GARGOYLES!!!!
Feb. 27th, 2005 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreSo, I've been telling people to get these DVDs left and right, but I hadn't actually sat down to watch them yet(BAD MEGAN!!!) Well, I just finished watching the 5 part opening storyline "TheAwakening" and...well...even better than expected. While the series was designed for kids and early teens, its themes and construction are going to appeal more to a slightly older crowd.
For the uninitiated: Gargoyles is based on the concept that stone gargoyles are based on actual mythological creatures the were (noble) flesh and blood monstrosities at night and stone statues during the day. Because of this inherent weakness, they were the protectors of towns and castles...humans provided them shelter during the day and the gargoyles protected them at night. One scottish clan is betrayed by one of the humans and all but wiped out, and the few survivors are turned to stone for a thousand years and are reawakened in modern day NYC by industrialist David Xanatos. The series was literally stuffed with mythological and literature referrences. For the kids...you have action, lasers, robots, and cool monsters for the protagonists, particularly three "teen" gargoyles. For the adults, you had a fluid, intelligent storyline that utilized every bit of literature and mythology that it could to form a huge, cohesive tapestry. Characters grow and develop over time and whenthey get hurt, they stay hurt and take a while to get better(well, the humans do, gargoyles heal while they sleep during the day.) And, among the more important factors for my (then) 14 year old self, it featured a truly independent, strong, intelligent heroine in the form of Elisa Maza(and, to a lesser extent, Fox, though I wouldn't classify her as a "heroine" even in the last season)
Ok, random babbles and observations:
I'd forgotten just how deep Goliath's voice was. I remembered that he had a really deep voice, of course, but I'd forgotten just how incredibly deep and rumbling his voice was. Irrelevant aside: being recounted by such a voice is the only way Beowulf should ever really be experienced...reading it silently is just silly and the sooner teachers realize that, the happier high school and college students will be.
I can't wait until MacBeth(and other Shakespearian characters) shows up. My interest in Shakespeare can be almost wholy attributed to my liking the Gargoyles character. Interestingly enough, while Shakespeare's MacBeth(though fascinating reading) has little to do with the historical figure, the Gargoyles recounting of his history, once you remove the fantasy elements, is likely very close to the actual history.
Knowing what's in store for the characters, it's interesting to watch them in these early episodes, especially Xanatos. He's possibly the most complex character of the series, and I think he grows more than any of the others as the series develops.
The design for Brooklyn is just flat out cool. That is all.
While I don't believe the series ever addresses the issue(that I recall at least), in a way, Elisa is as much an "outsider" as the gargoyles are. If I recall her history correctly, she's half indian(native american indian, not india indian) and half black...two groups that were historically persecuted by the same "race" as the gargoyles were and are. However, her race is treated as compltely irrelevant to who she is, and I like that.
The animation holds up even better than I thought it would, and I'd expected it to hold up quite well. Could be a little smoother in both the linework and the colors, but overall better than most animation of the day, andbetter than a lot of the animation that you get now. It's dark and moody and incredibly effective...I STILL got a catch in my throat seeing the piles of rubble atthe castle.
That is all for now...must do a bit of cleaning before watching an ep of Wonder Woman.
For the uninitiated: Gargoyles is based on the concept that stone gargoyles are based on actual mythological creatures the were (noble) flesh and blood monstrosities at night and stone statues during the day. Because of this inherent weakness, they were the protectors of towns and castles...humans provided them shelter during the day and the gargoyles protected them at night. One scottish clan is betrayed by one of the humans and all but wiped out, and the few survivors are turned to stone for a thousand years and are reawakened in modern day NYC by industrialist David Xanatos. The series was literally stuffed with mythological and literature referrences. For the kids...you have action, lasers, robots, and cool monsters for the protagonists, particularly three "teen" gargoyles. For the adults, you had a fluid, intelligent storyline that utilized every bit of literature and mythology that it could to form a huge, cohesive tapestry. Characters grow and develop over time and whenthey get hurt, they stay hurt and take a while to get better(well, the humans do, gargoyles heal while they sleep during the day.) And, among the more important factors for my (then) 14 year old self, it featured a truly independent, strong, intelligent heroine in the form of Elisa Maza(and, to a lesser extent, Fox, though I wouldn't classify her as a "heroine" even in the last season)
Ok, random babbles and observations:
I'd forgotten just how deep Goliath's voice was. I remembered that he had a really deep voice, of course, but I'd forgotten just how incredibly deep and rumbling his voice was. Irrelevant aside: being recounted by such a voice is the only way Beowulf should ever really be experienced...reading it silently is just silly and the sooner teachers realize that, the happier high school and college students will be.
I can't wait until MacBeth(and other Shakespearian characters) shows up. My interest in Shakespeare can be almost wholy attributed to my liking the Gargoyles character. Interestingly enough, while Shakespeare's MacBeth(though fascinating reading) has little to do with the historical figure, the Gargoyles recounting of his history, once you remove the fantasy elements, is likely very close to the actual history.
Knowing what's in store for the characters, it's interesting to watch them in these early episodes, especially Xanatos. He's possibly the most complex character of the series, and I think he grows more than any of the others as the series develops.
The design for Brooklyn is just flat out cool. That is all.
While I don't believe the series ever addresses the issue(that I recall at least), in a way, Elisa is as much an "outsider" as the gargoyles are. If I recall her history correctly, she's half indian(native american indian, not india indian) and half black...two groups that were historically persecuted by the same "race" as the gargoyles were and are. However, her race is treated as compltely irrelevant to who she is, and I like that.
The animation holds up even better than I thought it would, and I'd expected it to hold up quite well. Could be a little smoother in both the linework and the colors, but overall better than most animation of the day, andbetter than a lot of the animation that you get now. It's dark and moody and incredibly effective...I STILL got a catch in my throat seeing the piles of rubble atthe castle.
That is all for now...must do a bit of cleaning before watching an ep of Wonder Woman.