Dungeons & Dragons

I actually recorded some of the episodes back in 1983- 84 as i had my first VCR at the time. I still have the tapes and they play fine. My favorite episode was "THE SKELETON WARRIOR". It was about dekion the celestrial night that Venger put a spell on. It was awesome. TO bad there aren't anymore out there like this cartoon. After the 80's cartoons generally went downhill. THe best cartoons were in the mid 70's to mid 80's. I wonder why cartoons like this get cancelled? THen they have all the stupid ones they have on today. I used to watch this and the Saturday supercade along with Mighty Orbots and a bunch of other ones. Well those times are over I guess. But we have the recordings to see them again and again.

I grew up watching this back in the 80's and since I've been in college I've had the privilege of getting the series through a collector basis. This is arguably one of the greatest animated series of the 80's, I refuse to call it a cartoon because it is so much more than that! It had great voice actors like Willie Aames(Charles In Charge) and Don Most(Happy Days) providing life to the characters. The theme of the series was that a group of young teenagers and little Bobby go on a rollercoaster ride called Dungeons & Dragons it transforms them to another land in a different time. They try to get home with the guiding wisdom of Dungeon Master(Sidney Miller) and fight off various antagonists along the way, mainly the evil Venger! The characters had much depth to them and the reason I say it was the best because it's competition was Strawberry Shortcake and The Get Along Gang. No Contest! It was on from 83-86.

This show stood out head and shoulders over all the other cartoons - and it always puzzled me as to why...until I recently saw them on DVD. This show has something 90% of other shows, both for kids and adults, do not. Great characters. Really great characters. Characters you remember all your life. I don't know of any other kids' show before or since that had such emotional realism. These kids really react the way a bunch of teenagers would if placed in the D&D world. They run the gamut of emotions: scared, selfish, cowardly, brave, helpful, sarcastic, amused, mean, arrogant, humble. The story lines are fast paced and even a little intense by other shows' standards. But that's part of what makes it so great. It has a moral message without being too preachy. My only problem was that Eric was the butt of a joke so often, but I believe that had more to do with the influence of self-appointed "parent groups" than the scriptwriters. Both as a kid myself and as an adult, I still love this show. Modern TV could learn a lot from this.

I have been playing D&D for over 15 years now, and I have to say the series ran just like the old D&D. Granted, the newer aspects of the game itself don't really apply, but back in the 80's, this series was right on target. I liked it so much, I have been searching and saving for it for some time now, and will eagerly buy it as soon as I can. The animation was good for its time, the story lines were always good, and there was always a great balance of good and evil. Every episode actually had a moral to it, though it wasn't always apparent. It was a great series for adults and children alike, for it's content and the action-packed sequences.

Dungeons and Dragons ranks as one of the best cartoons ever, it makes me glad I grew up when I did as there were so many fantastic shows. Fantastic animation, great stories, plenty of adventure, and some phenomenal vocal acting from all cast members. I can remember being miffed as a youngster to discover the show never had a concluding episode, I was surprised to learn it only spanned three series, I would have thought it had a huge following. So many wonderful characters and great episodes, the best for me being The Dragon's Graveyard, which is brilliant.

Now in my thirties, and not usually into animation, I'm stunned by how much I've really enjoyed watching the show from start to finish, great viewing for all ages. 9/10