In the mid-80s, TSR and Marvel Productions teamed up to produce a cartoon based on TSR’s flagship game, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The result was Dungeons & Dragons, running for 27 episodes over three seasons. The series was well received by audiences, but its darker nature compared to other offerings, leading to so-called concerned parents complaining to the FTC. It didn’t help that a Satanic panic was ongoing over the RPG.
Ultimately, it was a disagreement between TSR and CBS that led to the end of the cartoon. The series ended without a proper ending aired. Hank, Sheila, Bobby, Diana, Presto, and Eric never found their way home. Renault Brazil had their own approach to how the kids got home; the series had a huge following in Brazil. However, the 2023 film, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves had the kids make a cameo in the arena, implying that they managed to get to the Forgotten Realms at least.
But there was a finale script written.
Michael Reaves, a staff writer on the series and a successful fantasy writer in his own right, was approached by the series producer and story editor, Karl Geurs, where he was told that CBS wanted an episode to close out the third season. The details are available on Reaves’ website with the result being “Requiem”. The episode wasn’t meant to be a finale, but could work as such if a fourth season never happened.
In 2020, Ryan Nead and Marshall Hubbard produced a fan video that used Reaves’ script, available from the writer’s website, to bring that unproduced episode to life.
As a fan-made video, the creators don’t have the budget that the original production had. With one exception, Katie Leigh as Sheila, none of the original voice actors returned to their roles. Frank Welker’s Uni could be grabbed from existing episodes to be mixed in as needed, something far more difficult and time consuming for characters who can speak complete sentences. The animation is through rotoscoping, using existing work to create the new work. This kept the characters on model.
The fan-made video extended the original script. Reaves’ goal was to have a convenient point where the events of the three seasons had a conclusion, with an open ending leaving room for later seasons if the production staff got the green light. Nead and Marshall’s goal was to provide an ending, with each of kids going home, with the one exception. Venger’s character arc is concluded, but there is still evil in his world. Tiamat is still a threat, leaving room for potential future stories.
Comparing a fan-made work to an original is folly. Studios have far more money and talent available than a small group of fans can provide. What the fans do have is the desire to make something based on something they love. Nead and Marshall and everyone else who worked on animating “Requiem” wanted to bring closure to a series they enjoyed, using a script that was written for that purpose. They used what they had. That said, the effort they put in is obvious. Characters are on model, voices are close to the originals, and the episode feelss like it was only lost an unaried, not unproduced. The kids are in character, and Dungeon Master’s sudden anger with them is explained later.
“Requiem” provides the end for the cartoon. There may be more adventures, but the episode wraps up several plot points and gives the kids, and the audience, a sense of closure, allowing them to go home. Sometimes, it takes fans to do what the original studio couldn’t or wouldn’t do, and Neap and Marshall should take pride in what they made.