Disney can be a real DICK sometimes.

In 1994, creator Greg Weisman and producer Frank Paur began work on a brand new show for the Mouse to be released onto syndicated TV channels in the fall of that year. Unlike Disney's previous foray into television which focused predominantly on light, airy, family-friendly series, their new show took a serious left turn from the norm of which the company was known for.

This new show featured particularly dark, moody themes, a complex arc-driven storyline, and compelling melodrama, something that most other animated series at the time (other than Batman, of course) were too scared to go into. It was edgy, it was gutsy, it took some serious risks, and it never talked down or tried to kiddify it's audience. Even though it only reached moderate success during it's initial run, it quickly found a devoted following amongst children, teens, and adults alike, simply because it was so different from anything else at the time.

So of course, in typical Disney fashion, when they find something truly wonderful and unique, they have to butcher it.

Though it ran for 65 continuous episodes from '94-'96 under the guidance of Weisman it's creator, it's syndicated run was eventually canceled only to be picked up by ABC. They in turned would change the name to "The Goliath Chronicles", add the show to their 1 Saturday Morning kid's lineup, and produce the entire third season with absolutely no guidance nor consent from Weisman whatsoever.


AND IT SUUUUUUUUUUUUCKED.

Naturally after having been completely neutered and ruined by ABC, the show was eventually canceled permanently after only 12 episodes. Thankfully though, in 2004, Disney released the first season of the show out on DVD to widespread acclaim. Finally, fans of the show would be able to relive their favorite moments from their favorite show anytime they want!! It was like a dream come true....

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd naturally Disney had to screw THAT up as well.

After putting out the complete first season in December of 2004, fans had to wait AN ENTIRE YEAR before getting the first 26 episodes of season 2 in December of 2005.

And that was it. The long-awaited and highly-anticipated second and third volumes of season 2 were never released. For 7 years, they have been lost forever in limbo, sitting right next to volume 4 of Animaniacs and the rest of Hikaru no Go in the realm of animated series that will never see a physical home video release.

But even then, Weisman and crew didn't give up!!

In 2006, 10 years after the original series ended, Weisman and Slave Labor Graphics started up a brand new comic book based on the series. Taking place immediately after the end of the second season, the comic completely omitted the poorly received Goliath Chronicles and served as the true third season of the show. Finally, with Weisman back in control, the fans were happy and excited to see a continuation of their favorite story.

And so naturally, Disney had to muck it all up AGAIN.

In August of 2008, due to Disney increasing their licensing fees, Slave Labor announced that they would no longer be renewing it's license for the comic. While the final four issues of the main story and the final two of it's spin off "Bad Guys" would eventually be released in trade form, this inevitably cut the comic far short of what it's creators intended, leaving the readers only with a semi-satisfying conclusion that actually serves more as a cliffhanger than any real closure.


So yeah. If it seems like I'm a little bitter, it's because I am.


But regardless of how much Disney seems to hate both Greg Weisman and this show that he created, one thing that is TRULY undeniable is the loyal fan following that the show has developed to this very day. There is even a fan convention devoted exclusively to this one show, featuring special guests such as Keith David and Marina Sirtis, as well as a cosplay ball where fans dress up as their favorite characters from the show.

And last but not least, there is ONE particular fan of this series. A fan who just HAPPENS to own his very own weekly livestream show and is more than happy to share one of his favorite animated series of all time with all of you.


Yeah, it's not anime at all. And true, I have been skittish about showing Disney shows in the past. But to celebrate NoahClue and the 10 Frame Theater's 1 year anniversary this week, I decided to break my own rules just a wee bit and show one of my personal favorite shows from this side of the animation world.


Ladies and gentlemen, MAN-IME MONDAY is proud to present, by way of Disney and Greg Weisman, a story that begins 1,000 years ago, when superstition and the sword ruled...

It was a time of darkness... It was a world of fear...

It was the age... of GARGOYLES.

Stone by day.... Warriors by night....

They were betrayed by the humans they had sworn to protect... Frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years...

Now, here in Manhattan....

The spell is broken!!! And THEY LIVE AGAIN!!!

They are defenders of the night!!!

THEY ARE


GARGOYLES!!!!!!!


As always, the festivities begin on Monday, August 13th, at 7 PM Central Standard Time, with an hour long pre-show of manly commercials, AMVs, movie trailers, and of COURSE the infamous Livestream chat (where ANYTHING can happen ), followed by our feature presentation at 8 PM.


Be sure to come early for our new pre-show addition, the one and only Master Keaton!! And stay after the show for an all-new episode of Firefly!!!

Be sure to bookmark either of our sites, at:
http://www.livestream.com/spacemanhardypresents
or
http://www.desudesbrigade.com/community/livestreams/ManimeMonday.html
IT'S TOTALLY WICKED!!!

Also, Follow Us on Twitter for news, updates, and showtimes:
http://twitter.com/MANIMEMONDAY

So BE THERE!!!


OR FACE THE WRATH OF GOLIATH!!!!!!

Here's a schedule, BTW:

The screwing over of Greg Wiseman by Disney goes beyond Gargoyles. See, Wiseman was also head writer on the immensely popular Spectacular Spider-Man, a fan favorite take on the wondrous wall-crawler. It had it all. characters that were great amalgams of all their previous iterations, shout outs to Spidey lore, character design that, while simple, let the animators do something unprecedented with Spidey in animation: Let him move as he does in the comics.

As with Gargoyles, Spectacular Spider-Man shared similar writing qualities. Character depth and growth, story arcs, rivalries. all that jazz. Then, something unexpected happened. Disney bought Marvel. It was quite a shocking moment.

Anyway, despite having a third and likely fourth season planned out, and despite getting the TV rightd to Spider-Man back from Sony, Disney opted NOT to continue the series so the could make their OWN Spider-Man series in house. This riled both fans of the show and Wiseman fans. This lead Wiseman to switch sides and write Young Justice for WB.....which it seems he is once again being pushed around by the higher ups. That or he's finally just given up on trying and is seeing how he might do writing stuff of lesser quality than he usually does.

Interesting side notes: As Wiseman left Disney/Marvel to head for DC/WB, Paul Dini, famous co-creator of the DCAU with Bruce Timm, left DC/WB to write Disney/Marvel's Spectacular Spider-Man replacement, Ultimate Spider-Man. Interesting how they both swapped at the same time like that.

Also, the same theory that Disney did with Spectacular Spider-Man also applies to Avenger: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Only diff is that EMH was still in production at the time of acquisition. Now that the production order of 52 episodes has ran it's course, EMH will be replaced by Disney's own Avengers series, Avengers Assemble next spring. Though it would seem Disney learned their lesson and have claimed that Assemble will be a sequel series to EMH....just with a team more in line with the one seen in the movies. Much like Spectacular, EMH has become a much loved series by fans for many of the same reasons. Great characters taking elements from all previous iterations into account, story arcs, great animation. Though the character design was more complex in EMH but about as fluid as Spectacular so.....yeah. Also, Frank Puar was one of the main writers on EMH.

*Looks back at all of that*

Man, combined with Hardy's post and you get the feeling that Disney really, REALLY, REALLY does not like Gargoyles for some reason...despite the fact that they're looking for new action/adventure films now that Pirates and Avengers have been box-office bonanzas and they OWN a great action/adventure series like Gargoyles already. I mean, I'm not a math wizz or anything but if people want well-written, character driven, arc based stories with a sci-fi/fantasy blend set in modern times......Why the *dolphin noise* would you not produce a Gargoyles movie unless there is a seriously deep grudge against Greg Wiseman inside the company?

AMVs and coming attractions starting right now!! Break out of that stone shell of yours and get your asses over here!!!