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The Legend of Vox Machina - D&D cartoon coming to Amazon Prime 28th Jan 2022

Captain Kelsten

By Captain Kelsten
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Captain Kelsten

Captain Kelsten

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The long-awaited animated series based on Critical Role’s first campaign, the Legend of Vox Machina, is coming to Amazon Prime on the 28th of January. 
 

The first campaign, which ran from 2015 - 2017, saw the heroes of team Vox Machina take on many foes, from Vampires to dragons and unholy gods. This new show is based on a couple of the arcs from the campaign. 
 

The decision to turn it into an animated series was made a couple of years ago, when the Critical Role team started a kickstarter for $750k to make a single, 22 minute long animated special set prior to the game campaign. However, the kickstarter had hit $1 million within an hour and went on to make  $11,385,449 with 88,887 backers. When the campaign closed, it was one of the most quickly funded in Kickstarter history, and was the most funded Kickstarter for TV and film projects.


Don’t worry! You don’t need to know anything about Dungeons and Dragons or Critical Role to watch this show - you can come in totally fresh and hopefully enjoy yourself! 

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MDY

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Season 1 will release on Amazon Prime Video as follows:

Friday, January 28th: Episodes 1-3

Friday, February 4th: Episodes 4-6

Friday, February 11th: Episodes 7-9

Friday, February 18th: Episodes 10-12

 

Kickstarter backers will get to see the first couple of episodes early, though details are still to be confirmed, and there will be a special one shot on Twitch and YouTube the evening before.. 

 

 

https://www.animationmagazine.net/streaming/the-legend-of-vox-machina-is-ready-to-cast-its-spell-on-prime-video/

 

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Guest cast announced..

 

In the final part of our behind-the-scenes documentary series, we're thrilled to introduce you to the extended cast lending their voices to The Legend of Vox Machina!

 

 

Previous episodes in the 'Making of' series..

 

Welcome to the first of our behind-the-scenes video series on the making of The Legend of Vox Machina! Step into the writers room and meet the scribes crafting the story of The Legend of Vox Machina: Brandon Auman, Eugene Son, Ashly Burch, Jennifer Muro, Marc Bernardin, Chris "Doc" Wyatt and Kevin Burke, Daniel Thomsen, Mae Catt, and Meredith Kecskemety as the writer's assistant.

 

 

Welcome to the second episode of our behind-the-scenes video series for our upcoming animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina! This video spotlights the creation of the environmental art that takes Exandria from concept to visual reality, all thanks to the incredible artists at Titmouse, which are led by Art Director Arthur Loftis and Supervising Director Sung Jin Ahn

 

 

In this third installment of our behind-the-scene series on the production of The Legend of Vox Machina, we are thrilled to introduce Phil Bourassa, our incredible lead character designer, and to show off Vox Machina's final character designs!

 

 

In the fourth part of our behind-the-scenes documentary series, the Critical Role cast step into the recording booth to bring new life to Vox Machina with the guidance of The Legend of Vox Machina's voice director, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn! Catch a glimpse of their fantastic collaboration throughout this winding journey!

 

 

In the fifth part of our behind-the-scenes documentary series, we're thrilled to introduce you to the musical masterminds working on The Legend of Vox Machina. Meet our incredible composer Neal Acree as well as songwriter Peter Habib, who is working alongside our very own Sam Riegel on Scanlan's ORIGINAL songs!

 

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Reviews coming in - some outlets seem to have been given access to the first three episodes with others getting 6 (out of a total 12..) and they're all pretty positive.
 
 

 

 

 

https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/legend-of-vox-machina-amazon-prime-video-review-critical-role

 

https://www.avclub.com/critical-role-review-legend-of-vox-machina-amazon-1848373688

 

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22893346/critical-role-legend-of-vox-machina-review-amazon

 

https://www.thehollywoodoutsider.com/the-legend-of-vox-machina-television-review/

 

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/legend-vox-machina-critical-role-review/

 

https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/legend-vox-machina

 

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Kickstarter backers should have been emailed a code and link to watch the live premiere at 5pm tonight UK (9am PT)

Screenings take place every 3 hours for the next couple of days..

Viewers are advised to join 30-minutes prior to catch some special content from the cast. Live screenings will be followed by a 24-hour VOD starting January 26th at 12pm PT and end on January 27th at 12pm PT.

 

January 25th
9:30am PT (5:30pm UK)
12:30pm PT (8:30pm UK)
3:30pm PT (11:30pm UK)
6:30pm PT (2:30am UK)
9:30pm PT (5:30am UK)

January 26th
12:30am PT (8:30pm UK)
3:30am PT (11:30pm UK)
6:30am PT (2:30am UK)

 

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Just seen the opening two episodes and really enjoyed them - once it got past a bumpy first 10 minutes..

The trailer had a bit of a 'trying too hard to be edgy/adult' tone and the first third of ep 1 (which a lot of the trailer is from) heavily leans in on that - especially the bar scene.

I know they're both trying to show the series is not for kids and that the characters were pretty selfish early on, but it goes a bit too hard on the 'hey look, we've got swearing/gore/nudity' front and it could be off-putting for some..

 

BUT!

 

Thankfully, once the characters leave on their mission it picks up dramatically in every sense.. The characters are way more likeable and it feels less forced. The second episode I don't have much other than praise for, was a lot of fun - though this tale won't be as unfamiliar to longtime fans as was implied originally. I'm hoping this is the tone it maintains for the rest of the season though as it felt spot on to the games.

 

The animation is definitely in the higher tier of made for TV stuff - especially recently.. It's not quite up there with the best of Korra etc, but generally it's very good for an American series. You also can really see where the budget went in the fight sequences and the creature they end up fighting really ends up feeling terrifyingly powerful as a result. 

 

 

Lastly there were some lovely little easter eggs for fans - especially in Gilmore's shop and the basement of the house they break into..

Spoiler

C3 Studio lanterns! Crimson weasel! Tusk Love! Troll dick! Conclave rug! 

 

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Sardan

Sardan

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15 minutes ago, Doctor Shark said:

Watched the first two episodes. It’s very…try hard. More f bombs than a Quentin Tarentino movie. Super violent and gory. Titties and blurry shots of “the cube”. Feels like they’re trying way too hard to be adult. It’s good but…I dunno. Feels a bit off. 


 

Really?!?  I was hoping to watch this with my children. :(

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yakumo

yakumo

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I know nothing about this and watched the first episode, is it meant to feel so try hard and cringey in dialogue?. Animation is the homogenous style anime typical now. Not impressed really. I watch the other 2 in case it gets better, but so far don't get the hype.

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Captain Kelsten

Captain Kelsten

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1 hour ago, yakumo said:

I know nothing about this and watched the first episode, is it meant to feel so try hard and cringey in dialogue?. Animation is the homogenous style anime typical now. Not impressed really. I watch the other 2 in case it gets better, but so far don't get the hype.

 

The 'hype' comes from a few things: it is an animated version of a much-loved live play D&D campaign featuring talented voice actors; it is the most successful film or television project in Kickstarter history - whilst the Kickstarter began with a goal of $750k, it ended up making $11.4 million and went from a single animated episode to a whole series of 22 minute episodes, getting taken on board by Amazon Prime and greenlit for a second season.

 

What I would say is that the 'try hard and cringey' dialogue isn't typical of the tabletop game they play weekly (this series is based on one story arc from their first campaign, which aired back in 2015). They do swear, they do talk about sex, there is violence (albeit described rather than seen) but it's nowhere near as much as in just a single 22 minute episode of this show. If you look up a few posts, you'll see that I am criticising it for the exact thing you are, except I DO know about it (I watch the D&D stream every week) and I know it's a little off. Episode 3 definitely settles down a bit, I would say. Keen to see where it goes as the Briarwood arc from the first campaign was phenomenal.

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yakumo

yakumo

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2 hours ago, Doctor Shark said:

 

The 'hype' comes from a few things: it is an animated version of a much-loved live play D&D campaign featuring talented voice actors; it is the most successful film or television project in Kickstarter history - whilst the Kickstarter began with a goal of $750k, it ended up making $11.4 million and went from a single animated episode to a whole series of 22 minute episodes, getting taken on board by Amazon Prime and greenlit for a second season.

 

What I would say is that the 'try hard and cringey' dialogue isn't typical of the tabletop game they play weekly (this series is based on one story arc from their first campaign, which aired back in 2015). They do swear, they do talk about sex, there is violence (albeit described rather than seen) but it's nowhere near as much as in just a single 22 minute episode of this show. If you look up a few posts, you'll see that I am criticising it for the exact thing you are, except I DO know about it (I watch the D&D stream every week) and I know it's a little off. Episode 3 definitely settles down a bit, I would say. Keen to see where it goes as the Briarwood arc from the first campaign was phenomenal.


Great reply, I'm going to finish off the other two in the meantime. I'm not impressed so far from what I seen, if I was younger maybe I find it funnier but the shock gore and constant swearing as the comedy is done to death.

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Clipper

Clipper

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The third episode is best by far and does capture the stream well.

 

the first two have a tough job of pleasing long term fans and informing new ones. So the character brush strokes are broad.

 

as for it being amplified compared to the streams - I think being condensed really makes it more OTT. Also I guess initially they are concerned about being too dry - the stream is less intense and dry at times because of rules and long battles (the battle with briarwood took 2-3 hours on stream.

 

I think it will settle down over this season and it is certainly watchable and it looks like a lot of money has been put on screen. 
 

 

most of the character work looks great but Silas is not how I imagined him, he seems more “hench” vampire like a bad guy in castlevania

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(eps 4, 5 and 6) Fans knew these adaptations were going to get dark and wow they delivered.. Ep 4 especially is a straight up horror show..

 

..and the show has really found it's feet now.. You get lovely little character moments amid the absolute chaos that they find themselves walking into..

 

Pike.. 

Spoiler

..leaving for a while is a nice little nod to both Ashley's frequent absence, a minor plotline from early on in campaign 1 where her holy symbol cracked (as a result of something brutal she did - maybe here it will be her doubting herself after failing to save the child and losing to the Briarwoods) and it hopefully sets her up for 'that' scene up on the wall later on..)

Also we got that adorable moment showing how close Grog and Pike are.. 

 

The Sun Tree..

Spoiler

..was another standout moment, which fans knew was coming, though of course we never got to see the lead up to it before.. Could the dark haired woman chosen be a certain Campaign 3 character?

 

The undead giant..

Spoiler

..some serious Attack on Titan vibes from that (and another squished Mercer lookalike :lol:  - has to be intentional given Matt plays Levi in the dub of AoT..)

 

(No Mercy) Percy..

Spoiler

..losing himself to revenge and.. 

Spoiler

Yeah, not revealing that.. but we do get to see the names on 'The List' (the six-shooter pepperbox) and 'Bad News' (more or less a sniper rifle) for the first time..

 

 

and all the little easter eggs from bits of the campaign they probably wouldn't have got to, in particular..

Spoiler

The 'strangest kill' bits showing Grog vs the Bullette, Kiki shushing the Duregar to death in the lava and Vax and the Rakshasa.. So good.. :wub:

 

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