The Legend of Prince
Valiant - The Complete Series, Vol. 2 (1991) Prince Valiant DVDs
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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.
