What’s your favorite cartoon?
As a child from the ’80s I grew up observing and participating in that effervescent decade. Everywhere, you found bright-colored clothes and vibrant patterns. Big hairs were the norm. Pop music featured synthesizers. To be sure, there was a reason for this revolution in pop culture. Just to mention one thing, there was a real threat of a nuclear World War III. Planet Earth was becoming an increasingly scary place to live and people unconsciously wanted a break from it. We needed to escape reality. And for me, fantasy cartoons like Dungeons & Dragons did the trick. I felt like those kids, transported to a world full of strange creatures. You had dangerous quests and surprises at every corner. Like them, I needed to find a way back home, to a place where things felt normal again. That never happened for them, there wasn’t a closure for Dungeons & Dragons. Until recently.
Urban legends
It must be admitted, the entire show had a dark plot for kids back then. In one of the episodes they contemplated killing their biggest adversary, the Venger. Rumors and urban legends circulated in the internet. They said that they couldn’t go back because they were really dead. They were killed in the roller coaster at the amusement park pictured at the opening of each episode. Things got even darker. They were really in hell. The Dungeon Master was an evil character, some demon, that gave them impossible quests. Uni, the unicorn, was his helper at keeping them failing on their tasks. And the biggest plot twist, the Venger was actually a good character trying to make them leave that place.
What actually happened
The truth is, if you don’t remember an episode where the kids return home, there is a good reason. It was never produced. Michael Reaves, a frequent screenwriter for the show, wrote and called it Requiem. But the entire series got canceled before it got produced. He dismissed the theories that the kids were dead in his now defunct website. Even though, if you look closely, all the germs of the conspiracy theories above were already there. In any case, this was a big frustration for fans like me. I watched and rewatched all the episodes, just to see them stuck in the Realm. The script got enacted as an audio drama in one of the DVD distributions. As it was expected, I never got to hear it. In short, there was no official closure for Dungeons & Dragons. Nevertheless, I wanted to see those kids coming back home.
A taste of their escape
Companies realized that fans would be delighted to see their heroes finally returning home. To illustrate, the characters were licensed for a Brazilian live-action television advertisement, released in May 2019. The ad promoted the launch of Renault’s Kwid Outsider. Of course, the characters used the car to return home to the real world. I, for one, remember watching it back then and was elated. You can watch the piece below.
The long-awaited final episode
You can watch a pretty good rendition in this version created by fans. It was based on the script written by Michael Reaves. Must be remembered, it was supposed to be the final episode of the third season, Requiem. It also uses the audio drama distributed in the DVD release. It works as a good closure for Dungeons & Dragons for me. Without much further ado, I hope you enjoy!
What about you? Did you watch this cartoon back then? And what is your favorite cartoon? Leave that in the comments!