I don't think its a stretch to claim that, out of all the comics that takes place in medieval times and/or deals with the Arthurian legends, Hal Foster's Prince Valiant, is the most well-known. Though it was never a staple of my childhood, in the same way as Tintin by Hergé, or the various Disney comics, by creators such as Carl Barks and Don Rosa, I remember enjoying the volumes of Prince Valiant I read translated into Swedish, when I was a boy.
Unlike the source material, The Legend of Prince Valiant was not a part of my childhood. I don't think it ever aired on Swedish television. If it did, it was not on any of the channels that were available to me, at the time.
As such, I remained completely ignorant of this show's existence, until fairly recently, when a review written by one of my mutuals on SensCritique, awoke my interest in it. Having watched the show in its entirety, I've decided to share my thoughts on it. Here goes:
The Legend of Prince Valiant begins similarly to the comic (as far as I can remember), with the Kingdom of Thule being conquered by an evil warlord and the King, the Queen and their son, Valiant being forced to flee and seek refuge in a marsh.
One evening, the young Valiant has a dream in which a voice speaks to him, summoning him to a place called Camelot. Valiant has never heard of such a place before, but he's convinced that it exists and so, against his father's wishes, he sets out on a journey to find Camelot. He is joined by Arn, a young peasant and Rowan, the daughter of a blacksmith. Both of whom have had the same dream. After many adventures, the trio arrives at Camelot and the court of King Arthur, where they begin their long road towards knighthood and for Valiant to reclaim his father's kingdom.
Visually, The Legend of Prince Valiant looks fine.Sometimes, the characters go off-model, but the backgrounds are lush and detailed and the show features some fairly impressive battle-scenes. The Soundtrack is superb (with the show's opening theme; Where the Truth Lies deserving special mention, being suitably grandiose) as is the voice-acting. Valiant himself is voiced by Robby Benson, known as the voice of Prince Alexander from King's Quest VI to fans of graphic adventure games and as Beast from Disney's Beauty and the Beast to everyone else who's heard of him. Fittingly enough, when Aleta, the woman who becomes Valiant's love-interest makes her appearance in the show, she's voiced by Paige O'Hara aka. Belle from the above mentioned movie.
Writing is likewise of high quality: Characters are by and large, well-rounded and interesting. My favorite character (if I had to choose) would probably be Duncan. He starts out as a minor recurring villain and ends up having arguably the best character arc in the entire series.
During its two seasons, The Legend of Prince Valiant tackles some heavy topics, such as; alcoholism, child-abuse, racism and even gun...sorry, crossbow-safety. It does this without coming across as preachy or condescending.
Though it seems to have fallen into obscurity, The Legend of Prince Valiant is one of the best western cartoons of the 90's. Easily comparable to the likes of Batman: TAS and Gargoyles. Highly recommended.
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