King Arthur and the Knights of Justice was a 1992 American cartoon series produced by Golden Films, C&D (Créativité et Développement) and Bohbot Entertainment. It ran for two seasons of 13 episodes each.
The series was the brain child of Diane Eskenazi (Golden Films) and Avi Arad (Toy Biz chairman, CEO and the founder of Marvel Studios) who were also executive producers of the series.
The show’s plot involved King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table trapped in the Cave of Glass by the evil enchantress Queen Morgana.
The wizard Merlin, unable to free King Arthur and the Knights himself, searches the timeline for replacement Knights. Merlin finds the quarterback of the New York Knights football team, Arthur King, as a suitable replacement. Merlin transports Arthur King and his teammates to Camelot after one of their football games and appoints Arthur King as their leader, with his teammates as the new Knights of the Round Table, and assigns them the task of freeing the true King and Knights.
In order to complete their quest they must find the 12 Keys of Truth, one for each knight that only the knight in question can initially touch. Once all the keys are found, the real knights will be free and the team will return home.
In the meantime, they pledge “….fairness to all, to protect the weak and vanquish the evil”. The Knights are armed with special armor and are able to summon their respective creatures at any time when in battle armor. These animals, such as King Arthur’s dragon, are emblazoned on their shields.
The series had a progressive story with both sides making progress towards their goals. Continuity was also established in the episodes which would be brought up in later episodes, along with some repeat minor characters, character relationships, and previously overcome weaknesses of the Knights.
Despite the continual movement towards a resolution, the series is incomplete and ended abruptly during the second season!
