Critical Role, one of the most successful Dungeons & Dragons weekly role-playing shows, has recently hit a Kickstarter goal of $5.75 million. The team put together this Kickstarter to fund an animated feature based around the group’s first campaign, Vox Machina. Named The Legend of Vox Machina, this feature is set for release in Fall 2020, and the Critical Role team has pledged to make it the “best goddamn cartoon” ever.
After the Critical Role Kickstarter smashed its initial $750,000 goal in less than a day, the team has now expanded the scope of The Legend of Vox Machina to span multiple episodes and notable arcs within the original campaign. Most recently, the latest Kickstarter goals have involved the infamous Briarwoods arc of the campaign — a fan favorite.
Now, Variety is reporting that the success of the Critical Role Kickstarter has resulted in the team pledging to make six episodes of The Legend of Vox Machina. The show is being animated by Titmouse (of Big Mouth fame) and looks like it’s going to cover a lot more of the original adventures of Vox Machina than previously imagined. Travis Willingham and Sam Riegel, both executive producers and cast members, have said in the wake of the Kickstarter’s success that The Legend of Vox Machina’s run could extend past 10 episodes, and that the team was going to “make this the best goddamn cartoon anyone has ever seen.”
It’s clear from the speed at which the Critical Role Kickstarter’s early goals were funded that the demand for The Legend of Vox Machina is huge. Critical Role is arguably one of the primary players behind Dungeons & Dragons finding its way into mainstream entertainment, and the enduring popularity of the cast over two campaigns, spin-offs, and an incredible amount live-shows is a success story for the tabletop game.
Having The Legend of Vox Machina funded and produced would definitely go a long way to moving away from traditional conceptions of narrative on screen: it’s a chance for organically evolving, one-of-a-kind stories to be told in a familiar format. The Kickstarter has also pledged a number of other rewards as part of its stretch goals, including one-shots between Critical Role’s two campaigns, a Battle Royale episode, and much more. The Kickstarter looks like it’s on trend to break even more funding goals, so it’ll be interesting to see what the Critical Role team offers up next to its loyal Critters.
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Source: Variety
