Disney is said to be developing a film about gargoyles, those grotesque stone carvings originally designed as medieval waterspouts, but which were later imbued with mystical, evil-repelling powers by superstitious, uneducated folk who believed that inanimate objects held secret lives. Not that we’re in a position to scoff at our forebears on this one; after all, giving inanimate objects secret lives accounts for 90 percent of our storytelling these days, what with similar projects springing up around things like Magic 8-balls and troll dolls.
Naturally, Disney’s gargoyles story will take place in modern times, and—as with those troll dolls—it will seek to “build a mythology” around them. It is not, apparently, an update of Disney’s ‘90s cartoon Gargoyles (even though that would make total sense), but rather an original idea from fantasy screenwriter Zoe Green, whose previous screenplays Tigress and Book Of Shadows have been optioned by Stan Lee’s POWcq Entertainment and Rob Reiner, respectively.
Here’s hoping it doesn’t sully the legacy of the beloved 1972 TV movie Gargoyles.