Dragon Tales is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
animated children's television series chronicling the adventures of two siblings, Max and Emmy, with their later friend Enrique, and their dragon friends Cassie, Ord, Zak, and Wheezie. The television series was created by
Jim CoaneJim Coane is a television producer, writer, director and development executive. He is an Emmy Award winner and the creator and Executive Producer of the multi-award winning PBS preschool series Dragon Tales...
, an Emmy-award-winning creator and executive producer. It has been shown on the PBS Kids Channel/
PBS Kids SproutPBS Kids Sprout is a U.S. digital cable television channel, video-on-demand service, and website providing PBS Kids shows and original programming for preschoolers and their families...
and PBS in the United States from September 6, 1999 to November 25, 2005, with reruns airing on most PBS stations.
Dragon Tales is based on the characters created in 1978 by Laguna Beach, California artist and retired educator Ron Rodecker.
Dragon Tales is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
animated children's television series chronicling the adventures of two siblings, Max and Emmy, with their later friend Enrique, and their dragon friends Cassie, Ord, Zak, and Wheezie. The television series was created by
Jim CoaneJim Coane is a television producer, writer, director and development executive. He is an Emmy Award winner and the creator and Executive Producer of the multi-award winning PBS preschool series Dragon Tales...
, an Emmy-award-winning creator and executive producer. It has been shown on the PBS Kids Channel/
PBS Kids SproutPBS Kids Sprout is a U.S. digital cable television channel, video-on-demand service, and website providing PBS Kids shows and original programming for preschoolers and their families...
and PBS in the United States from September 6, 1999 to November 25, 2005, with reruns airing on most PBS stations.
Origin
Dragon Tales is based on the characters created in 1978 by Laguna Beach, California artist and retired educator Ron Rodecker. Coane, then a producer at
Sony Pictures TelevisionSony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American television production/distribution company. It is a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony....
, found the art work and developed it into a television series with several other writers, including Wesley Eure. Coane and Eure share the development credit on every episode. Coane then brought the project to
Sesame WorkshopSesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop , is a Worldwide American non-profit organization behind the production of several educational children's programs that have run on public broadcasting around the world .-History:Founded by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett to...
, where Marjorie Kalins helped him and Sony Pictures Television obtain a grant from the
Department of EducationThe United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
and the
Corporation for Public BroadcastingThe Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a private non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress and largely funded by the United States Federal Government to promote public broadcasting...
. Coane was the executive producer for the first two seasons.
Overview
In the episodes, the children are able to travel to Dragon Land anytime they want by using a magical dragon's scale found in a hidden location within their playroom and reciting the verse, "I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons, in a land apart." The children transport back to their world in their playroom by using the same refrain and the phrase "I wish, I wish to use this rhyme to go back home until next time."
In Dragon Land, the children meet up with their Dragon friends, Cassie, Ord, Zak, and Wheezie (the latter two being two halves of a two-headed dragon), and their bilingual teacher, Quetzal, as they learn valuable life lessons, aided by the fact that the children are inexperienced with the magical
floraIn botany, flora has two meanings. The first meaning, flora of an area or of time period, refers to all plant life occurring in an area or time period, especially the naturally occurring or indigenous plant life...
and
faunaFauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g...
of Dragon Land.
Show structure
The series mixes in
Spanish languageSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
elements to promote a bilingual experience for the audience. By incorporating parts of another language, the show appeals to a wider audience, as well as providing a new learning experience for children.
Each show is divided into three segments: the first story, a song known as a "DragonTune", and the second story. Each story is approximately 10–12 minutes long.
Max
Max, voiced by
Danny McKinnonDanny McKinnon is a voice actor, probably most well known as Kohaku from the anime series InuYasha. He took over the role from Alex Doduk after episode 102 of InuYasha...
, is four years old. He is Emmy's younger brother. Young and full of energy, Max is prepared for just about any adventure. His best friend is Ord the blue dragon.
Emmy
Emmy, voiced by
Andrea LibmanAndrea Eva Libman is a Canadian actress and voice actor.Her most popular on-screen appearances are on the Little Women movie, Andre and a guest-role on The X-Files, while her best known voice roles are Dragon Ball, Madeline Andrea Eva Libman (born July 19, 1984 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a...
, is six years old. She is Max's older sister. Her best friend is Cassie, and she is perhaps known for saying, "Definitely!" whenever a good idea arises.
Enrique
Enrique, voiced by Aida Ortega, is six years old and is a friend of Emmy and Max who moved to the US from Colombia. He appears beginning in Season 3 and travels to Dragon Land with the children. His recent experiences in South America provide more opportunities for the characters to demonstrate the meanings of new Spanish words. He rides with Zak and Wheezie, the 2-headed dragon who rarely flew with any human friends prior to Enrique's debut.
Ord
Ord, voiced by
Ty OlssonTy Olsson is a Canadian actor.Olsson was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He attended Canterbury High School, an arts school in Ottawa where he specialized in drama, dance, and music. He continued his study at Studio 58. Olsson is married to Leanna Nash...
, is the large blue male dragon who can turn invisible when he's scared. He loves to eat Dragonberries and is very creative, although his art is often misunderstood. His best friend is Max, whom he always rides with.
Cassie
Cassie, voiced by
Chantal StrandChantal Strand works with Ocean Group in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Best known for the roles of Bijou in Hamtaro, Cassie in Dragon Tales, Lacus Clyne in Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny in which she voiced both Lacus Clyne and Meer Campbell, Chantal is often cast into younger female...
, is the small pink female dragon. She is the smart one of the group and also the youngest one in the group. She can be shy, but then learns to stand up for what she believes in. When she's scared or when she cries, she shrinks to a very small size. Her best friend is Emmy. She loves to hunt for crystals, and sing and dance she is probably 4 years old due to the way she talks.
Zak and Wheezie
Zak & Wheezie, voiced by
Jason MichasJason Michas is a Canadian-born voice actor, who played in animated television shows such as Sabrina, the Animated Series as Harvey Kinkle, and in Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars as the protagonist...
and
Kathleen BarrKathleen Barr, born in 1967, is a Canadian voice actress. She has also sometimes been credited as Kathleen Baar. She is married to Canadian voice actor Jason Barr-Filmography:* Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Additional voices...
, are a two-headed dragon and are siblings; Zak (green) is the male, and Wheezie (purple) is the female.
Zak is the tidy and calm one, and prefers to pursue things in a logical, orderly manner. Wheezie is more excitable and very messy, much to her brother's annoyance. They have bumped heads more than once, but when it really counts, they put their heads together and prove to be a solid team.
Zak and Wheezie always fly with Enrique. Prior to his debut, Zak and Wheezie rarely flew with any of their human friends.
Zak & Wheezie live in and travel by means of Knuckerholes.
Quetzal
Quetzal, portrayed by
Eli GabayEli Gabay is an actor. He voices a gangster named Abrego in the anime, Black Lagoon. He also loaned his voice in another anime, Earth Maiden Arjuna.-Roles:* Black Lagoon as Abrego, Neo Nazi Soldier* Dragon Tales as Quetzal...
, is a dragon who is the teacher at The School in the Sky where young dragons attend. He is considered very wise due to his old age and often has the answers to the gang's many questions.
Other characters in Dragon Land
Each of the following have appeared more than once:
- Lorca, Max, Emmy, Zak, Wheezie, Ord, and Cassie's friend. He is in a wheelchair
A wheelchair is a wheeled mobility device in which the user sits. The device is propelled either manually or via various automated systems. Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness , injury, or disability...
and is also incapable of flight. He is very adventurous. Lorca is voiced by Lenore Zann.
- Syrus, a lizard
Lizards are a very large and widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 5,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
-like "slinky serpent"; he often tries to steal others' eggs to eat.
- The Giant of Nod, leader of a group called the Nodlings. While much bigger than his fellow Nodlings, he is smaller than any of the main characters, but is enormously strong.
- Mungus, a giant
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
who lives in a castle in the clouds; he knows many folks in Dragon Land since he can travel far and wide in just a few steps.
- Eunice, a unicorn who has poor eyesight and must wear glasses. She is a good friend of the protagonists. Eunice is voiced by Janyse Jaud
Janyse Aldis Jaud is a Canadian actress and singer/songwriter. She is of Icelandic-French descent.Janyse combined her voiceover and songwriting talents to create the unique concept and pop music album "The Magic Of Think"...
.
- Polly Nimbus, the operator of the Cloud Factory, which controls Dragon Land's weather.
- Sid Sycamore
Sycamore is a name which is applied at various times and places to three very different types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms....
, a talking treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
who loves telling corny jokes that relate to the concept of trees; the dragons' tree houseTree houses, treehouses, or tree forts, are buildings constructed among the branches, around or next to the trunk of one or more mature trees, and are raised above the ground...
is attached to him. Sid is voiced by Scott McNeilScott McNeil is an Australian-born Canadian voice actor. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
.
- Wyatt, a talking wishing well
A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the idea that water housed deities or had been placed there as a gift from the gods, since water was a source of life and...
that immediatly grants any wish for a single coin. Often tells stereotypically bad punsPuns may refer to:*Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui, the Sahrawi political party* Pun, figure of speech...
. Earlier in the series, he was called Willy.
- Captain Scallywag, a pirate who captains a flying galleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by the nations of Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with demi-culverin type of cannon....
.
- Arlo, a dragon who works at the Dragon Dump; he has a machine at the Dragon Dump which he calls his lil' ol' recycler that sorts out things that can be used again.
Places in Dragon Land
- Dragon Beaver Dam - A dam where the dragonbeavers reside,.
- The School in the Sky – The school where the dragon children are taught by Quetzal.
- Dr. BoobooGone's office – Where dragons go when sick or hurt.
- Dragoon Lagoon – A large lagoon seen in many episodes. It is home to creatures like the silliguanas and hissyfish. It even has a plug at the bottom just like a bathtub.
- The Forest of Darkness – A large forest that holds trees with glowing stars, but is very dark. Ord is very afraid of this forest because of its darkness and other things that inhabit this strange Forest.
- Turtle Rock - A rock that is shaped like a turtle.
- Singing Springs – A gold fountain that plays music.
- Rainbow Canyon – A canyon with pigments that make paint.
- The Cloud Factory – Where a dragon named Polly Nimbus manufactures rain clouds, snow clouds, etc., and ejects them into the sky as needed.
- Snowy Summit – A frigid, snow-covered mountain range, where Chilly the Snowman and his snow puppy Nippy live.
- Stickleback Mountains – Another mountain range, with colored sticks that have to be pulled out carefully.
- Chile Valley - A valley with lots of tasty, yet spicy chilly peppers, which are red in colour & resembles dragonberries.
- The Crystal Cave – A giant, crystallized cave where special crystals dance, with the aid of water from Singing Springs, and some Dandelion fuzzies from the Dandelion Forest.
- Dandelion Forest – A forest made of dandelions that actually roar and growl and are as tall as trees just like real lions. Ord is usually allergic to dandelions that when he sneezes in front of the dandelions, they lose their pollen and turn sad.
- Wyatt the Wishing Well – A well where dragons or people can make wishes, which actually come true if they flip a coin into the well. The well is inhabited by a purple walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
named Wyatt (named Willy in his first appearances) who laughs at lame jokes. He's old friends with Quetzal.
- Marshmallow Marsh – A swamp full of sticky marshmallow goo, which is almost impossible to clean off.
- Rainbow Falls – A waterfall where there are always rainbows.
- Crystal Cave - A cave where the crystals are stored.
- Crystal Fountain - A fountain inside the Crystal Cave for cleaning.
- Dragon Land Laundry - A place where dragons do laundry.
- Dragon Dump – The place where the citizens of Dragon Land send their garbage to be recycled or disposed of. It's run by a dragon named Arlo.
- The Knuckerhole, where Zak & Wheezie live. Of course, there are also lots of other knuckerholes all over Dragonland.
- Mushroom Meadow, a large field of mushrooms with "bouncy" tops. The dragons and the children often play there.
- "Lost Forever" Hole, a small tunnel formed by a river where any thing that flows on the river through the hole is "lost forever".
Scenes often take place in the homes of the dragon characters – Cassie's cave, Zak and Wheezie's knuckerhole, and Ord's home, or in an open land area.
Awards
- 1997–1999 Emmy nomination for Best Animated Children's Series
- 2000–2001 Emmy nomination for Best Animated Children's Series
- 2001–2003 Emmy nomination for Best Animated Children's Series
- 2000 Parents' Choice Silver Award Winner
- 2001 Parents' Choice Approved Award Winner (for "Dragon Tales: Dragon Tunes" CD)
- 2003 Parents' Choice Silver Award Winner (for "Let's Start a Band" video)
- 2005 Parents' Choice Approved Award Winner (for "Dragon Tales: More Dragon Tunes" CD)
Funding
- The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a private non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress and largely funded by the United States Federal Government to promote public broadcasting...
(1999–present)
- A Cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Education's Ready to Learn/No Child Left Behind Grant (1999–present)
- Kellogg's
Kellogg Company is the world’s leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, frozen waffles, and meat alternatives...
(1999–2007)
- Viewer contributions (2005–present)
- American Greetings
American Greetings Corporation, Inc. is the world's largest publicly-traded greeting card company. It is based in Cleveland, Ohio and sells paper greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, party products , and electronic expressive content...
(2007–present)
- Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
(2009-present)
External links