 October 1994. Batman the Animated Series was about to transform into the new Batman Adventures with a completely different art style. Hixman the Animated Series was halfway through its television run on Fox Kids. And Spider-Man the Animated Series was a month away from debuting to exceptionally high ratings. These three series helped Fox Kids to become a powerhouse in animation. Fox became the go-to station for animated programming but this wasn't always the case. In fact Fox Kids Network got its start through a syndicated children's programming block called the Disney Afternoon. You see in 1987 Duck Tales was being shown on all Fox stations but then Disney purchased the Los Angeles independent television station KHJTV and changed its call letters to KCAL TV. Disney wanted aired Duck Tales on the new station which took local television rights to the series away from the Fox-owned station KTTV. Because of this breach of contract Barry Diller pulled the series from all of Fox's other stations. Disney moved forward with developing the Disney Afternoon which was broadcast in syndication on NBC in our area and eventually moved over to ABC. Because of this decision by Barry Diller Fox Kids eventually grew into the powerhouse of 90s children's animation but at the same time Disney animation was becoming their own powerhouse to compete. The Disney Afternoon ran from September 10th 1990 until August 29th 1999 Fox Kids on the other hand ran from September 8th 1990 until September 7th 2002. In this time both companies brought us great animated programming. Fox Kids gave us shows like those listed earlier along with the Pirates of Darkwater which eventually moved over to ABC, Beetlejuice, Tiny Tune Adventures, Animaniacs and The Tick. Disney Afternoon on the other hand brought us Darkwing Duck, Talespin, DuckTales and Chippendale Rescue Rangers. While Fox Kids became known as the network of dark and gritty children's entertainment Disney was more or less the stereotypical kid-friendly network but both Fox and Disney wanted to make every attempt to build an audience with children who enjoyed both dark and gritty but also child-friendly. While Fox developed shows which balanced on the edge like Animaniacs, Life with Louie and other shows Disney managed to develop one that of Gargoyles. The series focused on a species of nocturnal creatures known as Gargoyles. The creatures turned to stone during the day but came to life at night. In the year 984 a clan of Gargoyles lived in the medieval Scottish castle Wyvern alongside humans. This clan of Gargoyles was led by the Elder Gargoyle who would eventually become known as Hudson. When Prince Malcolm was poisoned by the Archmage Hudson went with his second-in-command Goliath and Goliath's mate who would later take the name Demona. Goliath was able to get the Grimorum back from the Archmage who then attacked him with a stalagmite but the Gargoyle was able to dodge and let him fall to his apparent death. After Goliath, his mentor and his mate returned and the Prince was cured, Goliath's mentor having lost the use of an eye during the altercation decided to step down as leader of the clan and named Goliath his successor. Goliath served as a leader of the Wyvern Gargoyle clan until the year of 994. During this age Gargoyles often faced prejudice from their human counterparts. Though the humans didn't care for the Gargoyles they kept them around in a symbiotic relationship simply because the Gargoyles helped them win battles. During a Viking attack Goliath and Hudson were led away from the castle on bad information by Demona and the castle captain of the guard. This information was part of a greater plot conceived by Demona and the captain of the guard to evict the humans and leave the castle to him and the Gargoyles. When the two returned Goliath believed that his love had been killed with the rest of his clan and desired vengeance. He led the five surviving clan members in a raid on the Vikings and personally chased the Viking leader Hacon when he fled with Princess Catherine as hostage. Goliath rescued Catherine but Hacon himself was tackled by Wyvern's captain of the guard and fell to their deaths but they later returned as ghosts. Things were only compounded when Goliath and Hudson returned to the main group of Wyvern's refugees to discover that the five remaining members of the Gargoyle clan had already been turned to stone by a grief-stricken Magus who believed that they had been responsible for killing Princess Catherine. Upon realizing his mistake he followed through with Goliath's request that he join them in stone sleep and along with Princess Catherine vowed to protect the Rookery eggs. Goliath and his clan were to remain stone forever until, as the spell stipulated, the castle rose above the clouds. In 1994 Goliath and his clan were reawakened by billionaire David Zanatos who moved Castle Wyvern and the clan to the top of his Manhattan skyscraper, effectively breaking the spell. Initially distrustful of Zanatos' intentions after an attack on the castle by enemies of Zanatos, Goliath and his clan agreed to work with Zanatos for a time. It was through the intervention of an NYPD detective Eliza Maza that they came to see Zanatos as a ruthless individual who had manipulated to them and Goliath finally agreed to lead the clan away from their ancestral home. Eventually Goliath encountered his former love who had taken the name Demona. Demona had also survived through to modern times by entering into a pact with Macbeth. This pact made her immortal but it had side effects. During the day rather than becoming stone she would become human but would revert back into a gargoyle at night. In her human form Demona is known as Dominique Destine. It was also revealed to Goliath and the other gargoyles that Demona had been partially responsible for the Vikings attack that wiped out the clan. Demona had become cruel and twisted and spiteful of humans. Nevertheless Goliath held out hope that she could be redeemed for a long while. Eventually he came to realize that this could not happen and his affections turned instead to the human Eliza Maza. Though for longer still neither of them would acknowledge the fact. Goliath also went on to discover that the Rokriyags from Castle Wyvern had escaped to the Miskul island of Avalon and were cared for by Princess Catherine and the Magus. On Avalon they formed a new clan and among them was his own daughter Angela. Goliath was reluctant to accept parenting responsibilities partly because of the gargoyle tradition that the entire clan acts as a parent rather than one particular gargoyle acting as a parent to his or her biological offspring and partly because he knew that Angela's mother was Demona but was eventually convinced to treat her as a daughter. Angela became part of the Manhattan clan when they finally returned from Avalon. Goliath has a clone created by Dr. Anton Savarius the clone's name is Thelog. While looking like Goliath only with white hair Thelog has all the morals and mental processes of Xanatos and is accepted as Goliath's son. Eventually Goliath and Eliza would hold a commitment ceremony then raise a child together presumably by adoption. At some point between 2004 and 2188 Goliath would sacrifice his life for some unknown purpose. However it is known that shortly after his death and in no small part due to his great sacrifice the United Nations would adopt the Gargoyle Minority Protection Act which granted gargoyles full sentient rights established the Gargoyle Nation and made hunting gargoyles a crime. The voice cast of Disney's Gargoyles contain many Star Trek alumni. Among these were Kate Mulgrew who played Captain Catherine Janeway on Star Trek Voyager and Titania in Gargoyles. Jonathan Frakes who played Commander William Riker in Star Trek TNG and David Xanatos in Gargoyles. Marina Sertis who played Deanna Troy on Star Trek TNG and Demona in Gargoyles. Brett Spiner who played Lieutenant Commander Data in TNG and Puck on Gargoyles. Michael Dorn who played Warfond TNG played Cold Stone and Taurus on Gargoyles. Nichelle Nichols who played Lieutenant Uhura in the original Star Trek TV series voiced Diana Mazza in Gargoyles. Other Star Trek actors made guest appearances on the show such as Avery Brooks, Cole Meany and LaVar Burton. Other cast members included Keith David who voiced Goliath, Sally Richardson who voiced Eliza Mazza, Frank Welker who voiced Bronx, Bill Fagerback who voiced Broadway, Jeff Bennett who voiced Brooklyn, Bridget Bacow who voiced Angela, Ed Asner who voiced Hudson and Thom Adcox Hernandez who voiced Lexington. Special vocal appearances were made on the show by Tim Curry, Clancy Brown, Jim Belushi, Alan Cumming, Jim Cummings, Matthew Furrer, Laura San Giacomo, David Warner, Tom Wilson, James Avery, John Barrowman, Andrew Dice Clay along with many, many, many others. Gargoyles ran from October 24th 1994 until February 15th 1997. The first two seasons aired on the Disney Afternoon while the third and final season aired on Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC under the title Gargoyles, the Goliath Chronicles. Wiseman and his development team before the cancellation of Gargoyles planned several spinoffs featuring tangential characters from the series as well as continuing the story of the Manhattan Clan. Only one of the projects ever entered active development, the series Gargoyles Bad Guys for which Like a Real was produced. Since then, Slave Labor Graphics has released three issues of the series. Other spin-offs that were in the works were Time Dancer which would have focused on Brooklyn's journeys through time, Pen Dragon which would have been a spin-off that focused on King Arthur, Dark Ages would have been a prequel series, Gargoyles 2198 which would have been set in the future, and New Olympians which would have focused on the characters introduced in the Gargoyles episode of the same name. So there you have it my friends, the history and origins of Disney's Gargoyles. 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