I believe it was animated by Japan’s Toei, though produced through Marvel.  The character designs are vaguely similar to another Japanese animated series of that era, Mighty Orbots.

http://youtu.be/9Kgx2b1sIRs

Ah, nope, see ya lost me Cory. That show was one of the best in it’s time. It had real sorrow and longing for them to get home and was quite adept at depicting violence even though the cavalier didn’t have a fucking sword. One of the best written animated series of it’s time. That might be a lot to say for an animated series, but it was.

And IIRC it was not about gamers turned into their characters. There have been several books written around that premise, but the premise for this show was “some kids get on a D&D ride at an amusement park, get sucked into the fantasy world, and get roles arbitrarily assigned to them by a little gnome who called himself ‘Dungeon Master’.”

He co-wrote some of the episodes and consulted on others, and was in unique position to explain to us why some things came out the way they did.

I asked about the cavalier’s lack of a sword and, indeed, as Petsounds mentions above,  that was an attempt to keep the violence level low. According to Ernie, the show was intended for a much younger audience than ended up watching it. He told us that they weren’t even allowed to refer to the characters’ magic items as weapons until later in the series.

Actually… that sounds potentially awesome.

Gouchy Smurf here isn’t a Paladin, Eric is a cavalier; a valid character-class from the 1.5th Edition rules, I.E. the Unearthed Arcana sourcebook. Same thing for barbarian and acrobat-thief classes, which ALSO happen to be in the show. Which is ENTIRELY coincidental, and TOTALLY not a form of cross-promotion, as the book came out the same time as the show…

Point of Departure: In 1982, while in LA to negotiate with CBS over the creation of a Dungeons and Dragons licensed cartoon series, Gary Gygax is invited to the network’s Television City studios during a break between meetings for a private tour. As he steps out of his complimentary limo, a teenaged Sarah Jessica Parker accidentally runs him over with her motor scooter while on the way to audition for the situation comedy that in our universe is known as Square Pegs. By the time Gygax comes out of his coma, a leadership change at CBS has meant the incipient deal has fallen apart.

Result: Without the role of Venger, Peter Cullen’s voice acting career gradually fizzles out, and he returns to Canadian television before the first Transformers cartoon series goes into production. A slumming Marlon Brando takes the role of Optimus Prime, and his bizarre behavior (such as demanding daily deliveries of fresh flowers and authentic Vienna Sachertorte to the recording studio, and delivering a 40-minute in-character monologue on the purity of the Decepticons’ ruthlessness to a very confused sound engineer) moves Hasbro to abort the series after only thirteen episodes. Without the TV show interest in the toy line dries up, and twenty-five years later Michael Bay wins a Best Director Oscar for Lincoln Logs: The Movie.

Big things have small beginnings.