Disney’s GARGOYLES Star Confirms a New Animated Revival Series is in the Works!
Stone by day, warriors by night, and apparently ready to fly again! More than 30 years after Gargoyles first brought Goliath and his clan to the rooftops of New York City, it looks like Disney’s cult-favorite animated series is finally preparing for a comeback.
After years of rumors, pitches, and fans asking Disney to bring these awesome characters back, original series star Brent Spiner has revealed that a new animated Gargoyles series is in development.
Spiner dropped the news during a podcast with his Star Trek: The Next Generation co-star Jonathan Frakes, who also happens to have his own history with Gargoyles as the voice of David Xanatos.
During their conversation, Spiner, who voiced the mischievous Puck in the original Disney animated series, announced, “They’re doing Gargoyles again!”
Frakes initially seemed to think Spiner was talking about the various revival rumors that have circulated over the years, but Spiner clarified that this was something he had just learned about.
“No, no. I was told this morning. It’s another animated series.”
Well, hell yeah! If Spiner’s information is accurate, which I’m sure it is, Disney is finally bringing Gargoyles back to animation, and it’s about damn time.
The original series debuted in 1994 as part of the Disney Afternoon era, but it was a very different beast from most of the studio’s animated shows at the time.
Gargoyles embraced mythology, Shakespeare, science fiction, fantasy, complicated villains, long-running story arcs, and some surprisingly mature themes. It treated its younger audience like they could handle bigger ideas, and that approach helped it develop a passionate fanbase that has stuck with the franchise for decades.
The animated story may have ended years ago, including the follow-up Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles, but creator Greg Weisman has continued exploring the world through comic books.
Those stories have pushed Goliath and his clan into all kinds of new territory while expanding the mythology established by the original show.
One of the best and more interesting Gargoyles comics was a mini series that focused on Demona, which told the story of five pivotal moments in Demona’s long history, offering fans a look at her life while the rest of the Manhattan Clan remained frozen in stone.
There’s also another interesting piece of the revival puzzle. Earlier this year, Ciro Nieli, creator of Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, revealed that he previously pitched Disney on his own Gargoyles revival.
Nieli’s proposed animated series would have served as a sequel set decades after the finale of the original show. Disney ultimately didn’t move forward with that version, and there’s currently no confirmation that the animated series Spiner is talking about has any connection to Nieli’s concept.
That leaves us with plenty of questions. Will this be a direct continuation of the original series? Could it incorporate Weisman’s comic book stories? Is Disney planning a new chapter that acknowledges the passage of time, or will Goliath and the Manhattan Clan simply pick up where their animated adventures left off?
Then there’s the cast. Gargoyles featured an incredible collection of voice talent, including several Star Trek veterans, and bringing back as many members of the original ensemble as possible would make the revival even more special. Spiner knowing about the project certainly makes you wonder whether Puck could be returning as well.
Whatever direction Disney takes, I’m incredibly excited by the possibility of seeing Gargoyles return as an animated series. This world has so much mythology left to explore, and Goliath, Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, Hudson, Bronx, Elisa Maza, Xanatos, Demona, and the rest of these characters still have enormous storytelling potential.
A Gargoyles revival also has the opportunity to grow up alongside the audience that discovered the series in the ‘90s while introducing the Manhattan Clan to an entirely new generation. The original show already proved that Disney animation could get darker, stranger, and more ambitious without losing the adventure and fun that made it accessible.
Now we just need Disney to officially announce the thing and tell us exactly what is going on. Maybe it’ll happen at D23.
I can’t wait to see Goliath and his clan flying over Manhattan again, and I’m especially excited to find out what kinds of stories this new Gargoyles animated series will tell with these awesome characters. After three decades, seeing these stone warriors reclaim the New York City skyline could be pretty damn cool.