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Watch On
As if I needed more excuses to waste my time on YouTube when I could be doing literally anything else, Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast has been uploading episodes of the old D&D cartoon from the 1980s. Every Friday they show two or three episodes in a block, and they’re 11 episodes into its 27-episode run so far.
The D&D cartoon’s a real artifact of its time, of course. It was co-produced by Marvel Productions and animated by Toei, just like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and The Transformers, with which it shares a house style and cast. Peter Cullen, voice of Optimus Prime, plays the villainous Venger, while his rival Tiamat—and the heroes’ pet unicorn, Uni—are both voiced by Frank Welker of Megatron fame.
Expect a certain cheapness in the sound and animation, along with low expectations of the audience’s ability to keep up. Basically, it’s perfect stoner fodder, though oldschool D&D heads will also enjoy spotting refugees from the Monster Manual like a dragon turtle, a beholder, and a frost giant.
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Then there’s the episode where the evil Venger decides, since his plans keep being foiled by a band of meddling kids from Earth, the only way to stop them is to travel to their world’s past and prevent them from being born. Which he does by trying to help Germany win World War II. The 1980s were a wild time for kid’s TV.
