What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that the main character in this action
cartoon is a spoiled boy prince who revels in bossing around
his adult bodyguard -- who, in turn, tries to humiliate the boy
before reluctantly doing his bidding. Violence (mostly cartoony
stuff like crashes and collisions, but there's some weapon
play, too) is common and injury free, and it's generally how
the heroes fend off the bad guys. It's worth noting that if
"hate" is a four-letter word in your house, you'll want to skip
this one altogether; Quest uses it multiple times in each
episode to describe how he feels about everything from scenery
to people.
Families can talk about how bad guys are typically portrayed in kids' shows. Did you find the bad guys in this show scary? How does their outward appearance affect how you feel about them? Would any changes to the way they look make them more or less scary? Can you think of other cartoon bad guys who are more frightening than the ones here? What makes them seem scarier?
Common Sense Media Review
WORLD OF QUEST is an action-adventure cartoon series that
centers on spoiled young Prince Nestor (voiced by Landon
Norris) and his reluctant, uber-muscular bodyguard, Quest (Ron
Pardo), who are on a mission to rescue Nestor's parents from
the clutches of the nefarious Lord Sprite. They're joined by a
handful of colorful, magical characters, whose unique talents
come in handy when they battle Sprite's henchmen. Nestor and
Quest often lapse into fighting between themselves with more
intensity than they direct at their enemies, but to locate the
coveted Shatter Soul Sword and free the royal prisoners,
they'll need to learn to get along.
Unfortunately there's not much substance to the duo's adventure. It's obvious that the show's only goal is to entertain, and there's no attempt to bolster the stories with lessons of any sort. Nestor's obnoxious control over Quest -- who's magically indebted to the prince -- will quickly grate on parents' patience, and the fact that Quest's obvious frustration at being bossed around by a punk kid is a basis for the show's humor is flat-out irritating.
Add to that the show's reliance on violence as an answer to confrontations and the bad guys' constant, unwitting ineptitude -- which helps Nestor defeat them time and again -- and it's clear that kids will get a skewed idea of appropriate methods of conflict resolution. It's also worth mentioning that Quest uses the word "hate" many times in each episode, referring to anything from the weather to people, and kids may just adopt this questionable habit as their own.
Better choices for adventure-seeking tweens include Avatar: The Last Airbender and Johnny Test .
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
