Posted on 03/29/2004 2:08:23 PM PST by Paul C. Jesup
Hello.
For you fans of good anime/animation; reruns of a VERY GOOD cartoon series called Gargoyles is returning to basic cable/satellite.
If you don't remember or have never heard of it, Gargoyles is the only GREAT cartoon series that Disney produced (please don’t hold the fact that it was produced by Disney, against it). It was action/drama series with an excellent plot and well thought-out characters. It was produced in 1994, in the same vain as Fox's Batman The Animated Series, with that dark gothic style, BUT BETTER!!
The show is about a group of honorable gargoyles in 994 AD that were wrongly cursed into a permanent stone sleep (in the series gargoyles turn to stone during the day, by are turn back to flesh at night) over a serious misunderstanding (the person who does curse them is not a villain, he just messed-up big time). Fast-forward to 1994 AD, in the heart of New York City, they are finally free of their curse and the adventure real begins.
The Gargoyles Cartoon Series is now off of Toon Disney and ON ABC Family at 11:00 AM Eastern for an hour (2 Episodes) on Saturdays and Sundays. ABC Family is on most basic cable and satellite packages, so I know you probably have this channel.
The show was two seasons long, 66 episodes in all. And before you ask, I don't consider "The Goliath Chronicles" to be a true third season because Eisner himself had that season butched because the show was too good a series.
I recommend you tape the episodes, so you can fast forward through the commercials. And watch them when you have the chance. They are much better to watch than the Reality TV crap that comes on Prime Time.
As an anime/animation fan, if you have not seen this series before, IT IS A MUST SEE!! Barring the slightly dated animation, this show rivals in quality with some of the best anime currently on; think Beauty and the Beast Romance better than Inu Yasha, better characterization than Cowboy Bebop, and a plot the rivals in quality to Big O (S1 & S2) and Babylon 5.
And Star Trek fans, you will get a lot out of this series because most of the voice actors are from the cast of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, most notably: Jonathan Frakes (Riker from TNG) voice acts the villain David Xanatos (Zan-nan-tos; think a none-aristocratic, multi-billionaire Treize Khushrenada [Gundam Wing character]) and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi from TNG) voice acts the villainess gargoyle named Demona, who has more too her than she first appears in the beginning of the series.
DO NOT play a Star Trek drinking-game while watching Gargoyles, you WILL BE drunk (or close to it) by the first half of the episode and you risk a very real chance of death by alcohol poisoning by the end of that episode.
Please understand, in the Gargoyles show, they threw everything including the kitchen sink into this series; from magic to sci-fi, from elves to aliens, from magical shapeshifing to cyborgs to genetic engineering, from stone golems to androids, from magical bending of reality to nano-technology, from magical weapons to sci-fi exo-suits, from ghosts to astral projection, from magical lands to New York, from time-travel to globe-trotting. From Egyptian Gods to Viking Gods. Avalon, King Author and Excalibur. Also, they took characters from Shakespeare, most notably Macbeth and the fairy-folk from a Mid-Summer Night's Dream.
The above, was the SHORT list.
And yes there is death and murder use in this series.
Also, quite a few members of the cast use guns, a lot.
Just one thing, there are absolutely NO coincidences in this series; everything pans out.
Greg Weisman. creator of the Gargoyles series, is a genius. Plus, he plan this show to go much further than it did, all the way to 2198 and an alien invasion by something called the "Space-Spawn"; http://www.dracandros.com/Jebgarg/tge/spcspawn.htm
ABC Family is to Season 1 Episodes11 and 12 next Saturday (April 3rd, 2004). But don't worry, here some links to jog your memory for the episodes you missed.
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servle...2079/Gargoyles/ http://www.dracandros.com/Jebgarg/tge/basetge.htm http://www.gargoyles-fans.org/episodes.html
For me, Gargoyles is tied with G1 Transformers as my all time favorite cartoon series ever. And it earned that spot.
And last but not least, Season 1 of Gargoyles is suppose to be released on DVD Boxset by the end of this year (2004, the Tenth Anniversary of the premiere of the Gargoyles Series) and depending on sells, they may release Season 2, that is why I am informing you, who I know are anime/animation fans, so I can get as many eyeballs to watch this series, because though I look forward to having Season 1 of Gargoyles in my DVD Collection (It is GOOD), I WANT Season 2 of Gargoyles in my DVD Collection (It is MIND-BLOWINGLY GOOD!!).
And finally, if a second rate series like "Family Guy" can be brought back from the dead by DVD Sells, there is surely hope for a masterpiece like Gargoyles.
1. The show is VERY conservative. It very pro-life through-out it's two season. It is pro-gun, plenty of the characters (not just the cops) use guns to defend themselves (S1 Ep 07: Deadly Force, was more about 'why you should NOT treat a gun like a toy' and it was a very daring episode). That the rich white male character (David Xanatos) is NOT portrayed as a heartless, evil, 2D villian, but instead a honorable man, who has done questionable things, with a different agenda than the gargoyles. Also, Zanatos is probably the character who experiences the most character development of the entire cast.
2. Gargoyles is good example of every that was good about Disney and everything it could be. This show is the only time Disney gear a cartoon series toward teens and adults (and for the most part NOT kids). It was an action/drama with very little comedy in it. Also, Eisner is the one who killed this show. So giving this show a chance (and buying the DVDs to it, when they are released) is a good way to show how Eisner and his minions were wrong.
1. Anything with Biblical injokes, like 'David' Xanatos versus 'Goliath' and characters taken from Shakespeare, should alone be enough reason to give this show a chance.
Well for example, the pro-life/pro-marriage angle in the second season, David and Fox fall in love, get married and have a son. These events turn David in a much better person.
Then there is the whole 'protecting the gargoyles eggs' in 994 AD plotline.
Considering I have seen the Trigun series, all I got to say is BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
I could tear your above statement apart in half a dozen ways. But I will instead be polite and just say that Vash refuses to kill and only uses his guns when he has too.
By the way, I like Trigun, but it does not hold a candle to Cowboy Bebop.
Hey, I watched it back then, and I liked it, but it wasn't better than Batman (or Justice League now for that matter).
I have both the Cowboy Bebop series on DVD and I also, have the Cowboy Bebop Movie DVD.
Spike could out fight Bruce Lee in pure hand to hand combat and (with the Swordfish II) fly circles around Luke Skywalker in hist is X-Wing. :D
JLA Season 2 Rocked. Both we both agree they are good series.
No, I am right, Vash refused to kill Knifes at the end. That psycho needed to be killed.
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