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Anonymous writes...
If there are three races on Earth according to the Gargoyles , then what are the New Olympians?
Greg responds...
A hybrid. But keep in mind who told you that there were only three races.
It was Broadway. What the hell does he know?
Anonymous writes...
Have you ever thought about doing a REAL Gargoyles Movie, not just AWAKENING on tape? After all, a movie that answers all of the questions you left hanging might just save the show...or at least satisfy we fans.
Greg responds...
I'm not sure what you mean. Answers "all" of the questions? Everytime I answered any question, I made a conscious effort to raise a new question. As to the Movie thing -- well, there is a live-action movie in the works that I have some very limited peripheral involvement in. Both "City of Stone" and "Hunter's Moon" were originally planned as "movies" for home video, but neither were picked up for that format, so we made them into episodes.
Anonymous writes...
Before I ask anything I'd like to thank you for coming to the Gathering and putting up with our enthusiastic attention so well. Now to questions. I meant to ask this at the con, were there every any notable times where the animators goofed completely without misdirection being at fault? [I was thinking of things like (maybe) the scale of the Cloisters in Temptations, I am not tall, but in that place I bump my head on doorways, or my favorite pet peeve, the scarflike prayer shawl in Golem- (most of the ones I have seen are about the size of a middling to large flag, and strike a far more romantic image when worn). Another question I would have asked at the con had I remembered it at the time: Are you ever surprized at certain strong preferences common in fandom? Things like preferring the 5 part opener to straight to video version, or the original ending of Vows instead of the intended one that replaced it in later showings?
Thanks.
Greg responds...
You're welcome. I had a great time.
The animators made tons of mistakes. Only natural given our extremely tight production schedules. Most mistakes were fixed with retakes. Some slipped by us.
Surprised? Yeah, sometimes. Preferring the 5-parter to the video doesn't come as a shock. As I've mentioned before, the video was put together for one specific purpose, and a home video wasn't it. The Vows thing does surprise me. It's such an obvious error. Like the kind you mentioned in your previous question. They put the wrong background in.
It infuriated us at the time. I don't know why anyone would prefer this mistake. I'm not sure I understand the "interpretation" that fandom has read into that mistake that makes it more attractive than the true intent, which was Goliath remembering that one special moment when he and Demona exchanged vows.
Anonymous writes...
Like, hi, and stuff. One question. *loud clanking and yelling as he looks for the list* Ah, here it is. *clears throat* 1. Why am I constantly hearing "Gargoyles is Cancelled, Gargoyles is cancelled!"?
2. Is it cancelled?
3. If so...WHY?! A TON of people love this show, man!
4. General comment here...could you tell the higher ups in Disney that A.
John Smith was a jerk B. That Quasimodo was a NUT. and C. JOHN SMITH.
NEVER. GOT. SHOT!
5. Um...are there scripts fer eps you kin buy?
Greg responds...
1. Uh. Cuz it was.
2. Depends on how you define "cancelled" I guess. They aren't making new episodes. Reruns are now showing on USA. But by any standard definition, yes, Gargoyles was cancelled.
3. Define "TON". Ratings weren't high enough to keep it on the air.
4. No.
5. No.
Anonymous writes...
A couple of questions for one of the greatest showbiz guys I've communicated with.
1. In a previous answer, you mentioned negative recommendations for the Goliath Chronicles (suggestions taken the wrong way, things you said not to do that were done, etc.) What were some of these negative suggestions?
2. If you ever had the chance to tell us the story you had in mind about the clocktower (also mentioned in a past question), would you?
3. If a publisher wanted to do your Gargoyles encyclopedia, would you?
4. Would you someday tell us more about the original (comedy) premise?
5. What was the inspiration for "Future Tense"? I think that's all for now. Thanx in advance for answering these.
Greg responds...
1. I think you misunderstood. I gave them a loose outline of what I was planning for season three. They took that info and ignored some of it and went other ways with the rest of it. "Timedancer" for example became "Runaways". An idea for a multi-trickster story became "Ransom". But when I talked about negative recommendations, I was referring to my paid consultancy work on the series. I had a contractual consultant's credit, which I waved, because I felt I hadn't made any real ADDITIONS to the content of TGC. I did kibbitz on their premises. When it seemed to me that characters were behaving out of character, I advised them not to do that out-of-character thing. In particular, the original premise of "Angels of the Night" (or whatever it was called) had the Gargoyles abandoning Manhattan at the end.
Elisa changed her name and moved to Chicago with Goliath. Lex and Brooklyn went on their own world tour. I forget what happened to everyone else. I advised them NOT to do that. They took that advice, thankfully. Still the only contributions that I made of any real merit were negatives. "Please don't do that." Things you didn't see on the screen, because I advised against it. Giving me credit for what you did see seemed unfair, both to me and to the people who actually did the work.
2. Given the opportunity and the resources and the time, I'd eventually tell all the stories I had, until I just didn't have any more.
3. Of course.
4. There isn't too much more to tell. It didn't go, so we didn't develop it further.
5. "Future Tense" the episode or the proposed series idea?
Anonymous writes...
All right, one more that I had forgotten about. Sorry about the numerous
posts. I write fanfic in my spare time, and this has been driving me nuts.
So, I figured I'd go straight to the expert... Fay? Fae? Fey? How the
#%$^%*$@#$ is it spelled?????
Greg responds...
All of the above, I figure. I'm not even sure we used that word in the
actual series. Did we? I remember referring to Oberon's Children as
"The Fair Folk". I think that's as close as we came, or am I forgetting a
mention or two? By the way, my original name for "Oberon's Children" was
"The Oberati," but Brynne and Michael Reaves thought that sounded like an
Italian Sports Car, so we switched. (GDW/ 12- 8- 97)
Anonymous writes...
Merry Christmas Greg, 1. What do you think Xanatos would have transformed
into if he had worn the Eye of Odin (For eample: Fox became a werefox,
Magus became a powerful sorcerer, and Goliath became a bigger gargoyle)?
2. What aspect of his personality do you think would have been personified
(Fox=hunter, Magus=intellectual, Goliath=protector)? 3. When it became
available to him, did Macbeth ever go to college? If so, what was his major
and what college did he attend? 4. If you didn't use any of the Gargoyles
main charecters, could you legally make a Future Tense show, or does your
contract with Disney forbid you from doing anything remotely like Gargoyles?
5. Why did Disney take creative freedom from you? Gargoyles was YOUR
creation! Without you the show never would have made it (even though i know
there were other brilliant minds on the show as well)! Did they think that
by refusing you creative freedom they could better the show? I don't carry
a grudge and I don't blame anyone for the show's downfall, I just would like
to know there reasoning behind this decision because if you would have
stayed on for the last season with complete creative freedom, at the very
least, the last season of TGC would have been better than it was. Thanks
for your input! Bye! Happy Holidays!
Greg responds...
1. We'll never know.
2. Ditto.
3. He's probably studied at multiple universities over the years.
4. It depends what you mean. Future Tense wouldn't be Future Tense without
the characters I had planned to use. If you're asking me whether or not I
could do a series set in the future, the answer is yes, of course I can,
assuming I could sell it somewhere.
5. They didn't take creative freedom away from me. I never said they
did. They wouldn't promise me creative control, which is very
different. Had I stayed, I might have been able to wrangle that
control, but I bailed. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't. Where's the
Phoenix Gate when you need it.(GDW/ 1- 26- 98)
Anonymous writes...
Do the fey have blood? Since iron is deadly to them, they can't use it in
their hemoglobin, if they have any. So how does oxygen get around in them?
Greg responds...
The Children are creatures of pure magic.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
I did have Ed Asner/Lou Grant in mind when I was writing the character description for Hudson. The last line of the description was "Hudson hates spunk."
Jason Canmore has a younger sister Robyn and a younger brother Jon.
So do I. But my siblings don't have much else in common with his.
I knew I didn't want the show to be filled exclusively with gargoyles and white male humans. So we intentionally tried to present a more honest, inclusive version of America (and the world).
Xanatos is the kind of villain I like to write. Anyone interested in seeing his precursor (and Owen's) should check out General Eiling (and Captain Allard) in back issues of the DC comic book CAPTAIN ATOM which I used to write with Cary Bates.
Goliath is the kind of hero I like to write. Noble and flawed. Not a guy who's as bad as or worse than the bad guys he fights.
As to whether I was disappointed...
The short answer is honestly, NO. Not a bit. I'm very proud of all 66 episodes and our entire ensemble of characters.
The longer answer is that there are plenty of little things that I wish I could fix. Most of them are ticky-tack things, many I'm sure you wouldn't even notice. There are even two story things (one each in "Grief" and "The Hound of Ulster") where I feel like I missed a peace of the "true" story.
There's also material that got cut for time that I wish I had been able to include, particularly in "Avalon, Part II" and "Hunter's Moon, Part III".
There was a great scene in the clock tower between Elisa and Jason the morning after the Hunters blew the place up. It was really gorgeous stuff. But the script was way too long.
The only other regret I have is that I opted not to write and/or edit the GOLIATH CHRONICLES. I had good, sound reasons at the time, but in retrospect it was a mistake.
GARGOYLES: THE LOST MOMENTS
(First in a series.)
The following is a scene from "Hunter's Moon, Part Three" that was cut because the script was way, way too long. It was written by Michael Reaves, who was also the story editor. As usual, I did the final pass on it. We did record the scene with Salli Richarson and Deidrich Bader as Elisa and Jason, but I can't remember if we did storyboards for it. I know we never shipped it for animation. There isn't any lost footage. But I thought you all might get a kick out of reading it. Imagine Jason speaking in his true Scotish accent, not in the phony American one he generally used with Elisa. (Also note: I'm just typing this in without bothering with teleplay formatting.)
This scene would probably play better in context. So if you taped "Hunter's Moon, Part Three", then watch it right through "Robyn Correy's" video-phone conversation with "Dominique Destine". Dominique tells Robyn to enjoy life because it's so fleeting. The screen goes dark. Robyn nervously holds up the disk. Now pause the tape. Imagine one of our trademark "Claw Wipes" and read...
EXT. CLOCK TOWER RUINS - DAY
Elisa picks sadly through wreckage, occasionally placing something in a cardboard box. She bends to pick up a charred photograph.
TIGHT ON PHOTO
It is a snap-shot from last Halloween: Elisa in her "Belle" gown arm in arm with Goliath. Both very happy.
ON ELISA
A tear rolls down her cheek. A shadow falls over her. Elisa turns.
ANGLE INCLUDES JASON
behind her on his sky-sled, in Hunter garb except the mask, aiming a tranq gun at her. Elisa drops the box and reaches for her holstered gun.
JASON: "Please don't. I'd just have to tranq you again, and I came here to talk."
FAVOR ELISA
She lowers her hand slowly. But she's still on guard.
ELISA: "Okay. Let's talk about what a monster you are."
JASON: "I never meant to hurt you --"
ELISA: "You really are a piece of work. Using me to get to the gargoyles."
JASON: "No! I admit I infiltrated the twenty-third because there were so many gargoyle sightings here. But I never planned--"
ELISA: "Lies. Everything was part of your plan. That phony accent... even that phony kiss..."
ON JASON
He looks desperate and vulnerable, despite the gun in his hand.
JASON: "That kiss was real. And I never planned on falling in love with you."
FAVOR ELISA
This hits her hard.
JASON (CONT'D): "The hunt's been my whole life -- I never realized how lonely I was...
ELISA: "But why are you hunting them?"
ANOTHER ANGLE
We see a flash of Jason's fiery determination. Elisa responds in kind.
JASON: "Those monsters killed my father!"
ELISA: "Those 'monsters' are my friends!"
FAVOR JASON
He looks shocked and disgusted. This, he was not expecting.
JASON: "What?!!"
ELISA: "And they couldn't have killed your father. When he died, they were in Scotland, frozen in stone by a magic spell."
JASON: "So they weren't personally responsible. They're still evil! All gargoyles are! My family has been hunting them for generations!"
FAVOR ELISA
Trying desperately to reach him.
ELISA: "BUT WHY? What started this blood feud?"
FAVOR JASON
He's stumped. His fury won't help him on this one.
JASON: "I -- I don't know. It doesn't matter."
Elisa senses his uncertainty, presses her attack.
ELISA: "Of course it matters. You hate an entire race and you don't know why! Listen, Jason. You've been lucky so far. No one's been killed. Give up the feud. Turn yourself in. It's not too late to walk away from this."
TIGHT ON JASON
He hesitates, then shakes his head.
JASON: "Yes, it is."
WIDE
He revs up the skysled and takes off fast. Elisa draws her gun, but she does not fire -- it's ambiguous whether that's because he's already too far away or because she feels too much for him to shoot him in the back. Her arm drops to her side. PULL BACK to show her forlorn and surrounded by rubble.
DISSOLVE TO:
Now restart your VCR and pick up back at Elisa's apartment, where Elisa is trying to stop Goliath from playing vigilante. As she failed with Jason, she fails with Goliath, which leads to events at the dam, which propels things to their tragic (if semi-hopeful) conclusion.
Please don't hesitate to post comments on this scene at "ASK GREG", I'd be curious to read what you thought of it. It was always one of my favorite moments, and it broke my heart to cut it. Yet, ultimately we felt it wasn't crucial, and since we had to cut something, this seemed like the thing to go.
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