The Eleventh of August Two Thousand and Eleven. Thursday.
EDIT: Twenty-Fifth of August
I should really keep up to date with my own tags. The D&D Cartoon was my Second Telly Recommendation, way back when. Let's change that...
Let's just dive straight (back) in to my Second Telly Recommendation the fabulous Dungeons and Dragons cartoon from the 1980s.
Blimey, was it that long ago?
I used to play D&D regularly in the 80s and 90s - still got a lot of the rule books, supplements and stuff that I haven't used in ages and should really get rid of. Would do too if they weren't so cool. So when I saw the cartoon listed on broom cupboard era BBC children's telly I poo-pooed it thinking it was just a cheap commercial cash-in. There was a cute unicorn character, for flip's sake. It must be rubbish.
I could not have been more wrong.
I can't remember exactly when I got into it. I remember seeing several episodes from the first series. But I remember loving the first episode from the second: The Girl Who Dreamed Tomorrow. The titles had been changed, as if to reflect that, like in the game itself, the characters had become more experienced and more powerful.
Oddly though, repeats of episodes from the second series and the DVD releases use only the one title sequence - the one from the earliest episodes. It's a shame as this one's pretty cool.
In fact the whole thing's pretty cool. Back then it was fun to spot specific monsters or other direct references to the game. Now it's recognising some of the writers' names - people like Michael Reaves and Paul Dini who would go on to contribute to the brilliant DC superhero cartoons of the nineties or Steve Gerber and Mark Evanier who were better known for their work in comics. And for a series with fairly basic animation it was surprisingly cinematic - shots would be framed in inventive ways, the action was always edited really tightly. A particular treat was the different ways the arch-villain, Venger, would regularly meet his demise. I think the coolest was at the end of Day of the Dungeon Master when as Venger is trapped in the collapsing remains of the city of Darkhaven a huge dust cloud, rising as if to form the familiar mushroom shape, instead takes on the shape of the demon-like creature. The ghostly cloud then looms threateningly over our heroes only to dissipate as it reaches out toward them. There's loads of great stuff like that throughout the series - most of the episodes are on You Tube - check it out, either as a nostalgia kick or just for some really good fantasy stories.
The boxed set is pretty cheap on Amazon too if you want a few extras added in including the script for the never made 'final' episode. All good stuff.
If all that wasn't enough though, there is one reason why this cartoon is more than a footnote on one of those 'I Remember...' programmes. Two reasons really. There were lots of great characters in this show, from Eric the Cowardly Cavalier to the mysterious Dungeon Master himself. But what really made an impression on my 15 year old mind as a boy was the sight of a redhead in thighboots and an athletic young woman in a fur bikini.
Sheila (and Diana) take a bow. Fortunately, at the tender age of 42 such things don't bother me any more. Yeah, I watch cartoons from a much more mature standpoint now. Or something.
More soonliest.
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Ah yes, an old Dungeon Master nostalgia trip. I remember it well and fondly. Rule books, at £10 we poorer people could only afford one, so each of us had a different one. Players hand book, Dungeon Masters Guide and Monster Manual are a few of them? After the 3rd year at school, we switch to the friendship killer, Diplomacy. As photocopying in that era was a challenge, I even remember hand copying experience points tables from a players hand book I had borrowed! Such lo-tech folks we were back then, no scanners, no printers (that silver bog roll zapper by Sinclair doesn't count, I never had one!)
ReplyDeleteI thought the cartoon was a cop out, so didn't watch many, sorry. Happy American school kids on a fantastic adventure, whilst I was trying (literally at times) to survive Salford, it didn't evoke a feel good factor. Though I was busy watching more embarrassing things, like Thundercats and Ulysses 31. There are some other, but I am NOT naming those.
Oh I still have a genuine AD&D character sheet of my Paladin/Magic User, and some dice, a mixture of gem and opaque that I keep on my desk, though the D10 and D20 are long gone. A certain Mr. Bramwell sent me Dragon Age as a present to reactivate my 'role playing gene' as he put it. I was shocked to discover that I put in 30 hours in completing it, and then then same again in doing its sequel this year (again acquired in the same way). Yes I have WOW account, but online gaming requires too much co-ordination for the likes of me.
I did however come across some odd, but seemingly official, D&D starter kit in a box. I bought it so I could put my children through a dungeon (that sounds a bit more Freudian than it should). The worst thing about it was NO use of the old dice, they were all 6 sided with various symbols on them!
Grief, I even remember where I bought my AD&D rule book,, mainly because I was there a few months ago! The University precinct opposite the Royal National College of Music, Oxford Road, Manchester. Oh and in this day and age, it's worth clearing up any misunderstandings in advance, especially for those in the 'security services' who like to watch all or some of us, I wasn't there to plant some device, or conduct a meeting with an with aim to commit illegal acts. I met a professor regarding a PhD. I might do.
Low tech dunge supplements were the way forward - in the spare room I found the pritt sticked compilation of spells from the Basic D&D books (don't ask!) that I photocopied to make a book. Might make another copy of that.
ReplyDeleteI feel the D&D cartoon ship has sailed for you, old one - as it right. We are grown man and we have put away childish things. But... as I said, I thought the cartoon was going to be pants and it turned out to be ace. Try 'Quest of the Skeleton Warrior' on You Tube - it's not as whitebread as you might think.
No platonic solids for dice. Inconceivable! Can't see the point of that.
The University Precinct! Home of Odyssey 7, my first 'proper' comic shop. Oh, the money I've wasted since then. On a related note, at first I thought you said you were meeting A.I.M. to commit illegal acts, which as you know is Advanced Idea Mechanics, the beekeeper suited evil scientist types that worked for MODOK the giant head on a rocket chair from Marvel comics. So is the PhD in supervillainy? Cool!
Sorry about my lack of spelling/grammar checking there. Hopeless. Should say 'as is right' (which is badly phrased anyhoo). And 'We are grown MEN'. Yeesh.
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