Conan and the Young Warriors

Conan and the Young Warriors
Genre	Animation
Created by	John Grusd Michael Reaves
Written by	Michael Reaves Steve Perry David Wise Len Wein
Directed by	John Grusd
Voices of	Phil Hayes, Mark Hildreth, Kelly Sheridan, Chiara Zanni, Jim Byrnes, Kathleen Barr, Michael Donovan
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Producer(s)	John Grusd
Running time	23 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	March 5, 1994 – August 27, 1994
Chronology
Preceded by	Conan the Adventurer

Conan and the Young Warriors was a 1994 television cartoon series, produced by Sunbow Entertainment and aired by CBS aired as a spin-off to the popular Conan the Adventurer animated series. The show was meant to take place after the finale of Conan the Adventurer, however it lasted only for one season of 13 episodes.

Story

With Wrath-Amon vanquished and his family returned to life from living stone, Conan thought that his questing had finished. However, now he has to train and protect the "Chosen Ones", a trio of new young warriors who are in possession of magical "star stones", until the time comes in which they are destined to rule over Hyboria.

Aside from Conan's character design which is a carbon copy of the original, this series has a few small links to its predecessor. Occasionally, a piece of background music mirroring the theme to Conan the Adventurer (the trumpet line) is used. At one point, a character uses Zulu's trademark sign of Jhebbal Sag to summon animals to help them. Conan once seeks out a wizard he claims "Grey Wolf of Xanthus" told him about. He also mentions that he once knew a firebird, and claims that he ate him (saying that as joke). The fact that Conan's sword is made of metal from the stars is mentioned several times, a reference to the original series in which a major theme was that Conan's sword was made of a magical star metal.

There are also severe inconsistences in the show in regards to Conan canon.^[1]

Characters

Conan and the Chosen Ones

• Conan: Largely the same as his Conan the Adventurer counterpart (even down to the character design), Conan is charged with bringing up the three Chosen Ones and help them fulfill their destinies. He is voiced by Phil Hayes.

• Draegen: The oldest of the Chosen Ones, he grew up in Aquilonia. The star stone on his bandanna allows him to magically don a suit of invincible armor. He is voiced by Mark Hildreth.

• Brynne: The middle Chosen One who grew up as a thief in Shadizar. Her star stone, the jewel of her ring, allows her to create illusions. She is voiced by Kelly Sheridan.

• Navah: At eight years old, the youngest of the Chosen Ones. He grew up in the Pict Eagle tribe, and the star stone in his pendant allows him to take control of animals, specifically his mongoose Tiki.

• Sulinara: The power-hungry, part-Serpent Man sorceress who will stop at nothing to possess all of the star stones, and thereby rule Hyboria by herself. She is voiced by Kathleen Barr.

• Graak: The winged demon that aids Sulinara in her attempts to steal the star stones, although he cannot touch either them or Conan's starmetal sword. He is voiced by Michael Donovan.

Episodes

1. "The Third Talisman" (written by Michael Reaves): The evil sorceress Sulinara plans to steal the three star stones belonging to Conan's young friends.
2. "Arena" (written by Steve Perry): Conan and his friends attempt to free the city from an evil king, but the tyrant captures Conan and leaves him in the arena to compete in a fight to the death.
3. "Dreamweaver": Sulinara sends nightmares upon the children, as she wants to get to the precious stones.
4. "Carnival of Cardolus": Conan and his charges are looking for a giant lizard, scales of which are an effective means against all poisons, but an unscrupulous circus owner is behind the curious animal.
5. "Isle of the Lost" (written by David Wise): Sulinara is seeking a precious stone that has the power to transform people into mindless monsters.
6. "The Covenant" (written by Len Wein): Sulinara conjures the demon lord Demonicus to get the star-stones of Conan's young friends - in return, he can take revenge on Conan, against whom he has once suffered a bitter defeat.
7. "Wolf in the Fold"
8. "Once a Thief"
9. "Brothers of the Sword"
10. "Feet of Clay"
11. "Hand of Fate"
12. "The Separation"
13. "The Night of the Serpent"

Home release

The series was released over 4 DVD volumes by MRA Entertainment in Australia.

Reception

According to The A.V. Club, this cartoon, like the other two Conan television series, "has been significantly defanged, dumbing down and infantilizing the character to the degree that he’s robbed of his savage appeal".^[2] In 2009, Topless Robot featured the "Cartoon Conan" from this show on the list of "The 8 Dumbest Barbarian Heroes".^[3]

References

1. ^ Conan and the Young Warriors « The Newcomer's Guide to Robert E. Howard
2. ^ The Conan mythos | Film | Gateways To Geekery | The A.V. Club
3. ^ Rob Bricken. "The 8 Dumbest Barbarian Heroes". Topless Robot. http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/06/the_8_dumbest_barbarian_heroes.php. 

External links

• Conan and the Young Warriors at the Internet Movie Database
• Conan and the Young Warriors at TV.com
• Conan and the Young Warriors - Conan Wiki