ABOVE: Disney’s “Gargoyles,” photo via the “Gargoyles” Facebook page.
Walt Disney’s animated series “Gargoyles” featured a gay protagonist, series creator Greg Weisman has shared in a new interview.
The cult classic, currently available on the company’s streaming platform Disney Plus, originally aired from 1994-1997. It follows the adventures of a heroic group of medieval creatures, including the tech-savvy, quick-witted Lexington, after they awaken in modern New York City.
“In Scotland, 994 A.D. Goliath and his clan of gargoyles defend a medieval castle,” the platform describes the series. “In present day, David Xanatos buys the castle and moves it to New York City. When the castle is attacked the gargoyles are awakened from a 1,000 year curse.”
The show’s three-season run examined issues not often highlighted in animated television, including gun violence, racism and sexism. Its content occasionally led to censorship, but Disney Plus now presents each of its episodes as originally aired.
View the original trailer below, via Walt Disney/YouTube:
In a new interview with Polygon, Weisman was asked if any aspect of the series would play differently for 2020 audiences. It led the creator, also known for his work on animated features like “Star Wars: Rebels” and “Young Justice,” to discuss Lexington’s sexuality. The character was voiced by actor Thom Adcox-Hernandez in 49 of its 78 episodes.
Weisman shared that “mostly, the show is rather timeless, and it still works the same way for an audience. Are there things I might change a little here?
“One thing I’ve talked about with fans is that character of Lexington, one of the gargoyles, was gay,” he continued. “But of course in those days, we couldn’t say that. So we just tried to write him consistently as a gay character, so that if someday, when the world was a different, better place, we could acknowledge it and it wouldn’t seem like it was out of left field.”
Weisman added that leaving the character closeted “always felt a little cowardly to me,” but noted that “it’s not like I had the power to say ‘We’re doing this.’ If I had insisted, I just would have gotten fired … if we got a new season of ‘Gargoyles,’ I would hope that in this day and age, they’d let us be more open.”
The full exchange can be seen below, via Polygon:
Is there any aspect of the show that you think plays differently for a 2020 audience?
Well, the cell phones are much bulkier. I mean, really, the one thing that dates the show, honestly, is the cell phones. The lack of them in the first place, and then when you do see Xanatos with a cell phone, it’s the size of a brick. I keep telling my kids that as the iPhone just keeps getting bigger and bigger, pretty soon we’ll be back to those brick-size cell phones we used to have in the early 1990s. But mostly, the show is rather timeless, and it still works the same way for an audience. Are there things I might change a little here? One thing I’ve talked about with fans is that character of Lexington, one of the gargoyles, was gay. But of course in those days, we couldn’t say that. So we just tried to write him consistently as a gay character, so that if someday, when the world was a different, better place, we could acknowledge it and it wouldn’t seem like it was out of left field.
I’ve been through the same thing on Young Justice, where in the first two seasons on Cartoon Network, we weren’t allowed to be objective about our LGBTQ characters. Now, on DC Universe, in seasons 3 and 4, we can be, most of the time. It always felt a little cowardly to me to not have Lexington be out, but it’s not like I had the power to say “We’re doing this.” If I had insisted, I just would have gotten fired. If anything, knowing what I wanted to do, they would have gone out of their way to make it clear that Lexington was [comedically deep, butch voice] absolutely as heterosexual as he could possibly be. So I don’t want to take much credit for not championing something beyond my ability to champion it. But we tried at least to lead the way, or guide the way, so that if down the road, things got better, we could do more with it. So if we got a new season of Gargoyles, I would hope that in this day and age, they’d let us be more open.
Weisman has maintained a fan Q&A for years regarding “Gargoyles” and his other genre work. While he advises in the interview that he doesn’t “get a dime off of it being on Disney Plus,” he adds that “literally nothing would make me happier than to go back and do more ‘Gargoyles.’”
He has encouraged fans to binge the series, which he says is “still my baby,” to illustrate support.
#KeepBingingGargoyles. Here's why: https://t.co/5w7toCG7Ol
— Greg Weisman (@Greg_Weisman) May 15, 2020
Read the full interview here.
