A Station Eight Fan Web Site
Ask Greg Archives
Unsorted
Archive Index
: « First : « 50 : Displaying #390 - #439 of 702 records. : 50 » : Last » :
Posts Per Page: 1 : 10 : 25 : 50 : 100 : All :
Anonymous writes...
Mr. Weisman, I have several questions for you: 1) Were any other of the characters in the series (i.e. Halcyon Renard, Preston Vogel, etc.) members of the Illuminati Society? 2) Exactly how long were Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx on their World Tour? 3) In what year (Earth time) did Oberon banish his children from Avalon? Titania said they were gone for 1001 years at the time of "Ill Met By Moonlight," but this meant they probably left in 995 AD, just a little while before Princess Katherine, Tom, the Magus, and the eggs arrived. Am I right? 4) How would the Bad Guys (from your planned spin-off) have been brought together? 5) Did King Arthur Pendragon do anything between "Avalon, Part 3" and "Pendragon," or did Avalon's magic warp him several months ahead in time from when he left Avalon? 6) Is Owen immortal? He's trapped in a mortal body, but he's Puck, the child of Oberon at the core. So is he mortal or immortal? 7) On that subject, are Fox orAlexander immortal, will their half-Child of Oberon heritage just make them very long-lived, or will they have a normal human lifespan? 8) Did Griff happen to stop by London to tell Leo and Una where he was during Pendragon? I would think they'd be sick with worry otherwise since by their perception, Griff would've just come back only to leave again. 9)When did MacBeth learn his skills in sorcery (as shown in "Pendragon")? 10) What were the circumstances of Puck and Demona's first meeting? 11) Since Demona knew that Owen was Puck, why didn't she go after him for revenge for turning her into a werehuman? 12) What's Vinnie's last name? 13) Were there any plans to have Nokkar's alien enemies appear? 14) On the subject of Nokkar, is he an immortal or very long-lived? 15) Did you have any role in the storyline of the Marvel comic book? 16) Were there any further plans for Cu Chullain or the werepanthers? 17) I know someone else asked this, but I'm curious too; what were the plans for the original "comedy" Gargoyles show? OK, I think I'd better stop. Thanks a lot for answering us curious fans' questions!
Greg responds...
1) Not Renard or Vogel.
2) Less than a year.
3) You're right. (See, you don't need me.)
4) Largely against their will.
5) It wasn't months. But he might have had one or two stops.
6) Is Puck immortal? Define your terms. Owen is certainly mortal. But everytime he transforms into Puck and then transforms back, Owen is recreated anew. Puck obviously remembers to include Owen's stone hand for perverse reasons of his own, but I wonder if he remembers to include all the aging that Owen had done since his last transformation back and forth?
Perhaps that slips Puck's mind, and perhaps he always recreates Owen at the same age Owen was when Puck originally fashioned the identity. Only time will tell.
7) Alex, at least, will be quite long-lived -- but whether that will be due to science or sorcery I'm not saying.
8) Griff phoned them long distance.
9) Over the centuries, he studied.
10) Again, I'm not inclined to tell entire stories in this format. Sorry.
11) A "werehuman"? Doesn't that translate "man-human"? Well, never mind.
I know what you mean. Demona learned in "The Mirror" that Puck is more trouble than he's worth. And she shortly learned that there were certain advantages to Puck's gift/curse.
12) In my mind, it was Gregarino. (That's a joke. Sort of.) 13) Yes.
14) Long-lived.
15) I was consulted. I had plans to take over the writing of the book in its second year, and I did write one issue (a missing World Tour story set in the Himalayas and featuring Coldstone), but the book was cancelled before even that one story could get published. My luck.
16) Yes. Especially for Rory and Molly.
17) O.K., I know I've answered this. Please check the archives for this page.
Anonymous writes...
First off, I'd like to thank you for doing this. So thank you. Second off, I have a few questions. 1) What is the correct spelling for Xanatoses building? 2) How did Xanatos mange to get a river flowing through his building hundreds of feet off the ground? 3) How tall is that building, anyway? (besides being tallest in the world) 4) Were there such big plans for the Eye of Odin when it was introduced in "The Edge"? 5) Who wrote the stats from the Gargoyles cards or the Meet the Characters book? I doubt that Broadway really weighs a ton and I know that Elisa is not half Sioux.
6) Who wrote those rediculous names for the videos? Deeds of Deception?
Brothers Betrayed? The Heroes Awaken? Ugh. 7) On a similar note, why was the Awakening video edited? I don't just mean removing sections to compress the story (although I doubt that was neccessary). It seemed like all the background music was replaced and some of the sound effects. 8) How big is the Phoenix Gate? In "High Noon" it was big enough and thick enough to be the size of Macbeth's head. In "Future Tense", Goliath can hold it in one hand and it's flat. 9) Did you plan for the -stone robots to ever rejoin the clan? Actually, did you ever plan to have anyone new join the clan?
10) Did the Maza family know about the Gargoyles at the time of "Kingdom"?
Lexington says that he went to their house and they were as worried as the clan was. 11) What ever happened to that sun amulet thing from "The Green"? It seems like it would have been destoyed with the clock tower.
12) Did the clock tower run? In "Her Brother's Keeper", the clock clearly does turn, but in "Enter Macbeth" Lexington says something like "Maybe I can get thing thing running again." I think I know what your answer will be, but I'd like to know for sure. 13) Why doesn't Claw talk? 14) Would(will) we ever have learned Claw and Fang's names? 15) Where was the rebel hideout in "Future Tense"? It looked like the Labyrinth, but I think Xanatos would have looked there first. 16) Did Oberon repair all the damage he did after "The Gathering"? He mentioned something to that effect, but is he actually that powerful? Not to mention all the people that would die if everyone just fell over asleep like that. I had better stop now.
Maybe ask more questions after you answer this batch. Once again, thanks.
Greg responds...
1) The Eyrie Building.
2) It's not a real river, of course. It's a glorified fountain.
3) Pretty darn tall.
4) Pretty much. The "Eye" was the idea of Patrick Gilmore and his gang at Disney Interactive. They were working on the Gargoyles Computer Game and had created the Eye for that. I liked the idea, and we ran with it. Serendipity played a big part in how we wrote our scripts, but I do believe that we had a unique group of writers, editors and producers poised to make the most of any good idea.
5) I don't know who wrote them. Although, I should say that some of that kind of stuff was given to me or Frank Paur to approve. Some of it.
Sometimes to Frank. Sometimes to me. Sometimes to both of us. Sometimes to neither. We didn't get a lot of consistency.
6) I don't know. I prefer our titles, but theirs don't bug me that much.
7) I thought I answered this, but I can't remember, so here we go again.
We had a World Premiere Screening of Gargoyles at Walt Disney World at the multiplex on Pleasure Island. This was for press and for local kids who were brought in from local schools to fill two movie theaters. We felt that our original five-parter worked great as a mini-series but that it lacked energy when played over two and a half hours on the big screen. So, while Frank Paur worked with one editor to edit the five separate episodes, I worked with a different editor to edit all five episodes down into one eighty- five minute movie. This was done simultaneously, because we had to prepare for the television premiere and the World Premiere simultaneously; they were only a week or so apart.
After the editing was done, the two versions were mixed separately as well.
Frank and our sound supervisor Mark Von der Heide supervised the sound mix for the five episodes at Advantage Audio, where all the rest of the original 65 episodes were eventually mixed. The folks at Advantage are wonderful and did their usual great job. I supervised the mix of the "movie" version at the Walt Disney Studios with Disney's feature film sound people. They also did a great job (in my opinion). But keep in mind, that they were mixing for the big screen. This edited "movie" was never intended for video release.
Never intended for television speakers. I don't know whether that makes a difference or not.
At any rate, there are certain editing and sound choices that I like better in the "movie" version, while there are other choices from the episodes that I much prefer. There wasn't time or money to collate all the best choices into one version.
Later, when HOME VIDEO decided to release their version of the pilot, they were very pleased to hear that we possessed a version that was already edited together without commercial breaks, teasers, etc. I tried to tell them that they were offering LESS for the money by putting out a version that had LESS material than the version that had aired. But they felt that they were adding value with the other stuff they had on and with the tape. A board game, a promotional piece, etc. They didn't feel like spending the extra money to format the episodes into one two and a half hour piece.
8) It's flatish. It's size alters depending on the animators' mood, I guess, but basically it should be about the size of Goliath's hand.
9) The clan would have grown over time. Brooklyn would have returned from his TIMEDANCER adventures with four new members, for example.
Coldstone and Coldfire would have returned eventually too. Whether they would have stayed forever is another story.
10) Lex listened outside their window.
11) It wasn't destroyed.
12) It was an old clock. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes not. Lex fixed it occasionally, but never for very long. I had a story in mind about that, but I never got around to it before we blew the thing up.
13) Emotional trauma.
14) Fang's for sure, if I had done BAD GUYS. Claw's probably.
15) It was in the Labyrinth. And it doesn't really matter whether Xanatos would have looked there, as long as Puck believed that Goliath would buy the Labyrinth as a rebel base. Goliath did buy it. But if he had questioned it, Puck would have made up some excuse and had one of his "characters" use that excuse to convince Goliath. Just like he did when Goliath brought up Demona and Thailog's pairing. Puck/Owen hadn't known about that, so he had "Brooklyn" give the Clone Wars excuse to explain his oversight.
16) I doubt he could be bothered to repair all the damage.
Whew.
Anonymous writes...
Dear Mr Weisman , I'm a Research Biologist and I have a few questions on Gargoyle Reproduction and Physiology that have intrigued me and I would love to have them answered . I'm a cell biologist by trade and it's been a while since I did any sort of Physiology at collage so the questions are pretty basic and should pose no problems . 1. Gargoyles and Humans are of course two separate species but do thay share a similar Chromosomal matrix ( e.g. do both species have the same number of chromosome ) 2. Can Gargoyles and Humans procreate naturally . 3. If the answer to 2 is no can the process be assisted by genetic manipulation . 4. Not wanting to get risky , are humans and gargoyles sexually compatible . 5. What is the average time of gestation for a gargoyle egg from conception to the laying of the egg . 6. What is the average time for a gargoyle egg to hatch . 7.
Can a female gargoyle lay more than one egg per breeding cycle . 8. How long is the time between gargoyle breeding cycles are gargoyle females only fertile for that period ( e.g. 1 clutch of eggs every 20 years ) . 9. Is the gargoyle breeding cycle a matter of chose for the entire clan so their young are born abreast or is it a biological factor that occurs every certain number of years that induces a clan to reproduce at the same time .
10. Dose a gargoyle egg have a soft shell like a snakes egg when it is layed or dose in have a hard shell . Thank you very much for both producing a series that I love dearly and for answering these questions
Greg responds...
1. I don't know.
2. No.
3. Perhaps. I know Sevarius would like to try.
4. That depends what you mean. Could they give each other physical pleasure? Certainly; there are a lot of ways to make love. Do Gargoyles have the same "parts" as humans? Basically, yes. Are they exactly the same? No.
5. Six months to a year.
6. Ten years. And that's not an average. It's ten years flat out, unless there was some kind of magical interference (e.g. the eggs that were taken to Avalon where time passes more slowly).
7. No.
8. A gargoyle female (with sperm from a male) can only lay one egg, once every twenty years. It's one of the reasons that Gargoyles are not a prolific race.
9. It's a biological factor, though there are cultural traditions that have become connected to the timing of mating, laying and hatching over the years. (By the way, Gargoyles have sex more than once every twenty years, but they do not reproduce anymore frequently.)
10. Gargoyle eggs have soft shells when they are laid during a night ritual, but they turn hard at sunrise and stay hard for ten years -- night and day.
11. Hatchlings nurse.
12. Expect hatchlings in 1998 in Ishimura, Guatemala, outside London, etc.
13. Angela won't be fertile again until 2007. And, no, she didn't lay any eggs on Avalon.
Anonymous writes...
Just two questions, as everyone else seems to be asking the questions I want to be answered :-). Anyway, one thing that has bothered me from episode to episode is languages. In 10th century Scotland the clan would have been speaking 10th century Scots Gaelic, yet when they awaken in New York in 1994 they understand and speak perfect Modern English (North American dialect, noless!). Then, when they travel around the word via Avalon, they encounter Japanese gargoyles, Guatemalan gargoyles, and so on.
They communicate with them flawlessly. Now, while I can understand off-screen reasons for this (having to have them learn a new language or something every episode would get unwieldy and ridiculous), my disbelief's bridge of suspension starts to quiver and tremble when a North American who apparently speaks English and probably Hopi communicates effortlessly with the inhabitants of a small Japanese fishing village, maybe one of whom would speak English well, and with an accent you could cut with a spoon.
Second question: You said in a previous post that Demona knew that Puck == Owen. Ummm...How? Is this something that might have been revealed in, say, TimeDancer? Anyway, thanks for your time. Sean simpson_s@scsu.ctstateu.edu
Greg responds...
1) Yeah. The language thing. Well, you got me. We knew we had a problem with the Gaelic to Modern English thing in "Awakening", but we obviously didn't want to deal with it. It is one of the reasons Scotland was chosen in the first place. I wanted a country where English was presently spoken, so that the "error" wouldn't be smacking the audience in the face. England was obvious, but I wanted something that felt rougher around the edges. Scotland summonded the right feeling for me. So we went with Scotland, crossed our fingers and ignored the Gaelic problem, which worked all right with most people. Sorry, it didn't work for you.
As to the World Tour, that is less problematic, so it surprises me that you had more of a problem with it. We toyed with the idea of using sub-titles and dealing with the language barrier in four episodes: "Golem", "Bushido", "Eye of the Storm" and "The Green". Some of us felt the episodes would be enriched by the inclusion, but others disagreed. Particularly my bosses, who pointed out that the youngest members of our audience didn't know how to read and would be missing out on any subtitled dialogue. I felt we could make things clear enough for that percentage of the audience, but there were other arguments that did weigh in very strong for me. 1) It would bog down the stories, wasting precious screen time on problems of objective communication.
2) It would involve substantially more work for my writers, story editors, board artists, film editors, post supervisors etc. Not that we hid from hard work, but we were on a very tight schedule, and this issue didn't seem to merit the extra effort.
3) English, in the modern world, is such a universal language, it doesn't at all bother me that the citizens of Ishimura, Prague, Guatemala and Norway spoke it.
I didn't much like that they spoke it among themselves, however. So even after we had decided against dealing with this (our Gaelic decision, perhaps setting a precedent), we revisited the problem after we did the voice recording of "Bushido". Frank Paur, who had initially felt that we shouldn't deal with the language barrier, changed his mind. He didn't mind that Kai spoke English, but he didn't want Kai (or anyone else) to start speaking English until he heard Goliath and/or Elisa and/or Angela speaking English. At which point, Kai (and the others) would start speaking English out of courtesy. I agreed that that would make the episode better. Problem was, we had already held the voice recording. Rerecording would have doubled that episode's voice expenses. I was prepared to do this and make up the money somewhere else, but my bosses still weren't to thrilled with the idea and said no.
Anonymous writes...
About the Gargoyles Encyclopeida you mentioned. For months I have been getting anything about Gargoyles off the Internet. My Gargoyles folder is huge, I mean it's about to burst here. When do you plan on publishing this encyclopedia? It would sure beat lugging around a huge folder.
Greg responds...
As soon as I find a publisher willing to publish it. Know anyone?
Anonymous writes...
Hi. Thanks once again. 1) In the series "Awakenings," how is it that Elisa is so easy to accept Goliath? After all in "Sentinel" she freaked.
2) Whatever happened to Mace Malone? 3) What does Matt do now that he is an Illuminati member? 4) In certain episodes from season 1 and season 2, the gargoyles are sometimes spotted by several people. How is it that action wasn't taken? Truly all those people couldn't have disregarded them.
5) In "Avalon" part III, I think, King Arthur says that he was awaken too early and that he neither had his knights or Merlin. Later on we learn that he is to search for his friend Merlin. What has happened to Merlin and his knights? 6) Why was it in the TGC episode "Genesis Undone," that the giant gargoyles looked like Coldstone? thanx alot, late
Greg responds...
1) In "Awakening", the first time Elisa met Goliath was after he saved her life. So she was more inclined to listen to what he had to say.
But remember, a few minutes earlier she was about to shoot Bronx. In "Sentinel" Goliath appeared to be attacking her and/or kidnapping her.
That's a very different dynamic.
2) In my mind, he starved to death in the Hotel Cabal.
3) What doesn't he do?
4) Some did. Some didn't. Some reported what they saw, but they had no proof. Gargoyle sightings in Manhattan became something of an urban myth between "Awakening, Part One" and "Hunter's Moon, Part Three". Everyone had a cousin who had a dentist who had a patient who had seen one.
5) Well, most of the old knights are long dead.
Merlin's in his Crystal Cave, of course. But where and what is the Crystal Cave, and if they find it, how will Arthur and Griff get Merlin out, and if they manage that, what kinda mood will Merlin be in?
6) I didn't work on that episode. Ask Scott Thomas.
Anonymous writes...
Hoya! Comments and questions, questions first. In reviewing the response section, I notice you have said that you are working on a Gargoyles Encyclopedia. Do you have a projected release date? Also, do you intend to, or know of anyone who intends to publish novels based on Gargoyles?(presumibly under Disney's imprint)Finally, do you go checking out various Garg' web sites(the more oddball ones that is)? Comments:I notice that Disney is putting a lot of work into the Mighty Ducks series.
It seems to have incorperated elements that made Gargoyles interesting( as well as giving Garg' voice actors something to do:) Something else I notice, what goes around, comes around. The Disney idea people seem to get strapped every once in a while so I'm sure that there will come a time when they will need something new but will be unsure where to turn. (this is speculation. For all any of us know they could have a big file cabnet labeled 'Show prospects') There's a good chance they'll notice a show that already has a built in fan base might be the way to go. Gargoyles 2000?
Maybe. Or we could get stuck with something like 'Galactica '80' Thanx
Greg responds...
I don't have a publisher. I don't know of any publishers interested in releasing any Gargoyles-related material right now. I wish I did. I'd love to publish the Encyclopedia (complete with Timeline). Or a Making of Gargoyles Book or a Gargoyles Companion book or whatever. I'd love to write novels based on the series or its (never seen) spin-offs. I've said this before, so I'm guessing we don't have any interested publishers lurking out there.
I do occasionally check out Web Sites, or at least I used too. It began to get too dangerous, since I do not want to be exposed to original material relating to GARGOYLES such as pictures of original characters or fan fiction.
Anonymous writes...
When you had MacBeth and the weird sisters, was that supposed to be off of Shakespere's MacBeth? After that I ahd to read it and it was almost identicle. A great way to get kids like me reading the good stuff.
Greg responds...
We put a lot of Shakespeare into the series. Some of the Macbeth stuff came from Shakespeare. (The Weird Sisters certainly.) But much of the Macbeth history was taken from actual history as opposed to Shakespeare's version of the legend. In quite a few ways, our Macbeth is historically more accurate than Will's. I'm kinda proud of that.
Anonymous writes...
Was Gargoyles supposed to be a kids show or for an older group like teenagers?
Greg responds...
Gargoyles was intentionally written for the widest possible audience. We felt it worked on many levels. We hoped that kids would like it as well as teens and adults.
(Basically, we all just put together the kind of show we'd like to watch.)
Anonymous writes...
Was Jeffrey Robbins connected with anyone else? besides Hudson, I mean.
Greg responds...
Connected? I'm not sure what you mean.
Anonymous writes...
Wow, that was some great writing in response to the question about why no one seemed to react to the whole City of Stone incident. Your story made it very believable why they wouldn't. But here are my questions: What if someone happened to be taping a TV show off the air when Demona's broadcast cut in, and they ended up with a recording of her casting the spell? Would it have any effect on those that watched it (other than really weirding them out for a few minutes, maybe annoying them because it ruined their recording of Gilligan's Island or whatever, but not turning them to stone)?
Greg responds...
The recording would work as well as viewing the broadcast for anyone who saw it before Xanatos set the sky aflame. The question is whether the recording could start the trouble over again after the sky was done burning. I really hadn't thought of that, but I have to assume the answer is no. Because a lot of people own VCR's, and if that would have worked, we'd certainly know about it by now.
Anonymous writes...
Dear Mr Weisman, I would just like to ask you if Oberons mortal identity is Dr Serviaus after all 'hes got more lives than an alley cat' which was quoted in Monsters, and Oberon is immortal, and He quoted in I'll Met By Moonlight that all the children even him had lived among mortals, if his mortal idenity is not Dr Servauis who is it? Thanks in advance
Greg responds...
No. Oberon is not Sevarius. Sevarius is not Oberon.
And while I'm here: Bronx is not a dog. A dog is not Bronx. Bronx is a Gargoyle Beast. So's Boudicca. Gargoyle beasts and dogs have a few superficial traits in common, but truly a better comparison would be:
A gargoyle is to a beast as a human is to a chimpanzee.
And even that comparison isn't totally accurate. The lifespan of a gargoyle beast is the same as that of a gargoyle.
Anonymous writes...
Hello again Greg. First off, let me thank you for answering my first question. I truly appreciate it. This question is a bit involved, so please bear with me. Is Demona's (and of course, MacBeth's) immortality spell blatant or covert? In the entire series run, one or the other was only blatantly killed twice. MacBeth was run through in "City of Stone", and Demona was hit with a (presumably) lethal electrical charge in "Sanctuary". Although Demona may have died in "Awakenings" and "The Reckoning", nothing was shown, so for the sake of the question, I will assume she simply escaped. To put it best, if Demona were asleep as stone (pre-"Vows"), and someone tried to shatter her, could they succeed? If so, would Demona simply reform later, seemingly unharmed? Or, would events prevent the man from smashing her (ie unforseen delays, sunset comes too quickly, he is distracted, etc.)?
Technically, both prevent her from being "killed", but one is far more subtle than the other. Now, if Demona's immortality is blatant (incredible recovery time), then why hasn't she used it more? Granted, she would still feel pain like anyone else, but why not wade right into the middle of a battle? After all, nothing short of a death-blow will even slow her down, and killing her only delays her and antagonizes her. Whether you can answer or not, thanks for your time!
Greg responds...
I love this question. I don't know if you'll love the answer. Demona isn't sure. Neither is Macbeth. They haven't been hit by something as catastrophic as a beheading (or whatever). Neither, at this stage, are that eager to test it. Now you might ask, why haven't they been hit by something that blatant. Good luck, or is the spell itself somehow preventing anyone from succeeding in that fashion (in a similar way that Goliath was prevented from returning Griff to Una in 1940)? Puts a wicked grin on my face just thinking about it.
Anonymous writes...
If you ever had the chance to do 'Gargoyles' again, would you pick up where 'The Journey' left off (since it was your last ep.) or would you start after 'Angels of the Night' and the acceptance/acknowledgement of the our heros to the human world?
Greg responds...
A very good question. In my dreams, Disney comes to me and says "We want to honor the Gargoyles show by letting you do whatever you want at any budget." In that (completely divorced-from-reality) scenario I fix any little niggling things that bother me in the first 66 episodes, completely ignore everything after Journey and restart there.
But realistically, that's preposterous. GOLIATH CHRONICLES was out there on the air. "The Journey" was one of those episodes. How can I keep one of them as cannon and ditch the rest? I think I'd have to include Goliath Chronicles, but I'd do my best to minimize the "damage" to my plans. The "acceptance" in "Angels" would not be complete. It would be one step in a continuum. Basically, I'd have to force myself to rewatch the last 12 Goliath Chronicles. Identify anything that seemed problematic and deal with each of these things on a case-by-case basis.
Anonymous writes...
Dear Greg First of all, thanks for taking the time to do this.My question is this, in Hunters Moon, we learn that the Hunters are descendents of Prince Canmore.But in City of Stone, part four, Canmore says that he has destroyed Demona's clan, and he thinks that Demona is dead.So shouldn't the hunt have ended when Canmore stabbed Macbeath.And anyway, where would the Kings of Scotland find the time to dress up in masks, and chase Demona all over Europe.
Greg responds...
Canmore had many children. Not all of them became king. In "City of Stone, Part Four" Canmore thought it was over. But he was wrong.
Anonymous writes...
Hi there. You recently said that Demona is in for a "true epiphany" eventually. What exactly does this mean? Will she realize her errors or go mad?
Greg responds...
Maybe a little of both.
Anonymous writes...
Greg this is a very important question...it has been buggin me......... In Long Way Till Morning...Hudson's flashbacks of going into archmages lair with demona and goliath DEMONA SEES A PICTURE OF A GARGOYLE BEING KILLED BY HUMANS....WHO DREW IT AND WAS IT MEANT FOR DEMONA...DEMONA DREW IT DIDN'T SHE,,,,WAT IS THE WHOLE PLAN HERE...I KNOW SOMETHING IS UP??????
Greg responds...
Another question to complex to answer here. Sorry.
Anonymous writes...
In "Ill Met By Moonlight" Oberon said that he had hung around the mortals. How did he? Who was he? I sound like a dope already. I'll leave now.
Greg responds...
You don't sound like a dope. It's a good question, but a thousand and one years is a long time and so there isn't one simple answer to the question. Sorry.
Anonymous writes...
Hi Greg, just to let you know, gargoyles was the greatest show on television and you did a great job on the first two seasons but the third was a little weak and lacked what you had in the first two, I know you didn't have anything to do with the second season except for the first ep which was one of three half decent eps of that season, anyways, my question, ok, in City of Stone Part 1 in the opening scene, the terrorist lady, she said, "Never, our cause is worth any sacrafice". What was the cause, it looked like it was a bank, i am a little baffled at this, it always makes me think when i see that part.
Greg responds...
The terrorist was hitting the bank to get money to fund her cause. That cause wasn't mentioned in City of Stone, because it didn't matter there. The terrorists' role was representative (of Demona). But that specific terrorist would have reappeared in BAD GUYS and her cause would have been revealed there.
Anonymous writes...
Everyone is asking about the gargoyles, but what I wanna know is did you ever have plans to give Puck/Owen a lovelife? Thanks for doing this!
Greg responds...
Yes.
Anonymous writes...
Hello Mr. Weisman. I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. 1. What did Macbeth do during World War 2?(I respectfully ask that you don't just say "alot".) 2. Everyone asks about who will be Brooklyn or Lexington's mates but the question on my mind is who was Hudson's mate and what happened to her? 3. Why did Xanatos have such a burning desire for immortality? 4. Did Oberon know about what the Wierd Sisters did to Demona and Macbeth? 5. Besides puting them in the BAD GUYS series, what else did you have in mind for Dingo and Matrix? It has been a pleasure to ask these questions and will be an even greater pleasure to read the answers. Thanks for reading.
Greg responds...
1. Well, you can ask me not to say "a lot", but it won't change much. I'm not going to sit down today and write a novel-length response to a question that took you ten seconds to type in. Leave it at this, Macbeth was on the side of the Allies.
2. Very good question. She died in 971. She had no name. She was a fierce warrior and a lovely individual.
3. He's afraid of things he can't control. He's afraid of death. (I can relate. I just seek for immortality in a different way. Through my writing and through my children. As long as I'm remembered, I live on. That's something David hasn't fully learned yet. But he's getting there.)
4. Not yet.
5. Well, I had a lot of plans for them in BAD GUYS. (There's that "a lot" phrase again.) Matrix had a lot to learn, and Dingo had a lot to redeem. And working for Robyn Canmore wasn't going to be a piece of cake either.
Anonymous writes...
All Hail Greg! (Ahem.) I'd like to make this short and sweet so I'll keep it as brief as possible. It gets REALLY technical and. . .a little disgusting so bear with me. Whenever a gargoyle was shattered in the series (the killings at Castle Wyvern, etc), no blood/internal organs were present. I can understand why you wouldn't want to show such things in a cartoon, but I would like to know: Does the inside of a gargoyle turn into stone during the day as well as the outside? If so, how is this internal stone "shed"? If not, the lungs, heart, etc. would have to continue to function or the internal organs would die. This is impossible because gargoyles do not breathe while they are asleep. Or. . .perhaps you have an explanation I've overlooked. Thanx!!!
Greg responds...
At sunrise (more or less), the entire gargoyle body turns into an organic substance that resembles stone, placing the gargoyle in a state of suspended animation. The body does function to some degree. The organic "stone-like" substance absorbs solar energy. The internal biological clock continues to function. Healing takes place. Dreaming too. But to a large degree, a daytime gargoyle is for all intents and purposes a stone statue.
At sunset (more or less), the transformation reverses from the inside out, leaving only a shedable outer layer of "stone" that cracks off as the gargoyle awakens.
Anonymous writes...
What hopes are there for a fourth season? and last question is do you have anything to do with "THE GATHERING" in June in NYC?
Greg responds...
No hope for a fourth season for this coming fall. But maybe some day.
I've been invited to come speak at the Gathering. I'm going to try to make it. Otherwise, I have no official connection to it.
Anonymous writes...
Why was Lexington usally not the main character?
Greg responds...
Because Goliath was the main character. Lex got his episodes, and he would have gotten more. But when you have a large ensemble cast, it's hard to give everyone enough moments in the sun, (so to speak).
Anonymous writes...
Someone brought up an episode called "Timedancer". Was this episode ever created, or was it something you were thinking about writing?
Greg responds...
TIMEDANCER was a proposed spin-off series that would have starred Brooklyn.
Disney didn't go for it. I suggested that the idea be incorporated into GOLIATH CHRONICLES. I laid out a story for an episode. It never happened.
They went another way, a totally other way, and wound up with that RUNAWAYS episode of Chronicles.
Anonymous writes...
You said that some Comic universes inspired you. Is that why the Hunter reminds me of a certain comic book character (Azrael)? On the topic of Hunters -- how many Hunters have there been? By this I mean, ever, not named/seen.
Greg responds...
The notion of a universe of characters inspired me, ala Simpsons or Yoknapatawpha. Not any of the specific characters.
I'm not that familiar with Azrael. Is he the guy who was Batman for awhile?
I hated the notion that someone other than Dick Grayson might take over that role, so I didn't bother to read any of that.
I haven't sat down and counted all the Hunters. I won't pretend I know every detail about every Hunter. At least, not yet.
Anonymous writes...
I am asking about the possiblity of a book. There have been many "Making of" books published by Hyperion. All have been of theatrical animated movies. I don't seem to remember any "Making of" books about an animated TV series. I would love to see a compilation of conceptual art, deleated characters, and early character designs, from the Gargoyles series. It seems that these books sell very well, so I was curious about the possibilities of you (Greg) writing a book.
Greg responds...
I'd love to. As I've mentioned before, I've been working on a GARGOYLES ENCYCLOPEDIA on and off for years. I'm almost done. A "Making Of" book or a GARGOYLES COMPANION would be fun too. I don't know how likely publication is, though. Maybe when the movie comes out. We can keep our fingers crossed.
Anonymous writes...
Were there any plans for Elisa to get significantly involved in Illuminati plot threads (she seems to be getting a LOT of attention these days)?
Greg responds...
It depends what you mean. Elisa tends to get involved with most things that involve her friends. But obviously, the point person for my next Illuminati story would have been either Matt or David.
Anonymous writes...
How long has the present head of the Illuminati been around (since they have that wonderful medical plan)?
Greg responds...
He's the founder.
Anonymous writes...
Since we saw the presence of the Illuminati in or around 975 AD, I'm assuming that you've decided to alter the facts about the real Illuminati and create a fictional history of them. If that's so, then when was this Illuminati founded?
Greg responds...
The organization that would eventually be known as the Illuminati was founded a century after the "death" of King Arthur.
Anonymous writes...
What're Disney's thoughts on The Gathering? Do you think its sucess/failure, as well as the types of people attending, will impact their future plans for Gargs in any way?
Greg responds...
I don't know if Disney "officially" knows about the Gathering.
Anonymous writes...
When Dean finishes his script, will we get the low-down on what's going on? Or will you just sit back and laugh while you watch us suffer?
Greg responds...
I need to let Producer Tom Jacobson decide what information he wants "leaked". It's his movie. I'm just along for the ride.
Anonymous writes...
When you were working on the first two seasons of Gargs, how much control did you have over the show? Were your ideas ever rejected? Was it really a "team effort", or was it an "Greg is God! Bow down and worship him, Mortal scum!" Oberon-ish sort of thing?
Greg responds...
I had a lot of control vis-a-vis Disney Management. The executives largely left me alone to do the stories I wanted to do. Only one story ever got rejected, and even I have to admit it was a pretty risky endeavor.
But keep in mind, I didn't produce the show alone. Frank Paur was my equal partner from day one. Also Dennis Woodyard and Bob Kline had producing duties as well. We all worked together.
I also like to think we were open to input from anyone on the staff. A lot of great ideas originated from other sources.
But I did get to tell the stories I wanted to tell. 66 of them at least.
And I was the one guy who had been on the project from the beginning of development through the end of post-production, so I had a more comprehensive point-of-view.
But no, no matter how much it might have pleased (I mean embarrassed) me, no one ever referred to me as "God".
Anonymous writes...
I am wondering what your knowledge of Arthurian legends is, and what made you decide to bring Arthur into the show. I am also wondering if you had plans for a Pendragon series, what some of them would be.
Greg responds...
I've read a lot of Arthurian stuff. The Mary Stewart books. Geoffrey of Monmouth. Roger Lanclyn Greene. Thomas Berger. T.H. White. John Steinbeck. Goodrich. I've skimmed Thomas Malory. These off the top of my head. I'm sure there are others too.
Although I know others disagree, for me adding Arthur was a natural step. I couldn't imagine going to Avalon and not seeing him there. The way we created the "Gargoyles Universe" everything was interconnected. Locked together by fate. The eggs are connected to Avalon which is connected to Arthur who is connected to the Illuminati which is connected to Xanatos who has a son whose grandmother is the queen of the fair folk who live on Avalon with the eggs, etc. How could I not include Arthur?
The Pendragon series would have featured King Arthur and Sir Griff. It would have begun with the Quest for Merlin. There were plans for one more regular: a female acquaintance of Arthur's from his past. The Illuminati would have played a prominent role, particularly the enigmatic Mr. Duval.
Anonymous writes...
Seeing as Elisa's apartment was targeted by the Quarrymen in "The Journey" (and Jon knew about her & the gargs before hand) would she have moved elsewhere? And if so, where?
Greg responds...
Elisa's apartment wasn't targeted. They spotted Goliath there and investigated. But certainly Castaway wouldn't have had much trouble making the Elisa/Gargoyle connection. Moving really would not have been the answer -- not if she intended on keeping her job. And I can't imagine Elisa quitting the force. Precautions would have to be taken. But, heck, Demona's known where Elisa lives for over a year. Sometimes that information isn't enough.
Anonymous writes...
What would have happened to Jason after he had recuperated from his injuries? Obviously, he must have had a full recovery, as you stated that he might have gone out on a double date with Goliath & Delilah.
Greg responds...
Jason is a parapalegic. Why must he have fully recovered in order to go on a date? I think Jason was released on probation. In my mind, he spends a lot of time failing to save his brother's soul.
Anonymous writes...
Will Puck ever get his full powers back and return to Avalon?
Greg responds...
Ever is a long time. Not for centuries at least. Oberon isn't exactly forgiving.
Anonymous writes...
When you where in the chat room you said that the leader of the Illuminati was one of Authur's old friends. His name was Duval, could this person by any chance be Merlin? And is he still on friendly terms with Authur?
Greg responds...
Merlin isn't Duval. And Arthur's been asleep for some time, so he isn't presently on any kind of terms with anyone from his past.
Anonymous writes...
What were your plans for the clones? Did they have anything to do with "Future Tense"?
Greg responds...
"Future Tense" the episode or the proposed spin-off series?
I had a lot of plans for the clones, too many to relate them all here. As you all may be noticing, when I'm asked a question THAT large, I'm less likely to give a worthwhile response. I'm not saying you can't ask, just that this Q&A format may not be the best forum for questions that require novel- length responses.
Anonymous writes...
Did you ever plan on the Xanatos having more kids than Alex? Or willl he stay an only child?
Greg responds...
Good question. I'd have to ask them, but I'm pretty sure we're looking at an only child. And a handful.
Anonymous writes...
Which Weird Sister is which? I know the names are Luna, Phoebe, and Selene (spelling unsure), but I don't believe it was ever made clear which name went with which Sister.
I think you said earlier that Demona came to America sometime before 1994. How did she make the trip across the Atlantic?
No one else asked yet, so I'll bite: what did Demona do during WWII?
Greg responds...
1) We tried to make it clear, but I can see how it would have been tough to catch it. Phoebe is the blonde, pleasant one. Seline is the raven-haired hardcase. Luna is the silver-haired mystic.
2) Carefully.
3) A lot. (Actually, I think someone did ask this, and I gave the same response. Well at least you got one worthwhile answer.)
Anonymous writes...
In the episode City of Stone, Xanatos said to Demona that they could over-ride every channel in Manhattan. What about the rest of the world?
You'd think such a strange broadcast would attract a bit of attention, and what if someone from elsewhere happened to drive into NY and find that everyone had been turned to stone? Wouldn't it be on the worldwide news if the entire population of NY had been turned to stone?
Greg responds...
You can't reach your mother who has an apartment in Manhattan. You drive into the city. Traffic is at an absolute standstill. It isn't barely moving -- it's flat-out stopped. You begin to worry about your mom so you abandon your car. You move toward the car in front of you. It's empty, because the person in front of you had the same impulse. But what's really weird is that the car in front of that car has a stone statue sitting behind the wheel. What is this, some kind of gag? You keep going, heading for a subway station. Cars are either empty or filled with statues. For a second, you ask yourself if these could be people turned to stone. But come on, that's just too crazy. There are a few other people running around the streets in a similar state of confusion. Some of them are hysterical. You get more determined to reach your elderly mother.
You head down into the subway station. Loaded with stone statues. No people. No trains. You wait. And wait. But it's damn creepy down here at night with all these statues. You decide to walk. It's twenty-nine blocks, but if that's what it takes....
The further into the city you go, the fewer people you see. The fewer non-statues you see. The conclusion is inescapable. Everyone has been turned to stone. Just then a woman runs up to you. Clearly homeless. You like to think of yourself as open-minded, but you can't help having a visceral reaction to her odor. You're nearly overwhelmed by the unwashed urine-soaked smell. She yells something about "the T.V.'s". And runs off.
She's the only living human in sight, and still you can't help being relieved that she's gone.
Finally, you reach your mother's apartment building. Now, you know. There's Joe the Doorman. You've known Joe for fifteen years. He's a sweet old guy, who never drinks on the job, except a nip now and then when it's really cold. And he's a statue. That face. That twinkle in his eye. It's Joe. And he's stoned -- literally.
Fortunately, Joe's frozen on the job. He's holding the door open for you.
You swallow hard and enter. There's a little girl in the lobby with her parents and a poodle. They're all stone statues. You press the elevator button. The doors open immediately. There are five statues facing you calmly. One of them is Mrs. Vasquez, you're mother's neighbor. Suddenly, you realize that you are more pissed off than frightened. With a new determination you get on the elevator and press the button for the eighth floor.
The doors close. You've had to squeeze in, because the five statues aren't exactly making room for you. You turn to Mrs. Vasquez. "Nice weather we're having," you say grimly. Finally, the elevator opens. You squeeze out, struggling for your key ring.
Your hands are sweating. You have trouble getting your mom's key into the lock. Then it slides in. You mentally prepare yourself. The odds are good that Mom is a statue. You turn the key. Enter the apartment. The television is on. You move into the living room. There are tears in your eyes, even before you see mom, sitting with a bemused expression on her face in front of the t.v. She's frozen in stone on the chair, which seems to be buckling under the weight. You suddenly panic that the chair will break, that your mother will fall to the floor and... and... what? Break?
Shatter? You can't take the chance. You dry your palms on your shirt and then ease her frozen body out of the chair. She seems to weigh a ton, but YOU WILL NOT DROP HER. Slowly, you lower her to the ground, on her side, still frozen in the sitting position.
It's only then that you focus on the sound coming from the t.v. Gibberish?
You turn to look. There's some kind of... creature, speaking, what? Latin, maybe? You move closer to the t.v. Suddenly, the video skips and the image repeats from the beginning. And that's the last thing you remember.
In the morning, you help your mother up off of the floor. She's extremely confused. Did she pass out? Have a heart attack? How'd she get on the floor? When did you get here? You don't want to worry or panic her and even as you start to form the words, it all seems too crazy to say out loud.
The television is still on. Travis Marshall is on, reporting on how everyone in Manhattan seems to have experienced blackouts last night. Your mother mumbles something about pollution in the water. A woman is interviewed. She says that everyone in Manhattan was turned to stone. You can hear your mother snort, but you don't dare look at her now. The reporter looks at the woman. And you know what that look means. He asks her dubiously why she wasn't effected. She responds by saying that she never watches television. Marshall, nods. A nod that clearly means that he thinks she's nuts.
Interviews follow with government officials, psychiatrists, hypnotists, etc.
Every theory in the world is offered up. But no one else says anything about stone statues.
So what kind of person are you? Do you make it your life's work to make sure everyone knows the truth? Do you try to convince yourself it was all a hallucination? Do you just shut your mouth and keep it shut? You're mother offers to cook you breakfast. She'll cut the french toast into a little house with a chimney, windows and a door. Just like she did when you were young. "Yeah, Mom," you say, "That would be nice." While she's cooking, you go into the bathroom and throw up.
As to why Xanatos and Demona didn't cast their spell over the whole world, the answer is simple: They couldn't.
Anonymous writes...
I know you don't really like to talk about who Brooklyn's mate will be, but could you at least answer this? Is she a character we already know, or is she a whole new character?
Greg responds...
New.
Anonymous writes...
In Future Tense, why doesn't Claw have wings? He lost them in a battle, or something?
Greg responds...
Right.
Anonymous writes...
When Puck gave Xanatos the choice between one wish from Puck or life long service from Owen was this with the understanding that Owen/Puck would never work magic for Xanatos? If the answer to the last question is yes then when Owen/Puck was "explaining" his reasons for working for Xanatos to Oberon and beating up Oberon in the process was he playing lawyer? If the answer to question 1 is no why did Owen not use magic before? Also did Xanatos know Owen was Puck or did Puck make him think that Owen was working for Puck at the time he gave Xanatos the choice? Why did Owen/Puck not know the true source of Demona's Immortality in "City of Stone"? Can a normal human and Gargoyle conceive children? If the answer is yes then how? Two serperate species cannot reproduce to create viable offspring although very closely related species can create sterile offspring are Gargoyles and humans the same species?
Greg responds...
1) Exactly.
2) To some extent. Puck was on trial as well, and he knew it.
3) N.A.
4) At the time of the choice, Xanatos knew. Although by then he had known Owen for some period of time.
5) Why would he?
6) Not unaided. Maybe not at all. I'm sure Sevarius might like to "help".
Prospero too.
7) N.A. (What are you trying to do, trip me up? :))
By the way gang, Gore has informed me that we've had to kick a number of good questions because they were posted with questions that contained the kind of ideas that I warned I couldn't look at in Guideline #2. If you want your questions answered, please be more careful.
Anonymous writes...
We already know that Angela is Goliath's daughter and that Broadway is Hudson's son. Are there any other closely related members of the Manhattan Clan?
Greg responds...
If your talking biological relationships, no.
Anonymous writes...
What was the original "comical" series of Gargoyles supposed to be like, and what were the original versions or counterparts to the main characters we know now? Thank you once again for your time.
Greg responds...
Hmmmm. The show had much the same set-up: tenth century gargoyles put to sleep for a thousand years by a magic spell. Their castle was moved to the tallest skyscraper in Manhattan and they woke up and tried to adjust to 20th century life. The gargoyles were all diminutive, kinda like Gummi Bears with a modern edge. The whole development went through a number of changes over time, and I won't attempt to list every permutation but here's the basics on the characters. The name that heads each paragraph is the name the character ended up with in the show that you guys ultimately saw on television.
Demona - Dakota was the leader of the gargoyles, and she was, in a word, boring. Too straight to be the leader of a comedy ensemble. So we changed her name to Demona and turned her into a traitor working with the enemy....
Xanatos - Xavier was a human descendent of the wizard who had cursed the gargoyles a millenium ago. He was rich, powerful and petulant. Very Captain Hook.
Owen Burnett - Mr. Owen was Xavier's assistant. In the first episode, he got hit by a magic spell that permanently tranformed him into an anthropomorphic aardvark.
Brooklyn - Amp became the leader after we changed Dakota into Demona. He was a little guy who looked more like Lexington than Brooklyn, but he had Brooklyn's out-there adventurous personality.
Broadway - Cocoa was a heavy-set female gargoyle with artistic pretensions and a great love of food. This always made us uncomfortable, which is why she eventually became a he.
Lexington - Lassie looked a little more like Brooklyn than Lex, but he was the closest thing we had to Lex. He was an idiot savant, fascinated with technology. He could spend hours working on a computer. He could also spend hours watching a traffic light change colors.
Hudson - Ralph was the couch potato gargoyle. A bit older than the others.
Content to stay at home and watch tv.
Elisa - Morgan Reed was a human school teacher who befriended the gargoyles.
She was also a firefighter for awhile. And a museum curator. And an archeologist. And Xavier's former partner. She had a daughter for awhile too. For awhile we played it like she was Princess Katharine's descendent.
We had the Gargoyles move onto the roof of the apartment building where she lived and cause a lot of trouble for her.
There was no parallel character to GOLIATH. After the comedy development was rejected, Tad Stones (Producer of Darkwing Duck and Aladdin: the Animated Series, among others) suggested adding a dramatic male lead. We came up with Goliath and put the whole show through the prism of who Goliath was. That was the turning point, obviously.
I still maintain that the original comedy development would have made a great comedy-adventure series. Something to be proud of. That's not to say that I don't greatly prefer how things turned out, but it's apples and oranges.
Anonymous writes...
In "Sentinel" there was a conversation between Elisa and Goliath, where Elisa mentions something about the Holy Grail and Goliath says something like "we haven't found it yet." Was this foreshadowing something that will turn up later? As you said, you were going to include every legend.
Greg responds...
Yes. Exactly. It would have been something for King Arthur and Sir Griff to follow up on after their quest for Merlin -- IF we had ever done the PENDRAGON spin-off. And because we "promised" it in "Sentinel", Elisa and Goliath would have had at least some minor involvement in the quest.
Anonymous writes...
It was said Goliath was going to be in the movie, will Elisa be in it too? And why did you feel you needed to give Elisa a partner in the series
Greg responds...
As I said, the script for the movie hasn't been turned in yet. All I know is that Goliath is the lead.
Cops have partners. It didn't seem realistic for Elisa to be an exception.
Why make her life that easy? We all have connections which enrich and complicate our lives. Elisa has parents, siblings, a boss, a cat, gargoyles, supervillains... and a partner.
Anonymous writes...
In my Gargoyles "Meet the Characters" book, it mentions Elias Maza being of Sioux indian descent, and yet she seems to be Navajo in the series. Did the book just have misguided sources or what? :)
Greg responds...
She seems to be Hopi or Zuni to me in the series, though I don't pretend to be an expert. I can't even remember if "maza" is the Sioux or Navajo word for "iron". As you can see, we weren't tremendously consistent on Elisa's paternal ethnicity. That's mostly my fault. I should have done a better job on research. Part of the problem was that different people gave us different advice as the series progressed. But that only compounded inconsistencies that we had already built into the stories. I'll try to do better in the future.
: « First : « 50 : Displaying #390 - #439 of 702 records. : 50 » : Last » :