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Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Comment Room Archive

Comments for the week ending January 18, 2010

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Tristan> Bronx has mated. No "kids" yet. HAtchlings are children of the entire clan.

NONE of the New Olympians have come to manhattan.

We do not know who Lexington's amte is. He's a surprise from Greg.

battle Beast - [Canada]
That is all I will say.

does bronx have any kids
Tristan - [tbremick at sbcglobal dot net]
tristan

who is lexingtons mate
Tristan - [tbremick at sbcglobal dot net]
tristan

does any other new olympians come to manhattan
Tristan - [tbremick at sbcglobal dot net]
tristan

What are you talking about? She KILLED at her show at the Quarryman's Lodge. She's killed audiences from Vegas to Branson, too.
Patrick
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men." - Willy Wonka

Haha, well I'd love to try to help keep the place busy if I can, need to start watching more episodes. I'm gonna try to draw Hudson today, but not from a reference, and try to do it a bit differently, so there's something I guess. Only having season 1 on DVD and not having seen most of the episodes for a few years makes things a bit harder to talk about, so I'll book up on the show again soon. Wanting to do it with a bunch of friends, but it'd probably be a good idea to just watch them alone until then, since I've got nothing better to do. Need to get the comics as well. Heck, any swag will do. ;)
lvl27_cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

LOL.

Man, I'd love to watch Demona's standup.

Matt - [St Louis, Missouri, USA]
"For science, which, as my associate Fang indicated, must move ever forward. Plus there's the money... and I do love the drama!" -Sevarius, 'Louse'

Wow, I haven't seen a room this dead since Demona performed stand-up at the Quarreymen's lodge...
Jurgan - [jurgan6 at yahoo dot com]

Thanks, Demonskrye.
Todd Jensen

Thanks, Todd. I feel much the same way about your comments here.
Demonskrye - [<---"James and the Giant Peach" at The Ink and Pixel Club]

Dang, and I was in Sandusky in August visiting my brother, hehe. Used to work at Cedar Point (and hated it). Who knows, maybe I'll run into someone down the line. Would be a privilege for sure. :)

Not to seem like I'm advertising or anything, but I uploaded some iffy photos of my Hudson sketches to my dA, if anyone's interested. Found a few people that frequent this place on dA, with some pretty spectacular stuff. Kinda stinks that I missed out on the monthly contests Kess was heading, but I probably wouldn't have stood a chance anyway. I still have to draw from reference, but I'm getting around. :) Anyway, enjoy! I'm sorta using my dA to advertise the show now, so,...

lvl27_cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Cubone> Heh. You should've come to the Matsuri convention in Worthington, OH last summer. Yeah, it was an anime con, but there was also a gaming room too, with everything from a NES to an Xbox 360. Even some arcade consoles.

"Everything that I'm into is either in California or Florida. Mostly Cali, but being stuck in the midwest is a bit of an annoyance. :\"

Tell me about it. Hell On Earth is wanting to move to New York or LA to pursue a more professional an acting career but not having the money or connections to do it. I've done some cheap, freelance Indie stuff in Ohio, though, which at least is acting work.

KingCobra_582 - [KingCobra582 at gmail dot com]
Grr. Arg.

It's amazing what comes up when you type your own website into Google
http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/comment/archive/index.php?archive_date=2007-03-26

lawl

You people actually started stalking me? And your idea of vengeance was prank calling me with *67? And you weren't even brave enough to go through with THAT? Are you guys seriously this sick? And yeah, Siren, I made my info public for a reason: I have nothing to hide. Prozac, anyone?

Arlo
Gargoyles need not apply.

KingCobra> Nah, I'm not a huge fan of anime, but FMA is pretty good, along with Trigun and Cowboy Bebop. Thanks though. I'd be more interested in gaming, Pixar, animation, and Gargoyles cons than anything. Maybe ComiCon, since they do EVERYTHING there. :)

Everything that I'm into is either in California or Florida. Mostly Cali, but being stuck in the midwest is a bit of an annoyance. :\ At least there's the internet.

lvl27_cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Cubone> "I actually haven't been to a con for anything. I've been to a few gaming gatherings, but not anything substantial. Would have been really great. :\"

This is slightly off-topic, but if you want to go to a con so bad, try looking up at www.AnimeCons.com for conventions in your area.

This is assuming you're into anime, which is purely speculative on my part, since I have no idea if you are or not. Still, you made it sound, from your above statement, that you'd be willing for any kind of con. So hopefully this will help.

KingCobra_582 - [KingCobra582 at gmail dot com]
Grr. Arg.

I think Greg meant allocution rather than elocution. Allocution is basically the in-court statement of criminal actions in order to receive a diminished sentence as part of a plea bargain. Elocution is the study of formal speech.
Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

So Greg recently posted:

Clark Cradic writes...
Have Peter and Aunt May ever seen the Cat Burgler after Uncle Ben's murder? I assume they would have been there for the his conviction.

Greg responds...
I imagine they went to his trial -- or more likely his elocution.
--------------------------------------------------

What did he mean by elocution in this sentence?

And:

Matt writes...
Just wondering about the origin of a couple of monikers.

1. Where did the nickname "The Grim" come from for Kenneth? Why did you use it?

2. What is the origin of "True", the young female in Demona's Clan. Meaning, why do you call her "True"?

Greg responds...
1. I think it's "in-story" origin is pretty clear from the story, so I won't add to that. As for why I chose to use it... it had a few benefits:

1. Helps distinguish Kenneth III from Kenneth II.

2. Added a bit of tension as to who or what the Grim might be before we met him.

3. Was useful to illustrate character for Grim and Maol Chalvim.
--------------------------------------------------

Maybe I'm missing something, but what exactly are the in-universe explanation for The Grim's nickname?

Matt - [St Louis, Missouri, USA]
"For science, which, as my associate Fang indicated, must move ever forward. Plus there's the money... and I do love the drama!" -Sevarius, 'Louse'

Thanks for the info Antiyonder, I appreciate it! I've been very forward about my recent falling back into Gargoyles, most of my friends know about it now (or remember it) and I've gotten a few interested. Unfortunately, I don't know how willing they'd be to contribute to getting the products, (save maybe 1 or 2 of them) and I don't think any of them know about Greg's other work, save maybe Spidey. I'm persistent though, believe me. They're plenty sick of hearing me rant about Pixar (I have been since last June) so if I can get anyone into it, I will. Plus, a lot of them have good memories of the show.

On another topic, I got to check out that prototype sculpt of Goliath, and I am very interested in it. I think it's a bit of a shame there's not any closeups of it yet, it's looking incredibly attractive, but I know we'll see some nice shots of it. Any info regarding a release, how many to expect, and a pricetag? I'm expecting that I'll have to miss out, for several reasons, but I'd like to get some info on that all the same on the off chance I can get my hands on it. I realize there isn't too much Greg has said about it, so I understand if no one can help out too much.

Thanks again Antiyonder! I'll do what I can. :)

lvl27_cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

DEMONSKRYE - That was an excellent comment on Castaway (though I've enjoyed your comments on "Gargoyles" in general in the last few years here in the comment room; I think they've been among the most intelligent and thoughtful posts that I've seen here).

An odd little thought I just had. I assume that most of us have heard about the bizarre rewrites of classic literature that began coming out last year that bring in fantasy or sci-fi elements (such as the reworking of "Pride and Prejudice", setting it in a zombie outbreak in Regency England). I wonder whether "Gargoyles" at times fell into that category, bringing many Shakespearean characters, particularly Macbeth, into the Gargoyles Universe, and placing them alongside the living gargoyles in New York. (The notion of Macbeth teaming up with a clan of gargoyles against Duncan is certainly almost as outre as Elizabeth Bennett as a zombie-slayer.)

Todd Jensen

lvl27_Cubone> Since you are new here, some advice on spreading the word on Gargoyles products (Notably the DVDs and Trade Paperbacks). If you have trouble finding some Gargoyles fans, you can always recommend the series to people to fans of Weisman's other major work:
1. The Spectacular Spider-Man
2. W.I.T.C.H. (Greg produced and story edited Season 2 of the show)
3. Max Steel (Producer and story editor for the first season)
4. The 1986 Captain Atom comic book for DC Comics (Both he and Cary Bates wrote for a lengthy majority of the series)
5. While there is no involvement on Weisman's part, I'd recommed the DVDs to the Trekkies on the grounds that it had a good number of Star Trek actors/actresses voicing the characters. Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis are the most notable examples.


On the note of number 4, if you haven't done so already, I recommend picking up JLA Showcase #1 (cover dated February of 2000). It contains stories centering around various members and line ups of the Justice League.

The most notable story as far as this page would be concerned is a story written by Greg (titled "The Flashback of Notre Dame
"). Story has Captain Atom and The Justice League Europe encounter a clan of Gargoyles in Paris. All I'm going to say is that comedies and injokes ensue.

Antiyonder - [antiyonder at yahoo dot com]
Algernon's comment about Norman Osborn: One of the neat things about Dark Reign is that it gives Osborn the chance to expand his horizons beyond tormenting a twenty nine year old who still lives with his mom.

KingCobra>Aww, dang, seriously? That's a darn shame. I missed out, I really hope something brings it back, I actually haven't been to a con for anything. I've been to a few gaming gatherings, but not anything substantial. Would have been really great. :\

Demonskrye> Yeah, I get what you mean, but that's one thing that stinks about writing for kids, which is what TGC stooped to. The writers turned the show into something that would only be taken at face value. People generally underestimate the mental capacity of kids I think, and writing more simplistic characters seems to degrade on that, it's pretty annoying. Sure, they might not comprehend everything that's going on, but they can pick up a lot of the subtle nuances that exist in a character. I totally agree that their simplification of TGC Castaway puts an unnecessary element in the show, and just took away what made it good to begin with, what makes it different from other cartoons. Gargoyles is such a unique series in that it's practically a drama, and there's so many complexities and references to a lot of intellectual material. You don't find that in many shows, and I don't think any today. Of course, why should corporations care about that when it's so much easier to get writers that can churn out easy episodes in a smaller timeframe, and the viewers are none the wiser. Darn business,...

Can we get a team that works for the content? Doesn't seem to much to ask for someone to actually enjoy what they make.

lvl27_Cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Todd:"The comment room's been going through periodic long silences for a while - I don't know whether almost everybody's been too busy to post or whether we've been running out of things to say."

Maybe that's the case, but I think its more likely the fact that (for awhile now) we've been shifting into a period where we're not getting any new material to talk about . . . and its not necessarily Gargoyles.

The current scenario is that we're not guaranteed any new stories from Gargoyles OR Spectacular-Spidey . . . which sucks for all sorts of reasons, but the one that's hitting us pretty good is that we now lack new points of discussion other than "Have we heard anything from SLG?" "Will we get a season 3 of Spectacular Spider-Man?"

Personally, I've only been commenting in here since we've been getting the comic . . . I'm no stranger to the CR Archives (go through them a lot actually), but what did you all talk about before the DVDs?? d:

Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka

Cubone> "But yeah, I really hope I can attend a gathering at some time"

Uh, you DO know that the last Gathering was just that, the last. Right? At least for the foreseeable future it will be. Unless someone organizes their own Gargoyles con, and, even then, it may not be referred to as 'The Gathering'.

KingCobra_582 - [KingCobra582 at gmail dot com]
Grr. Arg.

Jason> If SLG gets the comics license back or any other company picks it up and the "Dark Ages" spin-off ever comes out, I'm sure we'll see some more of the young Princess Katherine. For now, Greg can't do any more Gargoyles material, comics or otherwise, unless Disney or someone with the license hires him to.

Cubone> I think the problem with TGC's Castaway is that he ended up being portrayed as all things bad in a somewhat misguided effort to show that racism (or speciesism) is bad. The canon Castaway is more nuanced and more realistic. The fact that he is horribly prejudiced doesn't make him stupid, or even incapable of caring about other people or doing some good things. Aside from the fact that I personally enjoy the realistic approach more, I think the TGC approach is misleading and maybe even a little dangerous. I think television's ability to influence children's thinking is sometimes overstated, but it can to a degree and if kids are watching television shows that say "racists are stupid, crazy people who wear masks and run around firing weapons without caring who gets hurt," will they be able to recognize real racism in the much subtler forms it often takes?

As for most humans reactions to the gargoyles, I think we as viewers have a bit of an edge because we've known from pretty much day one that they're good guys and can root for them, "befriend" them from afar without taking on any risk. Most people in the series first became aware of gargoyles when they saw several of them flying away after a police station was bombed. Demona's past and future activities will probably not help to convince the public that gargoyles aren't out to destroy humanity. The analogy I like to make is a group of loincloth wearing velociraptors suddenly appearing in front of a recently exploded public building. Much as many of us would like to think we would try to assess the situation calmly and figure out what the velociraptors were up to and whether they were really responsible for the explosion, we would probably all be too busy running away. Despite Goliath's assertions that humans simply fear what they do not understand, it is basic animal nature to assume that if it looks like it can hurt you, if probably will.

Demonskrye - [<---"James and the Giant Peach" at The Ink and Pixel Club]

CUBONE> Nah it ain't your fault, sometimes the comment room just kinda loses momentum.
Algernon

Hi Greg!

I have a request could you bring out a comic in which there is more of princess Kathrine when she was younger.

thanks

Jason - [contact at insearchforyou dot com]
Jason

Maybe your last post seemed to almost everybody who read it such a perfect summing-up that they didn't have anything to say to it.

The comment room's been going through periodic long silences for a while - I don't know whether almost everybody's been too busy to post or whether we've been running out of things to say.

Todd Jensen

No harm done. I was tempted to double post, but I didn't want to make a bad impression seeing as I'm new here, I was kinda curious why it was so dead. If it's at my expense, I can dig it. I think I've seemed like a bit of a baby on here anyway, I might deserve it, haha.

If my fandom actually sticks this time, I need to get my tail over there and try to attend a gathering. I was interested in it when I was into the show a few years back, but it was out of the question at that point since I was, oh, 17? Going halfway across the country for a convention didn't fly with the parents. Now it'd just be a time and money issue, although I will likely be taking a trip over there next month to meet a few notable (well, hopefully a LOT of notable) people, one possibly being Ed Asner (and I fully intend to ask him about Gargoyles if I get to meet him. Hudson's my fave, and he voices my favorite fictional character of all time: Carl Fredricksen, you will be INCAPABLE of making me shut up about Up. Best. Film. EVER. Pixar's the point of the trip, and that film's the reason I'm so into animation now)

But yeah, I really hope I can attend a gathering at some time, I'm a big fan of Keith David's, and I'd love to meet Mr. Adcox and Greg now, as well as a few of you here I'm sure once I'm more familiar with the place. :)

In other news, I haven't really watched too much of the show since I got back into it besides the first Season 1 disc, I'm trying to get a bunch of my college buddies to get into the show, and I've just been passing the time waiting to set it up drawing a few of the characters (mainly Hudson, and I'm a budding art student by the way, hehe). I did get to watch The Mirror the other day though, and I can see why it's Greg's fave, might be mine too. I mainly watched it to see the humanized clan again, but the episode was fantastic, as expected. I haven't seen most of the show in a long time, I need to sit a few of my friends down and just go at it for a few days, I've even got 1 friend more into the series than I am, and another that's really interested. The 3 of us need to set up a marathon. :D

I missed this show. Glad I found it again! :)

lvl27_Cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Talk about a dead CR -- I blame it on the combination of Tom and the TGC Amish kid in the same sentence* . . . I know it was too much for ME to handle d:

*No slight intended, Cubone; just trying to revive the room.

On a separate note, feeling nostalgic reading the Gathering journals that Greg's answered back so far . . . and it doesn't help that he just answered my first one (in hindsight, I think I wrote too much XD)

Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka

Todd> Almost seems like a play at racism, I think it's just discrimination against something that's different. I think the lack of practically any open-mindedness among most people in the series is a bit over played, but I really like how willing to interact some of the major young characters are, Tom, the boy in A Bronx Tail, etc. For one thing, it seems to be an accurate depiction of a child's innate naivety, and I think I'd find myself more interested in interacting with gargoyles than to fear them. I have a child-like mindset, and fantasy characters fascinate me in the first place.

I think TGC tried too hard to incorporate acceptance morals in their episodes rather than work on characters. It seemed to focus too much on ending the differences between humans and gargoyles, and it just felt too premature. (Plus, canonically, the pact doesn't come for a loooong time)

lvl27_cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

I recently had a thought about the ending of "Angels in the Night", inspired by Algernon's bringing up the illogic of Castaway knowing the truth about the gargoyles - in which case, how does he justify his hatred of them? We know that the original ending to "Angels in the Night" was to have Goliath and his clan (including Elisa) giving up and running away from New York, but Greg Weisman talked the new production team out of using it. That would most likely have meant that the new production team had to come up with a new ending in a hurry, one which would allow the gargoyles to win, remain in New York, and be accepted by the public at once. The Quarrymen's attack on the train (an incredibly foolish act - with the only living gargoyles left - Castaway thinks - safely imprisoned by the authorities and to be locked away for good, they're no longer a menace, and so there's no longer any need for the Quarrymen to do anything - unless it's the old mistake of "I want to kill them myself! No one else shall deprive me of the pleasure of my revenge!") would therefore serve as a convenient plot device to bring about a happy ending, if in an obviously contrived way. Maybe the writers were so desperate, and so strapped for time, that they didn't have the opportunity to realize how illogical their solution was. (Though I'm afraid they didn't have a similar defence for the equally contrived happy ending of "And Justice For All".)
Todd Jensen

Demonskrye> Thanks for the advice on blog sites. I appreciate it.
Lurker

Algernon> Haha, yeah, that's why TGC shouldn't be canon. It's like putting the writer of something like Spongebob on a show with actual plotlines. Makes me wonder why they knocked Greg out of his position in the first place,... I don't get how some of the writers for shows get hired. Who in their right mind thinks some of today's shows are a good idea? And replacing writers for shows that are doing perfectly fine is probably the worst. Don't fix what isn't broken.

I think the only thing I enjoy thoroughly out of TGC is the theme, it's pretty cool. There's a few episodes in there that are okay, but it's definitely the low point of the series. Yay for retconning

lvl27_cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

To my mind TGC Castaway didn't come across so much like a racist fanatic as much as Snidely Whiplash with a hammer. He wasn't motivated by a belief that Gargoyles were evil or even simple revenge, he just seemed to get off on twirling his mustache.

Look at Angels in The Night, his whole scheme revolved around the premise that the gargs would risk their own lives to save innocents in danger. How the heck did he come to that conclusion if he believes the gargs are evil?

TGC Castaway acted more like the villain in a James Bond parody then the leader of a hate group. I frankly wouldn't have been that surprised if one of his schemes involved slowly lowering the clan into a pool of sharks with frigging lasers attached to their heads.

P.S. Thanks for the info Demonskrye. ;)

Algernon

I still suspect that the Quarrymen of "The Goliath Chronicles" were heavily modelled on the Friends of Humanity in the FOX animated "X-Men" series, without anyone paying attention to the differences between the mutant situation and the gargoyle situation.

And I definitely prefer Castaway's depiction in the comics. (I get a particular kick out of his television ad in "Bad Guys" - as I said before, he makes the Quarrymen sound more like Covenant House than like an anti-gargoyle vigilante group.)

Todd Jensen

Personally I never liked how either Castaway or the Quarrymen were handled in TGC. All reduced to stock bad guys. Whereas in the comic, they are otherwise normal people with a genuine (but misguided) fear.
Fox_fire

>I'll take canon John Castaway any day of the week. Gargoyles has always been about giving depth to their villains. Greg's approach to John Castaway shows us someone who wants the gargoyles dead, but he's also nobody's fool.

From what little we have seen in the comic, the Quarrymen appear to be as friendly and approachable as possible, which is more effective than firing anti-aircraft guns in a heavily populated civilian area.


Seconded. Goliath Chronicles Castaway became to much of a threat that even those who fear the Gargoyles wouldn't trust him.

Canon Castaway on the other hand is most likely to have respect from the public for a long time.

Antiyonder - [antiyonder at yahoo dot com]
Algernon's comment about Norman Osborn: One of the neat things about Dark Reign is that it gives Osborn the chance to expand his horizons beyond tormenting a twenty nine year old who still lives with his mom.

By the way: don't feel shy about using a name in here.
Harvester of Eyes
"DO NOT INTERRUPT! There! Happy now? Look what you did! Now you don't get to go on the murder crusade!" -The Monarch

Anonymous: I'll take canon John Castaway any day of the week. Gargoyles has always been about giving depth to their villains. Greg's approach to John Castaway shows us someone who wants the gargoyles dead, but he's also nobody's fool.

From what little we have seen in the comic, the Quarrymen appear to be as friendly and approachable as possible, which is more effective than firing anti-aircraft guns in a heavily populated civilian area.

Harvester of Eyes
"DO NOT INTERRUPT! There! Happy now? Look what you did! Now you don't get to go on the murder crusade!" -The Monarch

just a question i'm not saying i liked him, does anyonde miss the goliath chronicles john castaway, the mad raging with power willing to kill humans to get to the gargoyles one, or is everyone happy with greg's vision of jon/john because it just seems to me like the goliath chronicles version is closer to the real ku klux klan, or is it the other one?
Anonymous
golia.

Algernon> [ i ] and [ /i ] to close, without the spaces. If this doesn't end up looking like anything, it's "i" and "/i" in block parentheses, like the spoiler tags.
Demonskrye - [<---"James and the Giant Peach" at The Ink and Pixel Club]

Demonskrye> Yeah, I can see your point. I think the main thing that I'm bugged by is there's just nothing I can bear to watch on TV anymore, I don't really get what keeps the shows Disney has on the air. Of course, that's just one person's opinion, but everything's so flimsy now. Of course, there's Hannah Montana fever, which I can understand to a mild extent, but everything else besides Phineas and Ferb seems like garbage to me.

It's hard to see Gargoyles getting any sort of revival, but there's bound to be some way. Of course, there's not anything I can really do about it except gripe and moan that it's not more heralded than it is at this point. I think the general populous has a lot to do with it too, it's way too easy to entertain people now I think (and I'm only 20 years old, when did the standards drop so rapidly?). Hoping is about all I can contribute at this point, but it's better than nothing I suppose.

I do think it would have been a bit more in Disney's interest to bump Volume 1 up a bit more to push sales, I had no clue it was out until last month. Not much that can be done now, the damage is done. Who knows, something may come up down the line.

lvl27_cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

DEMONSKRYE> Totally off topic but how did you get those italics in your post?
Algernon

Working my way backwards.

Landon> That could end up being the positive effect of the movie being canned in addition to what the article suggests. People talking about the death of the movie means more people talking about Spider-Man in general, which means a great likelihood that people will talk about Spectacular Spider-Man.

Lurker> Both Blogger and LiveJournal will let you log in and post new entries on any computer.

Cubone> Making new episodes of a TV series (or a direct-to-DVD movie or some other animated project) is pretty darned expensive. Just look at the credits at the end of Gargoyles and consider the fact that all of those people have to be paid. And Disney doesn't have unlimited resources to devote to any given project either. It all has to be justified to people who decide whether that money will make a good return on that particular project, or if it could be better spent somewhere else.

In this case, the older show is one that stopped airing years ago, so it does sort of make sense that more momentum is required to get it going again. A studio generally decides to stop producing episodes of a show when the ratings get low, freeing them up to work on a show that will hopefully do better. So in most cases, they have very little reason to revisit it. They figure the ratings dropped because people lost interest or never liked it to begin with, so why go back and make more episodes? Of course, a show can get bad ratings for reasons other than the public simply not liking the show anymore (or ever): networks giving the show a lousy time slot or moving it around, a change of direction or casting that isn't well received, lack of adequate advertising, and so on. In the cases where shows do get a second chance at life, something usually happens that convinced the studio to give the show another look: it gets a steady timeslot or new airings on a different network and does really well or DVD sales are through the roof, or something like that. Here it's not so much a matter of money as a matter of data. Better ratings in reruns or fantastic DVD sales are hard data that shows that there is a market for the property, but something prevented the show from reaching that market the first time around. The problem for Gargoyles is that the most recent data anyone at Disney has for it is the less than stellar sales of the for the first half of season two. For them, that was testing the waters and the test showed that people aren't interested in Gargoyles anymore. Not necessarily a fair conclusion, but like the one that was made.

Demonskrye - [<---"James and the Giant Peach" at The Ink and Pixel Club]

lvl27_cubone> It would already have a dedicated fanbase to cater to, not to mention the chance of pulling new fans in and thus adding more sales to the older DVD's.

Newer shows are more in the public eye and are more of a sure thing. And for the older shows that have had a constant release, it's because prior volumes sold well. See, Warner Bros didn't release Batman The Animated Series Volume 2-4 on DVD as an act of kindness, nor did they do so out of charity. They did it because the fans supplied the green paper with the presidents on them. The fans of BTAS weren't so prideful with Season 1 divided.

The reason we got Season 2 Volume 1 was due to the first season selling well. If sales for S2 V1 had done just as well, then Disney would have a reason to put S2 V2 out.

Antiyonder

Spectacular Spider-Man got a nice mention on the Huffington Post:

"Even for those who had issues with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, anyone who thinks that this will lead to a more artistically worthwhile Spider-Man picture is deluding themselves. If Sony won't let Raimi have his way after making them $2.4 billion in global box office, then there is no way they will let whatever director they hire have any creative freedom whatsoever. This is going to be a corporate project every step of the way. The only silver-lining is that renewed interest in a younger Peter Parker may convince the powers that be to renew the wonderfully character-driven Spectacular Spider-Man animated series that has run since 2007. Hey that was just under three years ago, wasn't there a Spider-Man film released just under three years ago? Oh... right."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-mendelson/corporate-filmmaking-at-i_b_420160.html

I only mention it because HuffPo is very popular and general-audience.

Landon Thomas - [<- Gargoyles News Twitter Feed]

Hey everyone. This isnt Gargoyles related but I would appreciate any advice.

I am taking a summer long cycling trip to raise money for The Fisher House and wanted to post blogs throughout the ride. I have been looking into wordpress and blogger but cant decide which I should use. I plan to have a netbook but it is small on memory so I may not be able to store a website editing program on it. My main access point to the net would be public libraries and anywhere with free wi-fi.

With that said, it seems that wordpress requires a program in order to update. Since I would be using different computers, this doesn't seem ideal. Can anyone offer some advice on blog site that allows me to upload entries from any computer I happen to be on?

Thank you

Lurker

DemonSkrye> Yeah, I can see the big dilemma behind that, I just wish older shows didn't require more momentum than new shows. Seems like a pretty lame unwritten rule. I mean, what do they really have to lose in a few new episodes that could really cause any problems? It would already have a dedicated fanbase to cater to, not to mention the chance of pulling new fans in and thus adding more sales to the older DVD's. Of course, this point would fall on deaf ears, but it's a point that should be made. I'm just so frustrated with the condition of a series with such a dedicated following, especially since one of the creators is still so heavily involved, and he's crippled to work with his own creation.

I think it'd be a bit easier to stomach if we had more wholesome series' to watch on nowadays, the lineup on Disney makes me want to hurl. Gone are the great days of Duck Tales, Tale Spin, and even the series' based on the movies were really great. We're stuck with tween superstars and shallow slapstick. Bringing it back would brighten Disney's lineup dramatically. They just don't show anything animated anymore besides Jimmy Two Shoes and Phineas and Ferb, both of which are pretty lax.

lvl27_cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Antiyonder> "I'd be glad to be wrong, but yes. Some fans stated that they would purchase Volume 1 when Volume 2 is made to be available."

Someone should leave a review or something on Amazon explaining the folly with that. So that people would be more informed.

KingCobra_582 - [KingCobra582 at gmail dot com]
Grr. Arg.

Demonskrye> I'd be glad to be wrong, but yes. Some fans stated that they would purchase Volume 1 when Volume 2 is made to be available.
Antiyonder

Cubone> Disney the huge multimedia entertainment company is a business first and foremost. So yes, much as we'd like to think otherwise, it is primarily about the money. There was one time when someone wrote in to Ask Greg lamenting the troubles with the DVD release and wondering why Disney couldn't put the DVDs out just to be nice instead of to turn a profit, since they already make so much money. And Greg, who is probably as interested in anyone in the world in having Gargoyles out on DVD if not more so, said that as a Disney shareholder, he did not think the company he's invested in should be putting money into projects that they don't think will turn a good profit just because it would be nice. And much as I want to see the rest of season two on DVD, I think he's right. Sure one DVD release isn't going to bankrupt Disney, but it sets a precedent that could lead to trouble if any show that can scrape together a petition with a couple of signatures can get a DVD release and Disney is stuck with tons of unsold copies of "The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show" and the like.

The trouble is that Disney currently doesn't see Gargoyles as something worth investing money in. There have been fans who argue that Disney is being stupid because if they promoted the DVDs they would sell more. I doubt that Disney is unaware of this. But as Disney sees it, the number of additional sales generated by advertising the DVDs would not be enough to justify the cost, especially if they could make many times more profit by putting that same amount of money into advertising something like Hannah Montana. When they decided to release the DVDs, Disney wasn't looking to launch a campaign to reintroduce Gargoyles as a major brand that they could then create new merchandise and material for. Disney wanted something that would sell itself, where the demand would be enough and Disney wouldn't have to do anything. For better of worse, Greg told them that the DVDs would pretty much sell themselves because the show's fanbase would get the word out. Keep in mind it's not that Greg talked them out of doing a big advertising bonanza. The choices were "DVD release with no advertising" or "no DVD." I think given those options, we all would have picked the former. The fan promotion worked OK on the first set, not so well on the second. So Disney decided that there wasn't enough of a market to merit the release of a third DVD set.

If it's any consolation, the other Disney Afternoon shows that have been released on DVD were handled pretty much the same way and some of them aren't finished either, possibly none of them, but I'm not 100% sure.

As for Greg getting in touch with more execs based on his work on Spectacular Spider-Man, I'm with Algernon: Disney isn't going to care if the show is deemed yesterday's news. And while it would certainly be helpful to have Greg talking with someone higher-up, it wouldn't necessarily mean that the fortunes of either property would instantly turn around. Greg has been in touch with various people in various positions at Disney over the years since the show ended and it hasn't always done much. Sure it would be a big step if somebody like Lasseter got behind the property, but even he has to answer to someone. It's be one battle won, but not the entire war.

Antiyonder> Are there really known cases where fans opted to wait for a full season two set come out even after it became clear that there was no guarantee of that ever happening? Or to this day? I;m not doubting your word, I'm just curious. I could definitely see casual consumers seeing the DVD in the store, spotting the "Volume One" and saying "Eh, I'll pick up the full set when they put it out" and then forgetting all about it. But actual fans refusing to buy anything but a full set for long periods of time seems bizarre.

Spider-Man 4> Heard about this last night. I'm kind of surprised to see people around the internet coming out of the woodwork to say how glad they are the Rami and Maguire are out of the picture. I still haven't seen the third movie, but I really liked the first two and from what I've heard, studio meddling had a lot to do with how the third one turned out. I kind of doubt this means anything for SS-M. Worst case scenario I can envision is that without a new movie due out soon, there will be less urgency to get a cartoon on the air as well. But then again, maybe the lack of a Spidey movie will make Disney/Marvel more eager to put a show on and keep the webhead in the public eye.

Demonskrye - [<---"James and the Giant Peach" at The Ink and Pixel Club]

CHRIS> "Any chance Disney purchasing Marvel and Greg working on Spiderman could get him a bit closer to the execs?"

That would really depend on whether or not The Spectacular Spider-Man got picked up for another season. Currently the show is on hiatus and Greg hasn't been in contact with anyone at either Disney or Marvel for several months now,

Algernon

KingCobra> Ah, I meant I can't really order things online right now. Thanks for the link though, I appreciate it. Believe me, if I could buy things online, I'd have even less money than I do right now, and I'm a college student, hehe.

Any chance Disney purchasing Marvel and Greg working on Spiderman could get him a bit closer to the execs? I mean, the series did get some pretty great notoriety last year, could help a bit. Of course, that's assuming that Disney would start getting involved in Marvel's creative content, which I would support for this case, but otherwise, I think they should keep their hands off. I think Disney's using Marvel more for merchandising than control of their property, but who knows. At least Marvel has a lot more financial support for that now.

I think I'm just trying to come up with as many different scenarios to put Gargoyles back on the map, hoo-rah for speculation. Not to sure anything is gonna move anywhere, but we can hope. Heck, if Disney picks up on the graphic novels, the association with Marvel might bring some of its fanbase into the fold.

And of course, there's Pat's hypothesis that in a few years, there will be a 90's revival in cinema. I just hope it doesn't end up turning into something like X-Men origins, and someone really associated with the series takes the lead if there's ever something Gargoyles-related. I'd prefer it to be animated, but there's always a chance it could be done right in live-action (heck, it could be way cooler). I'd be upset if it wasn't something that Greg himself cooked up, or at least is true to the series and doesn't screw up anything canon.

lvl27_cubone (Chris Nuse)
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Cubone> "I actually don't have season 2 part 1 yet, mainly because after getting season 1, I fell out of the loop, and didn't hear about it coming out (way to go on that marketing), and now I just haven't managed to come across it yet. I'll probably order it sometime, but I don't have the means to at the moment."

Try Amazon. You can find it there for nearly dirt cheap. http://www.amazon.com/Gargoyles-Season-Two-Vol-1/dp/B000ATQYVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1263294537&sr=8-1

KingCobra_582 - [KingCobra582 at gmail dot com]
Grr. Arg.

Just wanted to post the article that Taleweaver (more than likely) referred to:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/01/sony-overhauls-spiderman-sequel-raimi-maguire-out-.html

btw, welcome back to the CR, Taleweaver!

Though I've really got nothing to add, I will say this feels more like good news than bad news regarding Spectacular Spider-Man . . . though I will hold off on full-on speculation until we hear something from Greg Weisman . . . .

Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka

Greetings from the ether. I know it's been a long time, so let me reintroduce myself as Taleweaver. I just read a bit of news in the LA Times that I wanted to share, not about gargoyles but spiderman.

Sony has decided to take Spiderman 4 in a different direction dropping Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire. They want to go with a reboot with a teenage Peter Parker grapping with younger issues. That put me in mind of the latest Spidey series and made me wonder if they won't contact our mutual friend for a consult.

I think its something to get random speculation going. Enjoy.

Taleweaver

I actually don't have season 2 part 1 yet, mainly because after getting season 1, I fell out of the loop, and didn't hear about it coming out (way to go on that marketing), and now I just haven't managed to come across it yet. I'll probably order it sometime, but I don't have the means to at the moment. I honestly think it's a bit silly for them to release the first half, and only plan to release the second if the first does well, not exactly a great strategy, and fans griping about lack of a complete set in 1 package is a bit nuts too, considering how long season 2 is. Not saying it's not possible, just not that likely, the set would be awfully big.

Regardless, it's just annoying to have something like this happen to a fanbase, that while small, is undyingly loyal, especially with someone like Greg still sticking around for it. And yeah, there's some fans to blame for not supporting it enough, but it's still Disney that pulled the plug on part 2. *rubs head* It's always about the money. They forgot why they started doing what they do in the first place.

Don't mean to be such a baby about this or anything, it's just annoying, and I'm sure most of you agree with me. I don't want to seem like I'm just pointing fingers at Disney. It's those darn copyright laws. Creative control ticks me off, it shouldn't have this much power in this situation is all I'm really saying. *grumble grumble*

Anyway, I don't wanna damper this place too much, I mean we're here to have a good time. :)

lvl27_Cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Harvester of Eyes> Vicky: Happy Birthday! Enjoy that year while you can, since your age is now mathematically perfect.

And it's the last time that shall be true. Unless medical science advances tremendously in the next few decades, I doubt you'll make it to 496.

Do I detect a fellow math geek, Harvester?

Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

Vicky: Happy Birthday! Enjoy that year while you can, since your age is now mathematically perfect.
Harvester of Eyes
"I've walked across the sun. I've seen events so tiny and so fast they hardly can be said to have occurred at all, but you... you are a man. And this world's smartest man means no more to me than does its smartest termite." -Dr. Manhattan ("Watchmen")

And some people chose to wait for years and years for the con to happen closer to their house. Sometimes when you snooze, you lose.
Patrick
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men." - Willy Wonka

KnigKobra 582 & lvl27_cubone> While Disney could have helped to promote the DVDs, some of the fans also share the blame. See, some declined on purchasing Season 2 Volume 1, not because of being unable to afford it or being unaware of it. They chose not to buy it, because they wanted Season 2 as a whole or to have Volume 2 produced first.


Choosing not to buy it for that reason only tells Disney that the Gargoyles sets are a waste of their money. Heck, I've recently read some posts on the Gargoyles section of IMDB, where posters have yet to buy the available DVD, but are basically wanting Disney to still produce Season 2 Volume 2.

Heck, I hear that part of why the single issues fell in decline (aside from delays) was due to some readers wanting to wait for the trades. That may work for the Amazing Spider-Man, but Gargoyles needs as much financial support as possible.

Antiyonder

I personally feel the best hope for "Gargoyles" is to have its surfboard waxed and ready ride the nostalgia wave that's currently making it's way through the 1980s. The same craze that's giving us "G.I. Joe and "The A-Team" as live action movies will eventually make everything 1990s cool again, too.
Patrick
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men." - Willy Wonka

Yeah, that's the main thing that concerns me. I hate how corporate Disney's become, they don't put enough effort into what they make anymore, it's cash cow. That's the dangers of becoming a huge company, and sadly Disney has taken that fall from valuable entertainment to raking in as much as possible. They need more people like Greg and Lasseter running the show, good people that put their heart and soul into what they create, and there's just not enough of that in the business anymore.

I think I was a bit spoiled back in the day with brilliant cartoons such as the old Nick and Disney lineups with really great stories. There's not enough of that anymore, and there needs to be something that breaks today's shallow mold of teen sitcoms and purely episodic events. Nothing has story arcs anymore, there's no continuity between episodes in practically any shows, it's just one isolated occurrence after another. That's not compelling, and not as near as entertaining. Shows with continuous stories keep viewers, instead of just pulling in random channel surfers. Yeah, it makes it harder to get people involved in the series when they jump into the middle of it, but it makes it more fulfilling when it does actually pull in a viewer. The only stuff we get like that is from overseas, like Naruto, there's nothing really good like that in the western world. It's just too bad to see that Disney has lost sight of that. :\

lvl27_cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Greg B.> "Why would they promote a product that doesn't exist?"

I meant 'season 2, volume 1.' Whoops. Thanks for catching that. Damn keyboard.

*sheepish*

KingCobra_582 - [KingCobra582 at gmail dot com]
Grr. Arg.

KING COBRA> <<They certainly didn't promote Season 2 Volume 2 much.>>

Why would they promote a product that doesn't exist?

Greg Bishansky

Cubone> " I think all it would take is cooperation on Disney's part, and effective marketing of the franchise."

The problem with that, though, is that Disney doesn't seem to have much motivation in marketing the Gargoyles property. They certainly didn't promote Season 2 Volume 2 much. Not at all, in fact. And, sad to say, since it didn't sell enough copies to satisfy Disney, they apparently don't see much financial worth in doing anything with Gargoyles.

Maybe they'll eventually release more graphic novels (and I hope they do), but it doesn't look good right now.

KingCobra_582 - [KingCobra582 at gmail dot com]
Grr. Arg.

Demonskrye>Ahh, alright. I generally understood the license thing with SLG, and the release of 9-12 in Clan Building 2. It's really great to know that SLG is still interested in the series, and I really hope Disney takes them up on the graphic novels. With enough support and work from SLG and Greg (and I'm totally confident that they're willing to put out considering Greg's still running this thing 13 years later) Disney might see the worth in reviving such an amazing series, as well as finally getting Season 2 out in its entirety. I think all it would take is cooperation on Disney's part, and effective marketing of the franchise. I really hope to see it make a comeback, it's a fantastic series.

Maybe Greg could have a word with the great visionary, John Lasseter, he knows a good story when he sees one, and the man is practically the current day Walt. If there could be some sort of support from him, there'd undoubtedly be a revival. Of course, this is all wishful thinking. Still, with Disney's recent resurgence (and smashing success, PatF was fantastic) of traditional animation, it seems feasible enough to be possible. I think it just comes down to how well Disney will cooperate with Greg and SLG, I wish them the best.

Here's to hoping. Don't be stupid Disney.

lvl27_Cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Tenth.
Phil - [p1anderson at go dot com]

Cubone> Here's what we know as of now:

Disney has no current plans to release Season Two Part Two on DVD. The given reason is that the first half of season two failed to meet their sales targets. At this point, I seriously doubt that simply passing the original target number would prompt Disney to put the DVD out. I don't think they're looking for the DVD to limp across the finish line years later than expected. But better sales, and better sales of other Gargoyles merchandise, is probably our best bet for changing Disney's mind.

The situation with the comic is a little more interesting and fluid. As you may already know, SLG no longer has any of the Disney comics licenses. When time came to renew, Disney wanted more money to better costs on their end and SLG couldn't really afford it. They were able to release twelve issues worth of the main book and six issues worth of the Bad Guys spinoff by including stories that were never published in single issue form as "bonus material" in the trade paperbacks. The good news was that Greg Weisman had developed a good working relationship with SLG and their president Dan Vado and Vado remained interested in publishing Gargoyles comics. The plan was for Vado to see how the trades sold and then approach Disney with a new deal to produce Gargoyles graphic novels. The last anyone heard, Vado was talking with Disney. I'm sure if anything had been decided one way or the other, I'm sure Greg W would let us know. But so far, nothing. Disney's purchase of Marvel has led to a lot of speculation on what might happen to a potential SLG deal. But all we know for certain is that SLG is the only comics publisher that has expressed an interest in the license. So for the time being, we're still waiting on news.

Demonskrye - [<---"The Princess and The Frog" at The Ink and Pixel Club]

8th In the name of my 28th birthday, yuck!!!
VickyUK - [vickyfanofwwe at aol dot com]

Sixth!

Ahh, alright. I'm not exactly sure how it works, haha. Lets just say he's partially responsible for one of the most influential experiences of my life. Just want to let him know about that. Thanks! Any idea when it'll open up again? I'd really like to contact him about it.

Also, what's going on with the comic/graphic novels, and any news on what might become of Season 2 Part 2? Just curious if anyone knows if there's any more chance of Disney releasing it. I think everyone here agrees that it needs to get out there, and also I think Greg really deserves to head his baby again, and we need more episodes. Disney's become such a monopolizing monster, it irks the heck out of me. I miss the good ol' days.

lvl27_Cubone
Does the sky need a name? Does the river?

Number 666 here. :P
KingCobra_582 - [KingCobra582 at gmail dot com]
Grr. Arg.

Fifth!

lvl27_cubone (Chris Nuse): I've seen others submit non-questions before, especially those that just want to say thanks and stuff . . . but as it is the queue is currently closed and not taking questions for the time being to allow Greg the chance to catch up (350 to go!)

Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka

I was reading the archives just now and saw a question posted by Gothic Cowboy asking what Arthur would think if he saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Greg's answer simply stated that he (not Arthur) liked it but I was wondering what others think. Personally I think he'd laugh heartily at the misrepresentation but not bother to finsh watching, but i don't claim to know a lot about his character.
Ado

#(3rd)Third!!!
Vinnie - [tpeano29 at hotmail dot com]

2nd~!!
The One Known As Mochi - [shogi dot keima dot 08 at gmail dot com]
Current Mood: (>T.T)> ...

FIRST!!!!
Matt - [St Louis, Missouri, USA]
"For science, which, as my associate Fang indicated, must move ever forward. Plus there's the money... and I do love the drama!" -Sevarius, 'Louse'