The success of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe made it obvious to tap into the granddaddy of muscle bound fantasy for animated fun. Nearly 60 years after Robert E. Howard created the fictional Conan the Barbarian, it was finally adapted for kiddie entertainment in 1992. The character and his plight were toned down from the action in the novels and the Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. There was no way Conan could be undiluted as part of Saturday morning fun. He was no longer stealing, killing and loving the ladies. Even the title of the show was toned down to Conan the Adventurer. The lack of him being a barbarian made him more of a role model to kids instead of a bad example. Conan The Adventurer: Season One has the first 13 episodes of his non-barbarian saga.
“The Night of the Fiery Tears” makes Conan a little bit civilized. He’s an older teen living with his parents. One night he and grandpa witness meteors falling from the sky. They collect the rocks and dad turns it into an amazing sword for his son. He’s not supposed to get the weapon until he can push back a stone slab. Turns out their world is populated by evil serpent men. Their leader Wrath-Amon wants the sword. He thinks it can release their snake god. When Conan’s dad won’t cough up the sword, Wrath-Amon turns him, his wife and another kid into living rock. It’s now up to Conan to revive his family. They don’t tease too hard when “Blood Brother” lets Conan face down Wrath-Amon. The episode unites Conan with his first traveling companion. Zula is the Prince of the Wasai. He became a prisoner of Wrath-Amon when someone close sold him out. “Star of Shadizar” introduces the stealthy Jazmine. She uses her circus skills to get out of trouble. Because this is a kid’s cartoon, they soften up the action with Needle, a magical phoenix that lives on Conan’s shield. The action is softened up a bit so it resembles a He-Man episode.
The rest of the episodes involve plenty of battles with the serpent men. “Men of Stone” has a town leader turned to stone by Wrath-Amon. It’s his key way to intimidate people. “Greywolf of Xanthus” makes them journey to a city of wizards to get a spell to cure the stone action. “Seven Against Stygia” is a strong finale as Wrath-Amon gets things ready to unleash his god on the world. Conan needs to stop this or there won’t be a season two.
Conan the Adventurer: Season One is fine for a kid’s cartoon. No longer is he an orphan. The story softens him to be merely a teen who needs to unfreeze his family. The animated violence isn’t out of control. This is extremely toned down from Arnold’s movies. The animated Conan runs with a less cutthroat crowd. They’re the kinda folks that aren’t bad influences, but cool friends. It’s a whole different take on the barbarian so that he has manners and good communication skills. The only drawback is the annoying bird. Otherwise it’s a fine introduction to Conan for kids who think he hosts a show on TBS.
Episodes
“The Night of Fiery Tears,” “Blood Brother,” “Star of Shadizar,” “Conan the Gladiator,” “The Heart of Rakkir,” “Men of Stone,” “The Terrible Torrinon,” “Greywolf of Xanthus,” “Shadow Walkers,” “The Claw of Heaven,” “The Serpent Riders of Set,” “Windfang’s Eyrie” and “Seven Against Stygia”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers look fine for the nearly 20 year old video. The audio is 2.0 stereo. You can hear the hiss from the Serpent men as they plot their next attack.
Conan the Adventurer: Season One does a fine job of adapting the legendary character so he doesn’t scare parents. He’s no barbarian. He’s a kid on a mission for a family reunion. This is nicer than the revenge aspect of the movies when Arnold’s Conan went after the snake people for murdering his parents. This is a child-safe Conan.
Shout! Factory presents Conan the Adventurer: Season One. Starring: Michael Donovan and Janyse Jaud. Boxset Contents: 13 episodes on 2 DVDs. Released on DVD: July 26 , 2011. Available at Amazon.com.
