“Gargoyles” ran from October 1994 until February 1997. In that time they produced three seasons composing 78 episodes in total. We’re going to watch the first one right now.
Open on the city, modern day, pieces of a building are falling from the sky; an ominous storm brews over the building. More rocks fall, crashing into a small group of people, including a police officer by the name of Elisa Maza. She discovers claw marks on one of the pieces of rubble and wonders to herself, what could be strong enough to leave clam marks on solid stone?
What indeed.
1000 years ago in Scotland a battle was raging. Catapults launched boulders from ground level into the castle. Night is falling and the soldiers on the ground are in a hurry to take the walls before darkness. Under the leadership of the Viking Hakon, they throw grappling hooks and draw lines. Hakon reaches the top of the castle wall just as the sun’s last sliver drops beneath the horizon.
The gargoyles awaken.
This photo is brought to you in the same resolution as you originally saw it on your grandmother’s television, for full nostalgic effect. You’re welcome.
The men attack and the gargoyles, now flesh and blood, take to the skies to regroup. A battle ensues, the gargoyles defending the castle from the invading force.
It’s pretty ballsy, in the first few minutes a sword draws blood and several people are thrown over the walls of the castle from heights too high to likely survive (unless your name is Bran Stark… in which case you survive, start having weird dreams, and….spoiler, spoiler, spoiler). They also loosed quite a few arrows into the (already fleeing) crowd. In short, a whole mess of people die in the first eight minutes; it makes for a strong pilot to a cartoon.
The gargoyles are able to drive the invaders away, Goliath bandages his hand where Hakon had cut it, and the captain of the guard thanks Goliath for protecting the castle as well as his people, Goliath returns the thanks saying they too, owe their lives to him. The captain of the guard walks through meeting hall and overhears some soldiers gossiping unkindly about him. As he approaches the head of the table, the princess thanks him for once again protecting the castle. The captain tells her the thanks are not his to take, that it was Goliath and the gargoyles. She recoils.
“Don’t mention that monster’s name in my presence” she says. A moment later the large double doors creaked open and the gargoyles entered the room.
The captain of the guard asked them to appear to be recognized for their part in winning the battle. The princess is not pleased with the notion of beasts in the dining hall. All things considered… she’s kind of a bitch.
She compares Goliath to the giant of the bible, stating he was also a bully and a savage, the gargoyles excuse themselves. It’s clear that the people of the castle don’t trust or much like the gargoyles. Goliath is able to accept the humans fear without allowing it to hurt him. The captain of the guard seems less willing to endure the insult to the gargoyles. A day passes, the gargoyles have slept and awoken again at sunset.
Hakon and his men have made camp at a distance from the castle and the captain of the guard asks Goliath to take all of the gargoyles from the castle and pursue the Vikings. Goliath is unsure; he isn’t comfortable leaving the castle undefended. He chooses one companion to go with him to scare off Hakon once and for all. The rest of the gargoyles stay to defend the castle. Some of the gargoyles are horsing around at ground level within the castle walls. A young boy approaches and initiates a conversation with the gargoyles, he seems curious and friendly. An old woman approaches, grabbing the boy by the arm and dragging him away while scolding the gargoyles.
The gargoyles, finally pushed too, turn on the very people they protect. At that moment Goliath and his companion descend on the castle, standing between the gargoyles and the humans. He sends them away to the rookery before taking flight to pursue Hakon. The find the company and descend upon them but something is amiss. They turn back toward the castle but don’t make it and are turned to stone at the edge of a cliff some ways from the castle. Hakon and his men attack the castle at daybreak when there are n o gargoyles to defend them.
The princess runs to the captain of the guard screaming of another Viking attack. “It’s worse than that.” replies the captain. He betrays the castle to Hakon. Later, when the castle is taken, Hakon asks why he betrayed his own kind. “They are not my kind.” replied the captain.
As the sun begins to set, Hakon destroys the gargoyles that remain on the castle walls, while still in stone form, before they can awaken to eject him. When Goliath and his companion return they discover their comrades, their family, destroyed.
The episode ends here. It is the first in a five episode story arc called “Awakening.”
Why you should watch it.
There aren’t many cartoons like this, most use the animated universe as an excuse or opportunity to be wacky, things don’t have to make sense in cartoons and they certainly don’t have to hold any real weight. “Gargoyles” doesn’t take the easy road, it tells a relatively dark story and does it well. My only complaint is that after this first episode, not much time is spent in 994 Scotland; the story mostly takes place in 1994 New York. While it’s still interesting, I felt like it never quite reaches the bar set in the very first episode. That’s not to say you shouldn’t keep watching, the entire show is better than most of what you remember from that era.
“Gargoyles” is well worth the watch and lucky for you, Disney has put the entire series up on YouTube where you can watch it free for nothing, and you don’t even have to take to the synthetic seas… the binary bay… you don’t have to walk the digital deck…
You don’t have to steal it. And that’s always nice.
Cheers.
P.S.
While we’re talking about Gargoyles, check out these awesome portraits of the characters done by ImmarArt. Really, fantastic stuff.
Goliath.
Lexington.
Hudson.
Brooklyn.
Broadway.
Bronx.
Demona.
