With their demonic grins and anthropomorphic shapes, gargoyles and grotesques were used to visually exemplify the concept of evil and virtue at a time when a large part of the population was illiterate. They evolved to become “grotesques, ” ornamental elements with a specific symbolic charge.

Projected from roofs at parapet level, the strange leaning creatures created a siphon for rainwater to protect the walls of the edifice. At first, they were designed as an indispensable engineering trick. Credit: Roquic / Wikimedia Commons / Cc BY 3.0.įascinating ghouls of another era, gargoyles emerged around the 13th century in European architecture with a vast array of form and function. Highly recommended.The Astronaut at Catedral de Salamanca. In a time when comedies are saturating both the primetime and daytime cartoon markets, it's nice to find a gripping animated drama without needing to set your sights to the other side of the Pacific.

If you at all appreciate the art form, you'll wonder where this show has been all your life. Overall, I think this is the best animated television series to ever come out of this country.

The writing is taut, the acting fantastic, and the animation beautiful, but they are all mere servants to the story, which stays interesting and moderately serialized throughout the entire series (just the first season has been released on DVD, 13 of 65 episodes). The backbone of this saga is what all timeless fiction must contain: plot and character development. It's definitely not for young children (the Y7 rating is a good guideline), but don't think it's just another brainless afternoon shoot-'em-up designed to sell action figures. It stunned people at the time with its tragic plots, realistic weapons, and clear consequences to characters' actions. What makes it so unique is that it's still the only dramatic animated series Disney TV has ever produced. 'Gargoyles' was a series released during the 'Disney Afternoon' block of the mid-nineties.

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