I’m not sure how many of you were watching cartoons in the early 80’s but I definitely was. One of my favorites was the rather small run of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoons from 1983. Nice to know ProJared and Classy Reviews were into the Animated series too… well, to a degree! Check out their hilarious reviews on this crazy series that you must get into.
ProJared kind of hits the nail on the head here, which I love, it’s a decent introductory piece for kids even if it’s sometimes a bit cringe. This show is much like most of those cartoons from the early 80’s, to be fair, as in that our nostalgia makes us think it’s incredible but it actually is more cheese than perfection. Granted, that doesn’t make it terrible! It just means that we can happily watch this, just as we watch all of our favorite childhood shows, and give it some leeway. Sure, the characters and the story don’t follow hard D&D rules but is that any place for typical kids to get into every Saturday morning? Naaaah.
If you’re even more wanting more about this cartoon, because maybe you forgot it or you’re curious how you even missed it — Classy Reviews does his own pretty snazzy review with some pretty incredible comedy bits. Don’t even get Classy started in on the White Hare, guys. It’s not good. Even Classy, who is obviously a huge D&D fan, is having a hard time figuring out what is going on with this show. Consider it a pretty bold counterpoint to ProJared who, despite being perplexed by it, enjoyed the show quite a bit. Good news though, Classy brings this all to a gorgeous close with a rather wonderful little song. Stick around for that.
Now, I’m of a different mind entirely. I didn’t get involved in the actual tabletop game of Dungeons & Dragons until I was nearly 30 years old because, well, I didn’t really understand it. Mostly my knowledge of D&D came from video games, books and this cartoon series. With under thirty episodes during the three season run and the fact it brought so little information from Dungeons & Dragons to the table, I wasn’t anymore educated. What it did though, which I think needs to be stated, is it actually put the fantasy concepts behind Dungeons & Dragons to a child’s mind. Heck, it may even be a necessary starter point for most kids as it doesn’t give the broad scope of D&D but it does give them the very, very small basics that can get them excited to give the actual game a go.
So, thanks to ProJared and Classy, I feel I’m in good company with understanding just how a huge fan of the D&D lore would’ve taken the Animated Series. It’s by no means terrible but obviously it can offend a seasoned pro of the huge mythos behind these books and campaigns. However, if you’re wanting something to slowly slide your kids into the world you’d love to share with them, this is about as harmless as you can get. I mean, Uni is pretty dang adorable, right?
