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Anonymous writes...

How can I petition Disney studios?

Greg responds...

For what?

Response recorded on December 12, 2003

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Rusty writes...

sorry for the typos...it's 3:06 pm and i have been up since yesterday trying to draw that stuff on note book papper don't worry i make sure you get all the credit for the people that belong to you.as long as i can use them.

Greg responds...

Rusty,

See my previous response. It's good to give me (and the other creators of GARGOYLES) credit for our work. Not just good, but essential.

But I still am not clear as to your intentions. Fan-fiction is fine. For profit work is NOT.

Response recorded on December 12, 2003

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Rusty writes...

hey greg..if i where to use your Charchters in a comic/ or anime some time in the future maybe would it be alright? i am asking you because you drew it and at frist i wanted you to sue me but...i was told you didn't do a copy right on it so disney owns it,thats ok disney can sue me :) they wont get nothing though, the reason i am asking you is cuz you drew them so in my eyes you are the orginal owner of the whole thing. thanks if your reading this (cuz i probly will just use them anyway lol) and sorry for takeing your time

Greg responds...

First off, I don't draw anything.

Second off, I never owned Gargoyles. Disney always did.

Third off, if you're talking about not-for-profit fanwork, than be my guest. Enjoy yourself.

Fourth off, if you're talking about for-profit (or even attempts at for-profit) work, than that's called plaigarism, and I'm against that, and you do not have my permission to use ideas, characters, etc. that were created by me and my staff and are owned by Disney.

Response recorded on December 11, 2003

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TOP FIVE POLL

As many of you know, I stopped by the Station 8 Comment Room last week, asking the fans to list the top five reasons that they were drawn to the Gargoyles series. My post received 470 responses in one week: pretty good on short notice.

The responses can be viewed at http://s8.org/gargoyles/cmntarch2.php. They'll be on that site through this coming Sunday
(11/23/03), at which point the room clears.

I copied and pasted the entire room over to a Word Document and found it to be nearly three hundred pages long and full of very
gratifying bites about the series, but it's a lot to wade through, so I put the following statistics together. [Note: some people gave more than five reasons, and many reasons overlapped. I just tried to count everything. But this is far from scientific.]

"WHAT ARE THE TOP FIVE REASONS THAT YOU ARE DRAWN TO THE GARGOYLES SERIES?"

Out of 470 Total Responses…

#1 - Characters.
An amazing 437 people cited the Characters and the series' complex characterization as one of their top five reasons for being drawn to the series. They discussed, often in great detail, how real and believable the characters seem, how detailed their backstories were, how major and minor characters grew, changed and evolved, and how complex they were, reflecting shades of grey. They liked the relationships/bonds/dynamics between the characters, as well. They even liked their names. 35 respondents specifically noted and appreciated the diversity of our cast (multi-racial and multi-species, and all of very different body types). 16 respondents noted our depiction of strong and non-stereotyped female characters. Another 35 respondents listed our villains as their favorites. Many individual characters were listed simply as examples, but many were also singled out by the fans, voted as one of their top five reasons for liking the show: Demona (39), Brooklyn (30), Xanatos (29), Goliath (23), Puck/Owen (22), Elisa (17), Lexington (13), Macbeth (9), Broadway (9), Bronx (7), Hudson (5), Thailog (5), Fox (4), the Mutates (4), The Pack (3), Oberon (3), the Tricksters (3), the Hunters (3), Angela (2), the Illuminati (2), Jackal & Hyena (1), Desdemona (1), Titania (1), the Clones (1), Una (1), Fang (1) and Matt (1).

#2 - Plot Development.
228 respondents listed the series' ongoing saga, its story arcs, as one of their top five reasons for liking the series. They liked its dynamism and twists. How stories built on past stories and presaged stories yet to come: the tapestry of events that created the Gargoyles Universe. In fact, 23 people specifically listed the "Gargoyles Universe" as one of their top five draws. 88 people specifically referred to Gargoyles' Continuity as being a plus. They liked, in essence, that the show had a memory - it made events more real and seemed to reward the fans for both sticking around and paying attention. It also encouraged them to watch episodes over and over to pick up tidbits that they might have missed on a first viewing. 18 also liked how actions had repercussions and consequences. 3 people praised the series' "epic scope". 6 talked about how it seemed to be filled with possibilities for yet more stories.

#3 - Literary, Mythological, Historical & Biblical References.
201 people loved the integration of various characters and concepts from myth, history, literature and the Bible. A whopping (and gratifying) 104 specifically mentioned all the various Shakespeare references and characters as being a plus. Many felt the show was educational, inspiring them to read Shakespeare's plays or study Scottish History, etc.

#4 - Animation.
199 people loved the series' animation. Many consider it the best or among the best that American television animation has ever produced. Many people compared it favorably with Japanese anime and Batman: The Animated Series. Two people specifically praised the pacing.

#5 - The Voice Cast.
158 people listed the voice cast and voice acting in their top fives. 38 people specifically mentioned that the presence of so many Star Trek actors in Gargoyles was a major initial draw. As with the characters, many individual actors were singled out by the fans in their lists: Keith David/Goliath (32), Jonathan Frakes/Xanatos (19), Marina Sirtis/Demona (15), Salli Richardson/Elisa (4), Michael Dorn/Coldstone (3), Edward Asner/Hudson (2), Jeff Bennett/Brooklyn (2), Jim Cummings/Dingo (1), Tim Curry/Sevarius (1), Thom Adcox-Hernandez/Lexington (1), Frank Welker/Bronx (1). Three of our international fans even praised the foreign dubs.

That takes care of the top five, but this'll fill out the top twenty:

#6 - Series Intelligence.
140 people specifically stated how much they appreciated how "smart" the series was. They liked that it was written on multiple levels so that it could be appreciated by kids as well as by teens and adults. That's one of the reasons why they're still watching it ten years later. They liked how Gargoyles respected its audience and its audience's intelligence.

#7 - Design.
122 people cited the show's design work and art style as part of their top five. They liked the looks of the individual gargoyles and the other characters as well, with 12 people actually praising how "sexy" the characters were. They liked the backgrounds and the overall look of the show. 12 people specifically gave credit to the series' color palette.

#8 - Writing.
76 people cited the series' writing for praise (this is in addition to those listed above who liked the characters, overall story arcs, literary references, etc.). They praised the writing's attention to detail, its substance, layers and intensity. 32 people praised how "believable" and "realistic" the show seemed, despite its fantasy premise. 28 specifically noted the mystery and intrigue, liking the risk-taking twists and turns that kept the audience coming back for more. 27 praised the show's humor and comedy (and one person even liked all the in-jokes). 24 specifically praised the dialogue. 11 praised the emotional depth. 5 praised its timeless quality. 3 praised its scary sequences.

#9 - Issues/Values/Themes.
71 respondents were impressed by Gargoyles ability to introduce real world issues and teach values without preaching. They cited episodes that dealt with gun safety, illiteracy, environmental concerns, etc. 24 people also specifically cited the shows pro-social themes, again noting how the show got its messages across without hitting the viewer over the head with them. Specific themes were even listed on occasion. 10 people hailed the idea of our using monsters as heroes and exploring the theme of "not judging a book by its cover." Four liked the show's theme of hope. Another four liked its theme of protection. One person listed "the fish out of water" theme. Another listed the theme of Family as being important.

#10 - Romance.
67 people responded to the romance in the show. In particular, the slow-boiling Beauty and the Beast relationship between Goliath and Elisa.

#11 - Core Concept.
65 people listed the core concept as one of their reasons. They liked the whole idea of medieval Gargoyles waking up in the modern world. They liked how fully realized the Gargoyles species was, from how they looked to how they acted, their history, culture and behavior. An additional 30 people specifically cited the series' "Originality".

#12 - Music.
62 respondents listed Carl Johnson's music score and opening theme as one of their top five reasons for liking the show. (Though one person was happy that there was no singing.) Many of the fans spontaneously requested that Disney release the music on CD. [Of course, many, many others noted that they would like to see the whole show on DVD.] 7 additional people listed "Sound" in general, including music and sound effects.

#13 - Multi-Genre storytelling.
62 individuals liked how the series elegantly combined multiple genres, including fantasy, science fiction, comic book action hero, comedy, drama, horror, etc. They liked how science went hand-in-hand with sorcery. They liked the use of magic and technology, time travel, robots, gods, monsters, etc.

#14 - Episodic Stories.
60 respondents praised the storytelling of individual episodes. How each was able to stand alone, while still fitting into the larger tapestry of the series' arcs. 17 people praised the stories from the Avalon World Tour set of episodes. Many individual episodes were also cited in the fans' lists: "Deadly Force" (9), "The Mirror" (6), "Temptation" (2), "Future Tense" (1), "M.I.A." (1), "Awakening" (1), "City of Stone" (1), "Hunter's Moon" (1), "The Edge" (1), "The Hound of Ulster" (1). One person specifically stated that he liked how not a single episode was filler.

#15 - Setting.
46 people cited the setting, usually the combination of medieval gargoyles in modern New York City. They liked how we depicted the city, how we got it right. Many people also enjoyed the flashbacks to medieval Scotland, and the World Tour episodes that took our cast to locations across the globe.

#16 - Atmosphere.
34 respondents praised the series' gothic atmosphere, running through the writing, design and animation.

#17 - Action.
30 people liked the action. The pure excitement - without being gratuitous.

#18 - The Fandom.
29 people noted that they were either drawn to the show or have remained with it at least in part because of the loyal fandom. An additional 20 found the show inspirational for their own creativity. Another 18 listed the show and its characters as "Aspirational" (although most didn't use that word). 14 more cited personal reasons for why the show was important to them. And it seems that we have many couples who met through the fandom, including multiple married couples who credit the series with bringing them together. 17 people were specifically impressed by the passion and dedication of the Gargoyles cast and crew and their participation in the fandom.

#19 - New for Disney.
28 people were impressed with the show simply for being something new and different for Disney.

#20 - Original Publicity.
11 people cited the series' original publicity for getting their attention and getting them to sit in front of their televisions in the first place. 5 more cited the old syndicated "Disney Afternoon".

That's pretty much it. There were a few other random and/or hard to qualify answers, but the above 20 reasons pretty much cover why the fans still love the series. I know all this sounds incredibly immodest coming from me, but all it takes is a quick skim of the fans' actual responses to see that I'm not exaggerating at all.

Thanks to everyone who participated...


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DTorline@aol.com writes...

Not a question, or a suggestion (really!), just a quick comment. For your example of What Not To Ask (point #2), you use "Asking if Demona tried to assassinate Hitler during World War II". I'd just like to say that based on my knowledge of Demona, she'd've been more likely to have been fighting on his side, assuming she was involved at all.

Greg responds...

No comment.

Response recorded on November 13, 2003

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THE TOP FIVE REASONS YOU WERE DRAWN TO GARGOYLES

Yesterday, I made the following request at Station 8's Gargoyles Comment Room:

Hey everybody,

I really need some help. Without going into details about the why, I'd love to get the answer to the following question:

"WHAT ARE THE TOP FIVE REASONS THAT YOU ARE DRAWN TO THE GARGOYLES SERIES?"

We don't need fancy answers -- and of course there's no right or wrong answers -- so don't feel like you need to compose elegant
responses. Just RESPOND, please.

Also, please, spread the word around and have as many fans as possible stop by THIS WEEK and give their answer right here at the S8 Comment Room. It would be much appreciated. Very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Greg Weisman

The responses so far have been very gratifying. I'm particularly impressed with how many people have stopped by the Comment Room that usually don't.

But (with good reason) I'm greedy. I'd like to get even more people to stop by. So please SPREAD THE WORD. E-mail/telephone/snail mail anyone you know who was EVER a GARGOYLES fan and ask them to stop by the Comment room and post their own personal top fives. We really, really, really need something akin to 100% participation.

Here's the address:

http://s8.org/gargoyles/comment2.php

Thanks again,

Greg


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Roxz writes...

Sorry if something is spelled wrong!

Greg responds...

Nothing is here.

But thanks for caring. It really is appreciated.

Response recorded on November 11, 2003

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Foxy writes...

I think that Gargoyles do really exist and Greg do you agree
with me yes or no?

Greg responds...

Sure.

Response recorded on November 07, 2003

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Laura 'ad astra' Ackerman writes...

Here's a should not have but couldn't resist:

"Greg Bishansky writes...
Happy Rosh Hashanah Greg. Though it may be closeto Channukah when you read this.

Greg responds...

It's past Purim. Pushing Passover. (Pretty pathetic, huh?)

But thanks!

recorded on 03-04-02"

"Pushing Passover"? Is this some knew social problem that will soon hit the newspapers?: "We just don't know how it happened! One day he steps into a synogogue, and the next he's pushing Passover! What are we going to do with 4 extra sets of dishes!? And the whole family has indigestion from all that matzah!"

Of course it'll probably be Succot before you get to this one :)

sorry about the lack of (relevant) question

Greg responds...

And two Succot's later...

Response recorded on November 04, 2003

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The Cat writes...

Replying to Sep 12/Feb 14 Q&A.

Hey Greg,

As usual I'm stressed about college, since it is my first semester and all. Otherwise I'm well.

I'm glad Thom is okay. I haven't heard from Jeff in a while either. The last time was after Christmas, he sent me a card.

I'm not sure if ya'll be seeing me at the Gathering. It might happen it might not.

It is that whole question of: Can I kidnap my best friend, throw her into the trunk of the car and race head long to Virginia, while avoiding getting into a wreck and the cops? My answer to this question: I don't think so. Puck(don't ask me why she calls herself Puck, I haven't a clue.) is bigger than me and weighs more. Also, I don't trust myself behind the wheel of a car I just started learning how to drive.

It is also a question of: How well have I saved up money to go and whether or not I can sneak out of the house to go because much as I love my mom and tollerate my little brother, I'd like to go by myself or with just a friend.

So, I'll see what I can do. You'll know if I'm there I'll probably bug you the first day I get there.

Bye, The Cat

P.S. I know that you've said that we should make different posts for different topics and I guess this would be a multiple topic thing, but I'm replying to your reply so I figured just to post them all in the same area.

Choa!

Greg responds...

Hey Cat,

This was all so long ago...

I can't remember what my reply was or whether I saw you in Virginia or not.

Sorry.

Maybe Montreal?

Response recorded on October 24, 2003

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AngelOfTheNight writes...

Hi Greg,
No question, just comment. I too was a big fan of Batman, untill "Gargoyles" came onto the scene. I was hooked instantly. I feel that "Gargoyles" far surpassed Batman, in animation, characters, storyline, etc. My favorite character is "Demona". I very easily connect with her, (scary as that is..) I understand her. My all time favorite episode is of course, "City of Stone". It is a work of art in every sense of the word. Thank You for the episodes that we all find so entertaining, and may all your future endeavors bring you the success you so richly deserve.

Greg responds...

Thanks for the kind words.

Response recorded on October 23, 2003

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Laura 'ad astra' Ackerman writes...

Not a question- just a comment:

I saw a notice on SciFi.com that the latest Starship Troopers DVD was coming out (February). I took a look at it and the other three on Amazon.com. They are a fangirl's ideal! Episodes + lots of comentary (from recognizable names :) + behind the scenes. Now if I could only afford them... oh well, next career.

Still, somebody must be in a profitable profession. If "Amazon.com sale rank" means what I think it does two of the DVDs are among the ~50 and ~60 most common ordered things today. (or were in February)

Between that and noticing Disney has put a little link next to some of the Gargoyles tapes to say "I'd love to see this in DVD form" I think things bode well for a DVD release here too.

Greg responds...

Things bode very well, as the DVDs are scheduled to be released in 2004 to coincide with the series tenth anniversary.

And I think those Starship DVDs turned out great. I highly recommend them. (And I get no financial benefit from doing so.)

Response recorded on October 16, 2003

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Proofreading/Apologia...

I just received the following e-mail from my brother:

Subject: proofreading
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 13:56:49 -0700
From: "Weisman, Jon"

Just my two cents, but I do feel you're a little strident about the proofreading. I'm completely sympathetic to the annoyance/frustration, but your discussion of your own errors undermines your argument. You misspelled a word in the very sentence about proofreading being good training. Then you say there's no point in identifying errors that you make, because you're dyslexic and because you make an effort. Who's to say that your reader isn't dyslexic or doesn't make an effort, either? All "Dan" did in his first sentence was leave out the word "have."

Personally, I think it's fine to ask your readers to proofread better, but I simply think you could be nicer about it. Since your replies do contain errors, good intentions or not, it just doesn't make sense to me to cop an attitude.

- Jon

Jon is, of course, correct. And so I apologize for my rant. In particular, I apologize to "dan" for taking my frustrations out on him.

My only defense is that all the lousy proofreading -- and there really is a lot of it -- creates a kind of cumulative frustration. I really do ignore it most of the time. I make fun of it (I hope in a good-hearted way with a smart-ass response) occassionally, and I only rarely blow a gasket. But that's not much of an excuse.

So let's all try to proofread a bit more, including me -- hell, especially me -- and I'll try to keep my temper.

Again, dan, sorry.


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Samantha writes...

Dexter writes...
Hey Greg,
Call me stupid, but I've seen the pilot "Awakening" several times and I still do not follow the plot! I'm such an idiot. Ok, why did Xanatos got through all that trouble to wake up the Gargoyles just to have them steal disks? Then he used to information on them to makes the Steel Clan, what's the point of that? So now instead of real gargoyles, he had robotic ones. Doesn't make sense. Also, when Goliath and Elisa were attacked in central park, Elisa said she traced the logo back to Cyberbiotics, which Mr. X owned. So does that mean his own people stole disks from him and then he went and restole them back from his own people? Ah! It confuses me. Please clear me up, I've been meaning to ask you about this plot, and now I finally had time to. Thanks!

I can answer part of that! Xanatos did not steal back his own disks. They were from another company, the company that Fox's father owned. Xanatos faked a robbery to make the gargoyles think that when he told them about the disks they were his, when nothing had ever really been stolen from him.
He used the gargoyles to steal these disks to upload his steel clan. By using the Gargoyles, no one would ever suspect him. No one even knew what Gargoyles were I think.
Once he got the stolen disks, he was able to load up his
steel clan, which meant he no longer had a name for the clan.
Since they would be too hard to control, he decided to test his new clan on them. And I'm sure you know the rest. I hope this helps.

Greg responds...

It does. Thank you.

Guys, it just goes to show that the fans are a much better first resource than I am. I just flat out take to long (over a year) to get to your questions.

Response recorded on September 24, 2003

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Todd Jensen writes...

This is something of a musing that I've been pondering for some time about your hinted-at plans to bring Prospero (and other characters from "The Tempest") into "Gargoyles" (it's more a ramble than a genuine question, actually). I was not the least bit surprised by your mention, when you first started up "Ask Greg", to include Prospero in "Gargoyles" somewhere; after all, a series that had already made use of "Macbeth" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in its framework would obviously have to bring "The Tempest" in somewhere as well. What I do find myself wondering, from time to time, is the role that Prospero (and Ariel and Caliban as well, if they were to show up - and it's obvious that they would also) would have played in the series, in relation to the other characters.

Because I noticed that the other major Shakespearean characters (Macbeth, Puck, the Weird Sisters, Oberon, and Titania) were actually made an important part of the framework of "Gargoyles", linked up strongly to the central and near-central characters. Macbeth and the Weird Sisters were part of Demona's story (explaining, in particular, how she survived from 994 down to the present day). Oberon, Titania, and Puck were part of Xanatos's story (or Titania at least as Fox's mother and Puck as Owen's true identity, not to mention that Oberon and Titania's attempt to kidnap Alex was what led to the end of the feud between Xanatos and the gargoyles). From this, I believe that we can safely presume that, when Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban would have shown up somewhere in the series (if it had only lasted that long), they would have likewise had strong links with the major characters in the series as part of the framework.

I won't ask what those links were, of course (I know that you don't want to reveal that yet, at least, not in this forum), but that's one reason why a part of me still hopes that you can find some way of continuing "Gargoyles" some day; I'd certainly enjoy finding out when/if that happens just where Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban fit into the Gargoyles Universe, and which major figures in the series they are linked to, at least initially (of course, everybody tends to wind up getting linked to everybody else anyway - Puck with Demona in "The Mirror", the Weird Sisters,Oberon and Titania with the Avalon clan, Macbeth with King Arthur, etc.)

Greg responds...

There's truly nothing I'd like to do more, professionally, than to find a true forum (in some medium) for bringing the Gargoyles Tapestry back. I have so many stories still to tell, including those involving Prospero, etc.

And just so you know, so you all know, I'm still working on it. I haven't given up.

Response recorded on September 24, 2003

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Jimmy_Q writes...

I recently skimmed through you smart-ass responses and I ran in to this question from matt: ok, a beast generally lays more than three eggs in a lifetime. and you are being difficult (as always) and not being very specific... ok, we know that beast mature and can mate a generation before other gargs, and we know that beast live about the same length of time that other gargs do, but can beast continue having children after other gargs stop? if not then garg beast can have about 4 eggs, if so, they could have alot of eggs, i think.
so, how many eggs can a female garg beast generally lay?
you responded: The world may never know.
(That smart-ass response was a reference to an old tootsie-pop commercial. Anyone old enough to remember it has my sympathy.)
I'm quite familiar with that commercial and I'm only 20, so I guess that makes me old, huh? And to think I used to feel so young and virile, too...

Greg responds...

I think they must repeat it periodically. I'm nearly twice (TWICE) your age, and it first ran when I was a kid.

Response recorded on August 05, 2003

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Jess writes...

Hey...where did you go???? Holiday?
Have a good time? Happy new year.

Greg responds...

Happy New Year to you too. Twice over.

Response recorded on July 28, 2003

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Upset fan writes...

Hi Greg,
First of all let me just say, i have been a huge fan of gargoyles since it came out in the UK. I waited all week for it to come on on saturday mornings and collected all the gargoyles toys i could with my pocket money :D Unfortunatley it was taken off air some years ago after "City of Stone part 4". I have now got toon disney and have managed to watch the series as much as possible.But there is a REALLY annoying problem, and im not sure you will be able to answer my question, but if so...here goes!

WHY ON EARTH do they stop gargoyles after the avalon episodes and go right on to the goliath chronicles?! Its maddening!! I have looked all over the web and seen all the episodes i have missed out on :(((
I have also watched clips from some of the episodes and they look soooo cool!!!

Greg responds...

I have no idea. Had no idea that they were doing that. It of course makes no sense and annoys the heck out of me. Sorry, I can't be of any help.

Response recorded on July 28, 2003

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Diego writes...

Why don't you throw a brick through Eisner's window, then when he looks at the brick, he sees it's not a brick, but a small statue of Goliath. Then he'll have no choice but to bring back the show.

Greg responds...

You must have taken Logic in school.

And I'd love to leave it at that, but I'd like to once again make the point that Eisner is not the bad guy keeping Gargoyles off the air. The decision making is no longer done at his level but at three or four levels down at least.

Response recorded on July 23, 2003

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Vanity writes...

Punchinello and yourself discussed "sententiousness" in quite lenghty detail. If I remember right the main buckling of the topic of one's being sentient was ultimately his ability to communicate ideas. I don't seem to remember any talk about awareness of thought and decision.
If a Russian speaker was adopted into your household, and could not understand nor speak a single word of English, you cannot communicate with him on any level of aphroristic expression (if you infact cannot speak Russian). In fact the communication would very much be like that between man and an animal. When he wants a drink and says (whatever in Russian means 'I want to drink your water'); you will overtime perhaps reckognize what he wants through mere repitition. Never though be able to ask him if he liked the water, describe the compositional qualities that make up the glass, or how the purification system(s) in your water plant makes that water safe for you and your family to drink. You can say it he won't know it.
Yet he can still make the moral judgement on his own princibles that he understands in his own language as to if he will leave the toilet seat up or not. His sentience is still very much intact as is yours, but in communication most of what we consider humanesque intelligible relay of thought is lost.

He can learn but he may not learn English just as you can but may not learn Russian. Words are words, but diction, structural differences, and phonetic discrepencies between the two languages make changing your thinking process from thinking as an Englishmen(English speaking man not man born on England) to thinking as a Russian quite likely impossible. Even if you learn Russian as to be able to go to Moscow and fool everyone into thinking that you are indeed a native Russian. Your nueral networking will still under most serious probability process thought in English just, as it does; it will translate that process to Russian in a fashion quite like my thoughts now are magically appearing in this post box thingy by mere change of production from thought to text by fingur relay in the procession from mind to hand to finger to keyboard to computer to eventually cyber-wherever. I do not think like a keyboard or a computer yet I can communicate using one but only in the language I am prepared to use it with.

Gargoyles as well can type on keyboards and relay thought. Lexington with very little experience in terms of years and could only practice at night, was able to punch a keyboard judging by the "clicking" sound of the keyboard at nearly 129 words per minute, without looking and locate Coldstone in MacBeth's mansion. Quite impressive really. Yet his thoughts were in English. (note if you were in Madrid when you first seen Gargoyles and they spoke in Spanish and of course you did too you might argue they thought in Spanish and you would most likely be right mi amigo). But not as an English Man but and English Gargoyle again not as a nationality but as a tongue. Still Lex's moral judgements can be made too stand on thier own and can communicate with anything Man or Gargoyle or Oberon's Child that also speaks English, whether they think "English" or not.

Language is not merely a tool for communication it is a way of thinking Eskimos have something like seven words that really just mean "snow". Yet an Eskimo thinks like an Eskimo and can judge the minor differences in the type of snow they see and to them one kind of snow is not "a" snow but a "d" snow and ect..

Luckily for us I suppose that as humans we all relatively think alike even with our differing way of thinking. The means of production are different but the product is still the same. This allows for learning multiple languages each human no matter his language that language has the ability to "learn" or adapt to the use of another language and that is quite a remarkable thing. Almost too remarkable to be chance.

I don't have the full answer, just what I feel like that (and as arrogantly as I can feel it) that I know what perhaps I know or don't know and go with that by fusing it with things that I learn or that are revealed to me by you and others who post and participate. I very much enjoy this site and the people who participate it is so cool, this is the greates fandom in the world.

Greg responds...

You say you don't have the full answer. I'm just not clear what the question was.

I don't disagree with anything you said, except for the notion that Punchinello and I were defining sentience as simply the ability to communicate. I don't think either of us ever did that.

And I agree: Greatest Fandom in the World.

Response recorded on July 18, 2003

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Vanity writes...

Hi Greg:

I was just watching "City of Stone". It is a beutiful piece of work. I am very fond of it.

I espicially like the one scene where that woman runs up to Travis Marshall to relate what had happened and he just totally blows her off as "crazy". That got me thinking we ALL do that (as humans) completely discount the minority view as absurd and stupid. Classic example "The Flat Earth Society", oh, we just love to make fun of them. I have decided to be more open minded to even the most seemingly crazy ideas or beliefs. I have watched "CoS" many times but that scene never really hit me like it did just today. Was that intentional on your part? To show the err in human ways. You've said all things are true and what she said was true, just because no one believed her doesn't make it no less right. It reminded me of a Greek Philosopher I think his name was Isocrates I am not sure and his quote went
"If all mankind, minus one; were of a common opinion except the one of a differing opinion. All of mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one, than he, if he had the power; would be justified in silencing all of mankind..."

More things I loved about this episode.
King Duncan's death, in my mind one of the top 10 animated deaths ever.
Demona, saves Gruoch and Macbeth when she could have had her vengence, she chose the nobler of the two courses, made me feel all happy inside. I must admit though killing Gilcoumgain then would have saved her a lot of trouble and heart break later on.
Her plan was very sinister, and her killing of the statued humans was a very dark contrast to her more kind-hearted younger self we had just seen earlier in eps like "Vows". I also liked this too, she's not soft and weak as she is commited to her cause and for that I commend her. I agree with her goals, her means are brutal and me being human will make me possibly feel the urge to resist being smited, but I hope she sees her dream out and accomplishes it, power to her.
One thing very much dissapointed me, relating to Demona when she gave the access code to Goliath and Xanatos the code was "ALONE", not one you'd imagine she'd pick, totally took me by suprise when I first saw it; but Goliath was apparently unaffected by her choice of a password and the huge water works under her eyes. Does he have a heart of stone? She's not even real (I think), and I feel a lump in my throat, every time I see that; yet he knows she's real and didn't even care, creep.

MacBeth, what can I say I think he is great. I think his story is one of the more tragic on the show. Considering all that happens, he always loved and still loves Gruoch. The one time that we see him actually take interest in life and love again he is set up by Dominique and Thailog. His plight is very dramatic. Living but having to as Gruoch said "Remain dead", dead to his country, his home, and his family.

Gruoch: Even though she gets very little air time on the series I think she is great. My second favorite female character. She is strong, smart, wise, intuitive, loving, radiant, and very honest in commiting to her duty. I espicially like how she stood up to Demona at the end, what courage. She even scorned the Hunter as "Oh mighty" with her sarcasm, 'your not mighty your a coward'. I cannot see how you could not love her.

"COS" has its share of humorous wit to it as well. I absoulutely love this:
Elisa: "..the signal came from Pak-Media studios you own it so as usual this is your fault!"
Owen: "Mr. Xanatos is trying to fix things. What are you doing to help?"
I love Elisa's expression, that's good stuff.

-Since I do not want to go into great lenghty deatail about every detail of the show..-

King Duncan- Very paranoid.
Hudson+Trio- not much to say
Boudie(SP)- Probably has his heart in the right place but man what a --well cowardly guy--
Demona's Betrayl of MacBeth- this shocked me, leave him to die at the castle but she actually contacted Kenmore?
Wierd Sisters- I HATE them. I think they are corrupt, vile, and wicked, they should burn in a fiery lake in the seventh circle of Hell somewhere. For a very, very long time. (I make this judgement with my Knowledge of the "Avalon" eps)
Vengence begats nothing more than a vicious cycle of further vengence- true perhaps, but highly over exaggerated.
The betrayl of the Cast Wyvern- I want to know who slept at Demona's roost. When the Vikings sacked it.
Bronx and Demona's encounter- I loved it. Good job.
Demona and Macbeth- It's amazing how it goes, I like when Demona came back from the fight all happy and swirled Macbeth high off the ground. Her joyous attitude was refreshing, yet all to short in length.

That's all for this post. Thanks for listening.

Vanity~

Greg responds...

A few responses to your comments...

1. Yes, the scene with Travis and the woman was a comedic way to make exactly that point.

2. Can't say I'm rooting for Demona to succeed. I'm rooting for Demona, but not in that way.

3. We had an entire contest to explain "Alone" and got some very interesting responses. You might check them out in the contest archive here at ASK GREG.

4. I think it's presumptuous of you to assume you know exactly what Goliath was feeling. But one thing to keep in mind is that he had just witnessed the results of her mass murder spree.

5. I've said this before, but we all got to watch Emma Samms blossom as a voice actress over the course of just these four episodes. She had never done cartoons before. She was a bit stiff in Gruoch's first appearance, but, MAN, by COS4, she was just ROCKING!!! I give her and voice director Jamie Thomason a ton of credit for really bringing Gruoch to life when we needed it most.

6. I'm not sure that Bodhe did have his heart in the right place -- until, I like to think, the very end.

7. The notion that vengeance begets nothing more than a vicious cycle of further vengeance, is not only true but is if anything UNDERSTATED. Hardly exagerated. One only has to look at a newspaper to see that the Montagues and Capulets of this world simply refuse to recognize this obvious, obvious FACT. It drives me insane. Your casual dismissal of the notion doesn't thrill me either. (Sorry.)

8. You're welcome. I like your posts.

Response recorded on June 20, 2003

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Andrea "Elisa Maza" Ivanovs writes...

Hey Greg!

I hope you had a wonderful christmas time and a roarin' new year! :)

All the best,

Andrea

Greg responds...

Thanks. I did. Twice.

How's married life?

Response recorded on June 17, 2003

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Jacob writes...

Hello all, hello Greg,

I've been absent for a while (did anyone miss me??), but now there are a few things I want to say.
First of all I never said thank you for such a great animated series - still the best I've ever seen. It can be seen that you wanted to make it very good and not just tried to create something for a quick success. Nearly no one-dimensional characters, complex stories that can't be every time easily understood, a continuing plot and not every episode the same story with the some characters and the same end, all this makes Gargoyles to one of the best series ever. What I liked very much either are the (not too) dark atmosphere, some fantasy elements and the elements of old mythologies.
Unfortunately I haven't seen any episode for a few years (any German out there who knows when the last one was aired?). Because of this I appreciate your work with answering all of our questions. I don't know if I had the motivation for this.
I'll keep my fingers crossed that some day new episodes will be aired. But what about the real life movie? Do you know anything new?

Greg responds...

As far as I know, the live-action movie is currently on hold at Touchstone. Shelved. Sorry. I guess they were just never able to crack the script to their satisfaction.

Response recorded on June 16, 2003

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Punchinello writes...

<<You idiot! Did you not read the no ideas clause on the main askgreg page or are you just pretending to be stupid!>>

I found this to be a remarkable statement.

Hello Mr. Weisman.

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine recently about new kinds of conventions in contemporary fiction, (it was less a conversation than a herculean effort on his part to _educate me_ about some of these things which I should know more about) and the topic of literary devices imported from things that are generally considered banal or somehow inferior to literature came up. The Sunday funnies, technical manuals, etc. He brought up something that I thought you would find interesting. I wanted to find out if you had any reaction to this, as I gather that you consider introducing young people to literature very important and this is something which is (possibly) maligning the way in which they perceive it.

My friend explained the phenomenon of these "adventure card games" to me. I guess the pokemon fall into this category. (Horrifying little things) There are also all manner of these dungeons and dragons type games. Apparently a convention has developed among people who play the games of generating fiction using the cards. For instance, each player would represent a character internal to a story and the cards they play with would dictate the structure of a work of fiction they were creating and "acting out" at the same time. The interesting thing about this is that characters within this convention are frequently developed by means of a pre defined list of "character attributes." Once again, for instance, you would have a condition like

10 personality types. Pick one.
10 types of conventional behavior. Pick one.
10 types of hats. Pick one.

The idea seems to be that character development emerges from the intersection of these variables. Even though I'm certain that this kind of convention could be exploited towards an interesting end in literature, I found this sort of "amateur authors" version of writing very limiting, and the whole method of lists of typical character attributes seems to be an arbitrary convention that was being maintained for the sake of game playing. It's all very silly.

The reason I mention all of this is because my friend told me that he has observed a trend among many amateur authors and many young aspiring authors to use this same kind of convention when writing. He sees characters being treated as though the author were at a buffet, and the author were allowed one "feature" for each little spot on his tray. He sees this a lot. He teaches a creative writing class at the moment and has noticed this sentiment that people are coming into the class with, that if they string together a lot of trivia about a fictional person, a real character will emerge as if by magic. He sees them conduct this exercise a lot where they define a character with...

John lives in Wisconsin.
John works in the Madison public Library.
John likes his job okay.

He mentioned he sees this limiting perspective carry over into their observations of other peoples writing. This way of thinking seems to prevent them from really experiencing a character. It seems they can only define the character for themselves from within the context of this kind of trivia.

He asked me if I had seen this obsession over trivia instead of character anywhere else. I immediately realized that I had! It usually takes the form of...

Where did fox get her tattoo?
Who were Mab's parents?
Who were Oberon's parents?
Who were Titania's parents?
Who were anansi's parents?
Will Brooklyn have children?
How many children?
Will his children have names?
Will those names begin with a consonant or a vowel?

This is why some people so appreciate your continued participation with this board. I'm really just writing this because I would like to read any general reaction you have to it. However, I think I would not be alone in wanting to hear you comment on the kind of questions outlined above (of which you field many). I think I kind of resent the implication in some of these questions that, as the author, you should know the names and mailing addresses of all of Elisa's cousin's three times removed, along with their favorite foods and weight at birth. Is there something you think is essentially being missed with questions like these? Maybe if you were to share with your fans, the kind of dialogue you think is worthwhile and exciting, you would see the trivia questions replaced with more real dialogue about "Gargoyles."

Greg responds...

Well, let's start with the "buffet"/game-playing writing style.

I think it's awful.

Having said that, I have this friend, a garg fan who's now a pretty darn successful writer. When I read her first book, I felt that the first half of it was written in that way. As if rolls of the dice determined who each character was, what he or she could do and what happenned to them.

The second half of the book was MUCH better. She took a few of the characters from the first half and delved much deeper into their lives and their stories.

When I asked her about it, she confessed (if that's the word) that I was dead on. The first half of the book was her almost literally setting to prose a game of D&D that she had played.

I don't recommend doing that, but look at the result. The second half of the novel, inspired as it was by the first half, was wonderful. And she's moved forward with these characters into other books as well.

My point is that people get inspiration from all sorts of places. I get it from Shakespeare, for example, and Shakespeare got his from all sorts of other sources. A good writer can take something that begins as an exercise... maybe a worthwhile exercise or maybe a dubious one... and turns it into something real and meaningful.

The question -- your first question, I think -- is whether these writers ever grow out of the exercise or whether they become trapped in them. Well, the answer is obviously both. Some will transcend, as some writers always have.

But your second question is more serious. Does this process in fact impair the reader/audience. Forget that some of these guys will never be great writers, will this make them bad readers?

I don't know. But my guess is that it's the same (or similar) percentage of people who would have been bad readers in the first place. The good ones will transcend. The others won't. That's my hypothesis.

Now, bringing it more specifically to ASK GREG and the "trivia questions" I often get, well, I have mixed feelings.

In some ways, trivia is exactly what this forum is for. After all, just a minute ago I fielded a question from a guy who wanted me to lay out ALL the story arcs for Bad Guys. That's not going to happen, as I told him. This isn't a forum for storytelling. It's a forum for people to get a peak inside the box, (the box being my head).

And in fact, I know no zip codes, but I am a font of unrevealed trivia about the show. I do know more about these characters then 66 episodes has revealed. Some of it I like to keep to myself, some of it I like to tease. Some of it I don't mind revealing and have done so.

So a lot comes down to the intent of the questioner, and you can usually tell, if not in a single post then in the range of posts that that person submits. If I get 16 posts in a row asking something like, "Who is Maggie's father?" followed by "Who is Claw's father?" followed by "Who is Fang's father?" or if I get requests for laundry lists of things, "Name all the ancient heroes who have encountered Oberon," then you can bet that the questioner was looking for a question to ask, as opposed to trying to deepen his or her understanding of the show or character.

But sometimes a so-called trivial question can lead to just that. Look at your list above. Some of it seems stupid, but some of the answers to some of those questions would certainly lead to a better understanding. "Who were Oberon's parents?" Once upon a time, I hadn't revealed the answer to that. Eventually, I revealed that Oberon's mother was Mab. And that revelation, and the info I gave about Oberon's overthrowing of his mother, certainly lends something to one's understanding of his character. I haven't yet revealed who his father is. Not in the mood. But I would hope that learning that would also effect one's understanding of the character.

And again, I think you can often (though not always) tell by the question itself if that's what the questioner is seeking. A deeper understanding about some aspect of the show.

So sometimes, it does get annoying. But mostly I enjoy doing this. (I do think that doing a little a day has been a much better system than trying to do big batches of questions all at once. I get less annoyed when not burdened with the cumulative effects of annoyance.)

Do I wish this could be more of a forum for ideas and discussion? Well, yeah, duh. I've invited that in the past, and, P., I always enjoy reading and responding to your posts.

(Although what you quoted at the head of your post:

<<You idiot! Did you not read the no ideas clause on the main askgreg page or are you just pretending to be stupid!>>

I found this to be a remarkable statement.

is a bit lost on me out of context. I can't believe I wrote the first quote.)

Admittedly, we do have a problem with making this a forum right now. The FLOOD. The flood of submissions during a period when I all but ceased to answer questions (all around the time of 9/11 and following) created a backlog so immense that creating a forum is nearly impossible. Now it truly is impossible, as we have temporarily shut down the submission function. You can't respond to this response.

I'd love to try and solve this problem, and I've made suggestions. But ultimately this isn't my site, it's Gorebash's. Until he's ready, willing and able to initate a new system, we're stuck with me slowly catching up.

I hope that 18 months later you're still checking ASK GREG and reading this. I hope that you'll compose your response and hold on to it, submitting it when we finally get things back up and running. But even if you're not, even if you're long gone, thanks for raising some interesting issues.

Response recorded on June 13, 2003

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J writes...

Hey,

You ever get tired of answering all these questions? Like this one, "How come blah blah blah and blah dont blah blah blah, and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah." After reading a page or two of questions they all started to fade together into one simple demand. "TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU WILL KNOW, HAVE KNOWN AND PRESENTLY KNOW ABOUT GARGOYLES!!!" You've either got the patience of a saint or.... well I dont know what.

Thankyou for helping to create such a fantastic and fulfilling story/world. You can tell if something is great fantasy if it makes the everyday world seem all the more pale and ordinary.

And now on to the questions.......

Greg responds...

Sometimes individual questions do annoy me, I'll confess. But I generally enjoy doing this, or frankly... I wouldn't.

Response recorded on June 10, 2003

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Galvatron writes...

Aris- Yes I know western centric doesn't fit I was looking for something like ethnocentric.

"Anyway, the Greeks, Norse, whatever had their deities be finite creatures which began their lives within the universe. There's a difference between that and a supposedly infinite God which *created* the universe. I can imagine the monotheists being upset if they discovered their god was a fay - if The Infinite proved finite, only one of many. But the Norse and the ancient Greeks already believed that there existed many gods. Why be too upset at discovering a couple more they hadn't heard about?"

Thats not my point, my point is that making the God of the gargoyles universe the God of Jews/Christians/Muslims makes it seem that they're superior to all these other cultures since they worship the true god while the other cultures worhip energy beings.

Greg responds...

I'll just sit back and let you guys talk.

Well, maybe I won't.

Anyway, I got your point, G. But it's based on facts not in evidence, as I said before.

Response recorded on May 30, 2003

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Aris Katsaris writes...

Galvatron> I think you are confusing Greg's words and intent... His take is after all something like "Everything is true for a given value of 'true'"...

He never said that Muslims, Jews and Christians are *correct* in everything they believed. That might indeed be offensive - but it would also be impossible to pull off, since after all, they believe in some contradictory things as well.

From what I understand, Greg said that these guys worship what they perceive as Infinite and as Creator. That's factually correct in our real world. And then he went on to say that such an Infinite and a Creator exists. Some of the more specific beliefs may well be wrong.

Pagans believed in Zeus or Odin or Osiris or many others gods. And Greg says that, yes, Zeus and Odin and Osiris also exist. But some of the more specific beliefs about them may also be wrong.

So your claim seems to me to be nothing more than "Odin isn't portrayed as Infinite!". To which my response is: "He was never supposed to be, not even by the Norse themselves."

Now if Greg went on to portray the afterlife exactly as Christianity portrays it, *that* might be a bit exclusive... But it seems to me that he's going for a diversity of afterlives, a bit similar to what Terry Pratchett did...

(Weirdly enough however I *was* annoyed by the intrusion of monotheism and dualism in shows like Hercules & Xena which previously featured polytheistic pantheons. But that was more because it seemed to me to subvert the very theme of the heroism of "Man vs gods" and turn it into "The Real God[tm] vs the many false gods"... Greg portrays a universe where all these beliefs can pretty much coexist. The producers of Xena, on the other hand decided to portray a universe where they must fight to the death - the introduction of The One God immediately made the lesser gods something evil which needed to be destroyed. Bleh! )

Sorry for the rant, Greg! :-)

Greg responds...

No prob.

But I do think both of you have sort of missed the point. Personally, I believe in both God and evolution. I'm also a bit of a pantheistic pagan, and I don't find any of these notions mutually exclusive. But that's me.

What I believe I've always said about the show is that whatever you believe created OUR universe also created the garg universe. If that's one or more of the above (plus or minus) something else, fine.

Response recorded on May 30, 2003

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Aris Katsaris writes...

Possibly starting a debate...

Galvatron> Umm... "western"-centric because Greg made western deities such as those of the Greeks or the Norse be children of Oberon? Do you think that Athens is somehow located to the *east* of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Mecca?

I assure you, it's not. :-)

Anyway, the Greeks, Norse, whatever had their deities be finite creatures which began their lives within the universe. There's a difference between that and a supposedly infinite God which *created* the universe. I can imagine the monotheists being upset if they discovered their god was a fay - if The Infinite proved finite, only one of many. But the Norse and the ancient Greeks already believed that there existed many gods. Why be too upset at discovering a couple more they hadn't heard about?

Greg responds...

THANK YOU!!!!

Response recorded on May 29, 2003

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Galvatron writes...

Don't you feel it's alittle bit western centric making the god of the Greeks, Norse and all the other "pagan cultures" Children of Oberon who are no better than the non-corporeal beings of scifi while the God of Judaism, Islam, Christianity is actually the creator of the universe? I mean it's like saying that they're stupid for getting suckered in by the Children while we're smart for actually worshipping the true God.

Greg responds...

Well, first off ALL THE GODS you mentioned are "Western Culture" gods. All of them. So it's hardly Western centric -- beyond the fact that we got more western culture into the show period.

Second, I have never confirmed or denied the existance of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic GOD in the series. I have left that to every individual character and viewer's view of the universe. So I've hardly given the Abrahamist religions priority over the old "pagan cultures".

Finally, not to split hairs, wow, you got me. I've made fictional characters out of the gods of myth. Shocking.

Response recorded on May 29, 2003

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The Cat writes...

This is The Cat,

Thank you for answering my questions. You answered the more important ones today or yesterday. Anyothers I have are a bit depressing and don't really need to be answered, so if you don't want to answer them that is okay.

Greg responds...

Uh... okay.

Response recorded on May 28, 2003

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Anonymous writes...

I'd just like to thank you for creating such an dramatic and educational show which got me interested in Shakespeare and all those legends that appeared in the Avalon World Tour including Cuchullain, Raven and the Kichinas. Finally I'd like to thank you for answering my hundred or so question which I imagine was a very tedious task.

Greg responds...

You're welcome.

Response recorded on May 27, 2003

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Lynati writes...

Oh. and while I'm here...

Do you think when Aaron finally tracks down Marina Sirtis and asks her to sign the Demona tatoo on his chest that she'll do it gracefully, or will she have someone distract him and then run away really fast?

Greg responds...

Even odds.

(Although I can't imagine she hasn't encountered far weirder/scarier Trek fans than our Aaron -- who still reminds me of a young Tom McMinn.)

Response recorded on May 14, 2003

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Aaron writes...

Greg writes: "There's the amazing NEW GUY. He's terrifying."

Does NEW GUY come from the planet Mertz? If so, that really would be terrifying.

Greg responds...

I don't even remember what I was talking about.

And Planet Mertz sounds familiar, but I can't place it right now.

Response recorded on May 12, 2003

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Aaron writes...

Artemis writes: "They can't flip people off either!"

Sure they can! Not having a ring or pinkie talon (consensus differs as to which gargs don't have) doesn't mean you don't have a middle talon, and thus, still have the ability to flip people the bird. (Yes Greg, we have sat around and debated this)

Greg responds...

No argument.

Response recorded on May 09, 2003

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Aaron writes...

Shavri wrote: "...Anyway, I'm just glad the whole thing was a dream_sequence scheme created by Puck and not something that would actually happen in "your" Gargoyle Universe."

By contrast, I *loved* the idea of a Brooklyn/Demona romance. It's one of the many reasons Future Tense is my favorite episode. But then, I've seen too much anime and believe the bickering couple will always end up together by the end of the series. ;) (It's also one of the funniest touches of FT, IMHO, that only in a world where everything else has gone to Hell can Brooklyn have a happy relationship)

http://www.avalonhigh.com

Greg responds...

I enjoyed it too.

But I'm still holding out for Katana.

Response recorded on May 08, 2003

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Aaron writes...

Greg writes:

"If Disney 'goes under' (a fairly ridiculous notion) than the property becomes one of their assets."

I dunno, Disney was $19 BILLION in the hole, last time I looked. Buying Fox Family alone set them back a little over five billion, which is I'm sure a great deal more then Fox paid (Was it Pat Robertson who used to own it, back when it was just TFC?) for it. Attendance at the parks, at least stateside, is at an all time low, and that was before the horrible events of September 11th which, aside from the devastating loss of life, depressed an American economy already sliding toward recession. (And certainly didn't make anybody feel like running out and going to Disneyland) All the Disney Stores in the US are closing as soon as their leases are up. Of course you're right, the idea that they'd sell off anything is still absurd. They'll just make cut-backs, (Like canceling Team Atlantis) and lay people off until the ship rights itself again. More's the pity.

If it's any consolation, in contrast to Entity's view, I think you've gotten sillier since G2K1. "On second thought, let's not go to Ask Greg, 'tis a silly place." ;)

http://www.exploitationnow.com

Greg responds...

I've certainly gotten sillier since G1997.

Response recorded on May 06, 2003

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Aaron writes...

Re: The Weird Sisters.

"Their tri_part mission."

Luna's log, Stardate: Um... It's hard to tell from Avalon.

These are the adventures of the Weird Sisters, our tri-part mission, to seek out new life, and play mind games with it... To find new ways to plague Demona... To boldly never give a straight answer to anything!

I have entirely too much free time.

And, so this'll have a question in it, is Puck's magic flute connected to the opera "The Magic Flute"?

http://www.pvponline.com

Greg responds...

Maybe. Haven't seen that opera.

Response recorded on April 24, 2003

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Aaron writes...

Greg writes: "(That smart_ass response was a reference to an old tootsie_pop commercial. Anyone old enough to remember it has my sympathy.)"

Actually, I'm pretty sure the tootsie-pop people have reused that one sometime in the last five years. I think I even saw that commercial while watching gargs.

http://www.megatokyo.com

Greg responds...

That's cool.

Response recorded on April 24, 2003

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Aaron writes...

Greg writes: "In 1040, after the bargain, she (Demona) was 35 (Macbeth's chronological age). She still looks great though, doesn't she?"

I think that's worth a Hell Yeah!

http://www.sinfest.net

Greg responds...

Hell, yeah!

Response recorded on April 23, 2003

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Corrie "Cormak" McDermott writes...

Hi Greg,

I noticed that you type up notes about scripts of different episodes occasionally. ie. "The Mirror", "Eye of the Beholder" etc. Are you typing these up in any particular order? Or are they just being typed up randomly? I haven't seen notes/big ramblings on Hunter's Moon. (hint hint) Although I must admit I LOVED that scene that was never animated in the third episode between Jason and Elisa in the clocktower ruins. That was a nice touch.

I also just wanted to thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to answer our questions. I've been a fan of Gargoyles since the show aired. When I found this website I was in my glory with all the new information that was archived here. (Many thanks to Gorebash for this website as well!) So I just wanted to thank you for sharing what you have. You've made an E/G Fan VERY happy and inspired. Take care

Greg responds...

You're welcome.

I was watching and rambling on the episodes in their correct animation airing order. I got through the first 42 (out of 66) episodes before I had to take a break due to other committments. Now I'm hesitant to start up again both because time is still scarce and also because we have some much discussed problems here at ASK GREG, i.e. a backlog of questions that has me responding to something you posted in November of 2001 here in April of 2003. We've discussed a number of solutions, but all are sort of waiting on Gorebash. His site.

So it'll be awhile before I get to Hunter's Moon.

Response recorded on April 16, 2003

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Todd Jensen writes...

This covers much the same ground as one of my posts in the Comment Room on the night of October 25, but I thought that I'd post it here as well, to give you all the better an opportunity of reading it.

I was quite intrigued with your remark that you'd decided long ago that Jean Valjean existed in the Gargoyles Universe. The reason for that was that, up until now, whenever "Gargoyles" made use of "pre-existing" fictional characters, it was almost always people from literature, at latest, in the early modern period (as in Shakespeare's characters). The Gargoyles Universe is certainly rich in characters from myth and legend, and early literature such as Shakespeare's plays. But so far as I could tell, nobody in literature post-dating Shakespeare's time period found their way directly into the Gargoyles Universe. Some may be alluded to (such as Sherlock Holmes in "The Hound of Ulster"), or have "Gargoyles Universe" analogies (such as the Frankenstein monster with Coldstone), but none had yet shown sides of being actual characters who were real instead of fictional in that universe. (Well, maybe Dracula, whom you had mentioned intending to include in time, but since Bram Stoker based him on the historical Vlad the Impaler, he's not entirely a product of the 19th century).

So it definitely raised my eyebrows when you mentioned that decision on your part about Jean Valjean. I don't know if you'd actually reached the point of planning to have him appear somewhere in the series (a lot of it, I imagine, would depend on whether "Les Miserables" is in the public domain or not as yet), but it certainly surprised me.

Greg responds...

I'm just assuming that Les Miserables is in the public domain. Obviously, I'd have to check that before going forward with any plans.

I don't have a specific story in mind for ol' Jean, but I do have a pretty clear handle on how I'd interpret the character.

And it shouldn't surprise you too much. As I've stated before, given enough time and episodes, the plan has always been to include -- one way or another -- everything. (At least everything that's in the public domain.)

Response recorded on April 09, 2003

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Todd Jensen writes...

Something that I've occasionally wondered about the general "bring-back-Gargoyles" attitude that is so strong in the fandom. I've pondered, from time to time, the possibility that the general disappointment that nearly everybody in the fandom felt over the "Goliath Chronicles" may have been a major factor here, that one of the leading reasons why so many "Gargoyles" fans want the show to return is that they were disappointed with the episodes that followed "The Journey", and wanted to see the events following the gargoyles' revelation to the world and the formation of the Quarrymen done "correctly". Do you think indeed that this could be a major reason for this attitude?

Greg responds...

You got me.

I guess I hope it has more to do with what we did right in the first 66 episodes than what they did wrong in the last 12. But beggers can't be choosers. Whatever keeps the fandom going is good news.

And just a reminder, the BEST thing you can do as a fan is to attend one of the yearly Garg conventions. Info on this summer's con can be found at:

http://gathering.gargoyles-fans.org

Response recorded on March 20, 2003

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Artemis writes...

(sorry, no questions this time, but)
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU (and all those other people) for all the Scottish history in the show. Because of it, I am totally facinated with the topic. It's even better that I know cuz I am from scottish decent (as well as a little english and irish), and my other side came from france (sounds like someone in the show, ne?)
Also, it has inspired me to read Macbeth, and I used to hate Shakespeare!
So thanx again to you and all the little peoples!
And while I'm on the topic of scottish history, can you PLEASE finish "Once Upon a Time there were Three Brothers"? I'd make me very happy!

Greg responds...

You're very welcome.

As I've mentioned before, "Once Upon a Time There Were Three Brothers" is kind of finished. For starters, there are only two brothers left. And although it wasn't necessarily my original intent, the piece wound up being more of a prologue to DARK AGES. So I took Three Brothers right up to the point where Dark Ages begins. And I stopped. To keep going would in fact be to begin Dark Ages, which is a HUGE project, that I'm not prepared to take on right now.

But I'm glad you liked it. It was, I think, my first and only attempt at Fan Fiction.

Response recorded on February 19, 2003

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Slash Thrasher writes...

Dear Greg,

I know I'm breaking the "Ask Greg" Rules here, but I figured this was the only way to get in touch with you. I Just wanted to say thank you for making me feel welcome at the gathering 2001. I've wanted to sit down and type this to you for a long time, but time is something I no longer am able use for such simple things. The whole time I was in L.A. I was nervous enough to be so far from home, but no one there seemed to notice me. The Mini-clanners tried there best to make me feel part of something, but It became clearly evident that I didn't fit in there clan eather. People I knew Online wouldn't say hi to me, the one person I thought was my true friend Denis Duplaen was off in his own world with a girl he met, and Demona May drove me freekin' nutz! I truely know how Brooklyn felt when the clan became caught up in there personal affairs and he had no one to talk to. I left L.A. being more depressed then I've ever been in my life, wishing the plane would crash or something.... But I wouldn't have changed a thing if I could, cause I now realize the valuable lesson this all taught me. That no matter how much you think you are apart of something, and feel like you belong, It doesn't mean that People care about you and how you feel. I don't blame anyone but myself for feeling this way, but I also learned that not everybody... er.. better make that hardly anybody likes heavy metal, and just cause you devote time and effort to something, it doesn't mean anyone will care. Now I know that I need to just worry more about what I need to do, rather then what others think of me. I hope to thank Jeff Bennet too. That guy was awesome and we got to talk a bit at Mug-A-Guest. I also wanted to appoligize for not seeming like the biggest gargoyles fan eather. I love the show with all my heart, but I've never had the time to watch every epsiode over and over till I've memorised every event and name and stuff. I've been working hard since I was 14 and now I'm paying bills for my parents. Its not easy to balace 2.5 jobs and school. I envy the people that have the time to watch T.V. everyday.
Well, I'm sorry I rambled on like this, I know you are a much busyer man than I. Thank you for you time and happy late Birthday to you!

Slash T.
(Dan W.)

Greg responds...

Slash/Dan

I'm sorry your experience at G2001 was a let-down. I feel that I contributed to that, and I do apologize. I still think about it.

But I am curious. Did you have fun at G2000? I mean it couldn't have been too bad, since you came back for more, right?

Anyway, sometimes we build our expectations too high. I'm not sure even the letdown you describe merits some of the more dire conclusions (or 'lessons') that you have chosen to draw from it.

I hope you give the Gathering another chance some day (like this month). But if not, good luck.

Response recorded on June 12, 2002

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Dan writes...

Happy birthday greg, i know you won't read this for months, so happy hanukah to while i'm at it:D

Greg responds...

Nearly Happy 4th of July, huh?

Thanks.

Response recorded on June 12, 2002

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Matt Stone writes...

Hey Greg Weisman --

I know this may be late, but I've busy with work at the Video Connection, so --

Happy Birthday! YOU RULE!!!

Greg responds...

Thanks!

Response recorded on June 12, 2002

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Artemis writes...

I couldn't get online yesterday to wish you a happy birthday, Sorry!

Today at band practice, for the first time it occured to me that Gaygolyes have somewhat limited hand use, having only 4 fingers. For example, you could never get one to properly play a flute, clarinet, and even trumpets (they probably wouldn't anyway, but still), since they require 5 fingers per hand. They can't flip people off either! (that is, if they really wanted to). Oh well, just a stupid comment. But while my mind is on the topic, why did you decide for them to have only 4 fingers anyway?

Greg responds...

Frankly, it tends to look better in animation. It also set them apart more.

Response recorded on June 12, 2002

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The Cat writes...

Hey Greg,

Happy Birthday!

Ok, that wasn't a question, but hey I'm out of ideas at the moment. You're probably thinking, "Thank God!"

Bye.

Greg responds...

Thank God.

No, I mean, thank you!!!

Response recorded on June 10, 2002

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Jon writes...

Hi Greg!

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday! Mine was yesterday, so it's easy for me to remember when yours is. Don't know how it is for you, but birthdays have taken on a little stronger meaning for me since the tragedy. I'm old enough that I start to think of birthdays a bit cynically (one year older, etc... I'm 29, BTW), but there are a lot of people won't have any more birthdays ever, so I'm very grateful to be home celebrating with my family and other people I care about. Hope you're doing the same. All the best to you and your family in the year to come!

P.S. Now, can you tell us what Titania whispered to Fox? Just kidding. ;)

Greg responds...

My birthday was over eight months ago, and I can honestly say I don't really remember it. I think I was still in a haze.

But thanks for the good-wishes.

And P.S. No.

Response recorded on June 10, 2002

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Demona May Stephens writes...

Happy Birthday Greg W.
Sorry it wan't a question but I have to say it before I forgot again..

Greg responds...

Thanks, Demona May. (Course, I'm closer to my next birthday at this point, but the thought is very much appreciated.)

Response recorded on June 10, 2002


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