''Dragon's Lair'' is a television animated series by

Ruby-Spears Productions Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by vete ...

based on the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

video game of the same name. Thirteen half-hour episodes were produced and aired from September 8, 1984, to April 27, 1985, on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Synopsis

The series chronicles the adventures of Dirk the Daring, who is the best

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in the kingdom of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Ethelred. Dirk performs all sorts of great deeds while protecting the kingdom and his love Princess Daphne from the forces of the evil

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

Singe. In his adventures there are several original characters like his stallion Bertram, his

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...

Timothy, and arrogant knight Sir Hubert Blunt who is Dirk the Daring's rival. Before each commercial break, Dirk the Daring faces a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

situation. In keeping with the spirit of the game, the storyteller narrates Dirk's options and asks the viewer "What would you do?" After the commercial break, the outcomes of the various choices were shown before Dirk acts on the correct idea (with the occasional exception) to advance the story. Several enemies from the original game also make their appearance as adversaries: the Lizard King, the Phantom Knight, the Smithee, the Giddy Goons, and the Mudmen. In the episode "The Legend of the Giant's Name", an Ardu giant awakened 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.

Episodes

Cast

Principal voice actors

* Bob Sarlatte as Dirk the Daring *

Ellen Gerstell Ellen Gerstell (born October 16, 1954) is an American voice actress. She is most known for providing the voice of Rapture in '' Jem'' and Mihoshi Kuramitsu in the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise. She is the wife of the late Emmy Award-winning writer ...

as Princess Daphne *

Fred Travalena Frederick Albert Travalena III (October 6, 1942 – June 28, 2009) was a U.S. entertainer, specializing in comedy and impressions. Early life Bronx, New York-born and Long Island-raised, Travalena moved to Los Angeles and developed a multi ...

as King Ethelred * Michael Mish as Timothy *

Arthur Burghardt Arthur Burghardt (born August 29, 1947) is an American retired actor, best known for portraying Jack Scott on the soap opera ''One Life to Live''. In animation, he's known for lending his deep bass voice as Devastator in '' The Transformers'', D ...

as Singe the Dragon *

Peter Cullen Peter Claver Cullen (born July 28, 1941) is a Canadian voice actor. He is best known as the voice of Optimus Prime in the original 1980s ''Transformers'' animated series, reprising the role many times since 2007. He has also voiced many other c ...

as Bertram the Horse, Sir Hubert Blunt *

Clive Revill Clive Revill is a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts. ...

as Storyteller

Additional voices

Marilyn Schreffler Marilyn Sue Schreffler (June 14, 1945 – January 7, 1988) was an American voice actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series, mostly for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Biography Marilyn Schreffler was born in Wichita, Ka ...

* Michael Sheehan

Crew

* Alan Dinehart - Voice Director *

Howard Morris Howard Jerome Morris (September 4, 1919 – May 21, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, and director. He was best known for his role in ''The Andy Griffith Show'' as Ernest T. Bass, and as "Uncle Goopy" in a celebrated comedy sketch on Sid Cae ...

- Voice Director

Home media

On September 20, 2011,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

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.Wbshop.com
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References

External links

*

at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragon's Lair (TV Series) 1980s American animated television series 1984 American television series debuts 1985 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series Animated series based on video games Animated television series about dragons Dragon's Lair English-language television shows Television series by Ruby-Spears