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W.I.T.C.H.

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Harlan Phoenix writes...

When working on WITCH, did you ever meet or otherwise communicate with the creator of the original comic?

Greg responds...

Nope.

Response recorded on August 16, 2011

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

Silly little question- Do you ever feel the urge, (or give into the urge), to slip something into a script purely because you know something about the actor? Like writing a song into a scene because you know the actor sings, (but maybe not telling them that they're going to be doing Sondheim or Gilbert & Sullivan till after they agree to sing 'some ditty'), or make them speak a foreign language because someone is fluent (but perhaps has a horrid accent)? Someone has a great cackle? Find a reason to have it come up. Someone is afraid of canaries? Put on on the character's shoulder for the whole episode. etc The only example I can think of now would be to have M'gan spout a long series of made up equations to see if Danica McKellar's head explodes in the face of nonsensical math. (Or replace of a series of made up equations with her own theorem at the last moment and wait for her to notice.)

Or does "Jalapeno!" qualify as such evil?

Greg responds...

Jalapena definitely qualifies.

Thailog qualifies in general. (How can I write for Keith David and never give him the chance to laugh?!)

I would have loved to do musical episodes of Gargoyles and/or Spectacular Spider-Man, but in the former I couldn't think of a smart way to make it work (pre-Joss Whedon's "Once More With Feeling") and in the latter, we didn't get enough episodes...

But it was fun doing the two musical episodes of W.I.T.C.H.

Response recorded on May 16, 2011

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Jamie writes...

Hey greg,first of all, you're awesome, i remember when i was only 5 and i would re enact your gargoyles haha good times.

If you were to compare Young Justice and your other works, would young justice be in the top 5?

How many views are you having on Young justice ?

Greg responds...

Wow, did you just make me feel old...

Yes, YJ would be in my top five, along with Gargoyles (of course) and in no particular order, Spectacular Spider-Man, W.I.T.C.H. and Captain Atom.

Response recorded on April 21, 2011

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Edward writes...

Is the Green Arrow short in continuity with Young Justice since you were/are involved with both?

Greg responds...

I was also involved with W.I.T.C.H., Starship Troopers, Gargoyles and the Spectacular Spider-Man, and none of those are in continuity with Young Justice.

Response recorded on April 07, 2011

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tomi writes...

I really enjoyed these first preview episodes of Young Justice. And perhaps even moreso than that i enjoyed to hear Crispin Freeman to return back to your services: i think he made fantastic work as both Speedy and Guardian, and eventhough you can still hear a bit that it is the same actor, he made it possible for those two characters to be divided and personified from one and another.

He was excellent as Electro, and i was fan of him before that(i came hooked sometimes around i first saw first few episodes of Wolf,s Rain).

From what i,ve been able to gather, he seems to be not only true professional, but also smart, intelligent guy with great thoughts, coupled with sharp and delightful sense of humor. I have seem him to appear in many of Gatherings(often paired with good old Thom Lexington Adcox), and i,ve heard that he was fan long before your paths crossed, often discussing with his fans about serie,s themes.

If it isnt too much trouble, could you give little bit of greenlight how you two met, and how your cooperation began?

Hopes for better to your work from fan from far-off-land Finland: maybe there arent too many Finnish Gargfans, but i am one of them.

Pidä lippu korkealla!/Keep your spirits high!

Greg responds...

I met him through the Gathering, actually. 2001 in Los Angeles, I believe. He was a guest of the convention, giving his mythology seminar. We first worked together on a pitch for Mecha-Nation, i.e. he did us a favor and recorded a bit of dialogue for us. The first paying job I could offer him was on the very last episode of W.I.T.C.H.

Response recorded on March 17, 2011

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John Derrick writes...

I hate to say it, but I was extremely disappointed in the Young Justice premiere. Don't get me wrong--the animation was gorgeous, the dialogue entertaining, the story intriguing. But the gender imbalance was a huge turn-off for me.

Why was it that the women of the Justice League were only shown in the last five minutes of a two-part pilot? Why did the male sidekicks get to go on a rebellious adventure and force the League to accept them as a team of their own, while the first girl is only added to "Young Justice" at the very end, introduced by her uncle and guardian like some sort of token?

I expect that the women will have a lot more to do in the episodes to come, but I still find it profoundly problematic to introduce the characters in such an unequal manner. I believe there are too many men in the world as it is who see women as mere supporting players in their stories. Why reinforce this stereotype for a whole new generation of superhero cartoon fans?

Greg responds...

It's a legitimate gripe. And I doubt my answer will satisfy you, but it came down to a couple factors that we at least found important: (1) practicality and to a lesser extent - but intertwined with - (2) tradition.

Let's start with practicality.

You asked why there were no female Leaguers until the end. But where would they have fit? There are no female Leaguers with traditional first generation sidekicks. So Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman and Flash could not be replaced by Wonder Woman, Black Canary or Hawkwoman. That leaves the four Leaguers introduced at the Hall of Justice. I needed Martian Manhunter to be there to set up Miss Martian. I needed Red Tornado there to set up his interest in the teens. I needed Superman there to set up Superboy. That leaves only Zatara. He was certainly replaceable. But then I would have had to hire another voice actress to read ONE LINE. I couldn't afford to do that. We have budgets. (And you'll notice that Red Tornado never speaks in the episode. Couldn't afford giving him a line either. None of which had anything to do with gender.)

There was NEVER any intent to introduce Artemis this early in the season for story reasons. Wouldn't make sense for her character. And I think the reasons why will become clear as the season progresses.

As for Miss Martian, yes, in theory, we could have introduced her sooner. Manhunter COULD have brought her along at the beginning. But then I'd have had FOUR characters running around the first half hour and FIVE in the second. That steals screen time and characterization from everyone. I think the entire production would have been weaker for adding another character -- ANY other character (gender notwithstanding).

Of course, that begs the obvious question - why not ditch one of the boys in favor of her to create a little balance.

But it seemed to us that would create balance at a cost.

There are FOUR TRADITIONAL sidekicks: Robin, Speedy, Aqualad and Kid Flash. To leave one out seemed wrong to us. Which brings in the Tradition argument, which I'll admit is somewhat feeble, but as an old comic book geek, I'll also admit it matters to me and to everyone else here.

The very first Teen Titans story ever in Brave and the Bold featured only THREE heroes: Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash. Wonder Girl did not join until their second adventure. So we felt there was a precedent for beginning with Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash and saving the real introduction of Miss Martian (beyond hellos) for OUR second adventure.

For what it's worth, if you give the series another chance, starting with episode three (i.e. the one immediately following the pilot "movie"), I think you'll see that female characters including Miss Martian, Black Canary, Artemis, Wonder Woman and MANY others will be playing ESSENTIAL roles in the show as we progress. I think the balance - and then some - is absolutely present in the first season when viewed in its entirety.

Yes, the pilot was very boy-centric, but that's not the rubric for the series. Personally, I love writing female characters, and if you're at all familiar with my past work, you'll know I have a history of doing them justice. (At least, I think so.) Gargoyles, for example, is FULL of strong female characters, including Elisa, Demona, Angela, Fox, etc. WITCH was nearly ALL female leads. Even Spider-Man had a strong female supporting cast, in my opinion at least.

If we did "reinforce a stereotype" (which I think is overstating it) then perhaps we've lured in kids that we will reeducate over the course of the season - organically without forcing it.

So I'd beg a little patience, a little indulgence... maybe even a little trust that we'll do right by this issue.

But judge for yourself.

Response recorded on December 21, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

Who would you rather be trapped in an eight hour car ride with; Demona; Nerissa; or Green Goblin?

Greg responds...

Nerissa, I guess. She'd have less reason to kill me at random. She might even appreciate the company.

Response recorded on November 23, 2010

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Andrea writes...

Hi Greg, i've heard about some unaired 15-minute pilot episode of W.I.T.C.H. with a different story on halloween and i know they wore made for some test or something like this. I've heard on a topic on a forum that they are on a tape and it was just one copy of that. Now i was wondering if you can tell me were can i find those 15 minutes, because i didn't find anything on internet or maybe you know were it is or you can find that copy and share it with me. I really want to see those 15 minutes.

Greg responds...

Sorry. I don't know where you can find it.

Response recorded on November 06, 2010

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Algernon writes...

Hey Greg,
Long time fan, first time asker. I’ve actually been posting over on in the Comment Room on and off for the past couple of years. I would have posted something here on Ask Greg sooner but frankly I could never think of anything particularly interesting say other then various permutations of “YOU ROCK!”

Anyway I’ve been a huge “Gargoyles” fan since I first saw “Awakenings Part One” waaay back in ‘94, and I loved “The Spectacular Spider-Man” throughout it’s glorious yet tragically brief run. Needless to say, I’m eagerly looking forward to “Young Justice”.

Yet up until recently, I’d been grossly negligent of the forgotten middle child of your career. A few weeks ago I got the chance to watch season two of “W.I.T.C.H.” and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even going back to watch season one and then re-watching season two all the way through again, just so I had all the back story.

Season two was a wonderfully crafted epic that managed to be true to the established continuity of season one yet at the same time managed to elevate and expand it into something truly astounding. I was especially impressed with the characterisation of Nerissa, she seemed to combined some of the most dangerous qualities of Demona and Xanatos, obsessive and vengeful yet at the same time very cool and calculating.

It really is a tragedy that this show isn’t better remembered, I’ve actually spoken to hardcore “Gargoyles” and “Spectacular Spider-Man” fans who’ve never seen it. Personally, I’d heartily recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of your better known toons.

Greg responds...

Thank you.

We were VERY proud of the work we did on W.I.T.C.H. There was some great story craft there by a diverse group of writers, some of whom would be very familiar to Gargoyles and Spidey fans, including Cary Bates, Andrew Robinson, Kevin Hopps, Greg Weisman, Jon Weisman and Nicole Dubuc. Also involved were Sam Bernstein (writer of the movie Bobby's Girl) and Steve Peterman (one of the show-runners on Hannah Montana). And our great boss Justine Cheynet.

Response recorded on September 03, 2010

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

I’ve heard you mention several times that you have had very good luck with S&P over several series, praising people who really understood the series and were more interested in showing consequence than keeping any violence off screen. When they put their foot down it was generally to avoid what a child can copy, even willing to have a different violent action in place they couldn’t. Did you ever have bad experiences? (Either on a series you were running, or one you freelanced on.)

Greg responds...

Yes, I've had many. Some completely inexplicable. Others explicable, but still wrong-headed.

Taranee on W.I.T.C.H. was a constant problem, as her power was fire and the S&P executive was very uncomfortable with... I'm not quite sure... the notion that we were encouraging child pyromania? The possibility that kids would use magic to generate flames?

I can't think of a really funny example just this second, though God knows I have more than a handful.

Response recorded on August 03, 2010


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