Being familiar with Disney’s animated television output in the 90s, I was aware of the television series, Gargoyles, but never watched it. I never even heard any of my friends or peers talk about the show! So when the show became available on Disney+, I knew I definitely wanted to give it a watch! Having completed the series, here are my thoughts!
(Caution, there will be mild spoilers!)
The show is about a clan of gargoyles from 10th Century Scotland led by Goliath, voiced by Keith David. They are guardian creatures that turn to stone during the day and protect their clan and human allies during the night. However due to a curse placed upon them, they’re turned to stone for 1000 years eventually waking up in the 1990s in New York City.
They and their castle have been transported to New York City by the billionaire, David Xanatos, voiced by Jonathan Frakes. He’s brought them over to serve his own selfish and illegal purposes which Goliath and the other gargoyles are ignorant of at the beginning.
The other gargoyles are given names: Hudson (voiced by Ed Asner), Brooklyn (voiced by Jeff Bennett), Lexington (voiced by Thom Adcox-Hernandez), Broadway (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke), and Bronx (voiced by Frank Welker).
Together with Goliath, they try to get accustomed to the new land and the new millennium while trying to remain hidden from the human world. It’s not long before their identity is revealed to certain people and they gain an ally in NYPD detective, Elisa Maza, voiced by Salli Richardson.
Adventures are had, battles are fought, and overarching story arcs are lived through. This show has everything and I can definitely say I am a fan of it! The writing is so good often flashbacking to previous episodes and creating seamless continuities that the MCU would be jealous of!
Seeing Shakespearean references from Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Othello made this show feel very unique and mature, unlike anything I’ve seen in an animated series prior. It also features references to other cultures and mythologies from Celtic mythology to Norse mythology to Irish mythology, etc.
The hand-drawn animation is beautiful which helps portray these gargoyles justly during battle scenes and when meeting new colorful characters.
The characters are all well-written and Goliath exemplifies many aspects of leadership and honor that many animated characters don’t showcase. Once in a while, the characters display a trait that seems antithetical to their character such as one episode when the elderly, wise Hudson realizing he’s going blind and refuses to admit it or let the others know due to his pride. Prior to this, Hudson never showcased such pride and would have always been the one to let the others in on something that affected him.
Xanatos is also such an interesting villain/antagonist! He’s calm, cool, collected, never raises his voice, and always gets what he wants even if it means allying with the gargoyles at times to do so. As the series progresses, he ends up becoming a true friend to the gargoyles as having a wife and son changes him. He’s hands-down the most interesting character in the show!
Elisa Maza is such a good character too: utilizing her NYPD skills to help the gargoyles when needed and even falling in love with Goliath in the process. She’s climbed up the ladder to be my #2 fictional character crush after Daphne Blake!
The third and final season is definitely the worst, but there are still some cool elements such as the Quarrymen, a formidable group dead set on destroying the gargoyles. I wish they could have been expounded upon more. I also wish the arc involving the female gargoyle, Demona (voiced by Marina Sirtis), who hates both humans and Goliath’s clan, was resolved.
A film adaptation of the series has been intended for a while. There’s even been a recent rumor that Kenneth Branagh was gonna direct a live-action adaptation of the series! I think that’s been pretty much debunked, but I would love to have an animated film adaptation of this though!
I absolutely loved this show and felt true sadness when I reached the end. If you haven’t seen Gargoyles, I highly recommend you check it out!
The Animation Commendation 
I first became acquainted with GARGOYLES 21 years ago, through the condensed VHS release of the pilot episode (I was 7 years old, at the time), but I finally saw the entire series (both the canon seasons — #’s 1 and 2, that is — and the non-canon GOLIATH CHRONICLES*, as well as reading the spin-off graphic novels) in the spring of 2020, during the COVID lockdown. And I’m proud to say, it has become one of my top favorite animated TV shows of all time. (You might have read my review of it on the Rotoscopers site: http://www.rotoscopers.com/2020/04/18/series-review-gargoyles/)
*The first episode of the season, “The Journey,” is technically canon (as it was approved [and written] by series creator Greg Weisman himself), though the TV version contained some errors, so it was fixed up and re-published as the first of the graphic novels (all of which I’ve read on the Internet since finishing the show proper).
Nice, it is such an amazing show! I didn’t realize you had reviewed it for the Rotoscopers as well!
My introduction to GARGOYLES was the condensed VHS of the premiere episode, “Awakening,” back in 2002 (I was 7, then); I didn’t see the full series (both the canon Seasons 1 and 2 and the non-canon “Goliath Chronicles”) until April 2020, when I watched it via fan uploads to Dailymotion. You might have read my review of it on the Rotoscopers site.