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Siren writes...
Some questions about you and your feelings on Gargs,
1.) When Gargoyles first aired on national TV, how did you feel?
2.) Did you and the rest of the cast and crew have a party?
3.) Did you get any episode ideas from your own life or life of other's you knew?
Greg responds...
1. Elated, excited. You name it.
2. We had a premiere party a few days before the launch. As I've mentioned before, that was the party where Laurel Whitcomb our publicist met Marc Perlman our music editor. They're married now.
3. Inevitably.
Miscellaneous...
My DC Comics editor finally sent me a few copies of that Justice League comic with the Captain Atom/Gargoyles story. I had forgotten just how many Gargoyle in-jokes I put in that story. There's much more there for a Gargoyle fan then for a Captain Atom fan. Though I think the scenes of Cap kissing Bette (and the mention of Las Vegas) would make a couple people (Simon Del Monte, Melissa Page, for example) a bit nostalgic. I think the story turned out pretty well. Anyway, I'm happy. My editor made a couple small changes. He removed the two references to the year the story took place (1991). And he changed the title. It was called something like: "An Exercise in Self-Indulgence". Now it's called "The Flashback of Notre Dame". Both are accurate, but his is much more clever.
Lately, I've been giving away a lot of ASK GREG tidbits for some reason. Not sure why. I'm just in the mood, I guess. But it suddenly occured to me to register this caveat.
There's canon and there's canon.
As far as I'm concerned the only true canon is the 66 episodes of the series running from "Awakening, Part One" through "The Journey". As many of you know, I don't like to consider the other twelve episodes of Goliath Chronicles to be canon, let alone whatever other stories got published by Marvel or Disney Adventures Digest or whatever.
But to be honest, even some of my ASK GREG answers cannot truly be considered canon. They're closer. But I won't be held to them in any absolute sense. Part of the wonder of producing the first two seasons of Gargoyles involved things discovered along the way. I won't etch things in stone (pun intended) just for the sake of making these ramblings and off-the-cuff answers sacrosanct. If I got the chance to produce the show (or one of its spin-offs) again, I'd ABSOLUTELY incorporate much of what's here. But I'd be a fool not to hold everything up to a microscope and decide with consideration what would and wouldn't be best for the new series.
Having said that, I've been giving some particular thought to G2158 recently, studying timelines for example. And I've changed a few things in my head. Nothing major. But certain things have changed that would in turn effect things in TimeDancer and present-day Gargoyles. Maybe even New Olympians and Pendragon. (So far nothing that would alter Bad Guys or Dark Ages.)
The good news is that none of these changes effect our three current contests. (Wouldn't that be an ASK GREG disaster?)
And all this thought has gotten me thinking about how I might handle a couple of thorny problems in any revival of the original series, specifically the time gap between 1996 and whenever the new show hit the air, and/or the existence of those 12 non-canon Chronicle episodes.
And frankly, I think the internet is the answer.
Goliath Chronicles exists. I can't change that. But I think I can ignore it. For example, if I wanted to do my version of the trial of Goliath -- the one where the question before the court is his very sentience -- couldn't I just do it?
New fans wouldn't know about the Chronicles trial and thus wouldn't be upset about it. Old fans could check here and find out why it was being ignored.
That only leaves a small percentage of people, who, for example, see the Chronicles episode on Toon Disney and wonder about it, but don't have the resources or whatever to find a site like this and learn the rationale. Would they be very put off? Is that too selfish an approach for me to take?
Likewise, the time gap. What if in the fist season, I did that Halloween story I've mentioned before. I wouldn't mention what year it was. For a new audience, they'd just assume that the story took place in say, October 2002. No harm done. But I could post here and tell people it took place in 1996. Then, by the end of the first season, I could have the series caught up to 2002, but still have gotten to do the stories that would have depended (continuity-wise) on proximity to the events in Hunter's Moon and The Journey.
What about that?
I'm very interested in all of your opinions on these notions. Please post them here.
Scott Iskow writes...
Did you ever see the show "Freakazoid?"
If so, did you catch the multiple "Gargoyles" references?
What did you think of them?
Greg responds...
I've seen a couple Freakazoids. And I think I've seen a couple references, but I can't remember any of them right now. Sorry. (Although, I'm sure I wasn't offended, if that's what you mean.)
Todd Jensen writes...
What inspired you to give the names "Ophelia" and "Boudicca" to the female triceratops-crested gargoyle and gargoyle beast on Avalon? I can easily guess as to why the choice of the names "Angela" and "Gabriel" for the other two named Avalon gargoyles, but why did you choose the names of Hamlet's girl-friend and the ancient British Iceni queen for these two? (I might add that I did like the names, which were part of that very literate tone to "Gargoyles" that I enjoyed).
Greg responds...
I didn't choose Boudicca (though I approved of the choice). Her name was picked by either Lydia Marano or Brynne Reaves or both.
As for Ophelia, I'm not sure who picked that. It might have been me, further pandering to Shakespeare. Or it might have been one of my editors or writers, further pandering to me.
Of course, now that these names are chosen, it suggests story ideas, that I'd like to some day capitalize on. Even if the real reason the names were chosen is more prosaic.
Todd Jensen writes...
A little side-note. I happened to see the episode that you wrote for "Disney's Hercules" - I thought I'd mention it after noticing that somebody else on the list mentioned it. I quite enjoyed it - particularly the portrayal of Theseus as a sort of ancient Greek version of "Batman". I also noticed, as a side-note, that there was a certain thematic echo of "Hunter's Moon" in it (although I don't know if you'd intended it or not) where Hercules got so caught up in his efforts to wreak vengeance upon the Minotaur that he lost sight of what was really important, much the same way as Goliath in his pursuit of the Hunters.
Greg responds...
First off, Todd, thanks for the kind words.
There are certain themes that interest me, and so you'll see them revisited in my work (probably ad nauseum) over and over. The theme of, well, let's call it "What Profit Vengeance?" is one of my favorites. So I wasn't deliberately trying to echo "Hunter's Moon" so much as I was servicing a set of ideas that seemed apropos to both series.
As for the Theseus-as-Batman stuff. Well, that's a no-brainer. The Superman/Batman dynamic -- that is the teaming of a hero possessing superhuman abilities with a hero who merely makes the best possible use of his human abilities -- originated with Herakles and Theseus. (Or at any rate, it goes back that far.) So the notion of flipping that, and playing Herc/Theseus as Superman/Batman seemed wonderfully ironic and a fertile place to find comedy.
In high school, I acted in a play called THE WARRIOR'S HUSBAND. I played Theseus, and I've had a real affinity for the character ever since. In that play, Hercules was kind of a mope. (Very strong, but a mope.) The Greeks were waging war against the Amazons. Hercules was in charge, but Theseus was the real brains of the operation. Yet he's also the guy who really falls hard in love for Antiope, sister to Queen Hyppolyta. So instead of conquering -- as he had originally intended -- Theseus winds up manipulating everyone into a compromise. I like that in a hero.
Theseus is part of a sub-genre of archetypes, (an off-shoot of Trickster figures like Puck, Coyote or Odysseus/Ulysses). He's the primary example of the Archetype of "THE BASTARD", which includes such diverse characters as Shakespeare's Edmund from KING LEAR, Joan of Arc's ally Dunois and multiple characters from Arthurian legend (including Merlin, Arthur, Percival, Galahad and Mordred). There are so many parallels between Arthur and Theseus that reading Mary Stewart and Mary Renault seemed almost redundant. (Not really.)
In fact, Luach (or Lulach) is also a prime candidate for that archetype. When he was born, Gruoch was still married to Gillecomgain. But gossip around the castle hinted that the babe's true father was Macbeth. After Macbeth and Gruoch married, Macbeth adopted the boy as his own. At which point the gossip shifted to insist that Gillecomgain was the boy's father. (You can't win.) Pre-DNA testing, there would be no way for Luach to ever be certain of the truth. Maybe Macbeth didn't even know. Hell, Gruoch might not know.
Life's a bitch when you're a bastard.
Jonathan Frakes
Last night, my wife and I went to the WB's fifth anniversary party.
I talked with Alan Burnette and Rich Fogel. Two guys who I used to work with at Disney, but who are now on BATMAN BEYOND.
I also saw a number of celebs, including the actors who play the title roles in ANGEL and FELICITY. Plus Diedrich Bader, (Oswald on DREW CAREY and Jason Canmore of "Hunter's Moon"). I also literally bumped into Shiri Appleby who's "Liz" the female lead on ROSWELL. And she was very nice about me being a clutz.
And, best of all, I ran into Jonathan Frakes, who's an exec producer on ROSWELL. He was terrifically charming as always to both myself and Beth. (Beth and Jonathan's wife Genie Francis were once in MOMMY & ME classes together after we both had our respective first kids.)
Without any prompting from me, he bemoaned the fact that Disney stopped making GARGOYLES. He's still a big fan of the show. We started to talk some more but he was approached by Ray Wise, the actor who played Laura Palmer's father on TWIN PEAKS. I left them to talk, and we didn't get to hook up again before Beth and I had to leave. (Babysitters, school nights, plus as glamorous as it may sound, I feel very out of place at this kind of party. Very uncomfortable.)
Anyway, I realize it's not much of an anectdote, but I thought you'd like to know.
TITUS
I saw TITUS on Saturday with my wife Beth and three people who worked on GARGOYLES.
1. Fred Schaefer, who was a development associate who helped develop the show. (I think it's safe to say that Talon was sort of Fred's idea in a very early pre-Derek form. We called the character Catscan then.) Fred is currently a producer/executive/story editor at Porchlight Entertainment.
2. Monique Beatty was my assistant during the Gargoyles years. She did a lot of research for me. She's now a producer at Kinofilms.
3. Tuppence Macintyre is an old friend of mine. She also did a lot of Scotish research for Gargoyles, just as a personal favor and because it interested her. She's a Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles.
Anyway, the five of us went to see TITUS in Santa Monica. The film is based on one of Shakespeare's early tragedies, TITUS ANDRONICUS. It was adapted and directed by Julie Taymor, who adapted and directed THE LION KING for the Broadway stage. So it's not surprise that the film is visually stunning. Monique didn't like the anachronistic style of the film (depicting chariots and motorcycles side-by-side for example), but it's not the first time I've seen that kind of interpretation, so it didn't bother me.
And the acting is fantastic. Anthony Hopkins (who I've loved forever -- does anyone remember the movie MAGIC?) plays Titus. He's brilliant. His lament to the stones is heartbreaking. Jessica Lange is good as "Tamara, Queen of the Goths" (now tell me that isn't a Gargoyles' character in the making). And Alan Cumming (who voiced John Castaway in "The Journey") is a nice, twisted villain as Saturninus, the Roman Emperor. But the revelation is Harry Lennix as Aaron the Moor. Amazing.
The story of Titus is not for the squeemish or for children. It's a real pot-boiler. Something just this side of a horror movie with a hard R rating for violence and nudity, though thankfully a minimum of on-screen gore.
The play was a big hit for Shakespeare in his day. But it's been dismissed as a critical flop. And I can see why. I've read it a couple times and thought it awful. Which coming from a bardolitor like myself is pretty harsh. It seemed like none of the characters were sympathetic or interesting.
But I'd never seen it performed, so I was looking forward to the movie. As usual, Shakespeare plays tens times better than he reads. In the movie, I had -- at moments -- plenty of sympathy for nearly all the characters. And the wonderful thing is that my sympathies are constantly shifting. No one is without sin. All share the blame except for Aaron's son. And Aaron himself is amazing.
Although, I can't help agreeing that Shakespeare wrote TITUS at least in part as parody of the tragic genre -- the way SCREAM was designed to be both parody and exemplar of the horror film -- I can also see flashes of KING LEAR, HAMLET and CORIOLANUS in Titus' character.
But Aaron prefigures Othello, Iago, Edmund and Shylock at least. He's a remarkably progressive character for the time. A villain, who is the only character to succeed in preserving a sliver of innocence within the world of the play.
Anyway, I really enjoyed it. And I recommend it to any Gargoyle Fan over the age of 17.
Zeliard writes...
Hello mr. Weisman!
1.You said that cetain scenes of "Avalon part 2" had been cutted because the episode was too long. Will tell us what was those missing scenes?
2.Why the Archmage chose Demona and MacBeth as allies?
Greg responds...
1. Stuff with the Archmage-Plus mentoring the original Archmage and guiding the Weird Sisters.
2. His "future" self told him too.
Matt Dymond writes...
Resubmitting this one as required...
Is there any particular backstory as to why Elisa drives her particular make & model of of car (either within the context of the series itself, or a reason one of the writing staff wanted that particular car used?).
Greg responds...
No. We just wanted her to have a cool car.
Of course, knowing me, I might someday come up with a "story behind the car" story. But I don't have one yet.
Aspiring Animator Jennifer writes...
Greg, thanks for taking the time to read this.
What were some of the artistic inspirations for the varied Gargoyle designs? Were there specific types of architecture or animals the artists looked at for inspiration? For their different designs, what species' anatomy did the artists look most at? Please share some of the working ideas leading up to the final character designs we all know. Also, please share the artistic reasons or design necessities for the Gargoyles' different colors.
Greg responds...
Jennifer,
I'm afraid I'm a bit out of my depth with your question, as I'm not an artist myself. (Plus, I'm somewhat color blind.) There are others who could better answer this for you.
In particular, Kline, Guler, Felix, Schwartz, Takeuchi, Paur. Roy Sato may know more than me too.
What I provided was character detail, physical type. I knew I wanted Zafiro to be inspired by Quetzacoatl. Leo, Una and Griff by English heraldic gargoyles.
I knew what physical type I wanted Goliath to be, Hudson to be, Broadway, Brooklyn, Demona, Angela, etc. But the inspiration, the anatomical reference, etc. Was left in the capable hands of talented folk who could draw.
Obviously, actual stone gargoyles were a huge influence and inspiration.
As for the WHY to there multiple colors, well, we were making an animated show. It seemed more visually interesting.
Hoped that helped.
Joxter the Mighty writes...
Hey Greg,
You've said in the past you intended to fit in every legend and such ever made, right?
1. How would you have fit the men in black in? They are a real legend, but now Warner Brothers has a big ol' licensed series about them... Did you have any plans on this?
Greg responds...
No immediate plans for MIB. And what I said was that given enough time and enough episodes I'd fit in every legend, but that didn't mean I had a working plan to do that yet.
Airwalker writes...
I've heard that when you pitched DARK AGES to CBS they suggested instead pitching a future based series instead. Was that the first time you started to think about GARGOYLES 2158 or did you previously have a developed idea of what the Gargoyles future would be like?
Greg responds...
I can't deny that CBS' suggestion was the first time I really DEDICATED thought to a specific future. (It was after that conversation, that I nailed down 2158 as the year of the setting for example.) But some of the material that I had planned for the show, had already been racing around in my head. The Nokkar stuff in particular. The Demona stuff. The children of Angela and Broadway.
But it was more amorphous, timeline-wise.
Aris Katsaris writes...
When "City of Stone" was first written and produced were you planning that the Hunter legacy would continue through the Canmore family or had you thought that Macbeth had taken up the mask and was now the last of the Hunters?
Greg responds...
Well, it's more complicated then that.
"City of Stone" was originally pitched as a Direct to Video movie. My boss, Gary Krisel, immediately rejected it as a video. (Though, obviously, he had no problem with it being done as episodes.) He felt that a Gargoyle video needed to focus on our heroes -- and I had to admit that "City" was really the story of two of our villains: Macbeth and Demona. Goliath and company have supporting roles at best.
But Gary liked the HUNTER angle. So immediately, Michael Reaves and I came up with the basic story idea for "Hunter's Moon". We made a sincere effort to make both multi-parters stand independent of each other. "City" came first, but the two ideas were born so close together, I can't really give you a definitive answer to your either/or question except to say (in my smart-ass fashion) "Both."
Derek writes...
A long time ago (according to the archives) you said that you wanted to do a Gargoyles story involving scarecrows because they had a lot in common with gargoyles, but that you had trouble making it different from the Batman villian. But, you said someday you would crack the story. Have you?
Greg responds...
No.
But I haven't tried. I've been busy working on other shows, other projects. Gargoyles is like a hobby for me now. Which means that I rarely write anything down. Rarely do any of the hard work of writing. I do the easy stuff. I let the ideas come to me. Since the Scarecrow idea was never easy, it hasn't come to me. To crack that, I'd have to really dedicate time to it. And I haven't.
But someday...
Airwalker writes...
Who designed the Golem? In all the legends I read of the Rabbi Loew's Golem, he was a huge giant but of Manlike proportions, not like he was in the episode, but more like a taller version of Bane from BATMAN & ROBIN.
Greg responds...
I'm not familiar with Bane. Isn't he just a big guy?
Anyway, I'm not sure what you're asking? Do you mean who on Frank Paur's team designed Golem or are you asking if Rabbi Loew designed him?
Airwalker writes...
In the archives, you mentioned that originally 6 episodes were planned for Season 2 before the order came down to expand to 52. Which 6 episodes specifically did you originally have in mind?
Greg responds...
"Leader of the Pack"
"Metamorphosis"
"Legion"
"A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time"
"Eye of the Beholder"
"Vows"
Though they might have been very different had I not gotten word partway through that they were going to be 6 of 52 instead of 6 of 6.
Airwalker writes...
On the Mutate redesign, why eliminate the cat tails? I always thought it gave a sense of balance to the designs.
Greg responds...
That was Frank's call. You'd have to ask him.
Airwalker writes...
Would you ever consider reprising your role as Xanatos Goon #3 if the show ever returned?
Greg responds...
Actually, I was the 2nd Commando.
But I'm not in the Union. So theoretically I never said "Nice mask!" Never. Understand.
Confundrum writes...
Hi Greg. I wanted to drop a line and congratulate you and the rest of the team responsible for Gargoyles. I saw the show for the first time this summer, and I enjoy it thoroughly. It's just raggedy that several of the episodes seem like they won't be aired. I guess I'll just have to be patient until some brave tv station will air the rest of them.
My question is about the plot of Gargoyles. My favorite part about Gargoyles is that each episode affects the ones to come. The plot builds, like a soap opera with the important distinction being that Gargoyles is cool. It almost seems that Gargoyles was created completely in advance, because it fits so well together. How did you anticipate how many different directions Gargoyles could and did go when creating it? ... especially since the story never became sketchy or contradictive?
Greg responds...
Thanks.
Some of it was dumb luck. Serendipity. We started out with a pilot that had Vikings attacking a Scotish castle in the year 994 and then after the fact discovered that such an event was historically accurate.
After that we made an effort. We did research into both history and mythology (of multiple cultures). I already had an extensive background in Shakespeare (and a number of other random disciplines).
And we planned ahead. A whole bunch or us. Myself, Frank Paur, Michael Reaves, Brynne Chandler Reaves, Cary Bates, Gary Sperling, Lydia Marano... etc.
Personally, I had some long term plans. I was just careful about laying groundwork. I spent years working in comics which was good training for the kind of episodically serialized tapestry that we were creating. (I've also been watching ALL MY CHILDREN on and off for nearly thirty years, which didn't hurt.) HILL STREET BLUES was a big influence too.
And mostly, the stuff just wrote itself. I don't want to make it sound easy. But I had a definite sense that the Gargoyles Universe existed somewhere and that my job was to tap into it and discover what happened. Sometimes things just seemed right. Of course, Owen was Puck. Of course, Fox and Xanatos were in love. I didn't know these things when I started. But the answers became self-evident.
Nothing in my professional life, before or since, has ever given me as much pleasure.
David G. writes...
And now for something almost completely different: (a) Was the Cauldron of Life inspired by the Celtic legend of the Cauldron of Bran (which could restore the dead to life)? (b) Would the Cauldron of Life have worked if the user had been completely submerged in/drenched with the waters (thus making the fact Xanatos melted it down for scrap rather ironic)?
Greg responds...
a. It was inspired by multiple Celtic Cauldron legends. You'd have to ask Michael Reaves whether he had a specific one in mind.
b. It would have worked. It would have turned the whole body to stone.
Airwalker writes...
How much input did you have in the designs of Gargoyles outside of the main Manhattan clan like Gabriel, Ophelia, etc? Did you just suggest a general design that got fleshed out by the rest of the production team or did you have a detailed picture in you head that you wrote out and submitted to them?
Greg responds...
I wouldn't say I had a detailed written description. But I had some ideas, many conversations and co-final approval (with Frank).
I was more specific about Leo, Griff, Una, Gabriel, Angela and Zafiro then about some of the others.
Airwalker writes...
How did you get Tom Wilson and Sheena Easten for the show? Did they come to you, did you call them?
Greg responds...
Tom auditioned for one or more of the Trio. He wasn't right, but I really liked him, and I suggested him to Jamie Thomason when we created Matt.
I am now a HUGE Tom Wilson fan. I created the role of Pete Costas in MAX STEEL with Tom in mind. (Originally it was a bigger role, but the WB cut it back. He's still great in it though.) And I think the work he's doing on NBC's FREAKS & GEEKS is brilliant. He does so much with so little. Taking a cliche that we've seen a hundred times before (remember Robert Picardo in THE WONDER YEARS) and investing it with so much humanity. I can't tell you how great I think he is. Someone should really give this guy his own live action show.
As for Sheena, she was my original choice for Princess Katharine. She wasn't available and Kath Soucie who I had never worked with before was terrific. But Sheena was always in my head to give something to. Finella seemed a great opportunity. So we brought her in. She was great. So we brought her back. She was astounding as Molly/Banshee, so we brought her back again. I was prepared to build the entire BAD GUYS series around her and Jim Cummings (with some help from Jeff Bennett, Jim Belushi and William Devane) but I couldn't sell it. I tried to cast her in as Molly McGrath in Max Steel, but again she wasn't available.
But I'd work with either Tom or Sheena again, anyday.
UPDATE
Hi Gang,
I'm back. And determined to pour through these questions. I can't believe I'm still backlogged until JULY!!!
But first, let me give you a quick update on what I've been up to recently.
STARSHIP TROOPERS
Post-Production has been completed on my first arc of stories. They are all set on the jungle moon TESCA NEMEROSA. I think they turned out wonderfully. I'm still very proud of the writing, but I'm wildly impressed with the CGI. (And yes, there are a few small things that bother me, but...) Overall, I think it's a very powerful set of stories.
MAX STEEL
We've completed writing and recording all 13 episodes for the first season. Post-production should begin after the first of the year. The CGI series should premeire in February on the WB's Saturday Morning. And now that the heavy lifting is done, I'm all but unemployed, which means I should have plenty of time for ASK GREG.
NAZCA
A good friend of mine did the English dub for this Japanese Anime series. Thom Adcox does the voice for one of the leads, and I do a few incidental voices here and there. (Yes, the man who brought you "Nice Mask!" and "Father, the rockets aren't working!" is back behind the microphone. God help us all.) It's available on home video in stores starting mid-January.
JUSTICE LEAGUE GIANT
As many of you already know, I did a CAPTAIN ATOM/JLE/GARGOYLES parody team-up for this comic book. I wrote it a year ago and I still haven't seen the final result, but I'm told it turned out all right. And every copy you buy puts about a tenth of a penny into my pocket... Seriously, it wouldn't hurt if this issue sold out and was followed by a letter writing campaign asking DC to do an actual Gargoyles comic. Don't know if it would work, but it wouldn't hurt.
UCLA EXTENSION
For those of you living in the L.A. Area, Kevin Hopps and I are teaching a twenty week course on writing for Television Animation through UCLA Extension's Writer's Program at Universal CityWalk starting this Spring and running through the Summer. Hope to see some of you there.
Now, back to your questions...
Siren writes...
We's were wondering, my precious, if Lexington's look inspired by the Golem, from Lord of the Rings? ;)
They look alike save the tail and wings. Is it just coincidence?
Greg responds...
Don't know. If so, I doubt it was conscious. But you'd have to ask all the artists (starting with Bob Kline and Dave Schwartz and continuing on to Kazuyoshi Takeuchi and Frank Paur). Mr. Takeuchi, by the way, is often the unsung hero of our final designs.
Aris Katsaris writes...
When did you decide that deities like Odin and Anubis were part of the same race with the 'elves'? Was it part of the original conception of the series or a later thought?
(Btw, I agree with it. In various mythologies the distinction between elves and gods is almost non-existent, so it's very reasonable.)
Greg responds...
Thanks for the support. But the question is harder to answer, because it was gradual. Keep in mind the whole concept of the Third Race (introduced with Puck in THE MIRROR) was a late addition to the concept. I think we came up with it halfway through the writing of the first season.
Including the other gods came during the writing of the second season. I definitely knew I was headed that way. But I do remember Frank and Dennis being surprised when the script for "The Gathering, Part One" included Odin, Anubis and Coyote at Avalon. By then, I was certain that was the correct way to go. But I guess I had forgotten to tell anyone.
Robin Wynn writes...
hi greg. thanks in advance for answering my Q's!! I collected the gargs comic up until it was droped. My questions are about that:
1)why was it dropped? I've heard different things varying from "it just didn't do that well" (though it did very well at the comic book store i go to) to "marvel's going bankrupt and had to drop a whole bunch of comics and gargs was just one of em..
2) The next comic was supposed to be *goes to get the last comic to see the exact frase* "The Day the Sun Kissed the Earth" What was that going to be about? It had me riveted the moment I read that,and I couldn't wait for the next one. Imagine how ticked I was when i found out there wouldn't be any more of them.:(
3)Could you (either here or in future ramblings) give a brief discription of some of the plot ideas you had for future issues?
4)Who was that mage in the last issue who resurected Venus? What were his plans for her?
thanks again!
Greg responds...
1. I'm not really qualified to answer this question, but Marvel was going through some tough times then and they had a mini-implosion, with the first casualty being there licensed comics, of which GARGOYLES was one. That much is certainly true. But whether or not the sales of the comic were any good is something I just don't know.
2. I don't remember, that title doesn't ring a bell. I was scheduled to take over the writing chores within a couple of issues. (I had already written one story.)
3. All this stuff I give out here at ASK GREG, might have shown up in the comic. I wasn't going to discriminate between it and the tv series.
4. I have no idea. Wasn't writing or editing the book then.
Sorry....
Kevin writes...
Dear Greg,
I am a giant fanof the show! Enough said. I was just wondering how you got the original idea for Gargoyles? I know there was a horror movie Gargoyle and also a comic, The Gargoyles. Did these have anything to do with the development of your show?
Greg responds...
I am not familiar with any comic called "The Gargoyles". I know Marvel Comics had a trio of unrelated characters called Gargoyle, The Gargoyle and the Gray Gargoyle. But they weren't an influence.
As for the movie, I assume you're referring to the Cornell Wilde TV Movie. I had seen that, but it also wasn't an influence.
I've answered this question thoroughly in the old archives, so you might check there for more info.
But briefly, I've had a personal fascination with Gargoyles dating back at least to the semester I spent in Oxford during my Senior year of college. Gummi Bears, Captain Atom and Hill Street Blues were all much bigger influences then any of the projects you cite above.
Heather E."Hudson" Rice writes...
Hey Greg,
Nice of you to remember me, during yer all-night "rant" session...Anyho, here's my questions:
1) What year did Hudson hatch?
2) When exactly was Castle Wyvern built? Demona mentioned,
"That these cliffs were our homes, long before the Humans'"
3)How many eggs can a female Gargoyle lay, at one time?
4) When a female Gargoyle goes into "heat", does she give
off a scent, or something?
5) AND, FINALLY, just where did Thom get his tattoo???
(HINT,HINT,HINT...)
Greg responds...
1. 878 A.D.
2. Which time?
3. One.
4. I'm sure she does.
5. Los Angeles... (And I don't have a clue what you're hinting about.)
Also, I should have blown off questions 3-5, cause they're on different topics. But they were short, so you got lucky.
Captain Atom & the Gargoyles
Reprinting (for posterity) what I just posted in the comment room:
Just a quick response/explanation to Alex (aka Simon).
I couldn't really do a full-on Captain Atom story. I was limited to 10 pages (and it takes a lot of time to write that short) and it was a JLA GIANT, so I was obligated to include the JLE from that era. Those were my marching orders.
So Dan Raspler (my editor) and I decided to do something fun. Something with Captain Atom elements, but something more in the tone of the JLE of that era -- admittedly, a sillier mag than the CAPTAIN ATOM book I used to write back then. But even in those days, when I put the JLE into Cap's book, I tried to split the difference on the tone, so that the transition wasn't too jarring.
I suggested making it a real exercise in self-indulgence by including a bit of a GARGOYLES parody. He went for it.
Now, in my first draft, I did open the story by showing the Funeral-At-Sea of Heinrich Megala. But my editor felt that it was too serious. That it clashed with the tone of the rest of the story. I didn't disagree. (I just didn't care.) But he didn't like it. So we went with what you saw.
Or so I assume. I haven't seen it yet. I called Dan yesterday, and he promised to send me a copy. Originally, Pat Broderick was supposed to do the pencilling -- a reunion of sorts. I don't know exactly what happened, but Pat didn't end up doing the story. So I can't even imagine what it looks like. And I don't know how much or how little I was edited. I hope it plays.
And I hope that clears things up.
By the way, I'm almost done with the writing and editing of Max Steel. I promise that after the first of the year, I'm going to try to MUSCLE through the backlog here at ASK GREG.
Sorry for the delays.
Kevin writes...
I know you don't like the Goliath Chronocles, but is there one episode of TGC that you thought stayed closest to your vision of what Gargoyles should be like? (besides "The Journey")
Greg responds...
As usual, I prefer not to comment on The Goliath Chronicles (besides "The Journey").
Sevarius Jr. writes...
For some reason, some of my earlier questions were deleted, so here they are again in abbreviated format:
1. Was it your initial decision to have 2 species of Gargoyles (humanoid and "beast"), or did you just start with the humanoid form and only later decide to include a "beast" version, a la Bronx?
2. Should Gargoyles ever once again become a viable comic book property, which modern-day artists/writers would you enjoy working with on the project?
3. I know you are working on the new Starship Troopers series. Are you a Robert Heinlein fan, or at least are you a fan of the original Starship Troopers novel?
Once again, thanks for your time!
Greg responds...
1. Two species all along. Or at any rate, once we switched from the comedy to the dramatic development direction. It was in the first draft of the bible.
Unfortunately, your other questions are on different topics. Please resubmit them as separate posts.
Where have I been...
I can't believe I'm still answering questions from back in July.
Please have patience with me. I have been completely swamped working on a new series for SONY (makers of MIB & Starship Troopers) and the WB (the network of BATMAN BEYOND). It's called "MX1: MAX STEEL", and if I survive the production process it should be a pretty cool show.
Here's a little info:
I'm the story editor and one of the producers.
It's not the same job/responsibility/freedom that I had on Gargoyles, but it is the closest I've come to it since way back then.
The Executive Producers are Richard Raynis and Jeff Kline.
The other Producer (on the art side) is Bob Richardson.
Sue Blue is our voice director.
We've got an order for 13 episodes. Each stands alone, hopefully, but as usual with my stuff they'll play better in sequence. I hope they air in order someday.
As of today, the writing breaks down as follows:
1. "Strangers" by Greg Weisman.
2. "Sacrifices" by Greg Weisman.
3. "Shadows" by Lydia Marano.
4. "Sportsmen" by Jon Weisman.
5. "Seraphim" by Michael Reaves.
6. "Spear-Carriers" by Kevin Hopps.
7. "Snow-Blind" by Mike Ryan.
8. "Sharks" by Katherine Fugate.
9. "Sabres" by Cary Bates.
10. "Sphinxes" by Gary Sperling.
11. "Swashbucklers" by Jon Weisman.
12. "Scions" by Cary Bates.
13. "Shattered" by Kevin Hopps.
The voice cast is pretty impressive to, with quite a few names familiar to Gargoyles fandom...
Our five regulars...
Christian Campbell
Jacob Vargas
Shannon Kenny
Chi McBride
Lauren Tom
Recurring & Guest Cast includes (in order of appearance):
John de Lancie
Keith Szarabajka
Jean Gilpin
Martin Jarvis
Thomas Wilson (aka Matt Bluestone)
Edward Asner (aka Hudson)
Jason Marsden
Jeff Bennett (aka Brooklyn, Owen, etc.)
Julia Kato
Obba Babbatunde
Cam Clarke (aka Young Gillecomgain & Eric Sturlesson)
Thom Adcox Hernandez (aka Lexington)
Greg Rainwater (aka Natsilane & Coyote Trickster)
August Paro
Robert Cait
And that's just after having recorded five episodes.
The show is 100% CGI. We have high hopes.
In other news, I just attended what could be called my first GARGOYLE wedding. Marc Perlman (our music editor) and Laurel Whitcomb (our publicist) met at the Gargoyle Premiere Party in 1994. They've been an item ever since, and finally made it official yesterday. The wedding was great fun, and I was singled out as being responsible for bringing them together.
Geez, talk about pressure.
I loved it.
I will get back to answering questions as soon as I can. Hope this little update tides you over a bit.
*The Bride of Ringo* writes...
Hi again, just one quick question:
Before maggie was mutated we know she was living out on the streets with a bunch of bums and in all honesty she looked pretty messed up... if Gargoyles wasn't intended for kids, would you have made her be on drugs or an alcoholic or have some other kind of problems that people who live on the street very often have?
Greg responds...
No. Not Maggie anyway. It has nothing to do with Gargoyles being for kids, by the way. (Compare what we did in "Deadly Force" for example.)
If I wanted to do a drug or alcohol story, I'd do one. I'd try to be very responsible about it. But in those days, I could do so-called controversial material. But I don't do it for the sake of doing it, I have to have a great story in mind.
Maggie wasn't about that. I don't know what might have happened to her down the road if she had stayed on the streets without Sevarius' not-so-benevolent intervention... but she probably would have eventually admitted defeat and called her parents to wire her busfare back to Ohio.
Her problem wasn't drugs or booze. It was naivete. In my mind, as I think I've mentioned before, she was a would-be actress who came to NYC with her life savings. Maybe a couple grand, which she went through ridiculously fast, thinking that any minute she'd be discovered and become a Broadway star!
At least, that's how I figured her.
Airwalker writes...
For a long while Toon Disney was showing all of the episode in order (they omitted DEADLY FORCE but otherwise everything else was in correct order). But starting July 1, they suddenly started showing the episodes completely out of order, mainly the episodes of the second season. Do you know of any reason why they they would suddenly do that and how to get them to correct it so that they go back to the proper order?
Greg responds...
I know of no reason, why they'd start messing up.
I also don't have any immediate thoughts as to how to correct them. I did it once, when I still knew people who worked at Disney Channel. Those folk are gone now...
Let me ponder...
Airwalker writes...
I know that you were only involved with THE JOURNEY in TGC. But in the episode GENERATIONS, the story had Demona completely alienating Angela, with the ending of the episode indicating that Angela had completely given up on her mother. If you got the show back, how would deal with this, how would you fix this?
Greg responds...
I have and will continue to resist addressing these questions at this time.
Understand, GOLIATH CHRONICLES was very, very PAINFUL for me. Besides "The Journey" I watched each episode exactly once -- a bitter experience each time. (And note: This is not the fault of the people who produced those episodes.)
I have no desire to put myself through additional needless pain.
Now if the show were to come back, the pain wouldn't be needless. It would be worthwhile, and I would gladly watch, even study, each episode again, looking for loopholes, for what I could ignore, etc. etc. etc.
It may sound arrogant, but I have no doubt I could salvage my continuity in its entirety.
But for now...
The only Chronicle that exists for me is "The Journey."
Hope you understand.
Airwalker writes...
Do alternate/parallel realities (you know, worlds where history went a little differently like What if the South won the Civil War, stuff like that) exist in the structure of the Gargoyles Universe? Is it a Universe or a Multiverse?
Greg responds...
Multiverses are so much fun, but like unrestricted time-travel they are subject to massive abuse.
The short answer is, I haven't decided definitively, but I'm leaning toward a "NO".
I'd never want to, for example, cheapen the Magus' death by introducing the Magus from another dimension. And isn't our Demona quite enough fun, so that we have no need to meet the so-called Good Demona from a parallel world.
Of course, I suppose it could help explain GOLIATH CHRONICLES. Hmmmm....
CORRECTION
I can't believe I said I "wrote" ten episodes of Starship Troopers. That's flat out untrue.
I meant to say I story edited ten episodes of Starship Troopers:
16 - "No Substitute" by Jon Weisman
17 - "And Then There Were Two..." by Cary Bates
18 - "Marauder" by Michael Reaves
19 - "Liquid Dreams" by Greg Weisman
20 - "Heart" by Lydia Marano
36 - "Funeral for a Friend" by Greg Weisman
37 - "Spirits of the Departed" by Jon Weisman
38 - "Gates of Hell" by Lydia Marano
39 - "Circle of the Damned" by Cary Bates
40 - "Final Inferno" by Michael Reaves
As you can see I wrote two episodes and story edited ten. My apologies to Cary, Michael, Lydia and Jon.
Episodes 37 - 40 were the ones yanked out of production. And of course, the numbers listed above reflect their ideal airing order. There's little chance that they'll actually air in that order. At least not the first time through. And of course, SONY doesn't show the titles on SCREEN. So the best you can do is look out for the above five writers names. These are all scripts I'm VERY proud of. Hopefully, the episodes will turn out as good.
Greg
P.S. Now, watch -- I've probably made some new dopey error.
Where's Greg....?
Greg is up to his neck in work right now. Sorry.
Here's what's been going on.
As many of you know, I wrote ten episodes of the forty episode order of STARSHIP TROOPERS (now dubbed ROUGHNECKS: THE STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES (or something like that)).
My episodes were orignally slated to be #16-20 and #36-40.
My first arc (16-20) were set on a jungle planet. My last arc was set on Earth (36 in Colorado & 37-40 on Hawaii specifically).
Then all hell broke loose.
Two CGI companies were originally doing the CGI for the show. One of these companies bailed -- as I understand it they declared bankruptcy -- still holding onto five episodes worth of SONY's money. But Sony still had to deliver 40 episodes. And they didn't want to pay for 45. So now they've added three clip shows. And taken a couple of single episodes and made them two-parters. In the process they chose (at least for now) not to make my Hawaii episodes. Hopefully, they'll be made later for Home Video or a second season or something.
I've been watching the shows on my local channel. Missed the premiere episode. Then saw the next five. The first one I saw, (the second to air in syndication) was an episode from the third week arc (had to be 16, 17 or 18 in the original airing order) set on the planet Tophet. They followed that with the first four episodes set on Pluto in order. Then yesterday they aired the first episode for at least the second time in two weeks.
Obviously, we're having some delivery problems.
And all of the above, completely out of my control.
The good news is that the five episodes I saw kicked some major ass visually. And the stories were pretty great too. (And I had nothing to do with them.) Maybe that bodes well for the six episodes of mine that should get made soon.
Meanwhile, I've been swamped working on a CGI show for Sony that should air on the WB in January. It's on an inhuman schedule that's literally killing me, but hopefully you'll like the finished product.
Sorry if I haven't had much time for ASK GREG recently. But I love doing it, so I will get back to it as soon as I can.
I swear.
Greg
Airwalker writes...
Was it Brooklyn's constant talk in FUTURE TENSE about the Phoenix Gate and time travel that inspired you to come up with the idea of TIMEDANCER?
(I wonder because you said somewhere in the archives that you came up with Timedancer too late in the game to actually pitch it to any station.)
Greg responds...
No. It was the pure evolution of the characters of the Trio. I saw very clearly that they were going their separate ways. Writing "The Journey" cemented the idea in my head. I believe that Brooklyn, Lex and Broadway would never find better brothers, better friends than each other, but I also saw that the days when they acted as one were gone.
I wanted to visualize this. The initial Phoenix Gate story (the one that somehow melted into "Runaways" in TGC) came first. The idea of him coming back older, mated and with kids and a beast, was a great shocking ending. But I felt it would really demonstrate what I had in my head.
The spin-off idea was of course obvious after that. I mean he was gone for forty years. What was he doing all that time? But, as you noted, by the time I came up with that, it was too late. Disney had already made me feel unwelcome.
Hybris, on my part, played a big role as well.
Hindsight, whatchagonna do?
Airwalker writes...
How many upgrades do you see Cyoti ultimately going through? You once said that the various version numbers (Cyoti 2.0, Cyoti 3.0, Cyoti 4.0, etc) were a homage to Marvel Comic's Ultron. But Ultron stopped numbering himself at #13. Do you think Cyoti would exceed that or not?
Greg responds...
You're just way ahead of me. I had the robot plotted through 6.0. I hadn't plotted him out farther, though I probably would have brought him back in some form in G2158. I hadn't thought about what I would name him at that point. Maybe COYOTE-2158?
By the way, though I wish I had used the Bible's spelling, the fact is I didn't, so it's COYOTE, not CY.O.T.I.
Phoenix writes...
I've been hearing about this Gargoyles 2158 thing, what is it?
Greg responds...
Arrgghh...
Now, I'm nervous....
I answered this last time I visited ASK GREG. Man, I hope we don't have another technical problem. Hopefully, human error was involved...
Anyway, Phoenix, after we finished the writing on the second season of Gargoyles, Gary Sperling and I began working on some potential spin-off shows for the series.
One of these was set in the future, the year 2158 to be specific. Originally, we called it "GARGOYLES: FUTURE TENSE". But I later changed the name to "GARGOYLES 2158".
The series featured Goliath's grandson SAMSON, a largely-reformed DEMONA and a Time-Dancing BROOKLYN, among others.
CBS was interested in airing it, but before we could put a pitch together, the whole CBS Saturday Morning dept. was fired. And shortly thereafter Disney bought ABC, rendering any deal with CBS all but impossible. At about the same time there was a major regime change at Disney TV Animation as well. The new regime wasn't too interested in Gargoyles at all, at least not in making it a priority. ABC asked for a new version of the show. But no one wanted 2158.
Oh, well.
Sevarius Jr. writes...
Who was responsible for creating the concept of Fox? I've always thought it was very clever to name her "Fox Renard". A conscious effort to point back at the folk tales of old, huh (Renard the Fox is a fave of mine!)? ;-)
Greg responds...
Uh, it depends what you mean.
I came up with the original concept for the Pack. At least I think I did. At any rate, I led the development team that did. I definitely had Fox pegged as female. Her birth name came later. "Renard" was used in "Outfoxed" as both a clue to the clever viewer that Halcyon and Fox were related and a clue to the clever viewer as to where Fox got her name. I know it sounds like I'm always taking credit, but I think that was my idea as well. (But it might have been Cary Bates. I just vaguely remember that Cary named the character Something Halcyon. And I made Halcyon the first name and made the last name Renard. Frank Paur came up with the character of Halcyon Renard in the first place, though I think Cary and I figured out that he was Fox's dad.)
Vanessa writes...
Ok, My question is not related to the content of the show, but the production.
1. How closely did you work with each of the departments (ie. writers, artists, actors, etc.) while you were making the show?
2. Who had the final say about what actually aired and what got cut?
Greg responds...
1. The writers and story editors worked for me directly.
The actors worked for our Voice Director Jamie Thomason, but I sat right next to Jamie at every recording, so I knew them very well.
The pre-production artists worked under Frank Paur, Dennis Woodyard and Bob Kline, and I largely dealt with those three Director/Producers as opposed to having direct contact with the artists. BUT -- there were tons of exceptions and I got to know many of the storyboard artists fairly well. Plus I had brought our (2nd season) lead character designer Greg Guler onto the show in its development phase. So I worked fairly closely with him.
I also had one on one meetings with our timing directors.
As for the actual overseas production artists. People like Roy, I had no real contact with them. Mostly I left that to Frank, though I occasionally communicated with the head of Walt Disney Japan via FAX.
In post, I worked directly with everyone. Editors, Sound folk, music, etc.
2. There isn't one answer to this. I had a tremendous amount of authority on the first two seasons, but I did have people I answered to. Largely, they gave me pretty free reign. Frank had equal authority. We generally agreed or at least could reach a solution together. Occasionally, whether we agreed on something or not, a decision would go up the ladder.
Derek writes...
Hi again Greg, sorry about my last Mega-post, I posted all those questions as a lump before you asked us not to, so sorry.
ANYWAY- Here's my question...
Where did Dracon's white streak come from? It wasn't there in DEADLY FORCE and then in THE SILVER FALCON, it was. Was there both a behind the scenes and a "real" reason for this like the change in the mutate's appearance? That's it, thanks.
Greg responds...
Yeah. Two reasons.
I felt that Dracon didn't look distinctive enough in his first appearance, so Frank and I discussed it and decided that Goliath scared him so badly it turned part of his hair white. We even considered doing the same thing to Glasses. The idea appealed to me on some level, but it just seemed to artificial. And in some ways Glasses already looked more distinctive. (I always loved Glasses.)
Ay Lynn writes...
1.) This has been killing me. Lexington and Broadway are bald as Gargoyles. When Puck transformed them into humans -- they had hair! Any reasons for this? (Personally, I'm rather partial to a Lex with hair, but... curious...)
2.) Lexington is noticably different from the rest of the Gargoyles (his wings being the most differing feature) and he is dwarfed by his clan members. Is he a different breed of Gargoyle? Is there such thing?
3.) Not a question, really, but I just wanted to add my voiced appreciation to all the others for bringing the universe of Gargoyles into creation. Much thanks.
Finally, I'd like to express my suprise at no matter how much we (the fans) nitpick and analyze this series, it somehow always still makes sense in the end... Kudos!
Greg responds...
1. Behind the scenes, we wanted Lex and Broadway to resemble Thom Adcox & Bill Faggerbakke as much as possible.
Within the universe, though some gargs are bald, few human teens are. So it made sense to add hair.
Plus, I've never said that Lex and/or BW ARE bald. Maybe they shave...
2. Lex isn't a different species. He's also not fully grown yet, so he will get bigger. Though he'll never be as big as Brook or BW. Some guys are just short. Like me.
3 &tc. Thanks.
--D writes...
I don't suppose you might be able to tell me where I can purchase copies of the original episodes?
Greg responds...
Nope. Sorry.
Airwalker writes...
Would you have given some personal history to Jackal and Hyena as time went on?
(I'm curious as to what kind of people would be so willing to mutilate themselves. What kind of a past could have moved them to doing that to themselves?
Wolf mutating himslef didn't bother me because if anything he was increasing his senses, his physical being, while Jackal and Hyena were diminishing theirs. They threw away perfectly good body parts for what - dull feelingless metal?)
Greg responds...
Probably. But it wasn't a high priority for me. Sometimes it's fun just to have a couple characters who are nuts. Characters who don't have complex reasons for their actions. I'm very proud of the complexity that abounds in both Demona and Xanatos. But sometimes it's fun just to cut loose.
Zeliard writes...
My compliments to Gorebash for hosting the "Ask Greg".
Hello Mr. Weisman. You said that you worked on other Disney projects years ago like Darkwing Duck and Tale Spin. I was wondering...:
I.In a Darkwing Duck episode, Launchpad disappeared in a time machine and returned minutes later, but he says that he spent the last 5 years in Rome trying to fix the time machine. Did that gave you the inspiration for the Timedancer?
II.In Tale Spin, the Air Pirates used an Air Fortress. Did that gave you the idea for Fortress 1 and 2 for Cyberbiotics?
Now for the Gargoyles:
1.In "The Mirror", why did Demona refused the suggestion from Puck. i.e. "Make Goliath fall in love with Demona again"? Or take over the mind of Goliath or the clan like in "Temptation"?
2.Why Xanatos hasn't place Coyote's (the robot) artificial intelligence in the Steel Clan robots? They would have given the Gargoyles a real challenge.
3.What are exactly the Space-Spawns? Humanoids? Insectoids?
4.I learned that the space war involved 3 races: Space-Spawns, Nokkar's people and another race. What is the name of the other race and Nokkar's spicies?
Thank you for your time, bye!
Zeliard
Greg responds...
I. Sorry, I did work on Darkwing, but it wasn't my show, and I'm not that intimate with the details. And no, it didn't influence TimeDancer.
II. It didn't directly give me the idea, but it may have been one of many airship influences floating around in my head.
As per our new rules, I invite you to resubmit your remaining questions as multiple separate posts.
*The Bride of Ringo* writes...
Hi again... :-)
My question this time is are gargoyles right handed or left handed the way humans are? I know it's kind of silly, but I've always wondered that since I've never seen any of them take a pen or pencil and write anything.
Greg responds...
I suppose many are ambidextrous. Since in animation, that's not a detail we have the luxury of paying much attention to.
Airwalker writes...
If included inside GARGOYLES itself instead of getting it's own spin-off, how many episodes would you have given to Timedancer? (Would it have been 5 parts like AWAKENINGS, 3 parts like AVALON, 2 parts like THE GATHERING, or just a single episode?)
Greg responds...
I don't know. It was originally going to be one episode. Just one inside what became THE GOLIATH CHRONICLES. (How it morphed into "Runaways" is beyond me.) Then it would hang out there as a potential spin-off or back-door pilot. If that never got picked up, I'd eventually have told some of Brooklyn's adventures in various scattered flashback episodes within the main series. Some might have wound up as multi-parters. But I don't pretend, I worked that much out. I was hoping it would spin off -- at which point I'd have forty years worth of material to cover.
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