Dragon's Lair (TV series)

For other uses, see Dragon's Lair (disambiguation).

Dragon's Lair
Genre	Animation / Action / Adventure / Based on Video Game / Dragon / Sword and Sorcery
Developed by	Ruby-Spears Productions
Written by	Michael Charles Hill
Voices of	Bob Sarlatte Ellen Gerstell Fred Travalena Michael Mish Arthur Burghardt Peter Cullen
Narrated by	Clive Revill
Composer(s)	John Debney
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Running time	30 minutes (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 8, 1984 (1984-09-08) – April 27, 1985 (1985-04-27)
Chronology
Preceded by	Dragon's Lair
Followed by	Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp

Dragon's Lair is a short-lived television cartoon series by Ruby-Spears Productions based on the 1983 video game of the same name. Thirteen half-hour episodes were produced from 1984^[1]-1985^[2], airing on ABC. Between the late '80s and the early '90s, the show was rerun on the USA Cartoon Express, and has also aired on Boomerang.

Synopsis

The series chronicles the adventures of Dirk the Daring, who is best knight in King Ethelred's kingdom. Dirk performs all sorts of great deeds while protecting the kingdom and his love, Princess Daphne. In his adventures there are several original characters like his stallion Bertram, his Squire Timothy and arrogant knight Hubert Blunt who frequently antagonizes Dirk.

In keeping with the spirit of the game, before each commercial break the storyteller would ask what the viewer would do to solve the cliffhanger Dirk the Daring faces. After the commercial break, the outcomes of the various choices were shown before Dirk acts on the correct idea (with the occasional exception) to save the day.

Several enemies from the original game also make their appearance as adversaries, such as the dragon Singe, the Lizard King, the Phantom Knight, the Giddy Goons, the Mudmen etc. In the episode "The Legend of the Giant's Name", an Ardu giant awoken by Singe forces Dirk to find his way out of an enchanted cave, which gradually transforms him into a skeleton, much like the death animations of the game.

List of episodes

1. The Tale of the Enchanted Gift (1984·Sep·08) -
2. Sir Timothy's Quest (1984·Sep·15) -
3. The Tournament of the Phantom Knight (1984·Sep·22) -
4. The Smithee's Haunted Armor (1984·Sep·29) -
5. The Pool of Youth (1984·Oct·06) -
6. The Story of Old Alf (1984·Oct·13) -
7. The Song of the Chimes (1984·Oct·20) -
8. The Girl from Crow's Wood (1984·Oct·27) -
9. Mirror, Mirror (1984·Nov·03) - Singe uses a magic mirror to turn himself into a copy of Dirk and discredit him.
10. The Snow Witch (1984·Nov·10) -
11. The Tale of Dirk's New Sword (1984·Nov·17)
12. The Legend of the Giant's Name (1984·Nov·24) - In his latest plot against King Ethelred's kingdom, Singe awakens the last of the Ardu Giants by saying his real name.
13. The Mist of Wishes (1984·Dec·01) -

Cast

• Bob Sarlatte - Dirk the Daring
• Ellen Gerstell - Princess Daphne
• Fred Travalena - King Ethelred
• Michael Mish - Timothy
• Arthur Burghardt - Singe
• Peter Cullen - Bertram the Horse, Sir Hubert Blunt
• Clive Revill - Storyteller

Additional voices

• Marilyn Schrefler -
• Michael Sheehan -

DVD release

On September 20, 2011, Warner Bros. released Dragon's Lair: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US.^[3]

References

1. ^ TV Party - Saturday Mornings 1984
2. ^ TV Party - Saturday Mornings 1985
3. ^ http://www.wbshop.com/Dragons-Lair-The-Complete-Series-2Disc-Set/1000238971,default,pd.html

External links

• Dragon's Lair at the Internet Movie Database
• Dragon's Lair at TV.com
• Episode guide at the Big Cartoon DataBase