September 18, 2015

Gargoyles: Awakening

This animated series from 1994 still holds up quite well.
Much darker and more mature in content from the usual Disney shows of the time. After re-watching it recently I was surprised how well structured the plots are and well developed the characters were. This 5 part pilot episode stretched out to a feature length of 2.5 hours and cover a lot of ground quite well; introducing you to a large cast of characters and multiple timelines.

Gargoyles features a species of nocturnal creatures known as gargoyles that turn to stone during the day. After spending a thousand years in a petrified state, the gargoyles (who have been transported from medieval Scotland) are reawakened in modern-day New York City, and take on roles as the city's secret night-time protectors.

The show is a mixture of urban and medieval fantasy within a science-fiction/action/adventure genre. The writing is surprisingly engaging, and the animation is a style that is since long-gone, like a more squash and stretch version of Young Justice. You don't see this classic Disney/Japanese, high-quality 90s era of traditional-paper-and-pencil animation too often anymore.

The series was critically acclaimed and is noted for its relatively dark tone, complex story lines, Shakespearean themes, large cast of celebrity voice actors, and its character arcs that were heavily employed throughout the series.









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