Gargoyles: Disney’s Darkest Cartoon

Recommended for 10 years – currently on Disney +

• ᲔTime: “A thousand years ago, superstition and violence reigned everywhere. It was a dark age, it was a world of fear, it was the time of the Gargoyles. Stone statues by day and warriors by night, we were betrayed by people we swore to protect. The spell has turned us to stone for a thousand years … Now, here in Manhattan, we are free from this spell and we live again. We are the patrons who watch the night, we are the guardians. “

• What they love: The group of heroes themselves, because the Gargoyles are first and foremost a Manhattan clan, are united in distress. From Goliath to Leader Hudson, who ran on Broadway with Bon Vivant and Lexington, King of Technology, each with their own specialty, their own strengths and weaknesses. No one is locked into their initial stereotype and kids have to take turns changing their favorite characters during the series.

• What might bother them: If you’ve seen Batman: The Animated Series (1992) or X-Men (1992), Gargoyles offers the same kind of complexity, namely the overall dark atmosphere that is potentially a bit confusing for little kids.

Gargoyles experience real conflict, fighting villains with clever and subtle motives that can throw a child accustomed to cartoons where a good boy and a bad boy are clearly identified and cartooned. Moreover, you have to watch the series in order to follow the evolution of the story and the characters.

• What they will keep inside: The little moral lessons that were wisely planted in the episodes to avoid hitting the end of the episode, as in many series of his time. They will remember the complexity of the characters, the alliances they created and ruined, their failure and thank you for showing them a series that never bothered them and with such a compelling story.

Beware of potential frustration as the canceled series after a reduced 3rd season did not have time to shut down all its intrigue.