Gargoyles and Reboot: the 30th Anniversaries
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Jan. 13, 2024, 10:54 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
This year is the 30th anniversary of Gargoyles and Reboot, two of my favorite television series of all time.
I remember watching these series when I was younger and enjoying them immensely, always eager for the next episode. Series such as these helped to elevate television series intended for children and families to an entirely new level of storytelling.
Gargoyles, in particular, was essentially Disney's answer to Batman: the Animated Series, as it was very dark and serious, with very little humor or light-hearted moments; it had a very serious story and well-developed characters who demonstrated depth and growth as the series progressed. A major recurring theme of the series was vengeance, as nearly every major character sought vengeance at some point, for wrongs either real or perceived, but none of them ever achieved it, at least not in a manner that was satisfactory; David Xanatos, the main antagonist of the series (or at least one of the main antagonists) was one of the few characters who never sought vengeance, as he realized that it was a foolish pursuit. Gargoyles lasted for three seasons, but series creator Greg Weisman had little involvement with the third season, so he regards it as non-canonical, similar to filler in Japanese animated series, but the story has been continued in comics, so I may seek out those installments, at some point.
Reboot was the first ever television series to be produced fully in CGI, so its graphics do show their age in some areas, but it still is an amazing series, even to this day. The first two seasons were fairly typical for animated series, at the time, but they had such a wonderful cast of characters that they instantly drew in the audience and kept them wishing for more. The third season was when the series grew much darker and had some of its best storylines, and I personally feel that the series should have ended after the third season, since the fourth season was not terrible, but not as good as was the third season, most notably due to the fact that it ended on one of the most epic and frustrating cliffhangers in media history; the fourth season was supposed to have twelve episodes, but it was shortened to eight, for some reason, so the story never reached a proper or satisfying conclusion, which I imagine left many viewers deeply disappointed.
I do hope that the creators of each of these series does something special to commemorate their 30th anniversaries, as these are too significant to not be celebrated; what does everyone else say about this subject? How do you feel about this tear being the 30th anniversary of both Gargoyles and Reboot?
DemonDragonJ says... #3
Last_Laugh, the third season of Gargoyles was made with minimal input from series creator Greg Weisman, to the point that he considers it to not be canon (akin to a filler arc in a Japanese animated series adapted from a manga), so that is why it is of such lower quality than the first two seasons.
Also, has the third season ever been released on DVD? I was not aware that it had been.
January 21, 2024 4:31 p.m.
Last_Laugh says... #4
DemonDragonJ Good call on the season 3 thing. It's season 2 vol 2 where things started to fall apart imo (3rd dvd case so I assumed season 3, it's been awhile). Disney didn't approve of the guns and serious nature of the show (especially the episode where Elisa gets shot accidentally, which is one of my favorites) and pivoted the show to be more about medievil fantasy/magic with some disjointed stories thrown in (i.e. the loch ness monster nonsense etc.)
January 21, 2024 4:51 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
Last_Laugh, that episode was Deadly Force, and I think that it was one of the best episodes of the series, with how it dealt with such a serious issue.
Also, I do agree that the second season dragged out, somewhat, with so many episodes that featured random characters and storylines, and I would not be surprised if those episodes were backdoor pilots for potential spinoff series.
I dearly wish that Disney would released Gargoyles on blu-ray, as the series definitely deserves such a treatment, and, given that they have released the complete series of Rescue Rangers on blu-ray, they really have no excuse to not release Gargoyles on blu-ray, as well.
January 21, 2024 7:10 p.m.
Last_Laugh says... #6
DemonDragonJ I wish they would release the Alladin animated series on ANYTHING physical. They don't even have it available to stream (last I checked, it's been awhile). I question if the originals were damaged with no backups similar to the last few seasons of Gummi Bears. I'm just happy Gargoyles was released at all with Disney's track record.
January 21, 2024 7:19 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
Last_Laugh, yes, I fully understand that, and, on a similar subject, Warner Bros. have released many classic Cartoon Network series from the late 1990's and early 2000's on DVD, but not on blu-ray, so I very much would like to see those series released on blu-ray, and, since Warner Bros. has released nearly the entire DC Animated Universe on blu-ray, they have no excuse to not do the same for various Cartoon network series, as well.
Last_Laugh says... #2
I have all the Gargoyles seasons on DVD, it's one of my favorite cartoons ever (granted the 3rd season is a bit meh). I raised my son on all these old Disney cartoons like Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers, Tailspin, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, and other cartoons from my childhood like Batman the animated series. He's 13 now and moved onto anime, but the amount of times we've watched all those shows together is kinda crazy.
Quit with the anniversary stuff though lol... you're making my 40 year old self feel old!
January 15, 2024 11:40 a.m.