Awakening Part One
"Awakening" Part One is the first televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the first episode of Season 1.
- Story by Eric Luke & Michael Reaves
- Teleplay by Michael Reaves
Summary
Tidbits
Castle Wyvern, while fictional, was modelled after the real castle of Tintagel in Cornwall, the place (according to legend) of King Arthur's conception. (Intriguingly enough, in the never-made "Gargoyles/Team Atlantis" crossover story entitled "The Last", Greg Weisman had the Atlantean word for "gargoyle" be "gorlois"; Gorlois was also the name of the Duke of Cornwall in the lifetime of Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father, whose likeness Uther would take on while begetting Arthur upon Gorlois's wife Igraine at Tintagel.)
Sharp-eyed viewers will note several dogs roaming through the great hall during the banquet scene. While true to medieval custom, it also adds a nice touch in displaying hypocrisy on Princess Katharine's part, when she objects to Goliath and Demona's presence with the words "To allow beasts in the dining hall!" (Originally it was intended to immediately follow up Katharine's words with a scene in which one of the dogs proceeded to help himself to food from someone's plate, to make her hypocrisy all the clearer, but unfortunately the scene was not well-enough animated to appear in the finished product.)
Another deleted scene (though this one was cut out for time constraints) had Lexington examining one of the Vikings' catapults, as an indication of his fascination with all things mechanical.
The Captain of the Guard is never given a personal name in the series. Since the gargoyles (except for Goliath) had no personal names in the 10th century, and the Captain identified with them far more than with his fellow humans (to the point where, when Hakon asks him "Why betray your own kind?", the Captain bitterly replies, "They're not my kind."), this is very fitting and appropriate. However, according to Greg Weisman, the Captain's real name was Robbie.
Officer Morgan, introduced in the "modern-day teaser" sequence at the beginning of this episode, was the first of many familiar recurring characters to appear in the background of the Gargoyles' New York. According to Greg Weisman, "Morgan" is both his first name and his last name (a concept inspired by the name of a highschool classmate of his, Morgan Lord Morgan III). In early versions of "Gargoyles" as it went through Breakdowns, "Morgan" was an early name of Elisa's, reused for an incidental character after her final name was decided upon. (Many of Elisa's "first draft" surnames, such as Chavez, Bluestone, and Reed, would also be used for other characters as the series progressed; clearly, the Gargoyles production staff shared Xanatos's fondness for "recycling" of the sort shown in "Cloud Fathers"!)
Links
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