Disney Almost Rebooted This Beloved '90s Cartoon

One of the many highlights about John Carpenter's "The Thing" was the addition of Keith David as Childs, who, from the brilliant sci-fi remake, would go on to form an illustrious career, including a hefty amount of vocal work. Besides voicing the permanently peeved President in "Rick and Morty," David applied his voice to the incredibly dark animated adaptation of "Spawn," as well as the far more family-friendly Disney series "Gargoyles."

Spanning 3 seasons from 1994 to 1996, David took the lead role of Goliath, a heroic gargoyle, who, after being cursed in medieval Scotland, awakens 1,000 years later in New York to fight and protect his friends in a new time. The show was a hit for Disney, earning comparisons to "Batman: The Animated Series" and "X-Men." Well, given that both of those shows have been revisited to some degree by both "Batman: Caped Crusader" and "X-Men '97," it would make sense for the "Gargoyles" to take flight once again in a more modern era, and it turns out that one brave, creative soul actually tried to make it happen.

In 2020, director and producer Ciro Nieli dared to give the Gargoyles a go with a brand new series, only for Disney to shoot it down. Had it gone through, Nieli's proposed idea would've given a slightly different iteration of the characters, with Goliath having a significant alteration compared to the rest of the winged warriors.

On Instagram, Nieli gave fans a look behind the cartoon-based curtain, revealing not only the pitch he took to Disney but also the new Gargoyle character designs for the show he had in mind. "My pitch was a respectful and simple continuation of the series: 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," Nieli explained, referring to the spell book that turned the Gargoyles to stone in the first series. "25 years later, in 2020, once police commissioner, Eliza Masa, raises the Gargoyles from their spell and the fight to take back the city begins."

While the original character designs of the Gargoyles were a highlight of the show, Nieli's art style was fittingly reminiscent of his other work, including "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" from 2012. "The art choice was a streamlined look, because I wanted full 2D animation and was reluctant to change the established core aesthetic. Unseen here is Goliath had lost his arm and replaced it with a cybernetic one." It's certainly a compelling idea, but unfortunately, it seems that Nieli's version of "Gargoyles" turned to stone just like its heroes — and it wouldn't be the only one to do so.

Six years after Nieli's time with the Gargoyles had come and gone, it was reported that Oscar-winner Jordan Peele of "Get Out" and "Us" fame had played around with the idea of giving us a live-action "Gargoyles" movie. Peele pitched the idea to Disney in 2018 (via MovieWeb), but unfortunately, it never came to be. The news wasn't just a disappointment to fans, but also to the show's original co-creator, Greg Weisman.

"My understanding — not inside information, just my understanding — is that he expressed an interest in the property. And Disney didn't say no," Weisman explained to Polygon in 2020. "But by not saying yes, that answers the question. You know, they didn't want to say no to Jordan Peele, but they also didn't want to say yes to 'Gargoyles.' So it just didn't go anywhere."

It's a huge shame that such an underrated animated show, with so much to work with, hasn't been revisited since. Who knows, though? With the likes of "Masters of the Universe" earning immense praise and a long-gestating "Transformers/G.I. Joe" movie in development, perhaps there is a chance that the spell over the "Gargoyles" could be broken and (in our best Keith David impression) they live again.