The iconic TSR role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is now a live-action film, one delighting both audiences and critics. But forty years ago, D&D had its very first outside media adaptation, in the form of a popular CBS Saturday morning cartoon. The Dungeons & Dragons animated show featured a group of precocious teens from our world who get sucked into the magical realms of D&D through a theme park ride. Look, it was the ’80s. It was a weird time on Saturday Morning cartoons. But what would the animated D&D characters make of their modern, live-action successors? Watch the video down below to find out.
All the main characters from the cartoon in are in this video, observing Chris Pine and company on their adventures. There’s the wizard/guide known as the Dungeon Master, using his magic to conjure up our cinematic heroes. Right there with him are our teen heroes. There’s Hank the Ranger, Eric the Cavalier, Diana the Acrobat, Presto the Magician, Sheila the Thief, and Bobby the Barbarian. Of course, there was also Uni, their unicorn mascot. Every ’80s cartoon needed a cute animal sidekick, and the Dungeons & Dragons show was no different. At least Uni was cooler than Scrappy Doo.
As fans of Stranger Things are well aware, back in the ’80s there was a whole hysteria surrounding Dungeons & Dragons. Parents freaked out about kids playing D&D and “learning black magic.” The cartoon was a way of making D&D more palatable to parents who didn’t know an Owlbear from a Wookie. And because of it, we’re able to have a live-action D&D film today. Should Honor Among Thieves get a sequel, maybe they can give those cartoon kids a role. Although we’d actually be ok with it if it was just Uni the Unicorn who shows up.
