Customer Reviews

The Legend of Prince Valiant: The Complete Series, Vol. 2

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

The second and final volume of Prince Valiant The Complete Series picks up literally where the first volume ends and continues in the tradition of excellence both in terms of character development and engaging plots. BCI takes no shorts as always in their packaging, artwork, and overall quality of the presentation as well. Included here are the final 32 episodes of the series (1993) across 5 discs. Like last time, 4 of these discs are dual sided and contain four episodes per side. The fifth disc contains all of the bonus material, which in this case consists of interviews with the some of the show's writers and voice actress Noelle North. Also included in this set are full commentary tracks over two key episodes, galleries of background artwork, photos of the cast, animated story board, and a selection of episode scripts. Unique here, however, is the inclusion of a complete episode of Defenders of the Earth (#26 Terror in Time) which actually featured Prince Valiant. So while technically this set includes the final 32 episodes of the series, collectors will be delighted to note that one of Prince Valiant's rarest animated appearances hasn't gone unnoticed by the watchful eye of BCI.

The series itself sticks very close to the foundation established in the first volume with a slight twist on the story arcs. While a majority of the first season of the show allowed viewers to follow along with Valiant's quest to discover Camelot, then later to attain knighthood, the second volume focuses more heavily on the trials and tribulations that come with the title. On a personal note, I was surprised at how early on the show's writers concluded the story arc building up to Valiant's reclaiming Tuley and returning his father to power. Since this plot development is essentially the driving force behind Valiant's quest in the first place, it was interesting that the show's producers satisfied it in the first volume never to again revisit Valiant's home land.

Here in the second volume, the primary enemy takes on many faces (traitors, assassins, tyrants, and spies) who wish to see Camelot and its ideas of freedom topple. The struggles this time around seem to be a bit more sublime and involve an element of mystery solving rather than simple sword clashing. The show's creative staff did an excellent job of subtly aging and maturing the lead characters especially. With the luxury of DVD, it is effortless to slip in an earlier disc just to compare the attitude shifts that accompany our heroes over time. The brilliance in the show's writing is especially realized when one takes a moment to consider the awareness shown by the writers in developing characters who age in real-time. Never does an episode fade to black only to resume with an older, wiser cast. Rather, we follow right along as what began as friendship among three young friends develops into a love-triangle only further complicated by Valiant's affection for the Princess Aleta.

And while a majority of the second volume deals with the threat of Camelot's many enemies, there are two major story arcs, nearly back to back, that conclude the series. The first of which is a whopping five-parter written by the duo of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens and the second is a four part story split up between Chris Hubbell, Sam Graham and the ever-brilliant Brooks Wachtel. While I do not wish to ruin the experience for potential viewers by giving anything away here in my review, I will say prepare for many exciting plot twists and surprises along the way. Truly the show builds into a nearly-unbearable tension that is finally released in a crescendo of resolve. It is interesting to note that the show's developers were indeed aware of the fact that #65 would be the final episode and were able to include a great deal of closure accordingly. While I'm still left wondering what became of Sir Gawain and Sir Bryant in the end (it is never fully revealed), the show does end with a feeling of few loose ends.

All in all The Legend of Prince Valiant represents family entertainment at its finest. There are few if any animated series in existence that have managed to capture so accurately the themes of adolescence and the struggles of humanity as a whole. Even more admirable is that the show manages to do so without being forced to rely upon adult content (gore, sexual situations, or foul language). The show's writers often admit that they approached development of the series as if they were writing drama rather than animation and in truth, it shows. The bottom line is that this is good television, animated or otherwise. My only regret in concluding my tour of the series is the simple fact that the show seems always to have been lost in the proverbial cracks while similar (and certainly lesser) shows enjoy gobs of publicity. The fact that BCI turned its attention to this Hearst Entertainment masterpiece is very encouraging in that hopefully a whole new generation of fans will have access to these DVD box sets and the magic contained within them.

I for one missed out on this show entirely when it aired on the Family Channel back in the early 1990s and only recently discovered it through BCI's catalog. With an MSRP of only $14.99 for each of these beautiful five disc compilations, there is little excuse to overlook these benchmarks in animation. I strongly recommend these sets to viewers of all ages.

As with the first volume a wonderful cycle that will leave you begging for more. Great voice talent. The animation isn't of the highest quality, but acceptable for this show.

Prince Valiant is a really enjoyable cartoon, it has a great storyline and very interesting characters. I always enjoy a cartoon that has a continuing storyline. Prince Valiant's adventures start when he leaves his parents to find the kingdom of Camelot and become a knight of the round table, along the way he makes friends who wish to join him on his quest. When Valiant and his friends reach Camelot, they begin training to become knights of the round table and must help defend Camelot against anyone who wishes to harm the kingdom. All in all this is a great dvd to have in your collection.

This incredible animated show from the 90's is still spectacular today. As soon as I saw that it was available for purchase, I bought it immediately!!! It's full of great stories that wonderfully unfold, surprise and teach. It's a must-have for any serious animation collector. Valiant and his friends' quest for knighthood in Camelot is inspiring...something that sadly, today's cartoons are not.

this is a really good series...it was as good as i remembered it to be. I never got to watch every episode when i was a kid...so i really enjoyed it.

show never aired here in the bible belt, probably more on it's brainy layered plots than on any "upsetting" element. We're a borish clan of belicos chicken arena leather-heads who don't appreiciate such talent in writing or plot. I can't even imagine why this would be "upsetting" anyway except for the Patty Duke schnanigans with her Mordia character's finger bites(a poison thumb tack that's all). Didn't know this show even exhisted at all but got season one last year and it was unlike any "cartoon" (animation) I've ever seen as a child or adult! This aired when I was maybe 21 but I would have enjoyed it then as much as children yet no one did in my neck of the wood. I did breifly see a DVD commentary of "well, maybe a season two in the next release" by the tactfully sounding filmmaker in response to Noel North's over eager enthusiasm of her being a Knight in part two. That is why I am led here to see if that release became reality. Thier are only a handfull of major actors here but they are all profoundly talented and some extras are thrown in from time to time as Patty Duke's wonderfully witchy voice as Mordrea and other well known VO only talents that I've heard since childhood(Skeletor as Merlin?) Cam Clarke(Y2K He-man voice) is thrown in there at times too. I will close by saying this is the quality of Last unicorn as a movie but it is an entire series!

A great cartoon film! I was watching it in 1996, I was 13 years old and the movie was my favourite one! To tell the truth at that time I was watching it in Russian. Years past, but the cartoon movie has been remaining my favourite one. Resently I decided to find it in DVD or the like format. I couln't find it in Russian, but basically I didn't care of the language. Thanks to Amazon.com I'm watching my childhood favourite cartoon!!!

This show was on an odd channel when I was growing up and I always struggled to cath it when it aired. It is a very will written and animated series.

I grew up reading Prince Valiant, both in English and Portuguese. I never knew it was turned into a action Cartoon...This is great stuff

Following on from the release of The Legend of Prince Valiant, Vol. 1 is the second half of the series, which wraps up the show with its remaining thirty-two episodes. Once again the episodes are spread across four discs (with four contained on each side) and a fifth disc of special features. Alternatively, you can go for the simpler option and get the complete set. Borrowed liberally from the Hal Foster comic strip (first started way back in the 1930s), the show is nevertheless true to its central themes of fighting the good fight, the establishment of reason, justice and order over ignorance and oppression, and the growth of its central protagonist from a boy to a man.

Although it was released back in the early 1990s, "The Legend of Prince Valiant" holds up surprisingly well by today's standards, with strong character development and complex story arcs that span the entire sixty-five episodes. Sadly, the animation leaves a lot to be desired, but once you get used to the rather stilted movement and lack of expression in the characters, the show's strengths begin to take over.

The voice talent in particular makes up for some of the wonky animation. As well as Robby Benson, Noelle North and Michael Horton as the three leads, the show also boasts the likes of Tony Jay, Wil Wheaton, Fred Savage, Jeff Bennett, John Rhys-Davis, Paige O'Hara, David Warner, Brian Cummings, Ron Perlman, Roger Rees, Sean Astin, Patty Duke, and James Avery, as well as Tim Curry as Sir Gawain, Efrem Zimbalist as King Arthur and Alan Oppenheimer as Merlin.

Throughout the first half of the series there have been two major plot-lines at work: the first concerning Prince Valiant's goals in becoming a knight at King Arthur's Round Table and then in freeing his home country from a usurping king. Having achieved these objectives in season one by attaining knighthood and returning his father and mother to the thrones of Thule, the show decisively concludes this particular story. Season two of the show deals with the responsibilities that come with Valiant's knighthood, and reintroduces several plot-threads concerning Mordred's treachery, Maldon's use of gunpowder and the doomed Viking emissary, all of which are explored, woven together, and resolved across the course of several story-arcs. There is also room for more characters, most notably the Princess Aleta (another character from the comic books) who adds another dimension to the love triangle of our three young heroes.

Eventually the show moves away from Valiant as its central protagonist and deals more with the ensemble cast, including Valiant's closest friends: the shy huntsman Arn and the feisty blacksmith's daughter Rowanne. Rowanne in particular certainly goes through a baptism of fire in her quest to become the first female knight of Camelot, battling heartbreak and disillusionment throughout the course of the show before finally emerging as a stronger woman. Both Rowanne and Arn have their own ambition to sit as knights of the Round Table, but forces of darkness are encroaching upon the golden city of Camelot, leading to a fantastic four-part finale that provides closure to all the main characters and the series as a whole.

Most of the filler episodes are "very special" episodes, which deal with the usual topics of racism and sexism, but also (believe it or not) child abuse, alcoholism, hero worship, and gun control (though in this case, it's the improper use of crossbows). Given that Valiant himself has more or less attained maturity, most of these revolve around his young squire Denys. Such episodes can get a little heavy-handed at times, but are never hugely obnoxious. For the most part, the show has surprisingly complex and detailed plots, penned by gifted writers such as Brooks Wachtel, Douglas Brooks West and Chris Hubbell, all of whom have a great grasp on the show's continuity and unique atmosphere.

Among the special features on the fifth disc are interviews with voice actress Noelle North and writers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, a storyboard gallery, image galleries of the background artwork and photographs of the cast, a selection of scripts in PDF format, and several trailers for other products. Just for completion's sake, the disc also includes an episode of "Defenders of the Earth", an otherwise completely unrelated cartoon, but which features the character of Prince Valiant for this one particular episode.

The DVD commentaries are a little disappointing, as they have less to say about what's happening on the screen as they are unrelated interviews about the show as a whole (which is interesting enough, but a lot of the material is repeated on the *actual* interviews with the writers). However, Brooks Wachtel manages to give some closure on the fates of Morgana and Maldon, both of whom were cut or short-changed in the final episode. The box set also includes a complete episode guide, and altogether the presentation of the episodes and the extent of the special features included here make it all well worth the price.

Finally, a tip for buyers: be very, very careful when removing the discs from their casing: they are very hard to get out and after nearly snapping one in half, I quickly relocated all of them to a safer DVD holder.