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Emilie writes...

Dear Greg:
My question is actually regarding the t.v. series "Max Steel" and not "Gargoyles." (I have a few questions and someone referred me to this site.) My aunt is translating the cartoon series from English to French, but does not currently have any internet service. She does, however, need background information. She would like to know if the characters "Rachel Leeds," "Jeff," and "Roberto Martinez" were created just for the T.V. series or if they existed previously like Max Steel and Pyscho. If you could also give me the meaning to "Max probes," and any other additional information about the characters, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your help.
-Emilie
PS- I will check this website for a response, or you can email me at Puppyluv82@aol.com

Greg responds...

Emilie,

Sorry you and your aunt had to wait so long for a response.

Rachel, Jeff and 'Berto were all created for the show. Largely, so were Max and Psycho, though the toys existed.

Max Probes refers to the microscopic Nanotechnology robots that have altered Josh McGrath's body and given him his Max Steel powers.

As for additional info, I'm not sure what you need. If she's translating the scripts, the info should all be there. But feel free to ask me any other specific questions you have.

Response recorded on July 26, 2000

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Chapter XVIII: "The Mirror"

Story Editor: Brynne Chandler Reaves
Writer: Lydia C. Marano

Arguably the best single episode of the series. The animation is fluid, dynamic and very strong. The writing is sharp, even quite funny over and over. And yet, dramatically the story is still potent. It really advances the Goliath & Elisa romance arc. Changes Demona permanently. And introduces Puck -- and by extension, the entire third race: The Children of Oberon. All in a mere 22 minutes.

It's also very gratifying for me. A bit of a vindication. As you may have seen from the memos I wrote to Brynne & Lydia, there was some considerable resistance to the notion that none of the characters would notice their own personal change from one species to another. Most of my collaborators thought the idea was way too complicated to pull off. I argued that it might seem complex, but in fact it would play cleaner on screen -- and funnier and more directly to theme. In my mind, another title for this episode could have been -- had we already not been using it for our Werefox episode -- "Eye of the Beholder", because all the transformed characters really noticed was when someone else was "OTHER". Being a monster or being "normal" was based on their point of view, not any objective look in the mirror. [As it is, the title is the kind I like. Simple, objective and yet metaphoric. At one point, it was titled: "Mirror, Mirror". But we simplified it even more.]

But anyway, when the human Brooklyn, Lex and Broadway are confronted by "Gargoyles", the scene is an intentional mirror of the scene from AWAKENING, PART ONE where Brooklyn says, "If they think we're beasts and monsters..." Again, this is playing with the idea of "beasts and monsters" being merely in the eye of the beholder. The species have reversed, but the situation is exactly the same simply because the Trio remain in the minority. I suppose that's one thing that X-Men's mutants have in common with the Gargs. Both are a metaphor for being part of a minority. Feared almost automatically.

On the other hand, when Elisa is transformed, she believes that Goliath & Co. have been transformed into something like her. I think her immediate reaction is very telling about how she ALREADY felt about Goliath at that point. She's thrilled. She throws her arms about him. Now they're the same species. There's no impediment to their love. What's interesting is that if you stopped and asked Elisa under normal circumstances whether she would wish for Goliath to be transformed into a human, the answer would most certainly be "No." She knows that being a Gargoyle is fundamental to who he is. You can't change that without changing him -- and yet in that instant, in that unguarded moment, her desire to be with him overwhelms that rational knowledge. She's just happy.

At the museum, Elisa looks at herself in the mirror. She then moves, but the reflection holds. That was the idea of one of our board artists. A little clue that the mirror is magic. (It's not an animation error.)

Family Reactions #1

During that museum chase, my wife wanted to know why no alarms were going off. I figure Demona or the thieves just shut them off.

Erin didn't realize that that was Elisa dressed as a security guard at first. We were trying to withhold that information for a bit.

"Titania's Mirror", "The Children of Oberon", "Oberon sent me." We were laying groundwork to expand the entire series' base. But I don't know if back then I knew that much about what if anything I had planned specifically for Titania & Oberon.

Anymore than I knew then what I'd do with the "Dracula's Daughter" reference. But we try not to waste anything.

Coming up with that "Children of Oberon" name was a struggle. And so many people have asked me since whether or not Oberon is literally everyone's father, I almost regret landing on that choice. Our thought process is largely present in the episode when Goliath et al, go through various noms: Fair Folk, Dark Elves, Changelings, Shape-Shifters. Of course, at the time we were misusing the term Changeling. I think that was Odo's influence frankly, but I should have known better. I suggested "The Oberati". But the Reaves didn't care for that. I think they thought it sounded too much like an Italian sports car.

I do love the moment when Brooklyn cites Shakespeare's play as a sort of reference work on the Children. I hope we sent a few people to the library with that line. Did we?

I also love Hudson's line in response to Elisa's question: Are they real?

Hudson: "As real as I am, if the stories be true." It's full of delicious dramatic irony. If you can suspend belief on a bunch of gargoyles, then this shouldn't be a problem for you. I love things that work on multiple levels.

I also love Hudson's "Be careful what you wish for" line.

We were trying to show a bit here how Demona had managed to operate in the modern world up to this point. One of the thieves has clearly worked for Demona before without ever having laid eyes on her. Of course, showing Demona's M.O. here, was like giving it a swan song. Because after this episode, though she clearly doesn't realize it yet, her life is going to get MUCH easier. Being a human during the day is a great boon to all her scheming. I'm very curious about everyone's reaction to that? Shock? Amusement? I also tried to work very hard so that in that last two minutes of epilogue, everyone would get that she only was human during the day. I was very afraid that the audience would think she was permanently transformed into a human. Was anyone confused? Or was anyone surprised that Puck's revenge/gift STUCK? We wouldn't really explore the change until HIGH NOON. Had you forgotten about it by then?

Family Reactions #2
As Demona's casting the spell that will summon Puck. (Which I always thought was very cool, with the feather and all.)
Benny: "That's a magic mirror. Is Demona going in there?"
Erin: "Puck's gonna come out."

As I've mentioned before, during the writing of this story we figured out that Owen was Puck. So to play fair we dropped a hint here. Demona (who knows) says to Puck: "You serve the human. You can serve me." Puck changes the subject, replying "Humans [note the plural] have a sense of humor, you have none." This was done intentionally to distract the audience away from the hint we had just dropped. But obviously, in hindsight, it's a clear reference to Owen serving Xanatos. Anyone get it right off the bat? Anyone even take note of the line the first time? Originally, the line read, "You serve him, now you can serve me." With the "him" referring to Xanatos. But our S&P executive was afraid the "him" could be taken to mean Satan. I know that seems silly now. But keep in mind, we were very paranoid back then about the show being attacked for promoting devil worship. So we made the change.

Sensitive Broadway: "Maybe even love." It's a nice moment. Wistful.

Puck reminds Demona that the mirror isn't "Aladdin's lamp". At the time, the Aladdin series was still in production at Disney. So that's a bit of an in-joke.

And how about that: Demona is still carrying a torch for Goliath. On some level, she wants him more than almost anything. Yet she continually allows her hatred to get in the way. And the irony is, that at this point, pre-Vows it isn't yet too late for them. But her actions further serve to cement the Goliath/Elisa relationship. More now than ever before.

Puck/Brent Spiner is just fantastic. I love that "charming personality" line. And "You don't know what you're asking, believe me." And "I'll do EXACTLY as you asked." And "My mistake." And "A very long nap." He's just so rich.

Plus the boarding and animation on Puck is just great. As is the sound work that accompanies him zipping around.

I always wanted Puck to be the one character who could break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. Every time he appeared, we'd put a line or two in the script that was addressed to the audience. And every time, Frank or Dennis Woodyard would cut it out of the board. They didn't like breaking the fourth wall. (A lot of guys don't. I tried to do that with Max on Max Steel, but Richard Raynis and Jeff Kline wouldn't allow that either.) Oh, well....

Puck also establishes that Oberon's Children generally use rhyming spells instead of Latin or Hebrew or whatever. (Thus making life slightly -- but ONLY slightly -- easier on me and the writers.) But Puck isn't too formal: "Human's love a battle hearty, so does Puck, come on, let's Party!" Fun. (And I like Brooklyn's line, "Party's over." too.)

Family Reactions #3
When Elisa's transformed into a gargoyle.

Erin: "She looks cute." [I very much agree. Though I always wonder where her red jacket goes.]

Ben then asked why she was transformed.

Beth explained that Demona didn't want Elisa to be human anymore.

Erin then corrects my wife and explains that Puck is tricking Demona.

KIDS GET IT! Adults need to pay closer attention!

Goliath suddenly has lust in his heart:
G: "I never realized when you were human just how beautiful you were."
E (with a smile): "You mean you thought I was ugly?"
G: "Uh... careful! Updraft!!"
Man, that guy is smooth.

Anyway, that's one of my all-time favorite exchanges. I think it reveals so much. Somewhere underneath, Goliath has been attracted to who Elisa IS deep-down -- at least since AWAKENING, PART THREE. But he never thought of her as a potential love interest. He wasn't brought up liberally enough to think that way. After all, she has no wings, no tail. And those human shaped feet!

But suddenly, she's revealed as a FEMALE. Now, even when she goes back to being human, his perspective is permanently altered. Hers, however, is not. She's already consciously had those thoughts. Consciously rejected them. So at the end of the episode, he wants to discuss these (for him) new feelings -- but she does not. And the sun helps shut him up.
G: "That's not what I meant."
E: "But that's the way it is."
Another of my all-time favorite exchanges. (I'm really partial to things involving the G/E relationship. I know, I know, I'm a romantic sap.]

I also like the ongoing confusion. Elisa: "Everyone in Manhattan has been turned into... HUMANS!" Goliath: "No, no, no, no, no." And when the Gargoyles are changed into humans, Brooklyn is so sure that they've always been humans, it's funny. Like that moment in CITY OF STONE, when he's convinced that the "statue of Elisa" is a bad likeness of her: "They got the nose wrong."

FYI, there was an honest attempt, within the logical parameters of what our gargs looked like, to make their human versions resemble the actors who played them. Thus Goliath has darker skin than the others, because Keith David is African-American. (Though otherwise Goliath really looks like Conan to me.) The bald Lex has brown hair and the bald Broadway has blond like Thom Adcox and Bill Fagerbakke respectively. Brooklyn resembles Jeff Bennett but with Brooklyn's white hair instead of Jeff's blond. And Hudson looks like Ed Asner with a beard. More or less. Thom Adcox is the one who most looked like the human version of his character.

Cool little touches:

Demona nudges an unconscious Puck with her tail.

She continues to call Hudson, "Old Soldier". Her tenth century "name" for him.

Her line about the "gift of being a gargoyle". I love that superior attitude.

Lexington's "Fun, but weird" line.

Hudson wrapping the sheet over the mirror.

Elisa and Demona have a brief "cat-fight" as Gargoyles. Not quite as diverting as the one they'll have as humans in High Noon. But it was nice to put them on equal physical footing for a change. Let them have it out.

Demona mentions that Puck isn't too tired to make himself "invisible to the crowd". This was us trying to plug a hole in our story. We felt it would undercut the mob's reactions to our newly human heroes if they had the same reaction to seeing Puck. And yet Puck clearly looks more human than Gargoyle. More "other". So we slid that line in to avoid the whole problem.

FAMILY REACTION #4

Beth laughed at Hudson's very Scots reading of "No doubt about it." Which is pronounced more like: "No doot aboot it."

More sappy stuff (which I love):

Goliath's line: "I'll always be there to catch you."

Elisa completely forgetting her fear of flying in order to save the MAN she loves.

That brief moment when both Elisa and Goliath are humans at the same time.

Hudson's wistful line about seeing the sun, just once.

Although it had little to do with the metaphor, we couldn't really resist the notion of showing Bronx transformed into a dog. We picked the biggest dog we could think of, a Wolfhound type, though a bulldog might have been more reminiscent.

In the script, Demona smashes the mirror upon seeing her human reflection in the glass. But somehow the scene never got animated. So we added the sound of the mirror being smashed to the exterior shot at the end. This was important in order to give the story full closure. The initial point of the episode was to prevent Demona from getting Titania's Mirror. Structurally, therefore, I couldn't allow her to keep it.

But no fear, later we introduced Oberon's Mirror (clearly part of a matching set) in THE GATHERING, PART ONE.

I wonder what all those Manhattanites thought when suddenly they realized they were all barefoot.


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jp12@mail.csuchico.edu writes...

I love the show. I can't watch it here in Chico, Ca. But, your work with villians is great. One vision for 2 seasons is very rare.
1. How much does it cost to produce 66 episodes?
2. Does it vary much for different studios/companies?
3. Any way I can get some of the material you show at the gathering? NY is pretty far from CA. I can't afford the trip.
4. What do you feel is your best work (not a specific "1", but things you'd recommend)?
5. I know and like Max Steel. Anything else you're working on now (even single episode plots)?

Thanks for listening. If you're even half as busy as I am, you'd be pressed to answer these in a timely manner. I'm glad just to hope for a response eventually.

Best Wishes, John Peacock
P.S.: Gargoyles is one of the few shows I'd be proud to watch with children. Hope yours keeps enjoying it.

Greg responds...

1. We averaged between 400K and 500K per episode in the first two years. The third year had, I believe, a lower budget.

2. I'm not sure what you mean.

3. New York isn't that far from Orlando, Florida -- which is where this year's Gathering is. (Next year's is in California.) And where were you during the TWO NYC Gatherings in 97 and 98? Anyway, what material did you have in mind?

4. On Gargoyles or period? Gargoyles is my best work. I'm fond of Starship Troopers and the comic book Captain Atom too.

5. I just completed voice directing a Japanese Anime video series called 3x3 Eyes. It should be available in September.

Response recorded on July 24, 2000

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Robert Vigue writes...

Greg.
We Recently Started Watching and Taping Max Stell on Kids WB, But they do not do Subtittles on the show, We have all the subtittles written down but it is hard to match them up with certain Episodes, Do you know any website or a list somewhere that tell what each Episode is about with the apropiate subtittle, My E-Mail Adress is FHawk00003@AOL.com
If you could help us that would be great, or if you know someone that would know.
Firehawk.

Greg responds...

Uh, no, I rarely have website info. And I'm not sure what you mean? Subtitles, like close-captioning? Or episode titles?

If it's the latter, here's a primer, I guess...

SPOILER WARNING

#1 Strangers. The Pilot. Max Steel (aka Josh McGrath) is in Berlin when his partner Rachel Leeds and the entire Reichstag conference disappears. Max (with the help of 'Berto Martinez) helps Rachel and the others escape from freelance mercenary L'Étranger.

#2 Sacrifices. Josh's foster-father and boss Jefferson Smith is kidnapped by Psycho (aka Smiley), John Dread's right hand cyborg.

#3 Shadows. Paris is suffering from mysterious blackouts, as is Max, who's also flashing back to his origin.

#4 Sportsmen. Josh quits the Del Oro Extreme, but when mysterious lightning threatens the Triple Threat competition, Max Steel is forced to enter the contest.

#5 Seraphim. N-Tek agents Max Steel and Sophia Skarsgaard infiltrate the Cyberdragon organization in order to recover a stolen computer disk and keep it out of the hands of Dragonelle and Dread.

#6 Spear-Carriers. Team Steel gets a new mobile base of operations, but it's stolen with 'Berto trapped inside.

#7 Snow-Blind. Josh and his friends Laura Chen and Pete Costas vacation in Aspen, while Dread and Psycho plot to use the Bio-Link to kidnap Max and destroy Del Oro Bay.

#8 Sharks. Max and Rachel are on a tense undersea plutonium salvage mission aboard the N-Tek sub shark. But they have competition from L'Étranger. Plus Josh has to come to terms with his mother's death.

#9 Sabres. Max and Jake Nez attempt to salvage N-Tek's orbiting space station. But Psycho and Vitriol have other ideas.

#10 Sphinxes. Max, 'Berto and Rachel travel to Egypt to uncover Dragonelle and Dread's latest plot against world peace.

#11 Swashbucklers. Spring Break for Josh and Laura translates into a little pirate adventure for Max Steel. This one has Earthquakes.

#12 Scions. This one has volcanos. Plus a flashback adventure with Josh's biological father, Big Jim McGrath.

#13 Shattered. The final (for the season) showdown between N-Tek and Dread. Del Oro Bay. New York. Munich. Explosions. Fungus. And practically the entire cast. This one's got it all.

(It sort of embarrasses me that I'm so facile at the above.)

Response recorded on July 11, 2000

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Cookie writes...

I've been watching the Max Steel series and I'm rather curious why his features are different in #9 & 10 than they were in the first episodes. Could you offer any insight? Thanks!!!

Greg responds...

Actually, his features in #9 shouldn't be ANY different from the first episodes.

NETTER DIGITAL animated episodes 1-4 and 9.

FOUNDATION IMAGING animated episodes 5-8 and 10-13.

That's why the characters look slightly different in some episodes.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Raseirian Captain writes...

Max Steel questions:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the episodes I've seen so far, all the guards of Psycho and l'Étranger appear to be women. Am I wrong? If not, then why?

If they are indeed women, this amuse me a bit, since Max Steel is essentially meant for boy audience and sometimes people complaint that there not enough girls in a boy show.

Greg responds...

Yes, you're wrong.

Psycho has Dread Minions. Male and female. You haven't been paying very close attention if you didn't notice that. Even their voices are male and female.

In the pilot, L'Étranger was working for Dread and also used male and female Dread Minions.

In "Sharks" (the submarine episode), L'Étranger was no longer working for Dread. And indeed, in this one episode only, he used ONLY female "SIRENS". This is the only episode in the entire first season, where that was the case. (In some later episodes, FOUNDATION erred and used the Sirens interchangably with female DREAD MINIONS, but there were always Male Dread Minions about -- in Dread episodes that is. Chang, Breamer and Carreras each had their own troops.)

As for why, I just thought that the romantic L'Étranger would want to surround himself with women.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Ambrosia writes...

As long as I'm here...
What gives with Max Steel?
You'd said Snow-Blind was supposed to air today, but it was a rerun of... Shadows? The good news is, I heard that line: "I can see the Berlin Wall from here." I'd missed it last time. I think it made Max look more dumb than it did you, Greg. :)
Anyways, since you'd said just yesterday that Snow-Blind was going to air, did they do that without letting you know? The bums.
*Regardless*... I love the show! Particularly the ep that just repeated. Berto's so cool. Chess-boy.
"'Swell' comes to mind, but then English isn't my first language."
*chuckles*
Yet another triumph, Greg and crew!
see ya around!

Greg responds...

I'm glad you liked it. At some point I completely lost track of when and where they were airing which episodes. It may be that after they decided not to bring me back for the second season (but before they told me) they sort of kept me out of the loop for obvious reasons.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Entity writes...

Hi Greg,

I just wanted to say that, in regards to Max Steel, I am outraged by what WB is doing to the series episode order. I've not yet seen the show (though by the time you see this, that very well may change) but the fact that the episode order is causing problems demonstrates to me that it has a structure, and isn't just some random, ep-to-ep series (though how could I suspect otherwise from you?).

Something just like this happened to "Crusade," the short-lived spin-off series to "Babylon 5." TNT, the network upon which it aired, felt the need to literally RUIN the show by messing with the episode order. If you know anything about "Babylon 5" you know about the highly-structured plotline, and that carried over to "Crusade" in a large part. I believe it was because of TNT that the show failed.

I hope the same fate doesn't befall "Max Steel." Why do networks buy shows that they know to be structured - presumably a trait they were attracted to - only to mess it up?

I guess networks are just not changing with the times, which are leaning more towards continuity in television shows. But you'd think they would at least have the decency to reject a show, rather than accept it and then twist it.

Greg responds...

Actually, you can't put all the blame for the episode ordering problems on the Network. Netter Digital did not deliver all the episodes on time. Certain episodes that weren't already in the works with Netter were pulled away and given to Foundation. Than other episodes wound up being pulled away. This resulted, just as an example, in episode #6 being the last out of the thirteen to be completed. WB couldn't air it in order unless they were prepared to air months of reruns with no new episodes until May. They obviously were not prepared to do that.

Now there may be times where Networks, including the WB, DO chose to air episodes out of order. But this isn't exactly one of those times. Not really.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Zeliard writes...

Max Steel, N-Tek questions:

1.About N-Tek, I figured they are fully autonomus: they have their own resources, techonology, information network, etc.
However, who created N-Tek and for whom they work for?

2.What are there main objectives besides countering terrorists?

3.Is N-Tek known to the general public?

4.What are the power and influence of N-Tek compare to other agencies like CIA, FBI, KGB, etc?

Thanks, love the show and the CGI.

Greg responds...

Well, I can only comment on what my plans would have been. I have no involvement in the second season. No idea what they have in mind. They certainly haven't asked me what I had planned, so there's no way they can know. So what I right here may not reflect the series as it ends up. But...

1. N-Tek was founded by Marco Nathanson as a response to the terrorist attack on the 1972 Olympic Games. It is an anti-terrorist organization chartered by the United Nations.

2. That's the only real objective.

3. Only as a sporting goods company.

4. N-Tek is more international in scope than any specific nation's intelligence agency. It's only motivation is to save lives. No politics involved.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Anonymous writes...

Hey Greg

Is there a reason that so far all the Max Steel Episodes have started with an 'S'?

Thanks! *runs*

Greg responds...

Yes.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000


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