Dragon's Lair (Video Game 1983)

The first laserdisc game and the first to use regular cell animation for the graphics. In this game, you play Dirk the Daring, a knight who must rescue a princess by exploring a castle ... See full summary »

Director:

Don Bluth

Writer:

Rick Dyer (concept)

Stars:

Dan Molina, Vera Pacheco, Michael Rye

Cast

Credited cast:
Dan Molina	...	Dirk the Daring (voice)
Vera Pacheco	...	Princess Daphne (voice) (as Vera Lanpher)
Michael Rye	...	Narrator (voice)
Dave Spafford	...	Lizard King (voice)

Storyline

The first laserdisc game and the first to use regular cell animation for the graphics. In this game, you play Dirk the Daring, a knight who must rescue a princess by exploring a castle filled with deadly dangers which require quick wits and precise timing to overcome.

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Plot Keywords:

castle | rescue | princess | knight | danger | 

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Taglines:

The evolution of a legend: Dragon's Lair.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

E

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 June 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doragonzurea

Box Office

Budget:

$1,300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Don Bluth Productions, Magicom

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The production company could not afford to hire models for the Daphne character so they used pictures from Playboy magazine for inspiration. Voices were also provided by the game's developers.

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Goofs

When the player dies in the room with the collapsible stairway, Dirk has a large, bulbous nose as he slides down.

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Quotes

Dirk the Daring: [the floor is coming out from under Dirk] Uh oh.

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Connections

Referenced in The Nostalgia Critic: A Troll in Central Park (2010)

User Reviews

Groundbreaking Cinematic Videogame

I can see how the "hardcore modern gamers" would hate this game. What they fail to realize is that this was more than a game, it was innovation in the field of animation. Sure you couldn't directly control Dirk the Daring's moves, but you're decisions instead at key moments were the difference between Dirk being one step closer to Daphne (the Princess) and the decaying skeletal remains of failure.

Don Bluth was certainly a genius for coming up with something so simple and addicting, even though Laserdisc games in general never went to far in the industry. Dragon's Lair's animation was top notch and kept quarters rolling in simply to view the beautiful animation on screens once reserved for simple computer pixels. It's no wonder this game is one of only three arcade games in the Smithsonian (Pong and Pac-Man are the other two).

Thankfully, after 17 years, we finally have a 'perfect' home version thanks to DVD technology and Digital Leisure. You can buy it for a standard DVD player (along with getting interviews with Bluth and a 'watch' mode so you can enjoy the animation without entering moves) or the DVD-ROM version (which is more faithful to the arcade by not replaying the 'resurrection' scene before each new scene and randomising the scenes but lacks the extras of the regular DVD).

Don't let the simplistic gameplay stop you from enjoying what is a piece of history in animation.