#3 AUG 14, 2017 · 8 yr ago
This is an 80s classic that I haven't seen since the 80s. Many shows from that time got repeated into the 90s, and others I have got on DVD, but this is the first time I've looked at this show since my childhood, apart from looking up the title sequence on youtube a few years back.
I must say, I think the concept is flawed going in. Or at least, the treatment of it is. It just comes off as a little clunky in the way it's based on the game, and making no effort to hide the fact. Sure, most cartoons were created to sell toylines, but this is a little far-fetched, actually calling one character "Dungeon Master" and having him address each of our young heroes by his/her RPG character description . . . I'd have preferred it if it had been a little subtler. Btw, has there ever even been such a thing as a "dungeons & dragons ride"? OK, there might be now, but was there then? I doubt it.
That aside, the show itself is entertaining enough, we have a fair variety of personalities, some better established than others. Eric the realist, Presto the intelligent but shy nerdy type, and Bobby the fearless impulsive one are fairly well set out. Eric in particular reminds me of Snaggle Bit from Littl'Bits, and to a lesser extent Lexor from Visionaries. Hank as the straight-laced hero/leader of the group is less engaging, Diana is also fairly straight-laced, although does seem to have some measure of sassiness, while Sheila's personality doesn't seem to be much developed at all here. At least not that I could discern in these episodes. The other characters, well, Dungeon Master is most obviously comparable to Jaga, although I'd liken him more closely to the Owl of Wisdom in Leoric's power staff in Visionaries (which we will cover in its entirity hereat some point!), with all the cryptic hints he gives the heroes. And Venger is a great design for a character - a worthy looking villain in the same mould as Mumm-Ra and Skeletor. Here is a villain who could haunt your dreams. The single horn on one side of his head is also a memorable design, the lack of symmetry makes him all the more memorable.
As for the episodes themselves - I have fragmented memories of this show, more of moments than of whole stories.
The Hall Of Bones had one such memory. I remembered the sequence of the group following a beautiful woman down a passageway and suddenly she turns around having transformed into a hideous monster. In terms of the basic plot, it's one of those typical cartoon stories where the characters' equipment stops working and they have to make do with their own initiative and natural abilities. Thundercats did the equivalent concept with "Tight Squeeze", and Spiral Zone with "Back To The Stone Age", and perhaps most memorably of all, Transformers had "Only Human".
Prison Without Walls is something that I originally thought was going to be something else. One episode I remembered well but didn't remember the title, was the one where the kids each had to face their greatest fears. I couldn't remember the title of that episode so I guessed it might be this, but I was wrong (it's actually the third episode in this week's selection, more on that in a minute!). This episode did contain something I remembered, the swamp monster, who looks like something, but I can't think what.
Quest Of The Skeleton Warrior was actually the episode I was talking about, where the kids had to face their fears. So I remembered the concept of this one rather more. Although the circle of power bit with Dekion was a detail I had forgotten. It's the middle part that stuck in my memory, Sheila being all alone, Hank feeling he'd let the team down as leader, Eric getting a silly face and getting laughed at, Presto losing his glasses, Diana becoming old and Bobby reverting to babyhood. Some of the "conquering the fear" moments struck me as a little fudged here, notably Eric. Oh well . . . this concept would have made a great episode for the remake of Thundercats.
