Disney had a legendary run of animated shows back in the 1990s, and the best one out of the slate almost got a reboot as revealed through designs for a cancelled pitch that didn’t make it too far. Disney had some very strong animated hits in the 1990s, and fans have been asking for many of these franchises to make a potential comeback ever since. With revivals, sequels, and reboots being a modern craze, there has been more of a hope for these older projects to return for new releases more than ever before.
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Out of all these 1990s Disney animated series, Gargoyles is likely the one that fans are hoping to see return the most. It’s had a live-action revival in various stages of development and even a comics sequel story in action later this August, but Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! creator Ciro Nieli shared with fans on Instagram a failed pitch that he had shared with Disney for a potential Gargoyles reboot series that ultimately didn’t come through. Check it out below.
Gargoyles Reboot Reveals Scrapped Pitch Designs
As Nieli explained to fans, the creator was working with Disney Television Animation back in 2020 as part of development. His pitch for a potential Gargoyles reboot was ultimately a “respectful and simple continuation” of the original series. The idea was to feature, “Canmore, with the Grimorium Arcanium, casts the Gargoyles back into a deep sleep while he overtakes the 5 Burroughs of NYC with crime lords and monster beasts.” Then picking up 20 years after the original (in 2020, the time of the pitch), the story would pick back up once more.
“25 years later, in 2020, once police commissioner, Elisa Maza, raises the Gargoyles from their spell and the fight to take back the city begins,” Nieli explained. As for the new designs for the potential Gargoyles reboot, “The art choice was a streamlined look, because I wanted full 2D animation and was reluctant to change the established core aesthetic.” But it also included a change to Goliath too for the new version, “Unseen here is Goliath had lost his arm and replaced it with a cybernetic one.” So it would’ve been much different.
What Happened to This Gargoyles Reboot?
Nieli doesn’t explain why Disney ultimately decided not to move forward with this potential reboot for Gargoyles, but the timing of the pitch likely reveals why. 2020 was a tumultuous time for many projects, and animated works in particular were hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not many new projects were produced at the time regardless of how well they might have worked in the long run. But Gargoyles has been trying multiple angles to bring its franchise back.
There’s even been word of a live-action take on Gargoyles in development for Disney+, and showrunner Gary Dauberman explained to ComicBook last year about what made this take different, “I feel like we have the animated series already. The cartoon is so good,” Dauberman began. “It’s so good. That’s what we fell in love with. I think it lends itself to a really cool live-action version.” Noting that while it “will be challenging,” Dauberman stated they are “talking to some great people. We are still keeping that darkness to it. I’m excited to see the animated [series] come to life.”
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