At midnight on April 19th, 2019, the record-breaking Kickstarter campaign for the Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina Animated Special concluded with an astounding $11,385,449 pledged by 88,887 backers. This campaign, which exceeded its original goal of $750,000 by over ten million dollars, was a shock to not just its creators, but to the entire D&D media landscape. Fans of Critical Role and D&D fans longing for a new D&D animated series banded together to make this campaign the fifth most-backed campaign in Kickstarter history, as well as the fifth most-funded.
The cast and crew of Critical Role gathered on their “bar set” last night to count down the final 30 minutes of the campaign, and were joined by Joel Hodgson, best known for his performance on the original Mystery Science Theater 3000, who was until recently the record holder for most-funded Kickstarter campaign in the “Film & Video” category, for his revival of MST3K which raised $5.7 million in 2015. Hodgson (and the DM for his private home D&D game!) were greeted like old friends and celebrated the end of Critical Role’s Kickstarter campaign with drinks and a passing of a comically oversized, WWE-style championship belt.
Critical Role cast member Sam Riegel proudly displaying the championship belt as the cast cheers
At the celebration, Critical Role Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer said, “I couldn’t have asked for a better family to be growing around this insanity. I’m so proud. […] It’s unlike anything I ever thought possible. And at the same time, we very much understand…the responsibility of making good on all this good faith you guys continuously show in our direction.”
Critical Role cast member and community “Art Dad” Liam O’Brien said, “We are grateful for all of your help, and we don’t take one inch of it for granted. Thank you.”
The unprecedented success of this fundraising effort means that, in addition to providing a wide assortment of merchandise to high-level backers, Critical Role Productions will be able to partner with Titmouse Animation to create a full 10-episode animated series, initially covering a two-episode original story set before their D&D game began streaming, followed by an eight-episode animated adaptation of one of Critical Role’s most popular chapters, known as the “Briarwoods Arc.” The animated series will debut with full red-carpet regalia at a private screening in Los Angeles in 2020.
As this series goes into production and Critical Role shifts into blistering high gear to produce not only their current fusillade of livestreamed shows but also a full animated series, the question lingering in the community’s mind is: what does this mean for D&D? Though Legends of Vox Machina will not officially bear the D&D logo, it is the first attempt to adapt a D&D-inspired property into animation since the middling, direct-to-video Dragons of Autumn Twilight film in 2008, and many see it as the first “true” animated D&D adaptation since the beloved 1983 Dungeons & Dragons animated TV series.
Notably, Legends of Vox Machina will be geared towards a much older audience than the ’83 animated series, in keeping with the irreverent and occasionally bawdy tone of the improvised, livestreamed series. While it seems unlikely that Game of Thrones-level mature content will feature prominently in this show, Matthew Mercer’s gruesome and visceral descriptions of fantasy combat and the cast’s charmingly blue dialogue in the livestream will influence the content of the animated series.
Critical Role Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer joyfully embracing Critical Role Chief Operating Officer Ed Lopez
Critical Role's success is just another jewel in the crown of D&D's pop culture dominance, as a recent article in the Washington Post suggests, even if this animated series isn't officially affiliated with Dungeons & Dragons. In this instance, Critical Role’s distance from the official D&D brand may be a boon for everyone involved; with their animated series aptly filling the adult-oriented fantasy niche, D&D has been handed a prime opportunity to create or commission a more family-focused D&D series in the vein of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power or Voltron: Legendary Defender, both Netflix original series. Critical Role’s success also heralds potential interest in the enigmatic 2021 “Dungeons & Dragons” movie, produced by Paramount.
Images in this article are sourced from Critical Role's Twitch channel.
What does the success of Critical Role’s Kickstarter campaign mean to you? Are you excited? What would you want in an official “Dungeons & Dragons” animated series? Let us know in the comments!
James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, the DM of Worlds Apart, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and Kobold Press. He loves watching Critical Role and wants everyone he knows to get into it, too. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his partner Hannah and his very own Frumpkins, Mei and Marzipan. You can usually find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.
Over $1m per episode. I have some pretty high expectations for this one. I'll bet they can deliver.
As a season one, episode one Critter, it’s insane to think just how big and how crazy this community has become. And I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it. I first met Matt at an anime convention and he was the one who told me about this “upcoming show” he was going to be doing that I needed to watch. And now to see it from what it was when that first episode aired, to now having participated in such an overwhelming Kickstarter campaign is heartwarming and amazing. It shows how much love and joy this nerdy group of voice actors has brought into so many lives. Seeing this now, I cannot wait to see where Critical Role and our family of Critters goes next.
CR's Kickstarter means a number of things to me. I pledged at the Veteran level ($750) to not only enable it being created, but to reward Matt Mercer for being a DM role model for me, to reward the cast for demonstrating what D&D can be to a group of friends and to how it can be played well, and to get cool exclusive merchandise to celebrate my re-entry into D&D from my original AD&D playing days and honor Critical Role's part in that.
Being a DM, finding Critical Role on YouTube has been a boon to me getting back into D&D, learning the current version of the game and its mechanics, and providing a source of material for use in my own campaigns. I pondered being a DM way back in the 80's when I played. I never did it as I felt overwhelmed. The YouTube era, the D&D re-emergence, and Critical Role's broadcasts enabled me to learn by example and counsel. And, here I am today DM'ing my own group of adventurers. For that, CR deserves my support, the way I see it.
What would I like to see in a D&D animated series? Rollicking adventure and silliness. Off the rails twists based on seemingly real-time character decisions not comtemplated by the DM. Humor. Having the actual dynamic, or equivalent, of rolling the dice to determine outcome. In general, animating an actual campaign - without all the intervening drudgery and such, of course.
Read Norton's Quag Keep....animate in that style. Watch TRON. Emulate that. You get it....
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who noticed that. Also missing "the" between "celebrated" and "end" in the last sentence of the second paragraph.
I'm so happy to have been apart of bringing this project to life. D&D is changing the world and I feel like it's only going to get bigger and bigger. Thank you Critical Role for renewing the creative energy in millions of Critters every week! I can't wait to see what the future holds for us nerds.
If this proves to Wizards/Hasbro that there is a real market for this kind of content that is great news. I just hope whoever they get to produce it is as invested in making it great as the Critical Role crew.
I donated 200 to it.
So happy to see this get made. The cast and show has done a lot for many Critters, and a ton for charity.
Really happy to see D&D undergoing its resurgence.
We love good storytelling however we find it. The entire cast of CR, not just the lovely and talented Matt Mercer, are fantastic storytellers.
The things I fear in adaptations of beloved media, are blatant monetization of the property, and troupy storytelling that doesnt understand the property it's got at its fingertips. The thing I love best about D&D is that it encourages the same type of cooperative storytelling that I had on so many playgrounds in my youth. All the players are protagonists in the collective story told at the table, shepherded through the world by the DM who makes sure that there's always a set for them to walk onto, and challenges to grow from.
I'm over the moon with the success of the kickstarter and believe that it's due at least in part to the genuinely wonderful people, so full of love and positivity, who asked for our support. But I believe it's due in greater part to the trust they have earned as story tellers. The level of humanity they bring to their characters, the respectful way they dont pull their punches dealing with hard issues, and the humor they bring to what could otherwise be a dark and depressing world. These are the three main things I ask of any fandom who would embrace me. When I see them I, like so many others, simply must embrace the community back.
Yeeeeeeeessss!!!! That is absolutely awesome cannot wait to see it!!
Critical Role is producing it and Titmouse studios is animating it. I don't think we have to worry about quality at all.
I started late in the first campaign (started watching at the Fort Daxio episode), but went back and watched it from the beginning. Critical Role has rekindled my love for D&D - used to play in 3.5e. I haven't been played any campaigns in 5e, yet, but I hope to eventually find a group. My Tabaxi Monk (Way of the Open Hand) shall rise and help NPCs in need. I pledged $400 in the hopes that other can find a love for D&D just as I did.
It means that at last, I get the D&D cartoon Ive been wanting since I was 11 years old. Ive always felt that animation was the ideal medium for D&D; since the D&D 80's cartoon Ive always wondered why TSR or Wizards never invested in another. With Clone Wars and other animated shows like Adventure Time, it is the best time to make it happen. And with 5e brining more people to D&D than any previous edition or even Pathfinder, it is the perfect time for a new generation of kids to fall in love with our hobby.
To Matt et all I say, Cheers and I and the entire world will be watching EVERY single episode!
I'd imagine Kickstarter fees + reward fulfilment fees probably bring the final amount per episode down a fair bit, I reckon.
I got into CR right around Ep 100 of the first campaign. I have been following the second campaign like a hawk. Like everyone in this comment thread, I cannot wait for LoVM!
Factoring in the costs for physical media, as well as Kickstarter's cut, it shakes out to around $840k per ep, which isn't really outside the realm of a lot of animated shows. (Willing to bet an average Rick & Morty ep is over a mil each.)
I love the series and am always exited for Thursday.
I believe this will be one of the best animated shows to date, however 1 thing bugs me...
Why does it cost so much?
I would really like to know if anyone cares to explain!
cool that relieves a lot of concern on my part over the cost.
I'm very glad that this kickstarter campaign blew the records as it did, showing that this genre is not just a niche / fad thing. This amount of money also gives CR the opportunity to produce higher quality animations and bring in more VO actors.
On the other hand, I worry that other big studios seeing this will try to get a piece of the pie and start doing their own thing without fully understanding D&D and what it means; meaning, will we be seeing a lot of cheap rip-offs in the future?
I hope the 12 or so studios they shopped this project to are kicking their own asses right now and I'm glad all the money is going to people who are actually making the thing.
I also hope that Wizards to decide to sponsor or promote or somehow join forces on this as it will be better for everyone. The MCU, the SWEU and Star Trek weren't build on a day. And yes, i think there is this much potential here.
Great news and we should do what we can to keep up their momentum. I'm a pledge as well. I'm pretty confident they will nail it.