Posted to rec.arts.disney
ON TV SCREENS EVERYWHERE-Legend says they were a mysterious, medieval race-stone by day, alive by night-powerful, winged creatures who guarded a Scottish fortress from ruthless Viking attackers. One thousand years later, they have been transported to New York City and, once again, they own the night-emerging from their stone slumber to protect Manhattan from modern-day barbarians.
They are the Gargoyles, heroes of Walt Disney Television Animation's first-ever dramatic series, a riveting, highly original saga that catapults Disney animation into a new arena of dramatic storytelling. Premiering with a five-part miniseries, Monday through Friday, October 24-28, Gargoyles will launch a new themed daytime programming concept for Buena Vista Television's acclaimed children's programming service, "The Disney Afternoon." Following this five-part opener, eight additional half-hour episodes will air on subsequent "Action Friday" afternoons, in the half-hour preceding the new daily series, Disney's Aladdin.
Offering mystery, suspense and action with a contemporary twist, the series continues the tradition of high-calibre animation that "Disney Afternoon" viewers have come to expect. A second season of Gargoyles is already in development, as are several other "Action Friday" series for future seasons.
"With Gargoyles and 'Action Friday,' we're taking all the quality elements of Disney animation- strong characters, compelling storylines, humor and heart- and translating them into an exciting, new genre for our viewers," says Gary Krisel, President, Walt Disney Animation.
"The gargoyles are creatures who have suddenly awakened in an alien time and place," continues Gary. "This poses all sorts of dramatic potential as they begin to explore and understand the parameters of their modern-day surroundings, and struggle to maintain their code of honor in a complex world where good and evil are often indistinguishable."
Employing unsurpassed artistry- and a vocal cast that includes Keith David (Platoon), Edward Asner (Thunder Alley), Salli Richardson (I Spy Again), Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Bill Fagerbakke- brings to life a remarkably original and fascinating world of unique characters, based on the grotesque and imposing stone sentinels that have adorned European castles and cathedrals for centuries.
The series imagines that in medieval times, gargoyles were stone statues by day-but at sundown, they were transformed into fearsome, living creatures. Gargoyles focuses on one clan of these winged beings, honorable creatures in a violent and brutal age, who vigilantly protect a Scottish castle from Viking assaults until they are betrayed and placed under a sorcerer's spell.
Condemned to remain frozen in stone through night and day until "the castle rises above the clouds," the gargoyles are unaware of the centuries that pass by. Then, a wealthy American businessman purchases the ancient Scottish castle, dismantles it, and rebuilds it high atop his corporate headquarters in Manhattan, "high above the clouds." Now free of the spell,the gargoyles sleep in stone by day, but at sundown they awaken to become majestic heroes of the New York night.
Creatures of honor in a world of crime, the gargoyle clan is dedicated to protecting New York from 20th-century evils. Led by the master warrior Goliath, their adventures mix old world and new, mystery and suspense, humor and action.
