Conan and the Young Warriors

Conan and the Young Warriors
Genre	Cartoon, children's fantasy
Developed by	Michael Reaves
Written by	Brynne Stephens 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
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Producer(s)	John Grusd
Running time	23 minutes
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	March 5 – August 27, 1994
Chronology
Preceded by	Conan the Adventurer

Conan and the Young Warriors is a 1994 television animated series produced by Sunbow Entertainment and aired by CBS as a sequel to the animated series Conan the Adventurer, but featuring a different set of characters (besides Conan). The series was developed by Michael Reaves and directed by John Grusd. It lasted only for one season of 13 episodes.

Plot

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 identical to the one in Conan the Adventurer, this series has a few small links to its predecessor. Occasionally, a trumpet line piece of background music mirroring the theme to Conan the Adventurer 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 jokingly claims that he ate him. 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 some severe inconsistencies in the show in regards to Conan canon.^[1]

Characters

• Conan (voiced by Phil Hayes) – Largely the same as in Conan the Adventurer, Conan is charged with bringing up the three Chosen Ones and helping them fulfill their destinies.
• Epimetrius the Sage – He is the only other character from Conan the Adventurer to appear in this series aside from Conan. It was he who chose Draegen, Brynne and Navah as the users of the starstones. He assisted Conan in guiding the Chosen Ones.
• Draegen (voiced by Mark Hildreth) – The oldest of the Chosen Ones, he grew up in Aquilonia. The star stone on his bandana allows him to magically don a suit of invincible armor.
• Brynne (voiced by Kelly Sheridan) – The middle Chosen One who grew up as a thief in Shadizar. The star stone that is the jewel of her ring allows her to create illusions.
• Navah (voiced by Chiara Zanni) – 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 (voiced by Kathleen Barr) – 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.
• Graak (voiced by Michael Donovan) – 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.

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" (written by Brynne Stephens): Sulinara sends nightmares upon the children, as she wants to get to the precious stones.
4. "Carnival of Cardolus" (written by Brynne Stephens): 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. "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" (written by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry):
8. "Once a Thief" (written by Bryce Malek and David Wise):
9. "Brothers of the Sword" (written by Michael Reaves):
10. "Feet of Clay" (written by Bryce Malek):
11. "The Hand of Fate" (written by Brynne Stephens): The Young Warriors encounter Tisara, a beautiful trained warrior with skills beyond their own. She claims that Brynne, an admitted former thief, stole the star stone that was rightfully hers.
12. "The Separation" (written by Michael Reaves):
13. "The Night of the Serpent" (written by Lydia C. Marano and Brynne Stephens):

Reception

According to The A.V. Club, this cartoon, like its predecessor, "has been significantly defanged, dumbing down and infantilizing the character to the degree that he’s robbed of his savage appeal".^[7] In 2009, Topless Robot featured the "Cartoon Conan" from this show on the list of "The 8 Dumbest Barbarian Heroes".^[8]

References

External links

• Conan and the Young Warriors on IMDb
• Conan and the Young Warriors at TV.com