This is the eighth episode of Gargoyles, originally aired on November 11th, 1994. Greg Weisman, one of the show's creators, had this to say:
"If you were watching the series in '94 during it's original run, and you
didn't already think, "Hey, this is different." Then by the end of Act
One of "Deadly Force" you knew. I don't know if there's ever been a
cartoon like "Deadly Force". A mainstream media production. We had had up to
that point a few fairly shocking cliffhangers, a few fairly shocking events,
but what equals Broadway pulling that trigger, the suddenly "empty" kitchen
and Elisa lying in a pool of her own blood as we fade to black and cut to a
commercial?The show covers the topic of gun control, but not in the simple manner of having a character blatantly announce that "guns are bad". We begin the episode through the eyes of a young gargoyle who's impressed by the firearms he sees in a movie. He pretends to shoot a gun, and is excited when he finds one in his cop friend's apartment, because the media has shown him that "guns are cool". But when the gun accidentally goes off and the bullet strikes the cop, he learns the hard way that guns are not toys. His friend is seriously injured--she may die, and the episode is daring enough to show her lying on the ground in a pool of blood. The audience isn't left to imagine the consequences of firing a gun--they see it before their very eyes. When the gargoyle carries his friend to the hospital, he sees blood on his hands, and is overcome by the significance of what he has just done.
The episode is not against guns themselves--it's against irresponsibility and
lack of respect for a weapon that kills. The gargoyle shouldn't have
been playing with it, but the cop also shouldn't have left it lying
around. And the show hammers the message into us when the cop returns in
the next episode with crutches, and doesn't return to work until the following
episode, this time with a partner to help keep her safe.
Weisman continues:
"Even our publicity department saw the value in this [episode]. They got
advance copies and sent them out. We had (always had) phenomenally good
reviews. But this episode brought us praise from the kind of parents groups
that most action cartoon shows usually fear. People got it. They got it.
Dr. Madeline Levine wrote a book called "Viewing Violence". It's a fairly
sobering study of the effect of modern media on impressionable minds.
Disabused me of a few notions, I'll tell you. But she praises GARGOYLES,
specifically this episode, in her book. People got it. But not TOON
DISNEY people, I guess. They show a huge lack of respect for everyone who
worked on that show. Everyone who did or might benefit from
it."
Although the show has been cancelled, reruns are still airing on Toon
Disney. All the episodes, that is, except for this one.
It has outraged Weisman and the show's fans that Disney is keeping their viewers
from seeing "Deadly Force"--from benefiting from the message that the show's
staff made such an effort to convey.
"As I write this, as I watched the episode tonight, my head is of course
filled with thoughts of the six year old boy who yesterday took his uncle's
gun to school and shot a six year old girl, killing her. And I don't want to
sound arrogant. But I am angry. And I feel like this episode could really help
people. That parents should HAVE to watch this with their kids. Required
viewing. And the fact that Toon Disney won't even air it...! I'm furious.
Simply furious."
And now we bring it to you. For all the fans who weren't fortunate enough to catch this episode when it originally aired, we bring it to you now in a digital medium so its important message will not be lost. Because the credits on the original tape we recorded from had cast and crew for two combine episoded, the full cast and crew for Deadly Force has been included here to honor the hard working men and women who brought this episode to life.
NOTE: The following reproduction is property of Buena Vista. It is not authorized by Disney, any of its affiliates, or employees. Nor authorized by any member of the cast and crew from the TV show Gargoyles. No infringement is intended. For private home viewing only.
Pentium Class 200mhz PC (or higher) recomended.
Windows Media Player 6.3 (or higher) required. Get it here.
Deadly Force WMV format (36 megs)
Credits
Supervising Producer FRANK PAUR
Co-Producer GREG WEISMAN
Directors KAZUO TERADA
SABURO HASHIMOTO
Story Editor MICHAEL REAVES
Story by MICHAEL REAVES
With the Voice Talents of:
Lexington THOMAS ADCOX HERNANDEZ
Hudson EDWARD ASNER
Brooklyn/Owen Burnett JEFF GLENN BENNETT
Glasses/Derek Maza ROCKY CARROLL
Goliath KEITH DAVID
Broadway BILL FAGERBAKKE
Anthony Dracon RICHARD GRIECO
Sergeant Peter Maza MICHAEL HORSE
Doctor Sato ROBERT ITO
Diane Maza NICHELLE NICHOLS
Elisa Maza SALLI RICHARDSON
Captain Maria Chavez RACHEL TICOTIN
Bronx FRANK WELKER
Voice Director JAMIE THOMASON
Animation Director KAREN PETERSON
Storyboard SHUNJI OHGA
RICH CHIDLAW
KARL GNASS
Character Design KAZUYOSHI TAKEUCHI
KENICHI TSUCHIYA
Art Director & Location Design HIROSHI OHNO
Inspirational Layout Design TED BLACKMAN
Prop Design TAKESHI ATOMURA
Backgrounds ANIMAL-YA
JADE ANIMATION PRODUCTIONS
Color Design MASUMI NOSE
Animation Supervisor SHIGERA YAMAMOTO
Animation & Animation Direction ANIMAL-YA
Storyboard Revisions WENDELL WASHER
Production Coordinator LAURA V. PERROTTA
Music by CARL JOHNSON
Title Theme by CARL JOHNSON
Additional Production Facility JADE ANIMATION PRODUCTIONS
Supervising Film Editor ELEN ORSON
Film Editor SUSAN EDMUNSON
Assistant Film Editors JENNIFER HARRISON
PHILIP MALAMUTH
JOHN ROYER
Lip Sync ERIK PETERSON
Re-recording Mixers JAMES HODSON
BILL KOEPNICK
RAY LEONARD
Sound Design PACA THOMAS
PHYLLIS ROMINE
Dialogue Editing MELISSA GENTRY-ELLIS
Music Editing MARC PERLMAN
Scoring Music Editor LIZ LACHMAN
This picture made under the jurisdiction of:
IATSE-IA
affiliated with AFL-CIO.
Copyright 1994 Buena Vista Television. All rights reserved.
