The Dreamstone is a slightly different version of the battle between good and evil. On the Dream Planet (actually, from what I can gather it never says the name of the planet, it's just what I got from some released map drawings) the world is split into two places, separated by the Myst of Limbo, which circles around the planet like a fluffy purple hoop. On one side is the Land of Nightmares, on the other is the Land of Dreams. So put simply, one side bad, the other side good. Both sides have key locations where the stories take place and crossing between them is done mostly over the sea section of the world, called the Sea of Destruction.
On the side of good we have our main protagonist, a young Noop called Rufus. Well, the first few episodes have him as the main protagonist, though he tends to share the spotlight with his good friend Amberley. Heck, it's hard to call his the main character of the show, but we'll get to that later on. He is introduced as someone who has a good heart, but tends not to consider the consequences of his actions has has a bad habit of daydreaming all the time. This costs him his work early on and when Amberley tells him to try being apprentice to the Dream Maker, he gives it a shot. This starts the shows episodic theme of the Dreamstone being stolen and Rufus & Co trying to get it back (most of the episodes anyway). I personally find him to be a very likeable character.
Amberley is Rufus' best friend and possible romantic interest? (it is hinted at a few times, plus there was that unused song). She is much more grounded in reality then Rufus and tends to be more aware of whats going on around her, which leads to her trying to keep Rufus focused too. The first few episodes certainly have her with a short temper and she does fight back, but this tends to be reduced quite a bit later on, mostly just to a few moments here and there.. While I'm not sure why, I guess each fan will probably have their opinions on this. She also works along side Rufus, though from what some of the episodes imply is that she is more of an assistant, where as Rufus is an apprentice.
Then we have the Dream Maker and his dogfish Albert. It would appear the Dream Maker is very old, well over a thousand years, though I can't say if he is immortal or not (at least when it comes to age related death). He is apparently very powerful and takes great joy in bringing dreams to everyone, using his dream potions and the Dreamstone to do so. Albert acts much like a dog, but one with average human intelligence. He can only talk like a dog, but he understands everything and has to try and use actions to explain things to others at times.
Finally there are the Wuts, forest creatures who act like the defenders of the Land of Dreams. The Wuts are tall and thin, tend to fly around on leaves and are well spoken. The main ones are Pildit (a.k.a Pildit VIII) who is the leader of the Wuts, Wildit who is Pildit's grandmother (and a bit of a wild character) and finally Mr. Blossom, who is the Dream Makers gardener and specialises in the art of moaning and complaining. Oh yes, there is also Spildit, who is Wildit's niece, who is very much the active kid who brags about how she can do things, but is very polite about it (she tends to treat Blob, Nug and Frizz nicely too it seems).
Beneath the red planet of Doom. Beneath the black mountain of Viltheed, a servant of evil stirs. Zordrak, Lord of Nightmares. That is how the first episode describes him and after your first introduction to him, you would think he was a power to contend with. As we see however, by around season two he tends to be less of a threat and more of a sit-down couch villain. Once a member of the Council of Dream Makers, he was cast out for, well. being evil. He has a great look and an amazing voice, but somehow along the way I feel something was lost with this guy. Still knows how to throw a party though. His Argorrible minions are purple mist monsters which are responsible for bringing nightmares to everyone, only being held off thanks to the power of the Dreamstone (which is why Zordrak wants it so much). He also tends to have his own comedic moments, which I feel makes him an enjoyable villain.
Then there are the Urpneys. These guys are the bumbling servants to Zordrak, either screwing up somehow or succeeding through shear luck, before loosing because of their silly nature. The Urpneys are very much the comedy of the show (most of the slapstick comedy is performed by them), which I feel ultimately made them the focus of the show. Nearly every episode starts with and ends with the Urpneys. There are two types. The first is Urpgor, a green Urpney who is the scientific inventor who creates all of the mechanical devices that are used in missions to capture the Dreamstone. Has a huge opinion of himself and tends to spit and splatter a lot when he talks. He also has some of the most elastic animation compared to every other character in the show, which helps to show off just how much of a mad scientist he is. He grows the most in the sense that when in season one he seems more limited, more structured and more quiet, but by season two onwards he gets louder, more vocal and more growth in character and personality, becoming the nutter he is loved for being.
Then there are the Soldiers of the Urpney army. Here we find the shows main focus, Sergeant Blob and his two man crack team of Frizz and Nug. Sgt. Blob is a large individual who acts like a stereotypical drill Sergeant. Frizz is short, is prone to panic attacks and emotional outbursts and would do anything, so long as it doesn't involve getting hurt, abused or stressed. Nug on the other hand is just as cowardly as Frizz, but his attitude at times seems more calm, though is more straight forward in stating how grim a situation can be, which usually upsets Frizz more often then not. The three tend to get seriously punished in the early seasons, but tend to fair better in the later ones (which is just as well as they are quite enjoyable characters to watch).
It's difficult to judge the animation quality, mostly cause nearly all the episodes I've found tend to be of bad VHS recordings. From what I have seen, the animation seems colourful and smooth and the character designs work well, though seasons 2 to 4 were done by a different animation company, which is noticable. What is amazing is the shows music. The whole thing is was done by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and it is simply a magical experience. Composed and Conducted by Mike Batt, there are two soundtrack versions. One you really need to look for, but is located on Youtube, but I do recommend that if you are a fan of it, then you can actually find another version on iTunes called The Mike Batt Archive Series: The Dreamstone / Rapid Eye Movements. Part of a two pack, the first set contains the Dreamstone songs:
1. More then a Dream - (Vocal Version) The shows main theme song/ end credits song.
2. The Warsong of the Urpneys - (Vocal Version) Instrumental usually heard during the Urpney sequences.
3. Dreamdance - A short and edited version (without sound clips) of the original Dreamdance.
4. Into the Sunset - (Vocal Ver) Apparently the shows love song that was never used (from what I could find it's suggested to be Rufus & Amberley).
Tracks 5 - 9: Dreamstone Overtunes 1 to 5 - Orchestrated music parts from the show.
Personally, I have listened to both and I really do just love this music. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about the music is just so appealing to me. The Warsong of the Urpneys for instants is one of those things that from the moment you start listening to it gives you the feeling of marching and singing (The military marching song certainly makes them sound far more competent and deadly then they actually are). Music like this feels almost like some long lost art form in animated shows. Orchestrated soundtracks like this make me feel like I'm watching a movie, not some twenty minute cartoon. Simply amazing.
Story wise, it tends to have a set standard. Starts off with the Urpneys doing something, then a plan is hatched, we visit our heroes to see what their story part is, then its back and forth between the two until the plan is foiled in which we return to the villains before credits. You get use to it fairly quickly, but along the way I got the feeling that so much more could be added. Straight off the bat I can honestly say that I feel that the heroes themselves don't get much in the way of personal advancement, particularly with Rufus and Amberley. It might just be me, but I felt more could have been done with them as far as character growth. Likewise, there seems to be more focus on the Urpneys then on the two Noops. Granted, they are the strong comedic element of the show, but you get the feeling that the show is more about them and their task to get the Dreamstone then on the protagonists. This tends to kick in after the first season and while they do expand some of the locations and characters, I feel that it comes at a cost. Several times I've often wondered while watching episodes 'What happens next?' with the heroes. What happens when they get back? Was what they did successful? You never know cause it tends to go straight to the Urpneys before the episode ends, leaving some questions unanswered. I wonder if this would work better if they had more time to tell the stories.
Then again, given how the character act in some episodes compared to other episodes, I have to wonder what the plan was for the Noops. It seems that in some episodes they act a little out of, what is, a pre-established character and I feel that given they are set-up as the main protagonists (well, the first few episodes establish Rufus as anyways), something feels like it was scrapped or cut back. This could be down to decisions beyond shows control, which I understand, but it was something that certainly bugged me when watching through these episodes again. I felt more progress and progression for them as characters was needed (they began to feel like side characters in some episodes when they were being active protagonists), but I guess that's just me wanting to see where these two Noops could have gone as far as personal stories and character growth went.
To be fair to the Urpneys, it wasn't surprising they were given more center stage. Just watching the first episode is an excellent example of how enjoyable they are to watch. The best one to point out is when they first use the Whirlyped, from its takeoff to them flying through the mist. Gags such as the 'You'll have noticed I have turned on the hang on to your seat like never before sign' in which even the stick figure Urpney wants out and the 'You'll look back on this someday and laugh', with Blob then getting struck by lightning and Nug and Frizz laughing before Blob yells out "I said Someday, not now". As such, I can't blame the focus for being on the Urpneys when they are the ones who usually are the comedic focus. They certainly got laughs out of me, so if that was the goal they definitely succeeded.
There is also feels like a magic vs technology feel to the series too. The Dream Maker is always using magic and the Wuts fly on magic leaves and Wut globes also act like a magical device. The Urpneys on the other hand are nearly always using some kind of technological device built by Urpgor. Most of the time these fail due to the incompetence of the user, but when used correctly they tend to do their job perfectly. This feels slightly odd when compared to Zordrak, who himself uses magic. Indeed, in the episode Horrible Argorrible, we see Zordrak actually has a book called The Book of Evil Principles and is used to make one of his Argorribles corporeal, stating he should read more often. This implies that he hasn't really read through the book much, which you'd think for a villain who is hundreds of years old and has been at war with the Dream Maker for some time, he would have exhausted his magic spells in the book before turning to relying on Urpgor's technology. Perhaps he has his reasons, but we may never know.
That said, don't let these little annoyances of mine put you off. I do recommend checking the series out, even if its just the first two episodes (the two part introduction) as it alone is an enjoyable watch which introduces everyone and shows off Zordrak at his finest. You can even find the original 1985 pitch and see what was originally pitched compared to what eventually got off the ground (sort of like a movie pitch which seems more re-worked into a television series). In comparison, as a massive fan of Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal, I found so many of this shows aspects so appealing to me and the music really feels so involved in the story telling. The cast of characters are enjoyable, there are so many great moments and while I feel I wanted more from it, I consider that a good thing (being invested is what creates a fan and builds a community). Much like a number of these animated shows I look at, I really want a DVD set of these. Why do so many of these shows not have a DVD collection, it's really frustrating. So do go check it out and remember, if you do end up having some horrible nightmare, you now know who to blame for it:
Zordrak, Lord of....
....Nightmares?
Update:
So there is an official Dreamstone channel on Youtube: HERE
Here you will find a majority of the episodes (some are missing, I believed they were removed due to sound issues). Not only that, but there are also messages from those who worked on the show, now promoting the channel. Go check it out.
But that's not all. While searching for miniature games based on franchises, I stumbled upon The Dreamstone miniatures boardgame and RPG: HERE
There designs are done through classic sculpting methods (compared to the 3D computer generated ones) and have the old forces of good vs the forces of evil. Even better, the RPG itself has a rather nice twist to it. Seems others share my opinion about the Urpneys are the real stars, because in this game there is one Dreammaker (the GM in regular RPGs) and the players create Urpney elite soldiers where in each game is like an episode of the show and you are sent on a mission, usually to steal the Dreamstone. Of course, even if you are successful the good guys will just get it back in the end and your party leader will need to give a good excuse to Zordrak to avoid serious punishment. So if you are a serious fan of the show, then give it a look.
No comments:
Post a Comment