Title: Conan The Adventurer

Running Time: 5 hours, 2 discs, Unrated- for all audiences

Conan of Cimmeria is on a quest to search for the evil serpent-man and wizard Wrath-Amon, who imprisoned Conan’s family into living stone. Armed with a sword forged from a mysterious star metal, he and his friends set off on a journey to save Conan’s family and also find adventure.

I probably watched this show growing up, and one thing I couldn’t stand about kids cartoon shows is the pandering. There’s always an overly cutesy or annoying character with the weird screechy voice that plays down to the really young children or the viewers who are on the dense side. That character is Needle, a phoenix that lives in a magical shield that Conan is given and it’s always getting into trouble. I could barely watch this series because of this stupid character. Kids are not idiots; don’t create a character that is one.

I watched the first episode with Shockya.com’s production manager John Corder, who is a big Robert E. Howard fan, and he seemed almost tortured at what his beloved author’s work was being portrayed in the animated series. I couldn’t help but think that if it were possible, Howard would be doing infinite somersaults in his grave.

Granted this is an animated series made to appeal to children, but I would hope that any responsible, caring parent would keep their kids away from something so dumbed down and awfully inane. If they cut out Needle completely, I would’ve been able to enjoy the series better. The original Conan stories are great. Little kids should be able to experience the basic storytelling which is essentially present in the cartoon, but the crap filler needs to go.

Total rating: C

Reviewed by JM Willis