Dungeons & Dragons 80s saturdaymorningcartoon show

[rei]

I didn’t know i needed this closure, but it’s 2020 and I absolutely do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsNHTnY6HQg

[Navaronegun]

[YakAttack]

Did this show have anything actually to do with DnD? Classes, spells, setting?

[Balasarius]

@YakAttack

Did this show have anything actually to do with DnD? Classes, spells, setting?

Haha, you’re cute.

Bobby, an eight-year-old boy, is gifted with a club that he can use to hit everything but a monster. The class, inspired by Conan the Barbarian, was introduced by Gygax in Dragon Magazine #63 in July 1982 as a subclass of fighter. It was later incorporated into the official rules in Unearthed Arcana. In retrospect, the Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon would basically be a who’s-who of Unearthed Arcana classes.

Diana is an acrobat and notably an African-American female in an otherwise white cast. She has an extendable staff that she can use in a wide variety of situations. In D&D, the acrobat was titled the thief-acrobat (presumably, Gygax felt “acrobat” alone was too frivolous). It was a subclass of thief introduced by Gygax in January 1983, Dragon Magazine #69. The thief-acrobat was officially incorporated into the core rules in Unearthed Arcana in 1985. Of the three classes introduced in the D&D cartoon, the acrobat is the most true-to-form. Diana does several feats of acrobatics – probably because the other characters’ abilities (the barbarian and cavalier) would be far too violent for a children’s cartoon.

Eric, the most annoying and whiny character who is a bit reminiscent of Ross from the TV show Friends , was distinguished by his magical shield. He was voiced by Don Most, who played Ralph Malph on Happy Days. His conversations hinted at his privileged upbringing and his selfish attitude made the cavalier out to be something of a spoiled brat. The cavalier class first debuted in April 1983 in Dragon Magazine #72. It too was incorporated into Unearthed Arcana.

As a 13-year old boy infatuated with D&D, I found this cartoon insufferable. The animation was terrible, even for 80s cartoons. The new classes didn’t officially exist – Unearthed Arcana hadn’t been released yet and I didn’t have a sub to Dragon magazine at the time, so it felt completely non-canon and barely D&D. I constantly struggled with the concept that only two of the six characters had a weapon of any kind. I hardly ever watched the show.

That energy bow was pretty bad-ass, though.

[Scotch_Lufkin]

To be fair, as a 13 year old you weren’t the target audience.

[Juan_Raigada]

This show was great and the Spanish theme song for it ROCKED

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wlX8gOW-m_I

Compare it to the lackluster original:

Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon Intro

[138]

The only Saturday Morning Cartoon to ever – to my knowledge – get away with a boob shot. I ain’t gonna post it, but young 138 remembers seeing it and thinking, “Holy shit! I just saw a boob!” (I was young.)

[YakAttack]

@Juan_Raigada

This show was great and the Spanish theme song for it ROCKED

That is nice. Thanks.

[pyrhic]

I didn’t have a subscription to dragon magazine, but i used to grab it wherever and whenever i could. The earliest one I think i ever got was in the 30’s and i probably started collecting it regularly in the 60s through to about 120, maybe 150. Man, that brings back memories.

I used to like watching the show, because DnD content of any kind at the time was sparse - but i don’t think it ‘made it’ in my market and i only ever saw a handful of shows.

Hmm, it looks like the dragon archive is pretty robust: https://archive.org/details/DragonMagazine260_201801

wow, looking through this triggers some huge nostalgia. Holy shit, Wormy!

[John_Many_Jars]

I remember sneering and saying, “That’s not D&D,” and never deigning to cast eyes on it again. The bratty barbarian kid with his Captain Caveman club, sheeit.

Although I had a similar reaction to He-Man, but enjoyed it in my 40s on the qubo OTA channel. The sheer stupidity of He-Man’s wisecracks, OMG. “Don’t forget to…DROP IN sometime, Skeletor!” CRASHHHHHHHHH

[YakAttack]

I was amazed visiting the US in the mid-1980s all the weird shit on TV. AFN only had a fraction of these shows (it being a single channel) and Germany only dubbed a few of them like Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street.

[ShivaX]

I only watched it for Tiamat. Demodragon was pretty dope as a kid.

Dungeons&Dragons Cartoon: The Demodragon

[TommyTutone]

Thundarr the Barbarian was much more D&D Fantasy to me as a kid than this show was. It featured a real barbarian, a sorceror, and a… Mokk.

Thundarr the Barbarian: The Complete Series

[John_Many_Jars]

Yeah! Thundarr ruled.

[YakAttack]

That’s not how I remember 1994.

[Aleck]

Me neither, but a runaway planet would be completely in character for 2020…

[Don_Quixote]

Fuck yes Thundarr! Definitely my favorite of the '80s american cartoons.

[pyrhic]

Megatron and I have some things we want to discuss with you

[Destarius]

Galaxy Rangers y’all.

The Adventures Of The Galaxy Rangers Intro

[YakAttack]

That cartoon is missing Walker/Chuck Norris.