Renault Dungeons & Dragons' Commercial

The Renault Kwid Outsider commercial is here, featuring the characters from the 1980s Saturday morning cartoon ‘Dungeons & Dragons’!  Sadly, because it’s a commercial, it’s very short, BUT it does accomplish one major accomplishment– it gives the original series closure.

In the cartoon, five teens and one tween are transported to the mystical realm of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’, where magic rules, after boarding the ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ ride at a theme park in the real world.  Each is gifted with a powerful weapon and entrusted with keeping these artifacts away from evil sorcerer Venger.  Blond Hank becomes the Ranger, armed with an energy bow.  Dark haired Eric is the Cavalier with a shield capable of generating forcefields.  Nerdy Presto becomes the Magician and can pull items out of his hat, while athletic Diana becomes the Acrobat, with an extending javelin.  Shiela the Theif has an invisibility cloak, while her younger brother Bobby becomes the Barbarian, with a powerful club.  They are guided by the cryptic Dungeon Master and accompanied by baby unicorn, Uni.

The series lasted for three seasons on CBS, but was hounded by parents groups who objected to the occult (read: Satanic) overtones and “violence.”  While the show was a hit in the US, it was even bigger in Brazil, where this car commercial originated.

While the script for a final episode was written, in which the kids eventually found their way home, it was never animated, leaving them stranded in the mystical realm, seemingly for eternity.  Until Renault stepped in.

Check out the new commercial below:

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This commercial is extremely faithful to the animated series.  Not only do the actors look just like the cartoons– especially Eric, who looks like he walked right out of the TV screen, but other elements are true to the source material.  Instead of getting into the vehicle with the kids, Dungeon Master just stands there until they drive in front of him, and vanishes, just as he used to do in every episode.  (Well, minus the whole motor vehicle thing.)

But the real payoff is when Presto grasps for help in his hat and opens a portal back to the real world!  The kids drive through and wind up exactly as they appeared before vanishing.

But they may not be out of hot water yet, as in the “post-credits” stinger, it appears that Venger may have followed them into the real world.

So while this wraps up the TV series that has gone unresolved for over 30 years, it leaves things open-ended.

Will Renault resolve this in a future commercial?  Probably not.  Will Hollywood PLEASE snap-up these young lookalike actors and just make a live-action movie based on this cartoon?  Also, probably not, but dammit they should!

Were you a fan of the ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ cartoon?  How did you enjoy this adaptation?