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"Awakening, Part One"
My kids and I have started watching the 66 chapters of Gargoyles from start to finish, so I thought I'd give a shot at rambling on each episode as we view them.
So starting at the beginning...
Random thoughts:
In the original script, there was a bit that came right after Princess Katharine reprimands the Captain for inviting the Gargoyles into the Great Hall. She says something to the effect of: "To allow beasts in the dining hall..." Right then, we were supposed to cut to a shot of one of those hounds that you can see milling about in the initial establing shot. The hound was supposed to grab a chunk of meat off of one of the nobles' plates. This would further establish Katharine's hypocracy, but also embarrass her further, lending believability to the things she says and does thereafter. I recall that the scenelet got animated, but not well. Frank refused to include it in the final cut. He may have been right, given what we had to work with. But I still miss the moment I envisioned in my head.
Katharine and the Magus are so nasty in this episode. Boy, did they go through some changes.
I'm also struck by just how much the Trio grew from this first appearance. They're kinda medieval ninja turtles here. But they show potential. I still love their exchange with Tom as he tries to get names out of them and they are baffled as to why names would be important.
I do wish we could have seen more Gargoyles flying around. (It really would have been nice to catch a glimpse of the Coldtrio, but frankly, they hadn't been designed yet. We knew they were coming, but we didn't have time to design them before they were necessary.) But it would have been great to see more beasts, more females. More young and old. But I guess we did all right.
The cliffhangers are interesting too. In both, the threat is the Gargoyles themselves. Princess Katharine says something nasty about gargoyles, just as Goliath enters the Hall. He growls, clearly having heard her statement. And we go to commercial... I could never have gotten away with that by even episode 2. But this early on, we didn't know the gargs well enough to know how they'd react. Clearly they had our sympathy. But would Goliath go berserk? Obviously, not. But that was the tension in that beat. Same thing happens between Acts II & III. The threat seems to be from Brooklyn, Lex and Bronx. Of course, they're bluffing. Annoyed with the humans, they are simply trying to put a scare into them. But the audience doesn't know that yet, so I can get away with the second cliffhanger being a Garg threat as well. Of course, by the end of the episode, we know just how noble they are. And that's a great cliffhanger I think. Goliath roaring to the heavens filled with grief over the death of his "Angel of the Night". 'SCool. (But how many of you really thought she was dead?)
There are also moments that are fairly mundane to us now. Elisa pulling up in her car. Goliath first breaking out of stone. Demona stepping out of the shadows. I'd be curious how all those moments made you guys feel the very first time you saw them, particularly those of you for whom this was in fact the first episode you ever saw.
I invite you to post your comments here on Awakening, Part One.
OnyxStar writes...
I guess this is sort of a reference question. My favorite quote comes from Gargoyles (Awakenings I). Goliath says, "It is the nature of mankind to fear what they do not understand." I'd like to quote that in a college essay I'm writing, but I don't know who to attribute it to. Did you guys come up with it, or is it some famous quote I'd never heard of?
Thanks a lot for all your time and effort, and good luck with the new series.
Greg responds...
Although I'm sure similar things have been said over and over by multiple people, I'm not aware of a specific source for the quotation. If you want to be absolutely certain, you'd probably have to ask Michael Reaves, the writer of that episode.
Blaise writes...
Hi there! Me again.
Here's a Q that's been rattling around in my head for some time. We all know NOW that the cloaked figure riding out to meet the Vikings in "Awakening: Part 1" is none other than the Captain of the Guard. However, he speaks in a voice that sounds like Jeff Bennett's (sp?). In fact, I'm quite positive that was Mr. Bennett's voice. This, as well as the robe being white, make me think that suspicion was intentionally being thrown on the Magus.
1) WAS suspicion being intentionally thrown on the Magus?
2) If so, why?
Thank you!
Greg responds...
First off, that's not Jeff. That's Ed Gilbert doing Jeff, because...
1) Yes, we were intentionally trying to throw suspicion onto the Magus.
2) Why else... to fool you.
Todd Jensen writes...
Something that I've been wondering for some time about that secret passageway that Demona used to sneak into the great hall of Castle Wyvern in "City of Stone Part Three". How did she manage to conceal it from everyone else when the castle was being moved from Scotland to New York? I'd think that it would be extremely difficult to have hidden it while the castle was being transported stone by stone.
Greg responds...
I think so too. Maybe the transport wasn't quite as stone by stone as it looked to be. Or maybe in the replacing of stones the supervisors of the reconstruction didn't put two and two together and realize that by attaching stone A to stone B they were creating a secret passsage, and so neglected to alert Xanatos or Owen.
Aaron writes...
Just out of curiosity, was MacBeth's Paris home based on an actuall house? Thanks.
Greg responds...
Not that I'm aware of, but it's possible that our layout artists used some reference for it.
Aris Katsaris writes...
One of the scenes that most intrigued me, was the final action of Demona in the Hunter's Moon incident: throwing the container in the air, a deed through which she risked the annihilation of not only humans but her own race as well, including her daughter.
I always considered this a very nihilistic action of hers (I hope I'm using the term correctly) as if she was saying "I won't choose to destroy the world myself, but if the glass breaks and the virus escapes and we all die, so be it." Others in the fandom see it as just a way for her to buy some time and manage to escape. If so it was a very risky way indeed...
Your thoughts (and Demona's thoughts) on the issue?
Greg responds...
I can't put either argument any better than you just did, so my answer would have to be: ALL OF THE ABOVE.
lisa writes...
when demona told brooklyn about what she did during the centurys what did she tell him,did she tell him about macbeth?
Greg responds...
In "Temptation"? No. I think people have the notion that Demona and Brooklyn had a lot going on off-screen and/or between scenes of that episode. (Again, Christine, I've heard the rumors.) But it ain't true in the cannon. What you saw was largely what took place.
Todd Jensen writes...
Something else that I've been wondering lately, about the betrayal of Castle Wyvern by the Captain of the Guard and Demona. There was one snag in it (aside from the use of the common enemy as allies in settling an internal dispute - always a Very Bad Idea) that I found myself suddenly noticing. Demona and the Captain's plan was to have the Vikings take away all the humans while the gargoyles were absent (foiled by Goliath deciding to pursue the Vikings with only Hudson), believing that then the gargoyles would have the castle all to themselves. But - did those two *seriously* believe that Goliath would, upon coming home to find that the castle had been sacked and the humans taken prisoner, just say "Well, that's that," and do nothing about it? I certainly can't imagine him just letting the humans be led away by the Vikings and do nothing about it, even if the massacre of the bulk of his clan hadn't taken place.
Greg responds...
I think that was a miscalculation.
But I believe that Demona believed that once the humans were gone -- long gone -- she could convince Goliath not to send the clan. The danger of being more than a night's glide from the castle was too great -- as proven by the Viking's ability to sack the place while they were all away.
I think she and the Captain were, of a measure, kidding themselves. But all that self-delusion is hardly out of character for either of them.
Goliath probably would have sent a small expedition. Himself, Hudson, Coldstone. Left Demona in charge back at the ranch. Anyway, that's my guess. We'll never know.
Aris Katsaris writes...
Is there a special story behind the flute of Puck that was seen in "Gathering, Part I"? Or the harp seen in "Lighthouse in the Sea of Time"? Were you planning to do stories on either or both of the two?
Greg responds...
I had planned on using the flute in THE GATHERING, PART TWO -- and it's probably a mistake that I didn't. I wanted Puck to use it to temporarily subdue Oberon, but it got away from me somehow.
But yes, the flute definitely interested me, and I would have done something with it eventually.
The harp, I hadn't given any real thought to. But it could probably come into play down the road in Pendragon.
Todd Jensen writes...
Something that I've recently been wondering about Demona's genocide attempt in "Hunter's Moon". The plague that she used the Fulfillment Spell and Sevarius's carrier virus to create would have wiped out all of humanity if released, and the entire gargoyle race as well were it not for the protection of the Praying Gargoyle. Since humans and gargoyles are clearly not very closely related from a biological standpoint, a plague capable of wiping out both species must be very far-reaching in its range. So, if Demona had released her plague, would other species (say, most mammals) have been killed by it as well? Or did it only work on sentient species?
Greg responds...
I think it was limited to sentience. How that would have effected chimpanzees, gargoyle beasts, dolphins, whales, etc. I'm not sure. Hard to say what a combination of science and sorcery would consider sentient. But I think rats, cats, dogs etc. were safe.
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