D&D General The D&D Cartoon is set in Faerun since when?

[TheGlen]

Yeah, I'm not 100% sure why they decided to change things, The original cartoon release on DVD came with a book that had a map of the cartoon realm that was clearly not FR, and they've also had elements appear in Witchlight (Warduke and Kelek, who made appearances in the cartoon, and were once from Mystara ala Quest for the Heartstone)..

Several of the LJN characters were placed in Ierendi, Mystara's Polynesian equivalent. While they were pretty much just named dropped, it did put them canonically in that setting

 

[el-remmen]

I don't get the obsession with the current cross-media re-imagining of a 40 year old cancelled cartoon having to adhere to so-called "canon" that was always fragmented and lacked a cohesive vision from the get-go. I mean, the comics may be bad (or they may be good, I haven't read them) but the adherence (or lack thereof) to canon is not going to be reason.

 

[Jer]

Several of the LJN characters were placed in Ierendi, Mystara's Polynesian equivalent. While they were pretty much just named dropped, it did put them canonically in that setting

I suspect they ended up in Mystara partly because they showed up in two D&D products - The Shady Dragon Inn (full write-ups, background for each character - I assume it's as close to "official backstory" as any of them got) and module XL-1 Quest for the Heartstone. The Mystara writers were often pulling in bits from D&D branded products and making them part of the assumed Mystara setting even when those products were not originally explicitly part of the "Known World" setting. It's funny because those products were both explicitly "Dungeons & Dragons" branded while the figures were "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" branded, so it feels like TSR didn't quite know what to do with the tie-ins.

(XL-1 is particularly annoying because "Featuring STRONGHEART(tm), WARDUKE(tm) and other characters!" is advertised prominently on the cover but the only mention of the LJN characters at all is a pullout section in the center where there are drawing of all of the characters and associated stat blocks. You'd think if they're going to make a licensed product they could at least make Warduke or Kelek the bad guy. But no - it's a really generic adventure that feels like they pulled it out of a drawer, slapped some art into it, and shoved it out the door quick to tie-in something with the action figure line.)

 

[Orius]

As other people have mentioned, there was a promotional comic book for the Forgotten Realms produced back in 1996 that had the grown up kids show up in Shadowdale. So this isn't something new.

Several of the LJN characters were placed in Ierendi, Mystara's Polynesian equivalent. While they were pretty much just named dropped, it did put them canonically in that setting

One of the weirder things TSR was doing in the mid-80's. The D&D line was the one marketed to kids, but the action figures were branded AD&D. I sometimes think TSR at the time would have been better run by ettins constantly arguing with themselves with Demogorgon at the top.

 

[Yaarel]

I don't get the obsession with the current cross-media re-imagining of a 40 year old cancelled cartoon having to adhere to so-called "canon" that was always fragmented and lacked a cohesive vision from the get-go. I mean, the comics may be bad (or they may be good, I haven't read them) but the adherence (or lack thereof) to canon is not going to be reason.

The D&D cartoon is Intellectual Property, and legitimately a cult classic. Plus nostalgia for a number of players. When Brasil recently used the cartoon characters for a product commercial, there was a buzz about them. So it seems they have currency.

Now that the Honor among Thieves movie places the characters in the Forgotten Realms setting, in Neverwinter, I expect to see more of them.

 

[Maxperson]

I think them being in Faerun was mentioned in Baldur’s Gate 1 or 2, back in the 90’s. There is a painting on the wall, and as I recall all the kids except Bobby (or Presto, I forget which) were killed by Tiamat.

Of course, they also show up in the recent D&D movie, which takes place in Neverwinter.

Well, that's grim!

Dev 1: "What do we do with these beloved kids from the old cartoon?"

Dev 2: "Let's feed them to Tiamat!"

 

[R_J_K75]

Bunch of crap is what I say

 

[Yaarel]

Well, that's grim!

Dev 1: "What do we do with these beloved kids from the old cartoon?"

Dev 1: "Let's feed them to Tiamat!"

Maybe the Tiamat got tricked and ate polymorphed frogs?

 

[Yaarel]

Here is a couple of scenes with the D&D cartoons in the movie Honor among Thieves.

 

[TheGlen]

I still hold the Brazilian car commercial as canon