Trivia / Dungeons & Dragons (1983)

• Completely Different Title:
  • In Brazil (where the series became very popular) it is known as Caverna do Dragão ("Dragon's Cave").
  • In France, the show was titled "Le Sourire du dragon" ("The Dragon's Smile").
• Conclusion in Another Medium: The show was cancelled before the final episode was made. A script of it does exist and has been available from the writer's site. Ultimately the show was partly completed as the final episode was performed and released on the American DVD set as a radio play with Sheila's voice actress even reprising her role.
• Edited for Syndication: The brief period of reruns on Fox Kids (likely because there was a D&D film coming out at the time) Replaced the Theme Tune with a new, narration-less rock theme, and also instituted the Credits Pushback scheme FK used at the time (which also let them replaced the Marvel Productions logo with that of Saban Entertainment's).
• Executive Meddling: Not much, but still present. Eric turned out the way he did because of this.
• Exiled from Continuity: It was one of the few Hasbro-related cartoons to not air on Discovery Family (formerly The Hub), as Disney owns the rights to the series.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Wasn't released on DVD until 2005, thanks to a number of changes in ownership (Disney bought the series along with Marvel Productions' library from Fox as part of its purchase of Fox Family Worldwide in 2001). Said DVD went out of print several years later due to the distributor ceasing operations. It's now available via Mill Creek Entertainment (though without any of the special features of the previous set).
• One-Book Author: Tonia Gayle Smith was nominated for "Outstanding Young Actress in an Animation Voice-Over" at the 1984-85 Youth in Film Awards for her role as Diana the Acrobat. Outside of a 1982 episode of The Facts of Life, Dungeons & Dragons is her only acting credit, after which she was never heard from again.
• Recursive Adaptation:
  • There were a few board games based on the animated series. They are not compatible with the tabletop game.
  • A DVD box set included a Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition Animated Series Handbook.
• Screwed by the Lawyers: When BCI Eclipse first released the series on DVD in 2005, all of the original music was replaced with generic music due to Disney being unable to gain clearance for it. When Mill Creek re-released the set in 2009, all of the original music was restored.
• Unspecified Role Credit: Frank Welker gets an "And Starring" billing as Tiamat, while the rest of the cast were only credited by name and not their associated character.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The script for the unaired final episode.
  • The original concept of the show kept the kids in the real world, and had them playing Dungeons & Dragons in an old theater with the elderly custodian serving as Dungeon Master. Each episode would be one of their gaming sessions, and would serve to allow the custodian/Dungeon Master to impart some kind of moral or life lesson. It was ultimately felt that this scenario wouldn't allow for any kind of dramatic tension, as it would be understood that the show's action was all imaginary and part of a game, and thus had no real consequences for the kids.

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