. How many members of the original development team were involved in TGC? If the whole development team was involved, how come it was so much different (and worse)? (3) Oh! Thought of another one! When did you have it figured out that Broadway and Angela were going to be a couple and not Brooklyn and Angela as many fans had thought? The first big clue was in that episode where Puck transferred the souls of Coldstone's three gargoyles into Broadway, Angela, and Brooklyn. Broadway and Angela became the two lovers, and Brooklyn was the evil gargoyle, trying to steal Angela away. If you had wanted Angela and Brooklyn together, you would have reversed Broadway and Brooklyn's parts. I think that Broadway and Angela make a better couple! (: That's one of my favorite episodes BTW!
(unfortuantly, it's the only one I've seen only once!!! ): )

Greg responds...

[Questions numbered to make life easier. As usual, no other editing.]

1. Hi? Uh, hi back to you.
2. The development team? None. Well, me. Keep in mind, the team that developed the show was largely not the same team who produced the first two seasons. The unsung (read largely uncredited) people who worked on the development of the series included the following:
Greg Weisman - Director of Series Development (Greg went on to be Supervising Producer of GARGOYLES.)
Bob Kline and Dave Schwartz - Development Art Directors (Bob later became a Producer/Director of GARGOYLES in its second season.)
Paul Felix and Greg Guler - Development Artists (Greg became lead character designer for GARGOYLES in its second season.)
Fred Schaeffer, Paul Lacy, Kat Fair, Cindy Chupack, Ellen Gurney - Development Associates.
(I hope I'm not leaving anyone out; we had a lot of development
associates at Disney, and I'm not 100% sure if any of the others worked
on GARGOYLES specifically.)
Also Gary Krisel and Bruce Cranston - my bosses, who were very involved in
developing the show.
And Tad Stones - who provided some important conceptual advice.
After the show was developed and sold, we began assembling a production team for the first season, most of which was pre-produced and produced in Japan.
I was still a development executive at the time. I asked to be switched over to Producer, but my bosses wanted me to prove that I could do the job while I simultaneously held down my Executive slot. So that's what I did.
We went through a couple of writers who didn't work out, and then Michael Reaves was brought aboard as writer and story editor.
In Japan, Kazuo Terada, Saburo Hashimoto and Takamitsu Kawamura were brought on as directors. Kazuyoshi Takeuchi was our lead character designer. And that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Japanese talent that worked on the show. (But I don't want this answer to turn into me just rewriting 66 episodes worth of credits down here.)
Back in L.A., Frank Paur was hired as our producer. Jamie Thomason was brought on as voice director. Laura Perrotta was our production coordinator. Dave Witting was our production assistant. Denise Byrne was our script coordinator. And Carl Johnson was our composer. Again, a lot of other people were involved, but that was the basic team for the first thirteen episodes.
Some of you may have noticed that I don't have a credit on the episodic television version of "Awakening". That's because, I was still officially an executive, and Disney executive's don't receive credit. The decision to allow me to officially move over from Executive to Producer came after the pre-production of the first season was completed. In fact, it came during post-production. As a matter of fairness, it was decided that any work that I had done as an executive would still not be credited. Frank Paur posted the five part "Awakening" by himself, while I posted the "Movie Version" for our Disneyworld Premiere. So I was credited as co-producer on the "movie" (which later became the home video) and on the other 8 episodes of the first season. Co-producer because I hadn't participated in pre-production except as an executive. I received no credit on any of the five parts of the television mini-series "Awakening" because my pre-production contributions were as an executive and
my post-production contributions were minimal, because I was busy on the "movie".
The second season was a whole other story. We did 52 episodes and the crew expanded geometrically. Most (though not all) of our pre-production was brought back to the U.S. We added Bob Kline and Dennis Woodyard as Producer/Directors. Lisa Salamone was brought on as Associate Producer.
(Laura Perrotta left Disney around this time.) Tom Pniewski was added as another Production Assistant. Greg Guler became our lead character designer. Butch Lukic, Patrick Archibald, Doug Murphy and others were brought aboard to storyboard and design, etc.
I officially shared producer credit (later supervising producer credit) with Frank. Michael remained a story editor and Brynne Chandler Reaves, Cary Bates and Gary Sperling were added as additional story editors. Lydia Marano became a regular writer on the series. My assistant Monique Beatty made the move with me and joined the Gargoyles team as a script coordinator.
Since I was no longer an executive, new executives were assigned to oversee the show. Jay Fukuto was director of current programming. Initially, he had Ellen Gurney watching the show. Later, my former development associate Kim Christianson took over. Adrienne Bello was the S&P executive from day one.
Again, refer to episode credits for a fuller listing of people.
GOLIATH CHRONICLES was a whole different animal. I wrote and story edited one episode only. Jamie Thomason remained the voice director. Denise stayed on as script coordinator. Tom Pniewski was promoted to Production Coordinator or Manager (sorry, Tom, I get those credits mixed up). Cary Bates wrote a couple episodes. Lydia wrote one. Another of our writers, Adam Gilad wrote one. Jay and Kim were still overseeing the scripts, but otherwise Pre-Production and Post- Production were moved to Nelvana in Canada. A new Supervising Producer, Scott Thomson was brought in. A new story editor, Eric Lewald, was brought in. Officially, I was a consultant, but I had my consultant credit removed, because I felt I hadn't been consulted enough
to earn that credit. I believe Frank Paur may have consulted a bit as well, but I'm not sure. For the most part, it was a complete turnover in creative personnel. I've always thought that hurt the show.
But there were also other problems that I've gone into before, (and this "answer" has gone on long enough). I should say, however, that Goliath Chronicles is probably still an above average cartoon show. Any problems with it are probably relative.
3. When Gary Sperling and I were working on the episode "Turf" we realized that we needed to know who, if anyone, Angela would wind up with. We talked about it. In some ways, Brooklyn did seem like the obvious choice, but it soon became clear that he was the wrong choice. It had to be Broadway.
Nothing else made sense. There are some subtle clues in "Turf". For example, Broadway never refers to Angela as Angie in that episode, despite the fact that he had been the first one to call her that in "The Gathering, Part Two". By "Turf" he had already realized she didn't care for the nickname. Lex and Brooklyn didn't figure it out until she told them (at high volume).


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Anonymous writes...

Hi! I have a few Q's about your wonderful show 1. I absolutely love Puck (er...Owen), the way you fit him in was really clever. Did you ever intend further develop him as a character? Give him a past? A love life? 2. Okay, this has been driving me nuts, Were Margo and Brenden actually planned to be characters, or were they some sort of inside joke made up by the animators? Thanks for your time! Long live Gargs!

Greg responds...

1. Yes.
2. Brendan & Margot were in "Awakening". They had lines. They were in the script. The animation is done last. In other episodes we began using them as background characters. That became amusing to us. So we kept using them as recurring. We made a particular effort to parallel their appearance in "Hunter's Moon" to their original appearance in "Awakening". Later, I decided to make more use of Brendan & Margot in the third season -- develop them beyond their cliches, which is why Margot had such a prominent role in "The Journey". But then I didn't do the rest of the third season, so I had no control over how Margot was used or how Brendan wasn't. But the animators only put in the characters we told them to use. As far as I know.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND (aka GREG'S ABOUT TO RAMBLE):
"Once upon a time their were three brothers..." PART ONE
The year is 954. The King of Scotland, Maol Chalvim I, is 66 years old. He is very ill.
He has two sons. They are half-brothers. (Maol is the father of both, but they had two different mothers, both of whom died in childbirth.) The eldest son, Duff, is 42 years old. The youngest, Kenneth, is 22 years old. Despite the twenty year age difference, they are the best of friends.
Maol Chalvim also has a new, young wife. Very young. And very pregnant.
She is 18 years old, and her name is Katharine.
On his deathbed, Maol begs his sons to support each other and to protect his third wife and their child. The brothers vow to do just that. Duff assumes he will be the new king. Kenneth assumes he will be Duff's strong right arm.
Indulf has other ideas. Indulf is a 50 year old nobleman and is, himself, a descendant of kings. He has a 32 year old son named Culen, and hopes to launch a dynasty of his own. While Duff and Kenneth wait by their ailing father's bedside, Indulf makes alliances. While Duff and Kenneth close their father's eyes for the last time, Indulf gathers his troops. While Duff and Kenneth take their father to be buried on the holy Island of Iona, Indulf has himself crowned King on the Lia Fail at Scone.
Needless to say, Duff and Kenneth aren't too pleased. They prepare for battle, but Indulf pulls his trump card. He has Katharine. And he will kill her if they raise a sword against him. Bound by their vow and their sense of honor, Duff and Kenneth retire to a family stronghold and wait.
At Edinburgh, Katharine gives birth to a boy. She names him Malcolm, (which is a more modern variant on the name Maol Chalvim). Indulf is now willing to return Katharine to her step-sons. But the babe will stay in his custody as insurance. For obvious reasons, Katharine chooses not to leave.
TO BE CONTINUED...


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Anonymous writes...

(1) I was wondering--what happened to the Guatamalan gargoyles? I don't want to guess, 'cause that'd be breaking the rules. What did Broadway end up doing with that amulet? (2)Also, I wanted to say that I'm really glad that you and Reaves'll be involved in the movie. (3) Also, were you planning on introducing lots of new characters? (4) When did you decide that Owen and Puck should be the same person? (5) What's your favorite episode of Gargoyles? (6) What were the plans for what was going to happen between Matt and theIlluminati? (7) Are there any gargoyles that are members of the Illuminati? (8) If all the stone statues are supposed to look alike (like I've heard as an explanation for the Brandon-Margot thing before, among other things) whydoes Elisa look like Elisa, and Owen look like Owen? (9) When Xanatos talked about it not being a good idea "mixing magics," was he referring to Puck in some way? (10) What kinds of magic are there in the Gargoyles universe? (11) How
long are Fox and Alex going to live (that is, if Mr. X DOESN'T reach his goal of being immortal), since they're part Third Race? (12) What does "Third Race" mean, anyway? I've heard it referred to numerous times. (13) Why won't Disney sell the rights to Gargoyles? (14) I've heard rumors that Mr. Xanatos'name was decided on by picking a name out of a phone book--is that true? (15) Last, but not least, was it even remotely planned that so many Star Trekactors would voice-act on Gargoyles? As a fan of both ST and Gargoyles, Ithink it's really great. ::whew:: That's a lot of questions.
Sorry ifsome've been asked before; don't worry 'bout answering if they had.
Thanks, and this place is great!

Greg responds...

As usual, I've added numbers to your questions to make them easier to answer. No other editing was done.
1. Thanks for not breaking the rules. Jade & Turquesa eventually returned to Guatemala after dropping the plants off in Avalon and making a couple of other quest-type stops. I had plans for Zafiro to come in search of the Sun Amulet, which is still in Broadway's possession.
2. I'm glad your glad, but let's take everything one step at a time.
Nothing much has been done on the movie yet. We'll see how truly involved we are when the thing gets rolling.
3. Where? In the movie? If we had done more episodes? I guess the answers probably yes, either way.
4. I didn't exactly decide. I realized Owen was Puck about 12 hours after I decided to put Puck into the series. At almost the exact same time, Lydia Marano and Brynne Reaves realized the same thing independently. That confirmed we were on the right track.
5. I've answered this fully elsewhere. My favorite single episode is "The Mirror", but I like all 66 that I worked on, particularly the multi-parters.
6. I'm not going into this now.
7. Maybe.
8. That was a joke.
9. Yes.
10. Mortal Sorcery. Fae magic. Talisman magic. Location magic. Ghostly illusions and telikinetics. Just to name a few.
11. Until they die.
12. Gargoyle hatchlings are taught in the rookery that there are three races. Gargoyles. Humans. And Oberon's Children. The fae are the third race from the Gargoyle point of view. (To themselves, I'm sure the fair folk feel that they're number one.)
13. Why would they? Why give up something with long-term income potential?
And by the way, who exactly is lining up to buy the rights? No one with nearly enough money, I'll tell you that.
14. Sort of. Xanatos' orignal name was Xavier, which we dropped because of Professor X from the X-Men. But I still wanted a name that had that same kind of sound to it. It's a subjective thing, but I liked it. I thought of Thanatos, which is the name of the Greek God of death, which seemed cool. X and TH sounds are often exchanged. So I tried Xanatos.
Everyone liked the sound of it. Later, I checked the phone book, and the name was there, (different first name though). It all seemed to fit. The name David was chosen because Goliath's name was Goliath. The hero/villain role reversal of David & Goliath was too perfect to resist. I have on occasion abbreviated the above story by simply saying I found it in the phone book. But usually I only do that when someone says the name sounds phony or cartoony.
15. It wasn't planned. I think I've answered this, but who remembers?
Marina nailed her audition right out of the gate. Jonathan had a more competitive field, but after a few false starts he got the job. After that, it was natural when we were casting new characters to think about the gang from the various Trek shows. Michael, Brent, Nichelle, Colm, Kate, Le Var, etc. They did great work for us.


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Anonymous writes...

Why did you decide to change Dekota to Demona?( Name and personality?) I hope I spelled Dekota right. If I didn't, sorry.

Greg responds...

You didn't. But that's o.k. Dakota was a bland comedy heroine who was transformed into a much more interesting comedic traitor and villainess named Demona. The reason for the name change is probably obvious: Demona sounds more villainesque than Dakota, which is kinda generic, and certainly has no particular gargoylean feel to it. 6-10-97)


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Anonymous writes...

Demona is definetly my favorite character on Gargoyles. She's intellegent, beautiful, has a great voice[excellant job Marina], and I can understand why she's insane. Imagine coming home one day and finding pieces of your loved ones all over the place. I guess we'd all snap. How did you come up with her character? The tragic villain, not the comedy character. Did you ever plan a spinoff show about her and what she did through the centuries?
I'd watch it.Well thanks for taking the time to read my question. Ciao.

Greg responds...

No spin-offs were planned for Demona, though I had hopes to tell more flashback stories about her life. She would have remained a recurring character in GARGOYLES and she would have been a regular in both DARK AGES and FUTURE TENSE. And she would have appeared at least once in TIMEDANCER.
All of that is moot for now, but maybe someday...
I basically enjoy villains a lot. I think the villains in our show were very unique, particlarly Demona and Xanatos. Much of Demona's character came so easily and fit together so well, I hesitate to take credit for it. Demona was out there in the mist ready to be revealed to the world. At any rate, I certainly must share credit with everyone else who worked with the character, in particular Michael Reaves, who wrote "Awakening". Still, from the beginning of our second phase (read non-comedy) development, we already knew Demona was a traitor who had meant well initially but could not face up to her own guilt. Though I hadn't worked out all the details of "City of Stone" from that early point of pre-Awakening development, I also knew that she had not slept through the centuries as Goliath and the others had. She would have had to live through 1000 years of persecution and prejudice. I knew that she was Goliath's lost love. How he viewed her defined both who she was
and who she wasn't. I knew she was a tragic figure. I didn't want the audience to forgive her actions, but I did want them to understand.


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Anonymous writes...

There has been one question bothering me for a long time. Are gargoyle talons like curved fangs that have been put at the end of their fingers(not the small ones I am talking Sabre Tooth Tiger fangs) or are they smaller like eagle talons/ thick curved fingernails? I saw one picture on the net and right after the second joint in their fingers they had this white curved-fang like talon that looked to about the same size as the barrel of a gun. On the show you can't really see how big the talons are, you can only guess. Please clear this up for me.

Greg responds...

It depends. Outside of the series, different artists have interpreted their talons/claws differently. I'd have to say, all of those interpretations aren't cannon. On the series, Frank Paur had the designers make the claw an integral part of each finger or toe. It made for cleaner animation, but you'd have to ask Frank for a definitive anatomical description.
A FEW ADDITIONAL WORDS FROM GREG
Today is Monday, June 9th. On Friday, June 6th, I logged onto Gore's chatroom. It was fun, but I must admit that I felt rushed. Part of the problem was that just as I was scheduled to log on, I got an important phone call that I had to take. That meant I was late getting to the room, and I never had time to get settled. Another problem was technological.
Everything was moving very slow for me at this end. Maybe, it's my computer. Maybe it was heavy traffic to the site. I'm not sure. But today JEB sent me a transcript of the questions and answers, and I realize that I missed a ton of questions which had scrolled off the bottom of the room by the time the page reloaded to my screen. Sorry about that. If I missed your question, ask it again here. But the result of all that rushing and missed postings was that I didn't really get to "chat" with you. I just answered questions at a faster speed than I do here at ASK GREG.
I'll try the chat thing again sometime, I promise. But all this led me to realize something else. Answering questions is only part of what I want to do here. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the question/answer thing. All the details, all the plans for the future. But I'd also like to discuss the show with you guys. Discuss the episodes we already made. The characters, the themes, etc. Occasionally, I lurk in the comment room, but I almost always have to vacate fast, because someone invariably posts an original notion, like a "What If" or something. That's appropriate to the comment room and I WOULD NOT want to see that change, but unfortunately, it keeps me out.
So let's turn ASK GREG into a bit of a comment room also. Feel free to post your reactions to a given episode. Sometimes I'll respond. Sometimes, I may not. But I'd like to hear what you have to say. And you never know, it might inspire me to relate some behind-the-scene story and/or some tidbit of the Master Plan and/or what was going through my head at a given time and/ or what I think of the episode in hindsight. I'm not suggesting we quit with the questions, but I think adding this aspect to the page would be more fun for me, and I hope, ultimately, more interesting for you.
A few brief groundrules:
1. Don't forget the old groundrules. They still apply.
2. Let's limit discussions to the first two seasons of Gargoyles and also "The Journey" from the Goliath Chronicles. I'm not saying that the other 12 Goliath Chronicle episodes aren't cannon, but since I had almost nothing to do with them, I'm not going to be able to respond effectively to them.
Anyway 66 episodes worth of material should keep us busy enough.
3. This is not supposed to take the place of the existing Comment Room, obviously. For starters, this page doesn't "move" fast enough for ongoing (or even cogent) discussions. But a comment here or there, and my response to it, might spice up this page a bit.
Anyway, let's give it a shot.


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Anonymous writes...

Which buildings that were used more than once in the series really exist?

Greg responds...

I don't know. I'd have to go through every episode to answer that question.
Any specific buildings you're curious about?



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