Aired as part of the Disney Afternoon back when there was one; now airs very late at night on Toon Disney.
Possibly the animated series that best captures the feel of a modern comic book, Gargoyles follows the last survivors of an ancient Scottish gargoyle clan. The gargoyles are "stone by day, warriors by night," winged creatures with no names of their own (except their leader, named Goliath by humans). In 994 A.D., humans and gargoyles had a wary partnership protecting a castle built on ancestral gargoyle land. Human treachery led to the slaughter of all but a few gargoyles and Goliath. A subsequent magic spell turned them to stone forever -- "until the castle rises above the clouds."
Jump ahead 1,000 years, where Evil Industrialist David Xanatos has learned about the spell and transports the castle -- lock, stock, and gargoyle -- to the top of his Manhattan skyscraper. The terms of the spell being fulfilled, Xanatos hopes to use the mighty beasts as pawns. His plans ... don't work out.
65 episodes of Gargoyles were produced with Greg Weisman at the helm. Disney commissioned 13 more for ABC's Saturday morning block of cartoons, but Weisman didn't feel good about the editorial interference Disney wanted. Another story editor took over, and the show drifted away.
The original 65, however, stand as mostly self-contained yet serial stories that tackle just about every major world mythology. One standout episode, "Deadly Force," looked at gun safety -- complete with blood -- very seriously. (Predictably, this is the only episode that Toon Disney will not air, even after 11:00 p.m.)
A number of Star Trek actors provided voice talent, including:
Goliath was voiced by Keith David, whose powerful baritone can be heard as the voice of HBO's Spawn and in TNT and Cartoon Network promos, and played an imam in the movie Pitch Black.
Goliath was voiced by Keith David, voice of Spawn in the cartoon series. Keith also voiced Goliath's evil clone, Thailog, and a few other minor characters. David Xanatos, the main villain of the series, was voiced by Jonathan Frakes - better known as William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST:TNG). He also did the voice of the Coyote robots - androids designed to impersonate Xanatos). Demona, despised outcast of the Gargoyles, was voiced by Marina Sirtis another ST:TNG vet. Hudson, the oldest of the surviving Gargoyles, was voiced by veteran actor Ed Asner, well known for his role as Lou Grant on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Brooklyn, the keen and cunning, was played by veteran voice-actor Jeff Bennett, who you've probably heard in any number of minor roles in Disney and Warner Brother's cartoons for the last decade. Jeff also voiced a number of other minor characters on the show. Lexington, the smallest of the gargoyles, was played by Thom Adcox-Hernandez. Broadway, the simple food-loving gargoyle, was voiced by Bill Fagerbakke aka 'Dauber' from tv's "Coach." Eliza Maza, the first modern human to befriend the Gargoyles, was voiced by Salli Richardson.
The rest of the cast list reads like a Hollywood invitation list to a sci-fi party:
Brent Spiner - Data from ST:TNG, he voiced the mischevious otherworldly Puck. Michael Dorn - Lt. Worf in ST:TNG, he voiced the resurrected Coldstone, a cyborg gargoyle with multiple personalities. Kate Mulgrew - Yet another from the Star Trek crew, she later played Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager. Here, she was the voice of Queen Titania / Anastasia Renard. Nichelle Nichols - A little older Star Trek cast member, Nichelle was Lt. Uhura in the original series. In Gargoyles, she was the voice of Diane Maza, the mother of Eliza Maza. Laura San Giacomo - of TV's "Just Shoot Me," played the daughter of Queen Titania, and wife to David Xanatos: Janine "Fox" Xanatos. John Rhys-Davies - English actor known for roles in "Sliders" and more recently, the role of Gimli in the Lord of the Rings series of movies, he voiced MacBeth, former King of Scotland. Frank Welker - If you've ever watched a Warner Brothers cartoon, you've heard his voice. He's considered a "voice god" in the industry, and doesn't let anyone down in this show either, bringing several supporting characters to life. Jim Cummings - Another "voice god," Jim has been heard in everything from Disney and Warner Brothers since Tale Spin. Here he voices minor characters, including Dingo. Tim Curry - The villain you love to hate, whether he's a bizarre alien transvestite ("Dr. Frankenfurter" in The Rocky Horror Picture Show), a demon ("Darkness" in Legend), or a mean pirate ("Long John Silver" in A Muppet Treasure Island), he's done voices for dozens of shows and movies. In this, he was the voice of Dr. Anton Sevarius, an unscrupulous geneticist working for Xanatos. Robert Culp - Best known as Kelly Robinson in "I Spy," (or for you children of the eighties, Agent Bill Maxwell on "The Greatest American Hero") he voiced Halcyon Renard, elderly owner of Cyberbiotics, and father of Fox Xanatos. Matt Frewer - Best known for his dual role in Max Headroom, both as the title computerized character, and the reporter that spawned him, Edison Carter. He voiced Jackal, a cunning and treacherous cyborg. Cree Summer - Voice actress for many years, including Penny on "Inspector Gadget," and Princess Kida in the more recent Atlantis: The Lost Empire, she played Hyena, another cyborg. James Belushi - More famous now than his dead brother, James went from Saturday Night Live to his own starring roles in just a few short years. In Gargoyles, he voiced Fang, a mutant with a penchant for wisecracks. And that's not all. Others have made Gargoyles a layover on their road to stardom, or a minor sidetrip if they are already there: Peter Scolari, Paul Winfield, Ephraim Zimbalist, Jr, Kath Soucie, Morgan Sheppard, even Sheena Easton can all be found here. If you're a "voice-watcher," then this is definitely the show for you.
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