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

[Alzrius]

Right. And in an old comic they were trying to get Presto apprenticed to Elminster.

Apparently they arrived in FR at some point but didn’t begin there… well until the new comic retconned that.

Welcome to what happens when WotC decides that they don't care about canon in their products anymore.

 

[Yaarel]

"The Realm" of the D&D Cartoon can locate on the continent of Faerun.

The "Great Glaciers" at the N of the Realm, are the Great Glacier of Faerun, N of Vaasa, Damara, and Narfell.

Here, "Alicorn Sea" appears to be a local name for Mirror Lake, W from Vaasa. Sometimes freshwater bodies are called "seas". Mirror Lake is missing from some maps of Faerun that only depict a simplified Pelauvir River. In an earlier post I hypothesize the Icelace Lake as "Alicorn Sea", but having seen this recent 5e map below, Mirror Lake seems likelier to be the "Alicorn Sea" on the E of the Realm map.

Then the "Waste Lands" at the W of the Realm map is the Tortured Lands in Faerun.

The local "Fire Mountains" and other mountainous areas are parts of the mountain range of the West Galena Mountains.

The Abyss is some local phenomenon relating to the mountain range, perhaps a rift valley, or a sinkhole collapsed into the Underdark.

The "Sea of Sorrows" seems a shallow wetland, ambiguously mapped as land or water. Even Mirror Lake is ignored in some maps. These waterbodies may be seasonal, having more notable water levels when the icy areas of the Great Glacier thaw.

Thus the "Far West" is NW Faerun, including the Sword Coast and the elven High Forest that is part of the wider forest area that is "The Forest at the Edge of the [Known] World".

Map from ForgottenRealms FandomCom, made by Mike Schley.
(static.wikia.nocookie .net/forgottenrealms/images/b/be/Vaasa_-1480_DR-_Mike_Schley.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20210523182845)
Mike Schley is the cartographer who did the official WotC map for NW Faerun for the 5e Sword Coast setting. So this map with Mirror Lake is either official or quasi official.

Note, even official maps of Faerun, across the D&D editions, have numerous discrepancies of terrain, watercourses, distortions of distance, and even alternate locations. Inworld, consider the discrepancies between maps as the result of medieval maps generally trying to make sense of multiple conflictive sources plus conjecture about the sources.

The maps of the Realm, such as the one below by Ian Johnson, are themselves fan creations that are piecing together information from the Cartoon. These fan maps are estimations and conjectures and conflict with each other. The Realm can easily be in Faerun and S from the Great Glacier.

 

[Stormonu]

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).

It's not a big thing in the end, the cartoon characters and action figure characters have been bounced about several times now and I'm just happy that they're actually being acknowledged and used again - my Diana, Bobby, Uni, Zarak, Kelek, Warduke, Mordenkainen and Zenk figures are all standing side by side on a shelf and I'm quite fond of it all.

 

[Yaarel]

This is fun!

The roller coaster ride that the D&D Cartoon heroes originally went on that transported them to the D&D realm, is itself part of in the planes-hopping Witchlight Carnival.

Here is the map of the Witchlight Carnival that appears and disappears.

Here is a closeup of the Myster Mine roller coaster ride.

JR Zambrano
(belloflostsouls .net/2021/07/can-you-spot-the-80s-dd-cartoon-in-this-map-from-the-witchlight.html)

The Witchlight Carnival briefly appeared in reallife America, then vanished, along with the D&D Cartoon heroes.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I picked up the new D&D cartoon comic collection and the back says they went to Faerun.

The first few pages make sure to back this up. Venger and all those adventures are in Faerun.

Not that they were in "The Realm" (this is not the Forgotten Realms) and then took a portal out to Faerun (they always came across portals to other worlds and dimensions) (thus being plane hoppers) (they even came across a Spelljammer ship, i believe) but came from Earth to Faerun and have been stuck there.

For a company trying to get people used to the idea that a multiverse exists it seems like a weird retcon to make.

Here is the map of "The Realm." Where does this fit in Faerun? Where is the Alicorn Sea? It was all Forgotten, I guess?

View attachment 352286

When did this happen? Within the year I would say.

Nothing like changing history to get my back up.

 

[Micah Sweet]

That doesn't make much sense, the cartoon is clearly set in some kind of interdimensional nexus. It's not just the Earth kids that make an appearance, but also a group of nomads who don't understand and fear magic, demons and devils, some kind of evil force that Venger serves, and "bog beasts." It's like Land of the Lost for D&D.

I'd buy Land of the Lost for D&D.

 

[Yaarel]

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).

Which "map of the cartoon realm"?

 

[Yaarel]

Is the "map" of D&D Cartoon the one from the 1985 Sticker Book and in the D&D 3e 2007 Animated Series Handbook? But this "map" is actually a montage of notable locations. Each location could be anywhere in any setting, including Faerun on Toril in the Forgotten Realms. Apparently, only some of these locations appear in the Cartoon shows.

 

[Azzy]

This isn't exactly a new development. The TSR-era comics had placed them in the Realms decades ago.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

It's worth noting that demiplanes, portals, parallel realities, and time travel could also help bridge the gaps.