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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.
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