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VF writes...

I really admire the patience and dedication of longtime fans and admirers (including yourself) of "Gargoyles." I only discovered the show for myself (with the help of my two young daughters) a bit more than a year ago, and I KEEP hoping that "some day" will come already and new episodes can be made.

Folks can say what they want about Toon Disney, but that's how my daughters found it and shared it with me, so the channel is at least providing the opportunity for a few new viewers to discover the show.

It's clear from watching the series, and then finding this Web site and learning more about the behind-the-scenes processes involved in its making, that there were a lot of thoughtful, creative, talented people behind it. Your ideas about characterization and story continuity have prompted me to post some thoughts and an inquiry here. (It's at the heart of one of the main reasons why I really lament that there aren't any more episodes being made ... yet.)

From a writing point of view, I think "Hunter's Moon, Part III" -- which I realize was a season finale -- would have served as a much better "final" finale for your involvement than "The Journey," which just left everything dangling for me like an unfinished book. Maybe I should say "like an unfinished chapter" because I don't want the book to end. At least in "Hunter's Moon," it ended with a bit of a payoff: an open declaration of mutual love between two main characters ("You know how I feel about you, right?" "How we both feel, yes." and even a kiss). It helped bring together a few loose strands that had been threading from almost the very beginning of the series without completely shutting it off from future development (far from it, actually).

In "The Journey," there is an aborted, sort-of date with very little discussion between Goliath and Elisa about what is really happening between the two of them or that very significant exchange between them from the previous episode. Also, from the information shared in this site, it seems you knew this was your farewell episode in many respects. So I would be interested to learn what you intended to have at work between Goliath and Elisa in this episode because I'm not sure that I "got it" all. I think an argument could be made that the episode, coming immediately in sequence after "Hunter's Moon," implies that a relationship between the two is A-OK with them without any internal conflicts.

Did you really want to make things seem less defined between them and let some time pass before they actually had The Talk about their relationship, specifically to help sustain fans' interest at a time when you may not have known what the future held for the series and their story?

Sorry to ramble on, but I don't want to appear as though I'm sorry you stayed on for one episode too many (again, far from it!) I'd like to learn your thoughts about the episode from a story/character development perspective.

Thank you.

Greg responds...

Well. I was trying to play fair, I think. I was leaving, but the series had 12 more episodes that I was at least supposed to advise on. Most of my positive (try this) advice was ignored, though some of my negative (hey, don't do that) advice was taken. I wanted to give ME some closure, but I wasn't trying to give the series closure.

Specifically, what I was saying was that the journey would continue. That the adventure would continue. That even Japan had gargoyles, and Vinnie (or Greg Weisman) would never be totally out of the picture. That no matter what hassles Goliath and Elisa had ahead of them, that they would still have each other as companions on the journey forward.

This was not to imply that Elisa was all copecetic about loving the gargoyle. But that she knew that she did. That she would never abandon him. And vice versa.

Does that help?

Feel free to ask more specific questions, if I haven't covered it for you.

And by the way, cuts or no cuts, "Deadly Force" or no "Deadly Force", I'm still glad that Toon Disney's airing the show.

Response recorded on November 01, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

Greg, where the adoption is concerned, no, you had never used the word "convenient". In response to a question uou did refer to it as more "conventional" than magical or scientific alteration.

Hmm, so far you have avoided answering to my questions about the species or the gender of the kid... Let's see if you'll answer one about age... Do you see the kid being adopted while still an infant, or when at an older age (able to talk for example)? There are obvious story possibilities in both...

Greg responds...

Have I ever definitively confirmed adoption at all?

If so quote me and reask the question.

Response recorded on October 26, 2000

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Maria writes...

Another silly Question from Silly Maria: ^_^
Why is 'adopting' for Goliath and Elisa more convenient?
I obviously have a very different thinking pattern. I guess I feel that if someone really loved someone else they would be willing to make some sort of change. So that's why I find it hard to believe that Elisa or Goliath can't make a magical change or something. In my mind, just because you change your form doesn't necessarily mean you are changing who you are. It can change a PART of who you are, but it doesn't change everything about you. You are who you are inside. And that includes your SOUL. Your soul is who you are. That's why we are able to differentiate between right and wrong because GOD gave us that gift. We just abuse it sometimes or ignore it, because we are down here on earth to learn. And from circumstance and learning different behaviors, we sometimes become what we were not in the beginning.
So, why would it be so inconvienient? (Bad spelling. . . :P) I mean, I am probably WAY off base. But that's just the way I feel . . . if that's all right.

I guess the problem for us Goliath and Elisa fans is we REALLY want Goliath and Elisa to have a child. Yet, contradictorally, we understand that ethnically, it would be impossible. And yet we hope for a miracle. I guess in my frame of mind, seeing them raise a family of their own would be like some kind of resolution. Strange, isn't it?
Anyway, enough of my rediculous ramblings. I probably don't make any sense - though I try to. It's just hard sometimes to put my thoughts into words. And they don't always come out the way I want them too. So for that I apologize. A hard life has let my communication skills go to par. ^_^!
Well, if that wasn't too - ridiculous - I'll take off now. TTFn. Ta Ta For Now!! :)

Greg responds...

There's nothing wrong with the way you feel.

But it's not the way I feel. I am a secular, at times Pagan, Jew. And yet, I would not convert to another religion for anyone. Not for "love", certainly. If my "love" couldn't accept me for who I am, why would I want her? Most of my life, I dated non-Jews. It's theoretically possible that I might have married one. But I still would not have converted. As it turned out, I did marry a Jew who "practices" the religion more than I do. I haven't gotten "more Jewish" because of her. I've fundamentally stayed the same. And yet, being Jewish is part of who I am. Part of what made me who I am. Same with being short. Same with being nocturnal. Same with being a guy. A heterosexual. A storyteller. I can't change any of these things (or a bunch of other things) without fundamentally changing my identity. Who I am. Who I want to be. I'm not talking about changing breakfast cereals. I'm talking about fundamental factors to my identity in THIS LIFE. Maybe I was someone entirely different in another life, and maybe my "SOUL" is an unchanging light that shines through the prism of each new life. But the prism matters to me. And I think it matters to Goliath and Elisa too. And by the way, I don't see why ADOPTION is any less legitimate a way to share their love with a child than spitting a kid from one's combined loins.

But did I use the word "convenient"? If I did, what was the context? Because the decision was not based on convenience.

Response recorded on October 19, 2000

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Emmlei writes...

original post and reply:Emmlei writes...
ok, i vaguely recall a while back a few questions as to Elisa and Goliath basically raising a child together. a bunch of questions tended to whether it was biological, and if it came about through magic or science. just to get this off my mind, what about adoption?

Greg responds...

What about it?

repost: would adoption be more likely than having a biological child (even if it's through magic or science)?

Greg responds...

It's certainly more conventional.

Response recorded on September 30, 2000

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Emmlei writes...

ok, i vaguely recall a while back a few questions as to Elisa and Goliath basically raising a child together. a bunch of questions tended to whether it was biological, and if it came about through magic or science. just to get this off my mind, what about adoption?

Greg responds...

What about it?

Response recorded on September 26, 2000

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Ambrosia writes...

Pointless question:
Did Elisa ask to be assigned a new gun after Deadly Force? I know I would personally feel uncomfortable carrying around a gun that I had been shot with. I don't know if she thinks or cares about this or if it's an issue at all with her... it just seems kind of creepy to me.
Thank you!

Greg responds...

Elisa goes through so many guns in our series, it's almost funny. So I doubt she had any particular attachment to that one.

Response recorded on September 16, 2000

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DrFaust writes...

Hi, Greg.

While explaining E&G's burgeoning romance, you said this about the "double date": "She would accept a Halloween invitation to go out with either Morgan or Jason."

I have a strange compulsion to go "eww." Morgan? I've always gotten a father-figure vibe from him for some reason. It's not that he's older than Elisa (he is, isn't he?), just that Morgan always struck me as having a more paternal attitude towards Elisa.

Have I completely misread the situation?

Greg responds...

I think you have a bit. Morgan is older than Elisa, but he's not, for example, as old as her father or anything like that. I think Morgan is one of these classic "nice guys" who tries to make a connection as a friend first. Normally, I think that might have worked on Elisa long-term. But Elisa has a tendency to fall for the big, stunning, tragic types like Goliath and Jason. And Morgan and Elisa met only hours before she met Goliath. Frankly, the guy never stood a chance.

Response recorded on September 16, 2000

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Tana writes...

You Asked:
"Does anyone know if "Maza" means "iron" in any Native American language or dialect?"

According to my book of names (it's got like 20,000 names and their meanings, which is totally cool, especially the Athurian names) Maza blaska, which is a Dakota name means "flat iron." So if it's one of those languages where the adjective comes after the subject, then Maza does infact mean Iron in Dakota. Which interestingly enough adds more irony since Dakota was an early choice for Demona's name. ^_^

And you know that J.R.R. Tolkien claimed that all of his novels were fact...you seen to have the same symptom with the Gargoyles.

Greg responds...

I'm not claiming they're fact so much as acknowledging that sometimes storytelling on this show just seems to click with history, existing legend and with dramatic necessity. It's a rare feeling, and I'm humbled by it. All I'm saying is it sometimes feels like the stories are true somehow somewhere, and all I'm doing is (imperfectly) tapping into them.

But I'm not actually delusional.

Response recorded on September 14, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

Okay, what would have the backstory been for Elisa if she had been born in Hong Kong during the Industrial Revolution? :-)

hey- it's you who first mentioned this... Be imaginative. :-)

Greg responds...

Uh...

Well, I'll have to be imaginative, considering I've done no research on Hong Kong or the Industrial Revolution. I don't even know when the Industrial Revolution hit Hong Kong.

But let's figure she wasn't a cop. Or African-Native-American. Also her name wasn't Elisa Maza.

But let's say her father was a cop. Maybe British. Her mother was Chinese. That makes her a bit of an outcast (I think) in Hong Kong society. By necessity that has made her strong. (The alternative was to make her weak, and neither of her parents wanted that.) So for a woman of that time and place, she is atypically independent. She has not married. Her parents married for love, and they will not force either of their daughters or their son to do otherwise. And she has not met anyone who wants a mixed race girl (no matter how beautiful) who isn't anyone's definition of obedient.

Finally, her parents decide to emigrate to the U.S., hoping that there will be more tolerance in the fabled land of democracy. That hope doesn't bare much fruit, but it puts our heroine in New York -- the eventual home of the Gargoyles.

Which would be great, except that no one said that Xanatos had changed backstories. So by the time he brings Wyvern to Manhattan in 1996, our proto-Elisa would be long dead.

(Now wasn't that fun.)

Response recorded on September 12, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

Concerning the whole "Maza" debate. I searched the Internet for about 10 minutes and in http://www.code-it.com/translation.htm there's an English-Lakota(Sioux) dictionary.

It says "Maza" indeed means "iron". Congrats - that's one mistake that wasn't made. :-)

Greg responds...

I thank you. And though he doesn't realize it, Paul Lacy thanks you. He's the one that did the original research that got us that name.

I guess Elisa is Very Multi-Racial. You have to figure that on her mother's side she most likely has both African and Caucasian ancestors. And on her father's side we're looking (at minimum) at Sioux and Hopi. With possibly some Navajo in there too.

For some reason that pleases me.

Am I missing anything?

Response recorded on September 12, 2000


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