On April 19th, 2019, 45 days after the Critical Role Kickstarter began, it ended with a bang. After an initial goal of a mere $750,000, the fans of the beloved Dungeons and Dragons live stream contributed $11.3 Million to fund an animated series. This makes it the #5 most successful Kickstarter of all time. The cast of Critical Role celebrated with a half hour long party to end the Kickstarter campaign, along with guests from another successful Kickstarter, Mystery Science Theater.
The initial goal of this campaign was to create one 22-minute animated episode of Critical Role following the tales of the adventuring group known as Vox Machina. But now fans will get an entire animated series composed of ten episodes following the fan-favorite Briarwood plotline. The first writer’s room meetup is set for June where Critical Role and rest of the creative team will develop the plot and script. The series is set to be completed in the fall of 2020 and will be titled The Legend of Vox Machina.
Fans hit many stretch goals along the way, to include fun one-shots and cast member Travis Willingham being filmed going through a haunted house. Rewards for backers have included ringtones, art prints, dice, playing cards, and even a trip to Los Angeles for the premiere.
The Kickstarter’s success has gone well beyond Critical Role’s original hopes and they have consistently thanked the fans for the support. Ever since the show’s first episode in 2015, the fans have requested seeing the stories in animated format. After The Legend of Vox Machina is complete, the sky is truly the limit for what is next. Will the series get picked up by a major network and continued? Will a new Kickstarter be run to produce a new arc? Will we eventually see the new heroes, The Mighty Nein, in animated format?
The Nerd Stash will keep up with the details of the animated series as they are released. In a year and a half, Critical Role’s first animated series will be on your television.
