Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders | |
|---|---|
 Princess Gwenevere original US logo |
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| Genre | Animated series |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Creator(s) | Robert Mandell Katherine Lawrence |
| Starring | Kerry Butler Corinne Orr Jean Louisa Kelly Peter Fernandez |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original channel | BKN |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders (also known as Starla and the Jewel Riders, and listed as such on BKN's official site; originally also as the Jewel Riders of Camelot) was an animated television series produced by BKN Entertainment and lasted for two seasons, first airing in 1995.
The series took major influences from programmes such as She-Ra, Wildfire, and Galaxy Rangers (in a way, its ancestor, sharing the same creator, and many of the same writers and voice talent), and despite not being as well known as its predecessors, has a small fan following and contained some of the earliest signs of a "quest"-genre series that would soon be seen in more popular series like Jackie Chan Adventures.
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[edit] Story
Jewel Riders took strong, almost care free liberties with the concepts of the legends of King Arthur, using the character names, but not necessarily the true interpretations, of Lady Guenevere, Merlin, Morgana (although still Merlin's enemy), and its location, Avalon (the legendary resting place of King Arthur), as a fairy tale utopia that keeps its magical energies in check with the aid of the royal Crown Jewels. The plot follows Princess's quest to recover enchanted jewels from the evil Lady Kale, who plots to rule Avalon.
[edit] Season One
The grand wizard Merlin mentors young Princess Gwenevere (Starla), daughter of good Queen Anya, and her friends Tamara and Fallon for the day that they will inevitably find a "special friend" to share the power of their own Enchanted Jewels with, two of the jewels are empowered by the two most dominant factors of day and night. Gwen with the power of the Sun Stone, Fallon with the power of the Moon Stone, Tamara's jewel is the Heart Stone, allowing her to communicate with her animal friends, who each share a similar stone as part of their neck collars. Gwen is the last to find such a special animal, a winged unicorn known as Sunstar), and thus fulfilling their destiny and becoming Jewel Riders, protectors of Avalon figting the forces of darkness.
Merlin is soon ambushed by his former apprentice Lady Kale, the Queen's evil sister trying usurp the throne, and banished into the Wild Magic. Avalon's fate now rests with the Jewel Riders: guardians of the realm for generations, the latest incarnation of which consists of Princess Gwenevere, and her best friends Tamara, and Fallon; they are empowered each by a themed Crown Jewel. After manipulating the Jewel Riders into surrendering the Crown Jewels, Kale soon loses them in a rematch, but they scatter across every corner of Avalon - causing Wild Magic outbreaks until they are all brought together again. Retrieving them is also the only way the Jewel Riders can recover Merlin from his prison inside the Wild Magic; along the way they must contend with the wicked Princess Kale, who intends to use the Crown Jewels to make herself the undisputed ruler of Avalon.
For the first thirteen episodes, retrieving the Crown Jewels is the primary quest, and the Jewel Riders are often assisted by a royal guard of brave warriors who all use the power of the Forest Stones, known as The Pack. Using the magic of the Enchanted Jewels to speak with fantastic animal friends, these adventurous teens team up with the magic of Avalon to fight the dark sorceress, Lady Kale, and reclaim the jewels that can save the kingdom.
Along the way the Jewel Riders also learn of a conspiracy conceived many years ago by the witch Morgana and the remaining Grand Wizards to defeat Merlin and take control of Avalon. At the conclusion of the first season the Jewel Riders entune the power of the recovered Crown Jewels to their own, and manage to trick Lady Kale into banishing herself into the Wild Magic - but in doing so, they squander any chance of recovering Merlin for the time being, leaving the series as yet slightly unresolved.
The Crown Jewels included Jewel of the North Woods found in the Ravenwood, Jewel of the Dreamfields, Rainbow Jewel found inside the Rainbow Falls, Burning Ice Jewel found in the Tower of Glog at the Wizard's Peak, Desert Star Jewel recovered in the Great Desert and Faeryland, Misty Rose Jewel found in the Misty Moors by Castle Rivermist's lords Murray and Delfonse, and the Jewel of the Jungle found in Morgana's lair.
[edit] Season Two
The second season then focuses on the Jewel Riders trying to recover the wizard jewels before Morgana and returning Kale can take them and use them to unite the grand wizards and complete Morgana's conquest of Avalon. Having been exiled into the Wild Magic, Lady Kale is drawn towards a floating palace where she meets Morgana, one of the legendary Grand Wizards and the creator of the Dark Stone. When Morgana realizes that the Dark Stone has now become magically connected to Kale, and she cannot seize complete control of it, she decides to ally herself with the outlaw princess. With the Crown Jewels now tuned to the Jewel Riders, Lady Kale and Morgana needed more powerful jewels - the Wizard Jewels; once again, the Jewel Riders must outwit Kale and her new ally or risk losing the magical realm of Avalon forever.
Meanwhile, the Jewel Riders discover that the powers of the Crown Jewels, now attuned to themselves, have given them new armor and powers, which they have difficulty controlling. Gwen/Starla learns from a fortune teller aided by a wizard jewel of her destiny to become a ruler of Avalon; motivated by this vision, Gwen/Starla is able to have the confidence to eventually lead the Jewel Riders to victory over her adversaries in a test of skills and wits in the series finale, freeing Merlin and restoring the balance of magic to Avalon for as long as it can be before evil arises again.
The seven Wizard Jewels include The One Jewel (Merlin’s wizard jewel - the red orb on his staff), the Garden Jewel (shaped like a flower), the Unicorn Jewel (shaped like a unicorn's horn), the Jewel of the Sea (shaped like a seashell), the Time Stone (shaped like an hourglass), the Jewel of Arden (shaped like a leaf), the Fortune Jewel (shaped like a top), and Morgana’s Darkstone found by Kale in Avalon.
[edit] List of Episodes
See also: List of Jewel Riders episodes
[edit] Season One
- 1: Jewel Quest Part 1
- 2: Jewel Quest Part 2
- 3. Travel Trees Don't Dance
- 4: Song of the Rainbow
- 5: Wizard's Peak
- 6: For Whom the Bell Trolls
- 7: The Faery Princess
- 8: Badlands
- 9: Home Sweet Heart Stone
- 10: Love Struck
- 11: Dreamfields
- 12: Revenge of the Dark Stone (1)
- 13: Full Circle (2)
[edit] Season Two
- 14: Morgana
- 15: Shadowsong
- 16: Fashion Fever
- 17: Vale of the Unicorns
- 18: Prince of the Forest
- 19: The Wizard of Gardenia
- 20: The Jewel of the Sea'
- 21: Trouble in Elf Town
- 22: The Wishing Jewel
- 23: Mystery Island
- 24: The Fortune Jewel
- 25: Lady of the Lake (1)
- 26: The One Jewel/The Last Dance (2)
[edit] Releases
[edit] VHS releases
There were four VHS releases in America, and some slightly different video releases in Europe.
The American VHS releases consisted of Jewel Quest, which contained Jewel Quest Part 1 and Jewel Quest Part 2, Wizard's Peak, which contained Wizard's Peak and Travel Trees Can't Dance, For Whom the Bell Trolls, which contained For Whom the Bell Trolls and The Faery Princess, and Full Circle, which contained Revenge of the Dark Stone and Full Circle. Though all of the American releases were from the first season only, there were various European VHS releases under the name "Starla and the Jewel Riders" that contained episodes from the second season of the show.
[edit] DVD releases
Digiview Entertainment has reserved the right to release the show onto DVD around Summer 2006. They plan to released the first two volumes in late 2006, and will release subsequent volumes over the course of the year.
The first DVD released by Digiview was Wizard's Peak, containing the first five episodes of the show and is available in the Walmart stores. Though it says "Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders" on the cover, the actual show on the DVD is the international version ("Starla and the Jewel Riders"), which uses Gwenevere's European name, Starla and it is also noted that they have used Gwen/Starla European logo but the name Starla but as this was sold in USA Gwenever was the named that was chosen. The disc also appears to be region free, as it states that "This disc is compatible with all DVD players".
[edit] External links
| Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders | |
|---|---|
| Episodes | |
| Characters | |
| Jewel Riders: | Princess Gwenevere | Tamara | Fallon |
| Villainesses: | Lady Kale | Morgana |
| Other main characters: | Drake | Prince Ian | Merlin | Queen Anya |
