American Dragon: Jake Long
American Dragon: Jake Long is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The show had premiered on January 21, 2005 and ended on September 1, 2007.[1] The show currently airs on Disney XD in the United States. In the United Kingdom it originally aired on Disney Channel, but has now moved to Disney XD and airs on Disney Channel in Australia and Mexico.
Premise
Set in New York City (specifically the borough of Manhattan), this animated series tells the story of thirteen-year-old Jake Long who must balance ordinary adolescent transformation with the amazing power and ability to change into the form of a dragon. When he eventually unlocks his full potential and turns into the American Dragon, he will overcome obstacles to protect the magical creatures living in the city, but as his ordinary self, Jake Long can't conquer his crush on pretty blond schoolmate Rose who, unbeknownst to Jake, has an amazing dark secret of her own. She's a natural dragon slayer named Huntsgirl. Jake navigates the city with fellow skateboarders Trixie and Spud, and when he gets home, it's to an extended family: a businessman dad originally from the Midwest who doesn't know he's married into a family of dragons, Jake's Chinese mom, his grandfather (who recently immigrated to train his grandson in the ways of the ancient dragon), younger seven-year-old sister Haley (a nascent dragon) and Grandpa's gruff sidekick, a magical Shar-Pei named Fu Dog.
Production
American Dragon: Jake Long was created by Jeff Goode. The Walt Disney Company ordered an initial twenty-one 30 minute episodes for the first season, all of which have been made. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on Disney Channel January 4, 2005, in the United States on The Disney Channel on January 21, 2005, and on Toon Disney on February 2006. It has also been broadcast on Family in Canada as well as on the Seven Network in Australia. It is still being aired on Disney Channel Latin America from Monday to Friday on the animated block and Saturdays and Sundays after The Wonderful World of Disney. The show will be syndicated on Toon Disney's successor Disney XD.
Characters
Main characters
- Jacob "Jake" Luke Long (Voiced by Dante Basco): Jake is a proud and lazy yet kind and loyal thirteen-year-old (fourteen years old in the second season) skateboarder who is, in secret, a dragon. He uses his duties as a dragon to help defend the underground magical world of New York City, while continuing his training into becoming the first American Dragon. He's initially a very big show off and lacks in his responsibilities, but when it really matters, he always displays a strong sense of responsibility and maturity. Jake is famous for being the second dragon to survive an encounter with the Dark Dragon and the first to do so twice. Due to this and his other adventures, Jake becomes a popular and well-known figure in the magical world. His catchphrase is "Awww Man". By the end of the series, Jake graduates from Millard Fillmore Middle School and he is dating Rose, for whom he has unusually strong romantic feelings.
- Luong Lao Shi "Grandpa" (Voiced by Keone Young): Lao, as Jake and Haley's Chinese Dragon maternal grandfather, is a Dragon Master who teaches Jake the necessary skills in becoming a protector of magical creatures. Lao has reluctantly supported Susan's relationship with Jonathan, often calling him "daughter's husband." The two eventually work out their major differences during a family reunion. He runs the Canal Street Electronics shop, which is infamous for never having any customers (the shop's slogan is "Never had a customer, never had a sale"). Nonetheless, Lao has an intense rivalry with another electronics store. Regardless, his store is the main headquarters for all magical operations. His friend Fu Dog is his guardian who can create magical potions to assist in these missions. Lao's attempts at training Jake can, at times, cause more damage than help. However, Jake learns and puts into use the skills that are essential in becoming the American Dragon. He is the first dragon to mentor a blood relative – a break from tradition that he insisted on should Jake ever have to face the Dark Dragon. Lao is actually the first dragon to face the Dark Dragon and survive. According to Fu, Lao was very laid back (much like Jake had originally been) before this encounter, but matured immensely after defeating him. The name, Luong Lao Shi, appears to be a Romanized translation of the Chinese words for "dragon" and "teacher".
- Fu Dog (Voiced by John DiMaggio): Fu is a six hundred-year-old talking Shar Pei and Lao's only companion, who speaks with a Brooklyn accent. The two actually met when Fu was a petty thief, but (with much insistence from Fu) the two became a team shortly before Lao's first encounter with the Dark Dragon. Like many magical animals, Fu is able to walk upright, and has no trouble using his front paws as hands despite the apparent absence of opposable thumbs. He is highly skilled at brewing potions and casting spells, which constantly proves to be an asset. Despite his age, he frequently keeps up-to-date with current trends and events that will occasionally put him at odds with Lao Shi. He is somewhat lecherous, and is infamous for constantly gambling and placing bets on Jake in battles (bets that often change depending on how the battle is going); he owes an immense amount of money to many magical beings as a result.
- Arthur P. "Spud" Spudinski (Voiced by Charlie Finn): Spud is one of Jake's best human friends. Though often appearing to be slow-witted, he is actually a genius. He just preferred to keep it a secret to avoid the related pressure, but the truth came out in Season 2, and he found it wasn't so bad that everyone knew. He owns a laptop computer that sports surveillance capabilities and other functions that assist him in the field. His philosophy is that he believes that all play and no work is just as bad as all work and no play and he wants to be the medium. He apparently has magical potential and may have a wizard heritage (e.g. being able to use Panderis' wand, his grandfather knowing how to seal away the genie in Taranushis Chalice and his grandfather also telling him stories about the mermaid city). In "Something Fishy This Way Comes," it is revealed that he has a fascination with the advanced mermaid city. In "Homecoming," after questions over being more than friends, he and Trixie finally decide they are only friends on a platonic level and nothing more.
- Trixie Carter (Voiced by Miss Kittie): As one of Jake's human best friends, she is sassy, vivacious and is a judgmental character. Of the three friends, Trixie is usually the most level-headed and responsible. She is a fashion enthusiast. Her father being a pilot gives her access to fashions from overseas, but she usually prefers her regular clothes. In the situation of Jake and Rose's relationship, Trixie has always shown a dislike and distrust towards Rose advising Jake to be wary around her. But over time, she started to be more supportive of their relationship and even tried to help Jake move on once she was gone.
- Haley Kay Long (Voiced by Amy Bruckner): Haley is Jake's seven-year-old little sister who is quite intelligent, talented, a bit of a perfectionist, and a goody two shoes (much to Jake's consistent annoyance). Haley goes to a school for advanced youths and actually tries hard to succeed. She is also quick to point out Jake's faults and make herself look superior to him. Yet, deep down, she looks up to him. Unlike Jake, she began developing her dragon powers at an earlier age. In the first season she is a purple dragon, in the second season she is pink. As his sister, she is actually next in line to be the American Dragon. Her mentor is Sun Park, though her training is quite different from Jake's. In "Being Human," Jake purposely gets a one week suspension from his dragon duties, so Haley became his replacement. Though thinking she's up to the task, she quickly realizes how hard Jake has to work and how much pressure it creates. Nonetheless, Sun praises Haley's service and feels she can start pitching in to help Jake.
- Rose/Huntsgirl (Voiced by Mae Whitman): Rose is Jake's crush and is also part of the Huntsclan, a clan that wants to destroy magical creatures like Jake as a dragon. Rose is the Huntsgirl and needs to kill the American dragon to be part of the Huntsclan. Rose has a Chinese dragon-shaped birthmark on her hand to show that she is part of the Huntsclan, in which was revealed in the episode The Ski Trip, when Jake realises that Huntsgirl and Rose is the same person with the same tattoo, he disappointedly dumps her at the end of the episode. Later on in the series, Rose finds out that Jake is the American Dragon, and since then, she starts helping him but still trying to show that she still "hates" him. In the episode, Dreamscape, Rose finds out that she has a mother, a father, and an unnamed identical twin sister but she was taken away by the Huntsclan because she has the Chinese dragon-shaped birthmark on her left wrist and hand, which is referred to as "the Mark of the Huntsclan." At the end of the series it is implied that she and Jake are a full couple. Throughout the entire series, she develops very strong romantic feelings for Jake, despite him being a dragon.
Recurring characters
- Jonathan Long (Jeff Bennett): As Jake and Haley's well-meaning American father, he's a normal human who has no clue that he's married into a whole family of magical and mystical fire-breathing dragons. Though often near feats of magic, he either mistakes them for something else or is completely oblivious to them. (In one occurrence, he chalked up Haley's brief Krylock mutation to an allergic reaction to chocolate.) He has a sister. Though Jonathan often comes off as naive or goofy, it has been shown he always has his family's best interests at heart and that some of Jake's best qualities were inherited from him. Jonathan fought the Jersey Devil (mistaking it for a bear) and vampires (who were masquerading as humans) to protect Jake from harm. Even though his last name is also a valid Chinese surname, Johnathan does not appear to be of Chinese ancestry. He does, however, feel that he is because he claims to be 1/16 Navajo – rationalizing that Native Americans came to the continent on land bridges connected to Asia. In the series finale, he sees Haley's dragon form and finally learns the truth. While initially overwhelmed and full of questions, he is also completely accepting, noting that he always felt there was something magical about his family.
- Susan Long (Lauren Tom): Jake and Haley's Chinese human-born to Dragon ancestry mother and the daughter of Luong Lao Shi. She does not appear to have inherited any natural dragon powers and abilities, saying it skipped her generation. She works as a caterer. She also has a penchant to photograph milestones in her children's lives, such as Jake's first date and Haley's first lost tooth. Throughout the series, she keeps the family secret from Jonathan out of fears that he would freak out and (possibly) leave her; yet, this does not occur. However, on the last day of eighth grade, she wrote a letter explaining her families dragon powers and abilities, but never gave it to him. In one episode, Jake went back in time, took the note and put it in his father's locker causing him to actually leave her but he solved this problem. In the last episode, her husband finally finds out of his wife's family history.
- Sun Park (Sandra Oh): She is the Korean Dragon as well as Haley's dragon master and Jake's Home Economics teacher. She appears to be a pacifist, though she is quite adept at fighting if required. According to executive producers Eddie Guzelian and Matt Negrete, Sun was originally set to die in "Homecoming", however the scene was cut for being too dark.[2]
- Kara and Sara (Tara Strong): Twin siblings who are descended from the Oracle of Delphi, each possessing the ability to see into the future. Kara only sees good things occur but is very moody and sullen, while Sara only sees bad things occur but is very happy and cheerful. When questioned by Jake over this, Kara states foreseeing all of life's good moments renders them without meaning for her, while Sara states that only foreseeing bad moments leaves her constantly looking at the positives of things and being cheerful at any good news. In the first season, they are identical redheads. In the second season, Sara is a blonde and Kara has black hair. The two are also featured in the opening credits of Season 2.
- Veronica (Tara Strong): An arachnoid human hybrid and love interest of Fu during the first season. She runs a stand in Magus Bazaar, a magical shopping district in New York.
- Silver (Kari Wahlgren): A highly intelligent mermaid and ally of Jake, first shown as one of the prisoners for the Huntsclan's Grand Equinox Hunt. Strangely, despite her species, she suffers from aquaphobia in her first appearance. She overcomes this by the end of that episode, but later suffers a relapse in Season 2.
- Dolores Derceto (Susan Blakeslee): The first principal of Jake's school. She once noted that she saw Jake more often than her own secretary. Though initially appearing to be a paraplegic, she is revealed in the second season to be an undercover mermaid detective, seeking out the Kelpie. She also developed a relationship with Lao Shi, but when her assignment concluded, she had to leave – much to the regret of both.
- Councilor Andam (Clarence Williams III): One of the members of the Dragon Council. He is the Dragon of Africa and is from Kenya.
- Councilor Kulde (Jeff Bennett): One of the members of the Dragon Council. He is the Dragon of Europe and is from Norway. He has expressed particular interest in Jake's training and future, feeling he has great promise. It is noted that he is the only dragon in the series that breathes ice instead of fire.
- Councilor Omina: One of the members of the Dragon Council. She is the Dragon of Atlantis.
- Councilor Kukulkan: One of the members of the Dragon Council. He is the Dragon of Central America and is from Guatemala.
- Danika Hunnicutt (Jessica DiCicco): Jake's second love interest, who wins him at their school's fund-raising Bachelor Auction. When Jake starts to act dangerously self-destructive, a siren is believed to be the cause and Danika is the main suspect. It turns out that she was actually a pawn for the actual siren, but not before she is accused of wrong-doing by Jake and friends, which deeply upsets her. She admits she later forgave Jake and the two were graduation partners.
- Nigel Thrall (Adam Wylie): Millard Fillmore Middle School's new foreign exchange student from the United Kingdom who turns out to be a wizard who came to America to complete his training. He and Jake immediately become rivals, as Nigel outdoes Jake at skateboarding and rapping, but eventually settle into a competitive friendship. Nigel later helps save Jake from the Gorgon sisters.
Antagonists
- The Huntsman (Voiced by Jeff Bennett): The Huntsman (referred to as "Huntsmaster" by his subordinates) is the leader of the Huntsclan and the main antagonist of the series. The Dragon Council rates him as the #4 threat to the magical community. He is fanatically devoted to destroying all magical creatures (especially dragons), viewing them as disgusting and unnatural, and has no qualms against killing any humans who get in his way. Though he typically leaves his henchmen to do the fighting for him, he has proven quite powerful on his own. When Jake travels back in time to reveal the truth about dragons to his father, he encounters a teenaged Huntsman, who (while dedicated to the Huntsclan) is shown to be quite wimpy, bullied by his peers and speaking with a cracking voice. However, after Jake knocks him into a pit with a dangerous monster, the battered Huntsman displays a new intensity that terrifies his peers and vows to destroy every last dragon on Earth. He ultimately meets his demise when Rose's wish to destroy all Huntsclan is granted. The Huntsman was originally Rose's first guardian, stealing her from her parents as an infant and claiming her parents were deceased. (He did, however, know who and where her real parents were to maintain potential leverage.) Throughout the series, The Huntsman was a masked character always wearing a dragon skull helmet with a balaclarva covering his face, only showing his eyes. His face is finally shown in his final appearance when Jake kicks him into an elevator, smashing his helmet. In rage, he tears off half of his shirt and balaclarva showing that he has a huge dragon birthmark on his chest and face and that he is bald. In a running gag, he is often defeated in a comical fashion, such as Jake's flaming flatulence and being humiliated in front of his peers.
- Huntsboys #88 and #89 (Voiced by Kyle Massey and Nicholas Brendon): Two Huntsclan students that become the Huntsman's apprentices in the second season. It was confirmed, that they were admitted into the Huntsclan because of their impressive skills in a fantasy video game (killing three dragons, a giant leech and a pack of Manticores.) which the Huntsman took literally, as shown in one of Fuu's "rap-ups". They both act brave and arrogant, when in reality, they are cowards who run in fear at the sight of a dragon. Other than Rose, #88 and #89 are the only known Huntsclan members that were left alive after Rose's wish for the destruction of all Huntsclan was granted due to them quickly resigning before they were eliminated (and ran off with their masks being the only part of their uniform, in their boxers). However, they made a return in "Shaggy Frog". They were never shown without their masks.
- Professor Hans Rotwood (Voiced by Paul Rugg): Rotwood used to be a famous professor, until his theories on magical creatures humiliated him in front of his peers, destroyed his credibility as a scientific researcher, got him fired from his job at the Hoboken Science Institute and reduced him to his current position at Jake's school. As a believer of magical creatures, he teaches a class about them. However, because his facts are all wrong, Jake is always hopelessly confused and suffering from low grades in the class. He has a noted dislike of Jake, largely due to a frequent lack of respect. Rotwood eventually develops a suspicion of Jake and keeps a close eye on him. By Season 2, he becomes principal and tricks Jake into revealing himself as a dragon to him. In Season 2's "Magic Enemy #1.", he attempts to make Jake reveal himself as being a dragon by humiliating him at school. By the end of the episode, Rotwood gets a personal look at the magical world and is quite delighted, though Jake ensures he has no proof of what he saw. Though wanting to be famous for proving magical creatures exist, Rotwood appears to have a true affinity for them. At graduation, he and Jake seem to have put their differences aside as they shake hands. In "Dreamscape," it is suggested he encountered a Chimera while a baby.
- The Dark Dragon (Voiced by Clancy Brown): The number one threat to the magical world. His human form is never seen in the series. The Dark Dragon is shown to be stronger than other dragons, as well as capable of creating and controlling shade demons. Very little is known about him or his origins, but it is mentioned that he is consumed by dark magic. Few dragons have faced him and lived; Lao Shi was the only one before Jake encountered him, and Jake is the first dragon to do so twice. He feels that magical creatures are superior to humans and should be the dominant species of Earth instead. He appeared twice in the first season, in which he tried to get Jake to join him. His fate in "Hong Kong Nights" was left ambiguous, but he was apparently indeed destroyed as a resurrection is needed to bring him back in Season 2. The resurrection required Jake's own chi or blood to succeed. Chang also gifted him with even more power than before. In the series finale, he captured Lao Shi in order to blackmail Jake into serving the dragons of the world a mind control potion. In the end, he was defeated by Jake and Rose when he was sucked into a portal where he will be imprisoned for 1,000 years or at least for the time being.
- Councilor Chang (Voiced by Lauren Tom): A member of the Dragon Council that was secretly working for the Dark Dragon. Her cover was revealed in "Hong Kong Nights," and she was imprisoned. However, in the second season, she escapes from prison to get revenge on Jake and revive the Dark Dragon. In the first season, Chang is seen breathing lightning.
- Bananas B (Voiced by Adam Wylie): The first ever "hip-hop helper monkey" who replaces Fu as Jake's animal guardian. However, when Chang escapes from prison, Bananas joins her out of fear for his life.
- Brad Morton (Voiced by Matt Nolan): A bully at Jake's school. He is noticeably bigger than the other students, suggesting he may have been left back. Brad later states he was left back in the third grade twice. He is also noticeably dim, such as taking twelve years of piano lessons and being unable to play well in the slightest.
- Eli Pandarus (Voiced by Jonathan Freeman): The Wizard of Wall Street. Pandarus desires to be the most powerful magical being. In Season 1, Pandarus is fairly cowardly, as he cowers and begs not to be hurt after he is defeated in "Eye of the Beholder." In Season 2, he appears less cowardly and is much more wicked, being more willing to kill his enemies or those who get in his way.
Notable guest stars
Episodes
| Season |
Episodes |
First Airdate |
Last Airdate |
| Season 1 |
21 |
January 21, 2005 |
January 29, 2006 |
| Season 2 |
31 |
June 10, 2006 |
September 1, 2007 |
Appearances in other media
Television
- Jake, Spud, Trixie, Lao Shi, and Fu Dog made a guest appearance in the Lilo & Stitch: The Series episode "Morpholomew" on July 1, 2005. In that episode, they had their Season 1 looks. Through this crossover, American Dragon: Jake Long is established to be in the same universe of the following cartoon series: Kim Possible; The Proud Family; and Recess, for all of them have characters who appeared in Lilo & Stitch: The Series.
- Juniper Lee has a lot of similarities to Jake Long, so The Life and Times of Juniper Lee is considered a near-counterpart of American Dragon: Jake Long. Both shows involve adolescent Chinese-Americans which have been given magical powers and must keep the balance between the magical and real world, something that they must keep a secret. Also, in both cases, this position was previously held by a grandparent, who now acts as a mentor. Another rather shocking coincidence is that in both shows the main character's dog can talk, and they are both of similar appearances. However even though both dogs have accents only that they have different accents and one is a pug while the other is a shar pei. They also have little siblings which at many times the main characters find them as nuisances. In addition both shows started and ended at very close dates. Both shows ran from 2005-2007.
Video games
Two video games based on the show were produced, one for Nintendo DS and one for Game Boy Advance.
Books
Jeff Goode has written two children's books about American Dragon which were released in 2003 and 2004 - before the initial TV show started airing.
- American Dragon Book 1: The Dragon Hunter, ISBN 078681926X — released April 1, 2004
- American Dragon Book 2: The Gnome Eater, ISBN 0786819278 — released May 1, 2004
References
External links
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