Todd Jensen writes...

Did you ever have any plans for incorporating the Carolingian cycle (Charlemagne and his paladins, the Song of Roland, etc.) in "Gargoyles"?

Sapphire writes...

Dear Mr. Weisman

In the episode where Goliath and company was in Australia stoping the Matrix from taking over the Earth. The shaman said to Goliath that the dream time is in another Dimension.
My Question is what is a dimension? Because when I see different movies and shows I hear phrases like "This portal leads to another dimension" or "I am going to send you to another Dimension" l keep on wondering what is a Dimension?

Jim R. writes...

OK, this is nothing, but why is the server's time on my last message read 6:29, when it is 10:00 here? It has always usually been accurate to my clock in previous posts. Even if there's a time zone differential, it's a half-hour ahead.

Blaise writes...

REVELATIONS

"Better late than never" as Elisa would say.

I liked this ep alot for several reasons. The first and foremost of course being Bluestone. He becomes the focus of an entire episode and finally meets the gargoyles. I kind of agreed with the "About time" sentiment the gargs had.

I'm not sure if, in my initial viewing, I believed Matt actually helped trap Goliath. Probably because I was so pleasantly surprised at hearing Efrem (sp?) Zimbalast Jr. as Mace. I think I may actually have decided to reserve judgement on Matt until the end of the ep (or at least I decided to do so when he went "narrating gumshoe" on us).

That's another thing I kind of like about this ep--the majority of it is told via Matt's voice-over and flashback. It just adds something to the story. And yeah, with his trenchcoat and character quirks, doing "gumshoe narration" seems to be natural for Matt.

On the subject of voice-overs, I didn't notice that Chavez had a different voice until I started looking at the credits at the end of the episodes. After that, I did notice the lighter sound, but still Ms. Gabrielli did a great job filling in for Ms. Ticotin.
And Mr. Asner's Jack Dane (with his wonderful use of the word "bum") proves a memorable character. I was quite happy when he showed up again later.

Anyway, back in the story, I also liked the attention to continuity. Matt's refernce to Elisa bringing in the TV in THE EDGE, the reappearance of Hacker, etc.
And like you, I loved the "enough food for a family of gorillas" and "dental plan" lines. I'm not sure why I like the former of the two so much, maybe because that just seems an interesting way of putting the gargoyles' eating habits in some perspective.

I was suitably impressed upon learning that Xanatos was only a "lower echalon" member of the Society. In fact, I was almost aghast. "How could this rich, powerful guy, whose been pretty much the main adversary and most successful bad guy in the series, be only in the LOWER ranks of the Illuminati?" So the Society got my attention pretty quickly here.

Can't say much about the car sequence, except that I can't help smiling every time the "three words" bit is played--it's just so perfect. Other than that, I like Elisa's quiet admission at the end.

The gargoyles' awakening in this ep does seem a bit more..."unique" than usual. For me it still feels like something in the animation, but Matt being new to it does add something.

The whole sequence at the hotel itself is real fun (hey I knew Goliath was going to get out well enough--I just wondered where Matt's fate would fall). Looking at your memo on this ep, I'm more than a little sorry that we didn't get to see the "false roof" room. That sounded great.

I don't know when, but somewhere in his talks with Mace, I kind of figured Matt was shaming him somehow. So I was prepared for a happy ending.
One of my favorite lines comes from Mace here when he talks about "wasting" Goliath: "It'll be a black mark. I'll be severely reprimanded. But if I allow Goliath to become the first prisoner to ever escape the Hotel Cabal...the flushing sound you hear will be me and my 75-year pension going down the drain."
I think the thing that really intrigues me about this line is the mention of Malone being punished for killing Goliath. I'm still dying to know the Illuminati's plans for the gargoyles.

Yeah, everytime I see Mace grab onto the elevator cables I have to wince.
And I suppose in some sadistic way, I like seeing Mace trapped in the Hotel--especially with that tic going in his eye as he completely loses his mind.

I thought Elisa's confession here was well done. I could understand her feelings about this and sympathize (though, of course, I can't say I'm special because I know the existance of sentient, non-human creatures).

And then the Hacker tag. I saw quite a few things coming in this episode, and this was NOT one of them. I didn't think Hacker would appear again after his spot at the beginning. But here he was, and as a member of the Illuminati. A very fun and intriguing revelation, IMHO.
Kind of a pity that we don't hear from the Illuminati again until THE JOURNEY.

THERE! I do believe I am finally caught up with your episode rambles (as of this writing).

Blaise writes...

OUTFOXED

Okay, finally back on track since mid-March.

First off, yes I'll agree this ep had a few problems, which you pretty much pointed out in your ramble--animation problems, especially in relation to Goliath's size, and the extra flashback are somewhat annoying. Still, this ep did have some nice stuff. And the sound wasn't too bad, I still heard, and loved, Goliath's "That. Stings."

Anyway, as soon as I heard "Cyberbiotics" I was interested in where this would be going. Hearing the name "Renard" I instantly guessed some connection with Fox. Her being his daughter did cross my mind, but I didn't rule out any other possible relation to him.
(If I may digress here; I knew that "renard" was another name for "fox" from its usage in a children's book I had had for years, THE TOMTEN AND THE FOX. Just felt like mentioning that.)

As for Vogel...when I first saw him I laughed. I thought he was a wonderful in-joke, one of the best I had seen in any series. I'm surprised people had a problem with him looking like Owen (as I said, I thought it was extremely amusing). Of course, at the time I first saw the ep, I was surprised he ended up having as big a part as he did. I thought he would just have had that one appearance at the beginning and then, that was it. But he turned out to be a very important (and interesting) character in this episode.

Renard intrigued me...mostly because of his unhealthy appearance and use of a high-tech wheel-chair. Despite this, he had a reasonably strong voice and managed to "talk-down" to Goliath (something Todd and I both find amusing about the interaction between the two).

Fox: I loved seeing her in the "red sweater and tight, black pants" ensemble. Her fight with Xanatos was fun as well--he knocks her down once, she gets back up, pins his arm behind his back, and then takes him down with a flip. Fun!
I never picked up that Xanatos was afraid when he mentioned "test results." Probably because as soon as I heard that I figured out that Fox was pregnant (I was finally starting to expect greater things from this series).

Back on the Air Fortress--I had missed METAMORPHOSIS the first time this aired, so I didn't know who this "antonsevarius" was that Renard mentioned. I didn't pay it much mind though (after all, Renard had immediately before named Owen as an ex-Cyberbiotics employee, and that really interested me). Basically, I forgot all about it when I finally did get a chance to see METAMORPHOSIS, so when I watched OUTFOXED again, and heard Renard mention "Anton Sevarius," it was like finding out the connection for the first time.

On a similar (but not quite) note, when Renard mentioned "My Anastasia. My Janine." Well, I guessed right away that Janine was Fox's real name. I don't know why...maybe that just seemed to fit her better to me than Anastasia (who I then figured to be her mother).

Vogel's betrayal and return to Renard's aid were, in my opinion, handled quite well. I found Vogel's actions believable, and had no problem with his change of heart.

Goliath gives Renard a great speech on the difference between the minds of living beings and automotons, and the two have one of my favorite exchanges in the series.
RENARD: "One thing I do know is your debt to me has been paid in full. A ship for a ship. We are even."
GOLIATH: "No. We are friends."
RENARD: [laugh] Yes. Friends.

And then the tag! I knew Fox was the "Hang-gliding ninja" and that she was Renard's daughter by now. AND that she was pregnant. But I still enjoyed this tag. I really liked the discussion between father and daughter, and the way the revelations were handled. A very fun ep.

Another digression: When I showed this ep to my mother, she instantly recognized the voices of both Peter Scolari, and Robert Culp. Anyway, I thought they did great jobs, and I still love the little nuances Culp managed to invest in Renard.

Hopefully, I'll catch up with your rambles by tomorrow.

Anonymous writes...

Who is Captain Atom?

Yttrium writes...

Can you tell us of any particularly amusing/interesting garg reference in either MAX STEEL or 3X3 EYES?
Thanks.

---Ytt

"Farinelli" writes...

I was wondering what the translation of Gillecomgain's name would be.. Do you know?

Siren writes...

About Hudson's mate...
1.) Was she dead before the Wyvern Massacre in 994 A.D.?
2.) Was she alive when Broadway hatched?
3.) Did she die due to battle or of old age?
4.) Since Hudson's accent is more apparent then any other clanner, might her accent been just as strong?
Thanks Greg!

matt writes...

Blaise's ramble reminded me of a question i've been meaning to ask...
how does Martin Hacker rank in the Illuminati? obviously hes higher up than Matt, but probably lower than Mace was... he was partnered with Matt years ago, meaning that hes been an Illuminatus for years, is he higher up than Xanatos? how long has Xanatos been an Illuminati member?

Jim R. writes...

Questions on "The Mirror":
1. In the beginning, we see Elisa undercover as a nightwatchman or should I say "nightwatchwoman." Anyways, I'm sure anyone who watched real closely notices that when she looks in the mirror simply to beautify her hair, and then suddenly hears the noise of Demona approaching. She rotates quickly to see, but her reflection in the mirror does not. It remains the same image from only seconds before. Was this merely an animation mistake? Or was it intentional because it is Titania's mirror?
2. How did Elisa and Goliath know that Demona was going for the mirror? Kinda weird that by chance they just happened to be there, but I know there was some pre-existing knowledge of Demona's plan when we hear Goliath say, "At least she didn't get the mirror."
3. How did Demona manage to rent out an apartment or maybe even the whole building where she had the mirror delivered?
4. After Puck does his first major city-wide transformation, he falls unconscious. Demona picks him up, and we see her sort of taking advantage of his levitational ability to escape into the subway where the other gargs persuing fall short because lack of wind. Why is it that Puck can still fly even though unconscious? Or was he?
5. Why did Bronx not get transformed earlier?
6. Was the trash can (that I think Hudson used to trap Puck, but I don't remember accurately) made of iron or have traces of iron ore in it? I suppose it would have to in order to trap Puck, but most metal trash cans are usually made of aluminum.

Anonymous writes...

Why did you go for the more villainous portrayal of Raven and the more heroic portrayal of Coyote? In most legends Raven is seen as benevolent and brings humans food while Coyote is seen as more an Anasi type trickster.

Siren writes...

When they began designing the characters from 994 A.D. do you know of what books they used to find out the clothing of the first century? I am looking myself as well, but maybe a book the creators used themselves would be wonderful. Thanks Greg!

Vic writes...

Hellos again,
(typing this as a rerun of 'Thrill of the Hunt' concludes, such apprpriate atmosphere)
Several questiones focused more on the conception and creative procees behind Gargoyles:
1. How long did you think Gargoyles would last on TV initially?
2. Was the whole Saga to you a finite story, or something that would go on as long as some one was writing it?
3. What's your involvement in the Gargoyles Saga presently? Speciffically, do you just give those writing it down an outline to go with, or have more active involvement?

That's all,
Thanks for your attention.
2.

matt writes...

geeeez, Sapphire, i didn't know you hated me so much, yikes! i don't want to be a mutate!! actually, i'm with Fang, i might like it, it could be cool, i don't know...

anyway, question time:
you said that besides Bronx you showed no gargoyles of his generation in "Awakening" cuz it would've been hard to show these young kid gargs and then have them all die in the massacre, so would you have had a problem showing the young gargs in "Dark Ages" knowing most of them would probably end up dieing too?

Timbo writes...

Hey yo....gotta tell ya' that Gargoyles is my favortie toon or all time. Just one thing that always bugged me about the Awakening series, is that the first half hour seemed cut around Goliath's brothers and sisters. For some reason those first to nameless Gargoyles (especially the one with the bull horns) and all of the others you barely got a peek at always intrigued me....who were they?, what were they like?....if there's any names or info on these mysterious characters of Goliath's fallen clan, please let me know..
Thanks
p.s....If Coldstone was made up of pieces of other Gargoyles....wouldn't he have some womenly feartures too?...j/k

Vashkoda writes...

I just rewatched "Vendettas", and yup, a few questions came to mind:

1) While battling Wolf/Hakon, I noticed that Hudson is pretty proficient with his sword, yet you said that he had just happened to pick up the weapon during the battle with the Vikings. Had he actually had some sword training beforehand, or did he learn how to use one through trial and error?

2) While Hakon was possessing Wolf, he told him that if he destroyed the axe, Hakon would lose his only link to the Earth plane and disappear. However, in "Possession", Desdemona and Othello lamented over the fact that if they destroyed the Coldstone body, they would be trapped in Broadway and Angela forever. You've said before that the relationship that Hakon has with the axe is similar to that of the Coldtrio and their mechanical bodies. a) So if what the Coldtrio said about possessing hosts also applies to Hakon, would he in fact have been able to remain permanently in Wolf's body if the latter had destroyed the axe while he was still being possessed? b) Puck had said that soul transferance was tricky, and that the host had to be willing to be possessed. So how was Hakon able to take over Wolf? Wolf didn't seem to happy about it when he regained consciousness, so I don't think he would have been willing. c) Why did Hakon need to worry about Wolf destroying the axe? Couldn't he have taken complete possession of Wolf once he managed to get inside him and prevented him from doing the weapon any harm?

Sapphire writes...

Did the New Olympians made any great advances in the field of genetic engineering? Are New Olympian scientists at present capable of turning someone like Matt (not the cartoon Matt the Matt on this question server that always trys to condidict me) into a mutate like Sevarius did with Derek?

Sapphire writes...

Some monsters in Greek Mythology were once human for example Athena the Greek goddess of wisdom turned Medusa a very beautiful woman into a snake haired monster because Medusa had a love affair with Poisiden. I was wondering are any of the New olympians desended from humans who were turned into monsters by the fay?

Anonymous writes...

Who are Morgana"s biological parents?
Who are the Green Knight's biological parents?

Oberon writes...

Why were the Wierd Sisters chosen to guard Avalon, they seem to neede humility just as much (if not more) that any other Child of Oberon.

Basilisk writes...

Do you ever plan to involve the Avalon clan again? Would you create more "individuals" within the clan (besides Gabriel and Ophelia, who we've already met), or would you just involve them as a whole?

matt writes...

is Delilah and Samson just a concidence or does Broadway and Angela's naming of their son have anything to do with Delilah?

is anything ever just a coincidence in the Gargoyles universe?

Todd Jensen writes...

I've been wondering recently if it might not be a bad idea to put up an "Ask Greg" FAQ page on this site. It's struck me for a while now that you seem to be getting many of the same questions over and over (such as the whole business of why you left after Season Two or if "Gargoyles" will ever get brought back), and this page could be a good way of dealing with that. What do you think?

Anonymous writes...

Did you have plans for Tea's hunter friends?

Nathan writes...

I can't find info on psycho anywhere! what made him the way he is (I.E. Cyborg)? I really want to know.

Phil writes...

I was going to take another stab at the 2198 contest, but there are a lot of guesses in the queue and mine are already taken. There's a good chance that by the time you read this the contest will be over. At least I hope it is.

Someone had asked whether you would post your timeline here and you said you weren't sure what you'd do with it yet. It seems to me that it would make a good prize for the winners of the 2198 contest. It's just a suggestion; what do you think? If there are secrets in it that you still want to keep, you could award an abridged version of it.

Jacob writes...

Are gargoyles at day really heavier than at night? I ask this because I have no idea where the mass comes from when they are turning into stone. Do they pick up dust from the air during their petrifaction?

matt writes...

would a biologist or Sevarius or someone be able to tell a sleeping gargoyle from a regular stone gargoyle? i would guess so since gargs don't actually turn to stone. would they be able to clone a garg from a few flakes of the sleeping gargs skin?

Anonymous writes...

Why exactly is does Brooklyn name his son Nashville? Does he name him after the city or does he name him after something else that bears the name of the city?

matt writes...

well Todd, if you are not going to ask it, i guess i will...

in "Legion" when Coldstone first arrives at the Clocktower, Bronx is growling. Iago hasn't come to the surface yet, so is Bronx growling cuz he has something against Coldstone or robots/cyborgs, or does he sense the evil one inside Coldstone or what?

Anonymous writes...

Which one of the clone gargoyles is going to assume the position of leader of the Labyrinth?

Anonymous writes...

Greg-- in the undying hope of Gargoyles being turned into a movie, did you ever consider Sean Connery for Macbeth? I know you said that John Rhys-Davies would be an idel match, and this just popped into my head.

Oh, best wishes for the upcoming series Atlantis!!!!

Corrine Blaquen writes...

Every now and then in the series, we hear a gargoyle use the oath "By the Dragon!" For some reason, I'd always assumed that this referred to the dragon constellation, Draco. I don't know why; it was just my first thought. Is it at all correct? If not, what is this "Dragon" they refer to?

Basilisk writes...

Something I would like to point out:

The fifth Ultra-Pack member wouldn't HAVE to be named after a canid--- just has to live in a pack. I mean, hyenas are aren't dogs, but they are pack animals. (But then, a fox is a canid and isn't a pack animal, so I suppose that logic isn't sound...)

Anonymous writes...

What kinds of upgrades were Hyena, Jackal and Wolf going to get when they join the Ultra Pack?

Oberon writes...

1) Why did the Weird Sisters spend so much time and effort making Demona and MacBeth their pawns, and keeping them alive for nine-hundred and something years?
2) Why did the Archmage want those two in particular?
They seam pretty powerfull but there have got to be people of equal power in the 20th century (even people who would be willing o go the Avalon)
3) If they had over 900 years, why didn't the Weird Sisters get afew more pawns (would have been a good idea, considering ththier attack on Avalon failed)

Anonymous writes...

You know that gargoyles don't age as fast as humans and Demona and MacBeth feel the same things is that whay MacBeth lived for a long time or is it because MacBeth is a king?

Jacob writes...

You said by day Demona is completely human, right?
But at the end of the episode when Demona and Macbeth finally have the three items (sorry, but I only know the German name of it) and they began to quarrel her eyes were glowing red. Have you an explanation for it?

Anonymous writes...

Why did the Malcom Canmore's descendents start hunting Demona? I mean Demona didn't do anything to them?

matt writes...

since Angela has had an interest in gargoyle parentage and has a close relationship with Gabriel has see perhaps guessed that Gabriel's parents are Othello and Desdemona? she had to know that they had a child on Avalon, did she think through the next step and guess at that child?

lesley writes...

does demona have any other childern besides angela?

Buck writes...

At the end of "Temptation", Elisa tells (commands?) Goliath (under the spell) to always act as if he was not under a spell. I'm assuming this means for all spells and not just that particular one he was under. If this assumption is correct, how would Goliath be affected by Puck's spells in "The Mirror"? I want to say there are other times he's been under a spell, but I haven't seen too many episodes on Toon Disney yet (I just got the station) and I'm cursed with a poor memory.

Andrea writes...

What were your plans for Goliath and Angela ?

Justin writes...

Hi Greg

Ok now am I too assume correctly that when the 78 ( 39 biologically) year old Brooklyn returns from his dances he is stronger than he was when he left right? I mean he had been fully grown by that time and plus the perils of the dance could cause for a greater need to thicken up.

So the big question,
Can the (39) year old Brooklyn hold his own or maybe even win in a fight against the (29) year old Goliath?

Thanks

matt writes...

when did you and the writers decide that the clan was going to move into the Clocktower? was it right from the beginning or from the first appearence of the Clocktower in "Deadly Force"?

Anonymous writes...

Why would the Weird Sisters care if Goliath knew that the Gate, Eye and Grimorum was stolen?

lorienne writes...

Hey, I've read a while back somewhere that you said that you were going to have puck play his flute to temporarily put oberon in some kind of trance. and also that you were going to name him goodfellow instead of puck. also that ransom was going to be an episode with puck and other tricksters. (that idead would of totally rocked) anyways where i am getting at is puck is my ablosute favorite character. my friends and family actually wanted to get me help cause i have printouts of him all over my house. it worries them :P i was wondering if you had any ohter plans for him, or if like there were other ideas such as the flute thing that you guys were going to use. just brainstorming maybe that wasn't actually in the show. i'm just trying to dig up as much information as i can about him. thanks for taking the time to read this.

Anonymous writes...

What other characters were suppose to join the Redemption Squad besides Robyn, Harry, Matrix, Fang, Yama and the director?

Anonymous writes...

What were the Redemption squad created to do?