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They wake up in modern-day New York City, shocked by how much has changed.
Its gothness, though, putGargoylesin its own category of kids programming.
Seemingly monstrous, actually noble creatures who only come to life at night: check.
A forbidden romance between Goliath and Elisa, who come from different worlds: check.
Guler says he recalls the series provoking a certain wariness from Disney.
They just didnt know how to handle it.
Diving into those themes with regularity and depth was the series intention from the beginning, says Weisman.
Of the series guiding theme, Weisman says, Were hardwired for tribalism.
Way back when,wayback when, maybe that made sense as a survival thing.
But now its getting in our way, hugely.
Puck immediately senses that Demona still longs for her ex-lover Goliath.
Weisman had to fight for the latter, he says.
They just felt how they were relative to the quote-unquote other, says Weisman.
The kids wont get it.
He countered by promising the transformation would be the only part of the episode thatwasntcomplicated.
It would be what makes everything clear.
But now that genie is out of the bottle, and he cant put it back in.
He doesnt want to put it back in.
Goliath turns to stone for the day and she walks away, saying, Thats the way it is.
Its a heartbreaking end to a romance that seemed to finally be blooming.
Then yank it away.
(I know, Im a cruel bastard.)
The characters species swap was divided between the series artists and animation staff, Guler says.
He was feeling romantically more engaged with Elisa than he ever had before, Weisman says of Goliath.
Out of universe, its like, I dont need gargoyles to be default white.
Why should Goliath be white?
It was funny because we did a Comic-Con in San Diego, and we were all up there.
I was sitting next to Keith David, the rest of the cast is there.
But it was moms!
And I said, Theyre here for you, buddy!
And none of that happens unless you go all the way back to The Mirror.
Looking back, neither Weisman nor Guler remembers thinking of the series as goth.
But for now at least, The Mirror still stands as a monument to goth-romance pathos.
