D&D General Poll: Did you watch the D&D cartoon when it was new?

[Paul Farquhar]

I enjoy cartoons too, but most of the stuff from that particular era doesn't do much for me anymore. I know it hurts my old person cred, but the cartoons I enjoyed the most started in the '90s and even early '00s or later. Batman: The Animated Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra, Star Wars: the Clone Wars and Rebels, and Futurama top my list, along with even newer stuff like Arcane, Castlevania, and Star Trek: Lower Decks and Prodigy.

Some things are simply nostalgia, but some things, such as Batman the Animated Series, were actually good.

Of the things from my childhood, Bagpuss doesn't really stand up to modern viewing, but Thunderbirds is still good.

(Technically not really cartoons, Bagpuss was stop motion and Thunderbirds was puppets, but that was British TV in the early 70s).

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Hmm, I suppose that would be a side effect. (Though it originally aired in some countries much later than others - 1993 in South Korea, for example.)

That raises a huge question re: what we consider "the original run" though, meaning it's no longer a simple poll question, but requiring some research outside the US, and not easy research in some cases. For example, Wikipedia only has the the air date for the US, and IMDb only has it for US, UK, France, Netherlands, and Germany, and inaccurate one for Brazil which is actually the DVD release date, despite the D&D cartoon definitely airing in the '80s or early '90s in Brazil. AI makes this worse by producing actively inaccurate results.

Of the things from my childhood, Bagpuss doesn't really stand up to modern viewing, but Thunderbirds is still good.

I feel like the opposite is true, but you've got to be the right age, and the right age for Bagpuss is pretty young. The recent Thunderbirds update is decent though, and Thunderbirds 2086 also holds up better than the original puppet show.

 

[JEB]

That raises a huge question re: what we consider "the original run" though, meaning it's no longer a simple poll question, but requiring some research outside the US, and not easy research in some cases. For example, Wikipedia only has the the air date for the US, and IMDb only has it for US, UK, France, Netherlands, and Germany, and inaccurate one for Brazil which is actually the DVD release date, despite the D&D cartoon definitely airing in the '80s or early '90s in Brazil. AI makes this worse by producing actively inaccurate results.

I put together what verifiable international dates I could in an earlier post. You are welcome to make corrections/additions!

 

[jasper]

I was in the Army when it came out. I watch it as much as I could. It was okay, good, or bad depending on many things. What ticks me off today, trying to watch it is the overly loud and always on background music.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

You should remember in other nations before the first videogame Baldur's Gate the franchise was totally unknown. If you asked a no-geek Spaniards before Tim Burton's 1989 movie nobody knew who was Batman.

Don't forget the international market. The goal of the cartoon also was to introduce the franchise in no-English-speaker countries.

Of course with the experience now the producers know how to create better titles, but this is nobody's fault.

* Could Venger defeat Strand von Zarovich? Let's remember he can face Tiamat and survive.

 

[MGibster]

Don't forget the international market. The goal of the cartoon also was to introduce the franchise in no-English-speaker countries.

Here in the US it was supposed to introduce a younger audience to D&D so they'd buy the toys and maybe when they were a bit older the game itself. The toys were unable to compete with the likes of GI Joe, Transformers, or Masters of the Universe, and I'm not sure if it translated to any AD&D players a few years later.

It does make me think about how Gygax chose to present D&D with the cartoon. Did it help or hurt the D&D brand? I hadn't considered this until I read @Clint_L's post about resenting the show because it made D&D look like a kiddie game. AD&D was not written for children the same age as those who were watching the cartoon on Saturday mornings.

 

[Moonmover]

American, age 33 here.

I'm pretty sure I found out about the D&D cartoon from this very forum.

The gaming-related cartoon of my childhood was  Pokémon, and later on Yu-Gi-Oh. Although, because of my older brother, I was exposed to some other 80's cartoons (Thundercats, He-Man, Transformers) as VHS tapes.

 

[Clint_L]

Here in the US it was supposed to introduce a younger audience to D&D so they'd buy the toys and maybe when they were a bit older the game itself. The toys were unable to compete with the likes of GI Joe, Transformers, or Masters of the Universe, and I'm not sure if it translated to any AD&D players a few years later.

It does make me think about how Gygax chose to present D&D with the cartoon. Did it help or hurt the D&D brand? I hadn't considered this until I read @Clint_L's post about resenting the show because it made D&D look like a kiddie game. AD&D was not written for children the same age as those who were watching the cartoon on Saturday mornings.

You gotta understand, I was introduced to D&D by my friend’s college-aged older brother, when I was 12, and the college crew sometimes included us in their games. So for us, D&D was serious business. We were hanging out with 20 year olds, listening to their records, eating pizza, and playing the game. They not only introduced me to D&D but to Sabbath, Pink Floyd and smoking pot.

So yeah, Uni and friends were not for me.

 

[MGibster]

You gotta understand, I was introduced to D&D by my friend’s college-aged older brother, when I was 12, and the college crew sometimes included us in their games. So for us, D&D was serious business. We were hanging out with 20 year olds, listening to their records, eating pizza, and playing the game. They not only introduced me to D&D but to Sabbath, Pink Floyd and smoking pot.

I'm shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, to learn that anyone would introduce Pink Floyd to a youth! Looking at WotC's player demographic information they released in 2000, they said 12% of their players were aged 8-12 which strikes me as fairly young. Is there a 15 year old player out there who started DMing when he was 10? I wonder if most of these players play with their parents or someone older. The D&D rules seem complicated for kids that age. But then at the beginning of E.T. The Extraterrestrial, the kids were playing some sort of D&D like game. So what do I know?

I get it. AD&D felt very much like a grown up game to me when I was 12-13. It certainly wasn't written for a 12 year old to read, but I think that was probably part of the appeal. Just like a ten year old wants to watch Robocop.

 

[GrimCo]

I voted yes with caveat. I watched it on RTL plus in early 90s. I liked it, but since it was german dub and i didn't understand german then, i didn't really got whole story.