Dungeons and Dragons - The Complete Animated Series (DVD, 2006, 5-Disc Set)

Description: In the early 80's a cartoon aired depicting the misadventures of a group of kids who get stuck in the Realm of Dungeons and Dragons. The setup was simple, and was in the opening credits of every season 1 episode: six kids get on an amusement park ride which carries them into another dimension. They wind up in a fantasy world with weapons of power and the Dungeon Master as their guide (of sorts). Each kid had a different archetype. Hank the Ranger was the leader and carried a magic bow with energy arrows. Sheila the Thief had an invisibility cloak, and her little brother Bobby the Barbarian had a club that could create earthquakes. Diana the Acrobat had an indestructible bo staff that could change lengths and reform at will, Presto the Magician had a magic hat that he could pull all sorts of things out of, including modern conveniences (though he did not always get precisely what he asked for), and Eric the Cavalier had a shield that could repel anything and create temporary particle barriers. Dungeon Master would start every episode giving them a riddle and sending them on a quest, kind of like in the game, except in this case the kids were not locals. They were 'playing' to get back home. Every quest the Dungeon Master sent them on supposedly led to a portal back to 1980's Earth, but they always either missed it by this much, or they had some ethical reason why they had to turn back. This show actually managed to sneak some fairly realistic ethical dilemmas past the censors who were only interested in morality plays, which enriched the viewing experience of the show. That doesn't make it any less of an 80's show, but it does make it better than average and worth a view if you like fantasy animesque shows. There is some recognizable voice talent on this show, especially if you're familiar with 70's and 80's TV. Hank was played by Willie Aames, better known for the sitcom Eight is Enough. Eric was played by Don Most of Happy Days. Presto was played by Adam Rich, also known for Eight is Enough, and I got to hand it to that actor, he was really convincing at depicting Presto at the age of a guy whose voice is breaking. Katie Leigh, the voice of Alex from Totally Spies, played Sheila. Diana's voice actress, Tonia Gayle Smith, was nominated for a Youth in Film Award for her work on this series. And of course one mustn't forget Peter Cullen of Transformers fame playing the Big Bad, Venger. The animation is very good compared to a lot of similarly themed series from the same era. This series was story-boarded in detail by the Western show-runners, and then animated by Japanese studio Toei. It's nowhere near the crisp lines of 2D computer animation coming out nowadays, but it had some of the most beautiful chiaroscuro I've ever seen in a Saturday morning cartoon. As far as the audio it had a great cast and excellent score, but the creature sound effects could be unintentionally hilarious at times. Uni the baby unicorn sounded like a goat, Venger's steed Nightmare sounded like an old man coughing, and just about every monster the kids encountered pretty much just went "blaarrgghh!" Even the robots. But that doesn't really detract from overall enjoyment of the show.

Price: 54.95 USD

Location: Floyds Knobs, Indiana

End Time: 2024-12-25T19:13:11.000Z

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