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Gargoyles, the awakening of the heroes



ï ¿½ Disney
Original title: Gargoyles
Characters:
Goliath, Hudson, Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington, Bronx, Antalius, Angela, Pietrafredda, Fuocofreddo, Katana, Nashville, Ailog, Malibu, Brentwood, Hollywood, Burbank, Delilah, Elisa Maza, Peter Maza, Diane Maza, Beth Maza, David and Petros Xanatos
AuthorsGreg Weisman
Production: The Walt Disney Company
Regia: Saburo Hashimoto, Veun Young Sang, Kazuo Terada, Frank Paur, Greg Weisman
Country: United States
Year: October 24th 1994
Broadcast in Italy: 1996
Gender: Fantasy
Episodes: 78
Duration: 22 minutes
Recommended age: Children from 6 to 12 years old

1000 years of sleep
This is a story where fantasy becomes reality, where legend radiates with magic, where ancient beliefs come to life unexpectedly before the eyes of astonished New Yorkers. This is the story of magical artifacts, of fantastical creatures of admirable pride endowed with extraordinary strength, of how they were then the servants of humans and how they were deceived by them. This is the story of: Gargoyles, the awakening of the heroes.

The Disney project
1994 was a year of profound revolutions at Disney: the global cartoon giant decided to devote himself to the creation of a mature animated series, rich in content and surprisingly full of references to some of the major European cultures and not arisen in the past. . From these very interesting assumptions, the fantasy series adorned with different dark shades, Gargoyles, was born.

Goliath - Gargoyles
ï ¿½ Disney

The television debut of this new Disney project is dated October 24, 1994, it was then that the American broadcaster ABC decided to broadcast on its television channel what will become one of the cult cartoons that will distinguish the flow of the 90s. Great was also the merit of those in Italy who decided to trust this series of cartoons, bringing them immediately to our country: here Gargoyles in fact made his debut as a leading cartoon within the children's program conducted by Mauro Serio and Elisabetta Ferracini: Tickling. Those who belong to the generation born at the turn of the 80s and 90s cannot fail to remember this beautiful series, but the simple kids of that time were perhaps not yet ready to fully appreciate its story, characters, plot development and potential. For this reason, after 17 years Gargoyles is back strongly in the Rai television schedule, broadcasting every Saturday and Sunday morning at 7.00, definitely convinced that he can still have his say in the animated context of our days, a belief that we share widely. The idea behind the creation of the Gargoyles series is absolutely original, but for the realization of the protagonists of the cartoon, the Disney authors were inspired by the disturbing demonic statues present in the major buildings built in the Gothic style (just think of the castle of Notre- Dame in Paris). These statues were implemented in buildings with the only apparent purpose of adorning them, but over time they have been a symbol and inspiration of numerous legends.

The episodes of the series
Before going into the description of the plot (real strength) and the protagonists (numerous and magnificent for their characterization) we briefly mention the serial structure of Gargoyles. The series consists of 3 seasons (although the last is not fully recognized as a sequel to the previous two) for a total of 78 episodes of 22 minutes each. 13 are the episodes that distinguish the first series, which represents a sort of long historical introduction to the events that will instead find ample development in the second. The second season of Gargoyles consists of 52 episodes and represents the creative culmination of the writers. The last series, called in the original language The Goliath Chronicles, consists of another 13 episodes, but to be recognized canonical is only the first episode (Friends or enemies). Just the broadcast of the third series in Italy had to wait 9 years (from 1997 to 2006) before being broadcast by the thematic channel Toon Disney.

The awakening of Goliath - Gargoyles
ï ¿½ Disney

The history of the Gargoyles
994 AD, Scotland: For some time the residents of an ancient castle have been forced to fight the evil Viking invaders thirsty for blood and devoured by the lust for conquest. What allows this castle not to be taken by the invaders? No special weapons, no valiant fighters or particular war strategies, the invaders are regularly decimated and repelled thanks to the intervention of some powerful creatures: the gargoyles. The gargoyles are winged creatures with a demonic appearance, but with a noble and gentle soul, which during the day due to their nature are transformed into inanimate stone statues, but when the sun goes down they turn into flesh and blood. At that time there was a great pact of alliance between humans and gargoyles: humans protected the statues during the day and night, gargoyles pledged to protect mankind as long as the intentions are always noble. In fact, despite the appearance these creatures do not show any latent belligerence or evil, if anything quite the opposite.

Demona - Gargoyles
ï ¿½ Disney

To tell the truth, only the head of the castle guards and their soldiers show gratitude towards these beings; in fact, both the royal family and the common citizens show fear and distrust towards them and these behaviors put a strain on the patience of the gargoyles chief (Goliath) and his partner (Dèmona).

In any case, Goliath is always magnanimous and his goal is to make peace between humans and his people last as long as possible. On the other hand, Demona is not of this opinion, in fact she nurtures a deep resentment towards the human race because of their suspicious nature. One day, however, it is the chief of the guards of the Wyvern castle who betrays his people and allows the Vikings to take possession of the castle, in the invasion that took place during the day many of the statues are destroyed and what was an idyllic alliance until then. suddenly melts.

Eliza Maza - Gargoyles
ï ¿½ Disney

As if that were not enough the evil archmage Magus through a powerful book of spells called Grimorum Arcanorum will carry out the spell that will force the gargoyles to eternal sleep, at least until their castle is above the clouds (so says the spell formula). The years pass, 1000 to be precise, and the events move from ancient Scotland to modern New York. In 1994 the Grimorium Arcanorum will arrive in the hands of the rich American magnate David Xanatos, who is intrigued by legends and guided by the search for wealth, power and immortality, decides to buy the ancient Scottish castle where the lifeless statues of the gargoyles are located and to hand them over on top of one of its skyscrapers so that the creatures can come back to life. The plan of Xanatos works perfectly, the following night in fact the Manhattan neighborhood wakes up in chaos and ruin: after 1000 years of sleep the gargoyles have awakened! As the days go by, the gargoyles manage to forget the insult suffered by humans centuries ago and together with the detective of the Manhattan police Elisa Maza, of whom Dèmona becomes jealous for the friendship established between her and Goliath, they dedicate themselves to the protection of city ​​of New York against the criminals and the evil plans of conquest of Xanatos.

The Gargoyles
ï ¿½ Disney

The Gargoyles characters
Before proceeding with the description of the main protagonists of the series, it is good to specify that during the Scottish events only a few gargoyles could boast of having a name, they were called respectively brother, friend or companion; only after their awakening in the Manhattan neighborhood will each of them be given a name chosen from the main New York neighborhoods. Goliath and his companions are not the only gargoyles present on earth, they are in fact divided into clans. We analyze the protagonists of the main clans while also providing information on the clans themselves. The Manhattan clan is the very protagonist of the series, its leader is Goliath, endowed with great strength and a sense of justice, he is in love with his partner Dèmona. Dèmona comes from a different lineage from that of Goliath (her red eyes are a testimony of this), she is much less condescending than Goliath towards humans and will cause many problems for the whole clan. Among the protagonists we also find: Hudson, a proud warrior advanced in age, but always ready for sacrifice; Broadway, a timid and curious chubby boy devoted more to food than to fighting; Brooklyn, deputy clan leader thanks to his skills as a strategist; Lexington, a confident little warrior capable of understanding 20th century technology; lastly (in order to avoid excessive spoilers we will not go further) Bronx, a sort of watchdog at the service of the clan. In addition to the Manhattan clan, there are: the mutated clan (genetically mutated human beings who have become gargoyles); the clan of clones (certified copies of members of the Manhattan clan); the clan of Avalon (developed from the eggs of Wyvern's castle brought to Avalon); the Guatemala clan (able to expose themselves to sunlight); the London clan (experts in magic) and the Japanese Ishimura clan. Among the prominent human protagonists we find: Elisa Maza, police detective and friend / lover of Goliath; David Xanatos, the one who allowed the awakening of the gargoyles; Anton Sevarius, geneticist serving Xanatos; Owen Burnett / Elfo Puck, assistant to Xanatos and Matt Bluestone, colleague and friend of Elisa.

Gargoyles is produced entirely by Disney, while the series' small-screen distribution was made possible by Buena Vista International. Now let's see in detail some of the minds and arms at the service of the realization of this cartoon. The direction is curated by Kazuo Terada in collaboration with Saburo Hashimoto. The story was written by Eric Luke and Michael Reaves. Executive Producer of the Show is Frank Paur. The original character design is the work of Kazuyoshi Takeuchi and Kenichi Tsuchiya, while the backgrounds were made by Hiroshi Ohno. As for the music, all of excellent workmanship and almost epic tones, they were mainly composed by Carl Johnson. Finally, the drafting of the dialogues is headed by Melissa Gentry Ellis.

Considerations
Mature, complex, adrenaline-pumping, moving: these are just some of the adjectives that can be attributed to this splendid cartoon. Behind the success of the series lies a profound maturity of the screenwriters who have managed to create an infinity of characters and events treated in great detail and through the flashback technique, very popular among contemporary TV series. In fact, it could be said that Gargoyles is a precursor of modern times, the forefather of a new conception of narration. There are also numerous cultural references (Masonic and Shakespearean above all). Maybe the drawings will be a bit "dated" and not very sophisticated, but if you have the opportunity don't miss the opportunity to watch this series. Gargoyles is a cartoon for children, but not only: the maturity of the story and of the dialogues in our humble opinion is mainly suitable for an adult audience. Wonderful!

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All characters and images are copyright Walt Disney Animation and are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.

Video of Gargoyles, the awakening of the heroes

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