There have been discussions about a Gargoyles movie since 2011, but it hasn’t happened yet. The popular 1990s animated series is one Disney property that hasn’t been revisited, whether it be as a sequel series, a reboot, or a film adaptation. Even so, Gargoyles remains a beloved series. Fans of the cartoon were pleased when it was announced that Gargoyles was headed to Disney’s upcoming streaming service, Disney+. Gargoyles will be available when the service launches on November 12.
The half-hour action cartoon from Walt Disney Television premiered in 1994. After three seasons and 78 episodes, Gargoyles ended in 1997. The fan-favorite series told the story of a clan of gargoyles who watched over New York City. The stone monsters were statues during the day and heroes at night. The series featured a voice cast filled with prominent names, including Frank Welker, Michael Dorn, John Rhys-Davies, Bill Fagerbakke, and Ed Asner. The cast was led by Keith David who voiced the main protagonist of the series, Goliath.
In 2011, Disney hired G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra writers David Eliot and Paul Lovett to pen a script for Gargoyles movie. However, the project never went any further. In 2018, Get Out director Jordan Peele reportedly expressed interest in making a Gargoyles movie. According to the report, Peele pitched a Gargoyles movie to Disney, but the pitch was ultimately rejected. It would seem that Peele’s idea for the movie didn’t fit with what Disney would have wanted from a Gargoyles adaptation.
With Get Out and Us, Peele has developed a reputation for making quality R-rated horror movies. It’s possible that what he had mind in for Gargoyles didn’t fit the mold of a Disney movie - or perhaps the studio executives just weren’t interested in putting money towards the property anymore. A lot has changed since Disney first looked into a Gargoyles movie in 2011. Not only did they experience massive live-action flops at the box office - John Carter and The Lone Ranger being the main two - but Walt Disney Studios changed studio heads and shifted towards live-action remakes of their animated classic films, not TV shows.
Another reason why Gargoyles never received the movie treatment could be related to its dark tone and gothic atmosphere. These qualities made Gargoyles stand out when it was on the air. The animated series dealt with material that was much darker than what one might expect from a Disney cartoon. The concepts and characters of Gargoyles could translate well to the big screen, but how it would work as a Disney movie is another matter. A live-action Gargoyles movie would certainly be an interesting challenge for Disney, and hopefully a filmmaker with the right vision will step up to the plate at some point in the future.
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