Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

My Gathering Journal

Day 2

I woke up, took a shower and went down stairs to sign up for the Mug-A-Guest, and was the first person to sign up to mug you. I noticed a lot of people got there early and Jeff Bennet filled up right away. I had this Apple Muffin for breakfast and went to the first panel, which was the Series Development panel. Unfortunatly I didn't have my schedual with me, and missed the Brynne Chandler Mug-A-Guest I signed up for, and I regret that.

That was a fun panel, and it was great to meet Tad Stones, someone who's work I admired for a long time. A lot of great stories were told, and after the panel I had to ask him the origin of the second Negaduck... it was interesting to discover that they're both the same character. I had an Evil Emperor Zurg question for him also, but forgot about it at the time.

Next came the Writing for TV Animation panel, which was great cause I got to meet Michael Reaves, who has been one of my favorite writers for ages. Learned a lot about the business, and I really hope we can get him to another Gathering.

Next I went to the Writing for Gargoyles panel, which I enjoyed immensly. it was great getting to meet the rest of the Writing Staff, and hearing about their experiences on the show, and they were all a pleasure. I hope we can get all of them back also.

I wondered around for a while and ended up in the Art Room chatting with friends like Aaron and Mara, Josh, and a lot of other people. I met your wife and kids for the first time in front of Erin's art. I encouraged her to keep drawing, cause I think she has some real talent. Her art was very cute as well. You have a wonderful family there Greg.

I went up to dinner later and had Chinese food, then we realized the time and hurried back just in time for the Radio Play. I really enjoyed it, and "Hunter's Moon" was always one of my favorites. I really regreted not trying a Scottish accent at the audition, cause now I think I could have been a great Canmore.

After the Radio Play, I went and watched some 3x3 Eyes for the first time, and now I am actively searching for the set. I'm having trouble finding it though.

I went up to my room and I forget what I did then, I think I watched a "Fraiser" re-run before my roommates came back, and we stayed up later just talking before we hit the sack

Todd Jensen writes...

I must confess that one thing that surprises me a little about Demona is how long it took her to realize the truth about Thailog. After all, we're dealing here with a gargoyle who prides herself on not trusting anyone, who's utterly and thoroughly suspicious about everyone. And Thailog strikes me as being about as thoroughly untrustworthy as they come. But the interesting thing is that Demona doesn't seem to suspect that Thailog is an unreliable ally until he finally comes out and says it in "The Reckoning" with his "I've decided to: a) kill your daughter, and b) dump you in favor of a clone that I made of you, who, by the way, is also a part-clone of Elisa." Of course, the guy is thoroughly cunning (I particularly noted how, in "Sanctuary", he cleverly drew attention away from himself after Macbeth blasts his way to freedom with the laser gun that Thailog slipped him by shouting at Demona "Didn't you search him?"), and as Macbeth himself admitted when Angela raised the same question at the end of "Sanctuary", love can be blind. But I do find it intriguing that Demona was so thoroughly duped by Thailog for so long (though it has a certain appropriateness to it).

matt writes...

hi Greg!

i recieved my prize in the mail, and needless to say i'm thrilled with it! i'm a Geography major and it was extremly interesting to me to learn more about the less known clans, both biologically, socially and culturally. i liked to see how the clans we have known had evolved to what they are in 2198. very very cool!!!

and hey, i also got your autograph! LOL

one question, i think i probably am ok since you never said anything, but is it ok to reveal things said in the prize in here or at the Comment Room? i wouldn't want to get you in trouble like the whole Fiona Canmore thing did... or do you just not want me to say some of these things to everyone? again, ifigure i'm ok since you didn't say to kep these a secret, but just want to check!

thanx again! great prize!!

Lady Leto writes...

Dear Greg.....

This is a respond to one of your ramblings. You asked:

'Is there anyone out there for whom City of Stone was your first Gargoyle experience? If so, I'd love to hear from you. Did you have a clue as to what was going on?'

Well I was getting my Dad to watch it with me for the first time. And throughout the whole thing he was asking me many question, most of them pointless like do all Gargoyles have tails? And kept on me about names. (Hudson right, nothing is real to humans till they have names.) So yes even with the flashbacks, "Previously" segment, and a hard core garg fan, he was very confused. I think next time I try to get him into Gargoyles I'll start at the beginning.

Also wanted say that it is really cool how you answer all these question. (I have been to the Archives.) It must take alot of time! And you even put up with the not so great questions! I just wanted to say thanks!

Kelly L Creighton/Kya White Sapphire writes...

Im very sorry if this was asked before, but looking through the archives I can't even begind to thing of what category it might be in.

You know a lot of us have created our own characters and our own stories. How do you feel about that?

Im very posessive. I would say "mine! leave it alone!" That's why I refuse to publish anything with my own character (myself I mean, not just a random character I created) in it, for fear that someone would role play as her or write about her in a way I didn't like.

Kelly L Creighton/Kya White Sapphire writes...

you asked for gathering journals. here ya go!
Gatheirng 2001
http://www.coloden.com/isle/g01.html
Gathering 2000
http://www.coloden.com/isle/g2k.html

Todd Jensen writes...

Another word about "Gargoyles 2198". I will state here that the part about the series concept that intrigues me the most actually isn't so much the "main plot" (the Space-Spawn occupation, Samson's resistance movement, etc.) or even the general potential for various 22nd century adventures. What makes me most interested in this projected spin-off is that it offers the best hope, of any of the cycles in your Master Plan, of exploring the issue of, what I'll call for lack of a better term, "peacetime" human-gargoyle relations.

What I mean by that is this. It's obvious enough to me that, once humans become aware that gargoyles are an intelligent race, and when they reach the point where they'd be living alongside them with a certain degree of tolerance of their existence (as in, after the UN passes the "Gargoyle Minority Protection Act"), there'd inevitably enough be a lot of interestingly complicated circumstances. Because the big difference between gargoyles and "conventional" minority groups is that gargoyles aren't part of the human race. They're a non-human species with a unique biology and culture. So that would lead to situations between the two races where there would be no real precedence, situations different from those of conventional race relations of the sort that we face today. The gargoyles aren't human, but an involuntarily nocturnal species, and an autonomous one at that, yet living (for the most part) in the middle of human nation-states (and, in at least two cases, major human cities). So there's a definite recipe for complication from the start.

Of course, once the New Olympians reveal themselves to the world, human will get some experience in dealing with a non-human race (well, in this case, partly human). But New Olympus will be easy by comparison, given that it's a sovereign state; dealings with the New Olympians would most likely be a "simple" case of international diplomacy (if international diplomacy with a nation-state populated by centaurs, minotaurs, sphinxes, and other beings from classical mythology). But the gargoyles are actually secretly living amidst humans, with the "biggie" clan (in the sense that it's the one that "Gargoyles" focused on) actually living right in New York. So there'd be a whole can of worms about where gargoyles fit in with human law, human government, and so on. And that could clearly lead to a lot of interesting stories.

It's equally clear that that wouldn't be happening to the gargoyles in the present day, at least for a while (given that nearly everybody still think of them simply as monsters; as I recall you mentioned here, the big problem with Goliath's trial would be simply giving him a trial in the first place); so obviously the necessary setting for such stories would have to be "Gargoyles 2198". Of course, the fact that the Space-Spawn will be conquering the Earth in the first episode would make the issue much more complicated, but I imagine that it'd still be fertile ground for a lot of interesting situations. At any rate, that's probably what intrigues me the most about "Gargoyles 2198". Seeing how humans solve the problem of sharing their planet with a non-human intelligent race living among them.

matt writes...

ok, i know you've said that the English gargs are pretty much limited to what we saw in "MIA", but are there smaller differences in different English gargs. i mean, no two gargoyles ever look totally alike, right? but in a large English garg clan with only a few limited features, wouldn't they start to look pretty similar? are there different colors these gargs can have besides browns and whites? are there any that have legs more similar to a bird than a horse or a lion? are there any that have different kinds of wings or something?

it doesn't bug me that the English gargs look SO different from the other gargs we've seen around the world, and i know that that bugs some people... but it does bug me that the English gargs seem to be limited to only features we saw in "MIA"...

guess thats all i have to say about that, LOL!

Entity writes...

I have something to add about the definition of "sentience." Hopefully you remember this comment thread by the time you get to this. It involved talk of "The One" vs. "The Other" and the ethics of destroying planets in Star Trek, etc. Here's my take:

"Sentience" is a distinctly different quality from "Intelligence." Sentience is being self-aware. Therefore just about all life with a backbone is sentient. Intelligence is the ambiguous one. But we don't like ambiguity, so that's why sentience has taken the role it has in popular language. I say my dog is sentient, a frog isn't. I say a human is intelligent, so is a gorrilla, but a dog isn't. I guess it's ALL subjective in the end.

It brings me to another distinction: the one between sentience and artificial intelligence. Coyote, for instance, can throw a zinger, but is he self-aware? I don't think he is. Xanatos hasn't achieved (or would wish to achieve) that much, has he?

Shan writes...

More of a comment than a question, actually. I saw the thread about you having considered a GARGOYLES Shangri-La story, but unsure about the legalities since it originates from Hilton's LOST HORIZON. I can tell you one other cartoon series that did go to Shangri-La: JEM in 1986. Richard (Rick) Merwin wrote an episode called "Journey to Shangri-La" where Jem and co. go to Tibet after joining a quest to discover the mythic city; it's a serious episode, not a parody or satire. I'm not going to say much about the episode (both because it's neither the right forum nor my place to rant) but I thought you might find it interesting. Don't know what clearance, if any, they had though. I have heard when a sequel book was developed to LOST HORIZON they had to deal with Hilton's estate. Just stuff to contemplate and share with the group at large, I guess, but if you have any thoughts or commentary...

Denis writes...

hi, Greg!
Not really a question, just a reply to your call about the script of Rosswell Conspiracies.

As you've read from the technic question about script terminology, I'm the one who bough the script.
I had it for 30 dollars, but could have gone up to 80, which was all the money I had left for the weekend.

I loved your version soooo much more than the one that was aired! Darker, more realistic, and the character much deeper than in the actual animated version. I never really cared for Nick Logan, but Tony Markus, ah! that's another story! He has that Anti-Lee Majors quality around him, that humor. I was LOL with his line, responding to his cousin. "In fact, things got downright charred and rare." Oh gosh I just LOVE that line!
It's really too bad that 1. they didn't use your script as it was and 2. that you didn't got to write more. R.C. could have been the sci-fi pendant of Gargoyles.
ten stars out of five! *back to re-read it again*

Lord Sloth writes...

I can tell from what you put on my post(and other posts), that Entity's expasion on the vocabulary thing will make you pretty happy. I wanted to say a lot of that to, but I'm not as good with words. It's hard to believe though, that Power Rangers did better better then Gargs, when it's vocab pretty much limited to "Lets get em you guys" and the like. Here are some other good words from Gargoyles: Mechiabelliant<sp???>, enchilon, odyssey, avatar(did I mention that one already?), popirus, humility and some good latin words as well. A few times it seemed a little unrealistic (his reverse phicoligy was pretty blaitent), but otherwise, it has great sentance structure & dialouge(which is more than I can say for myself). That's all I've gota say, except sorry about my bad spelling.

Entity writes...

Hi again,

This is on Xanatos. Someone asked about the logic of Xanatos going through all of the trouble of bringing the gargs to life, only to have them steal some disks, then to just wastefully try to eradicate them with the Steel Clan. I have been conflicted with this contradiction in Xanatos' character as well, and I think it is a result of so much having to be inferred from the episodes. As viewers we are accustomed to being handed everything on a silver platter. Mainstream America is lazy like that. But in a 22-minute cartoon, you didn't have that kind of time. You couldn't explain everything. So characterization, especially, needed to be shown not told.

In Xanatos' case, he really is more of the trickster than the megalomaniac. In the show we got more of an impression of control and dominance. This is the air that X likes to put off. Cool and collected. With a master plan for everything. This was mostly a FRONT. The REAL Xanatos is, as you've accentuated through your episode reviews, a trickster. He lives by the moment. He's a thrill seeker. He makes up his plans as he goes along. That's why his plan in "Metamorphosis" seemed so flimsy, as so many Ask Gregers have brought up. That's why he seemed to change priorities so much in the first season. He re-evaluated. And if you think about it, this more dynamic approach to his character makes his 'reformation' all the more plausible. X, whether we've realized it or not, was in a constant state of change throughout the entire series.

Entity writes...

Hi Greg,

Wow, you can definitely tell the difference between your pre-LA and post-LA responses. ;)

I just had to join Sloth in complimenting you and the other writers who worked on Gargoyles on the unbridled freedom of vocabulary you embraced. In too many cartoon shows, the dialogue is dumbed down to the point where you get angry that someone's actually getting paid for writing it. Adults tend to not realize that kids appreciate good entertainment. They aren't just mesmorized by pretty flashies. And dialogue is a pivotal part of good entertainment. Now that I think about it, I believe Gargoyles has had an even bigger impact on me than I've previously imagined. Words like "cliche" and "naivete" are ones I got directly from Gargoyles. Sure I've seen them elsewhere, but I GOT them from Gargoyles. I'm about to start my first year at college and I am majoring in Creative/Professional Writing (haven't decided between the two yet). Gargoyles is probably the influence that drove me most toward the decision to take my life in that direction. I realize that Gargoyles really was an educational program, and I'm not speaking of the few token episodes that dealt with gun control or literacy or deforestation. Watching Gargoyles made me smart. It is like the anti-cartoon, because it did precisely the opposite of what most typical children's entertainment does, at least when you or Michael Reeves isn't on deck: vegetabilize.

Mary Mack writes...

I was just skimming through the Garg Science archive, and I ran across a post by Faieq asking about colored irises, and whether or not gargoyles had them. She came to the conclusion that gargs had no irises, since the dim moonlight would be enough for them. I don't think that works, biologically, because sophisticated animals (humans included) have irises-- involuntary sphincters which control how much light enters the eye, constricting to prevent damage from too much light and expanding to let in more light in darkness. Gargoyles, like cats, probably have excellent night vision, being all noctournal and stuff, so they HAVE to have irises.

Maybe their eyes are just predominantly dark, like horses and dogs, with light blue eyes cropping up occaisionally.

Dunno why I went on so long. I was actually just checking for your next Gathering ramble (It's still June at this writing), and for some reason I just had to mention the horse/dog/iris thing.

Thanks for your time.

Blaise writes...

Hi Greg!
This is about two days after the Convention, and I just wanted to say how great it was seeing/meeting you and the rest of the cast and crew of GARGOYLES (or at least a sizable portion of them) in person. I also enjoyed seeing the various pitches you had (I LOVE Sphinx's design--though I doubt that was at all final), and hearing the stories surrounding the various aspects of the show.

Kudos to you, Jennifer, Patrick, Kathy, and the rest of the Con staff, volunteers, and guest for making this an extremely memorable Con.
(Of course, by the time you read this it will have been MONTHS in the past, but the good feelings are still that strong.)

Regina writes...

I have been a gragoyles since the beginning just like the x-files. I just wanted to say that the gragoyles was the best and is stille the best show around. It hasthe x-files appeal to it plus it is just cool liek ed the sock chao

Stacey writes...

Hello Mr Weisman!
First of all, congeratulations on such a great show, it's the best cartoon I've ever seen, I've loved it since I was a kid!
Just a quick question. I asume that Demona eventualy finds out about Goliath and Elisa's relationship. How does she feel? I always thought that she retained feelings for him - despite her best efforts - and there's the fact that she probably hates Elisa more than anyone else alive.
When you outlined the space spawn/Samson/2198 or something storyline, there was no mention of Goliath and Elisa ever having children, grandchildren etc. I know that biologicaly speaking, there was very little chance that it would ever happen (unfortunantly), but I always thought that they would find someway of adopting. You don't have to say if you don't want to, but Goliath and Elisa without kids is heartbreaking. They would make such wonderful parents! I know that they would help raise the clans children, but its not quite the same is it? I mean Goliath has taken up the role as sole parent to angela, and Elisa is human anyway. Please give me hope!
Anyway, sorry. I didn't mean to rant on for so long. I need my gargoyles fix.
Good luck for the future.
XXX

Anonymous writes...

Have you ever seen Babylon 5? It's quite good and could give Gargoyles a run for the money.

matt writes...

grrr, because anonymous had to bring it up again i thought i should once more say that i seriously doubt gargoyles evolved from dinosaurs, maybe they had a common ancestors or something, but it seems really unlikely that gargs are saurian descendants. i mean, look at the English gargs! they don't look anything like dinosaurs or even reptiles. i think its more likely that the English gargs evolved from lions, horses, and birds then other gargs evolving from dinosaurs, and Greg has said that they didn't. i think Gargs are so different from most higher life forms of life that the gargate family seperated from the rest of the animal kingdom far back in history, before dinosaurs, maybe even before reptiles!

sorry, i had to rant about that again...
"Why do the little things always frustrate me!" -Demona
geeeez, Greg, do YOU think gargs evolved from dinosaurs? i know you're not a biologist, but what do you think?

Demoness writes...

Suggestion:

I noticed that Greg has been receiving the same questions over and over again and I'm certain he's getting tired of answering them all the time. So, to save him as well as us time & trouble, why don't who ever manages the archive to create a "FAQ Archive" and put the FAQ with best answers in it.

just a suggestion

WereFox writes...

I know we've spent a lot time talking about Demona's motivations, but what of Thailog's. I'm guessing a desire to prove his own legitamacy in light of his unique origins and the long shadow cast by his fathers, especially Goliath.
One thing that never made complete since to me though was why he turned on Demona. There can't be that many Gargoyles who would ally themselves with his "unique slant on things." Clones are fine but Thailog initially relegated them to the status of servile drones. Was it that Demona was a loose canon. Was he simply bored with her? Finally it occured to me that if he is trying to prove himself to be a better Gargoyle,by his own defintion, tthen Demona might very well seem like a "hand me down." Or perhaps, he realized that Demona saw him not as "Thailog", but as a Goliath substitute. Talk about a blow to your self worth!

WereFox writes...

Does the spell of immortality completely heal Demona and MacBeths injuries. Do bullet or stab wounds heal without a trace or do the leave battle scars. It had occured to me that the spell might not have to heal them to be good as new, just enough to keep them alive. If being "alive" is the minmal requirement. Then the two of the could theoretically go into comas for the rest of eternity and still be considered "alive" for the purposes of the spell. I know, now way you were actually going to do this. Just exorcising a "creativity demon."

Corrine Blaquen writes...

Another interesting thing to think about: For brief periods of time, Angela has had both Macbeth and Thailog as stepfathers. *Grin* Angela's family is somewhat dysfunctional, is it not?

Todd Jensen writes...

Well, it's certainly a relief to have the Gargoyles 2198 contest finally over with; I'm amazed that it took us so long to get the last two answers right. Well, now for a few comments on "Gargoyles 2198"'s overall description.

A number of elements in it certainly surprised me. For example, while I had suspected for a long while that the Space-Spawn would be playing a major role in the spin-off, I hadn't expected that it would open with them actually conquering the planet. Likewise, I was certainly surprised at the reason for Owen being unable to become Puck in the series (Alex being in Space-Spawn captivity), though it did make sense (I'd had my own speculations for the reason for the "block on Puck" before the contest began, though I won't mention them here because of the rules - suffice it to say that none of them involved Alex being held prisoner by anybody).

Another element in the spin-off was one which I'd perhaps "half-anticipated", and which did strike me as logical, but which I hadn't been seriously expecting in "Gargoyles 2198"; the notion of Samson and Delilah working together. Now, before the contest had come out, I'd been speculating for some time over whether Samson would have some connection with Delilah - given their names, it would be almost impossible not to have something like that happening - but never gave it any serious thought since I obviously didn't seriously believe that the original Delilah whom we met in "The Reckoning" would still be around at the time of the spin-off (even when it was "Gargoyles 2158" rather than "Gargoyles 2198"). Of course, I hadn't counted on the possibility of a namesake descendant, but it certainly struck me as a good solution.

And I've got to admit, you found a way to have the Illuminati stoop to a new low in the spin-off; they certainly were shady even in the original series (deals with organized crime, the Hotel Cabal, supporting the Quarrymen), but now they've become out-and-out quislings.

All in all, the spin-off certainly looks promising. I don't know if you'll ever get it made, but it should be interesting.

Questions follow in a separate post.