American Dragon: Jake Long was one of the last great antimated shows to air on Disney Channel. I mean sure there is Phineas & Ferb but American Dragon was one of the last shows to feature great heores and great villians. Sadly because of Disney's Rule of 65 it only lasted two season while there were plans for a third and fourth season along with a sereis of Live-action films based upon the show. Now, I don't know how well that would have worked but after seeing what happened to The Last Airbender, I'm rather glad Jake Long did not get the big screen treatment. Anyways as part of the YADC collab (Yet Another Disney Channel antimated show), I will be reveiwng American Dragon: Jake Long.. I have decided to break this reveiw up into two seperate blogs. Mainly because of how the antimation changed from Season 1 to Season 2. With that said, let's begin.
Let's start with the opening for Episode 1 of Season 1
Now even though there is more footage after the theme I'm not goingto be focusing on that. I just want to focus on the opening shot and the theme. It's been a while since I have watched this show admittedly but I like the opening of this first epiode of it sets up the world of the show quite well and it shows not everything is waht it seems. Great example there would have to be the toll lady who is actually a mermaid. Now onto the theme, its an all right song. Nothing to write home about but I do like how it is played out. The dream sequence was a nice touch as it shows even though Jake is training he is still a kid first and wants to have fun. However there is one line that I have always found as being cringe wrothy. That would have to be the line where Jake says he is the Mac Daddy. I just find that myself thinking "What?" whenever I hear that line because it is just cringe worthy adn silly but not in a good way. Ladies and gentlemen, that line deserves something I have not used in a while...
The Disney Facepalm
Okay, now that I have talked about the theme, I'll be talking about the characters and just like with my film reveiws, I'll break it down into Main Characters and Supporting Characters and villians.
Main Characters
Jake Long voiced by Dante Brisco
Jake starts off the series as a 13 year old. He has a good head on his shoulders. He does sometimes let his power go to his head. Jake has a hard time balancing his teenage life with his duties as the American Dragon. There is a lot of pressure on Jake along the lines here but add on the fact that he can't tell his father about his true identity makes his life hard. Even with all the stress in Jake's life, he still loves being the American Dragon. However he does sometimes let the power go to his head. He does somtimes need to be grounded and reminded that he is still learning.
Now I want to take time to talk Jake's dragon form from season 1. In season 1 in his dragon form he was musclar and bulky. To me, this was a little bland and it doesn't match Jake's human age of 13 as his dragon form looks like it should be the dragon form for someone in their early '20s.
Grandpa voiced by Kenone Young
Grandpa is not only Jake's grandfather but also his mentor. He actually asked to train Jake because normally families are not allowed to train each other but he knew that The Dark Dragon would return one day and since he had defeated him, he wished to train Jake personally so that he would be ready for the day that The Dark Dragon would return. Now that we got that out of the way, Grandpa feels the wise old mentor role to a tea. He is always ready with proverb and to help Jake in any situation. He is strict on Jake but only because he wants Jake to do his best. Honestly, I think he is a mix of Yoda and Mr. Miyagi.
Fu Dog voiced by John DiMaggio
Fu Dog is a magical animal and like other magical animals in this show, he can stand up and walk like a human. He is loyal ot Grandpa as Grandpa saved him and he decided to stick around and help him out. He also helps Jake in any way he can but he sometimes leads Jake down the wrong path but his heart is always in the right place.
Jake's Freinds
Spud voiced by Charlie Finn
Spud is one of Jake's best freinds. They have known each other for as long as they can remember. Spud appears dimwitted and not very bright but the truth is brought to light in Season 2. So, I don't want to give too much away as I'll be going into more detail about Spud when I get to season 2.
Trixie voiced by Miss Kittie
The best way to describe Trixie is to say that she is sassy, judgemental and the most level headed. Now this is something, I have to ask why is ti in cartoon, when there are 3 best freinds, the girl is always the level headed. I'm not saying girls aren't but I think I'd like to see a role reversal with the guy being the level headed one in the group. I guess you could say they did that with That's So Raven. Back on topic, Trixie is also distrusting of Rose Her and Spud are the first to figure out that Rose is acutally Huntsgirl.
Villians
Now even though there is more footage after the theme I'm not goingto be focusing on that. I just want to focus on the opening shot and the theme. It's been a while since I have watched this show admittedly but I like the opening of this first epiode of it sets up the world of the show quite well and it shows not everything is waht it seems. Great example there would have to be the toll lady who is actually a mermaid. Now onto the theme, its an all right song. Nothing to write home about but I do like how it is played out. The dream sequence was a nice touch as it shows even though Jake is training he is still a kid first and wants to have fun. However there is one line that I have always found as being cringe wrothy. That would have to be the line where Jake says he is the Mac Daddy. I just find that myself thinking "What?" whenever I hear that line because it is just cringe worthy adn silly but not in a good way. Ladies and gentlemen, that line deserves something I have not used in a while...
The Disney Facepalm
Okay, now that I have talked about the theme, I'll be talking about the characters and just like with my film reveiws, I'll break it down into Main Characters and Supporting Characters and villians.
Main Characters
Jake Long voiced by Dante Brisco
Jake starts off the series as a 13 year old. He has a good head on his shoulders. He does sometimes let his power go to his head. Jake has a hard time balancing his teenage life with his duties as the American Dragon. There is a lot of pressure on Jake along the lines here but add on the fact that he can't tell his father about his true identity makes his life hard. Even with all the stress in Jake's life, he still loves being the American Dragon. However he does sometimes let the power go to his head. He does somtimes need to be grounded and reminded that he is still learning.
Now I want to take time to talk Jake's dragon form from season 1. In season 1 in his dragon form he was musclar and bulky. To me, this was a little bland and it doesn't match Jake's human age of 13 as his dragon form looks like it should be the dragon form for someone in their early '20s.
Grandpa voiced by Kenone Young
Grandpa is not only Jake's grandfather but also his mentor. He actually asked to train Jake because normally families are not allowed to train each other but he knew that The Dark Dragon would return one day and since he had defeated him, he wished to train Jake personally so that he would be ready for the day that The Dark Dragon would return. Now that we got that out of the way, Grandpa feels the wise old mentor role to a tea. He is always ready with proverb and to help Jake in any situation. He is strict on Jake but only because he wants Jake to do his best. Honestly, I think he is a mix of Yoda and Mr. Miyagi.
Fu Dog voiced by John DiMaggio
Fu Dog is a magical animal and like other magical animals in this show, he can stand up and walk like a human. He is loyal ot Grandpa as Grandpa saved him and he decided to stick around and help him out. He also helps Jake in any way he can but he sometimes leads Jake down the wrong path but his heart is always in the right place.
Jake's Freinds
Spud voiced by Charlie Finn
Spud is one of Jake's best freinds. They have known each other for as long as they can remember. Spud appears dimwitted and not very bright but the truth is brought to light in Season 2. So, I don't want to give too much away as I'll be going into more detail about Spud when I get to season 2.
Trixie voiced by Miss Kittie
The best way to describe Trixie is to say that she is sassy, judgemental and the most level headed. Now this is something, I have to ask why is ti in cartoon, when there are 3 best freinds, the girl is always the level headed. I'm not saying girls aren't but I think I'd like to see a role reversal with the guy being the level headed one in the group. I guess you could say they did that with That's So Raven. Back on topic, Trixie is also distrusting of Rose Her and Spud are the first to figure out that Rose is acutally Huntsgirl.
Villians
Rose/Huntsgirl voiced by Mae Whitman
Rose is the girl of Jake's dream but like Jake she too leads a double life as the Huntsgirl. (Okay confession time, I borrowed this name but twisted it to Huntress for one of villians in my Lego fanfic) As Rose, she is a very sweet and caring girl and probably one of the most popular girls at school without being mean spirited. While as Huntsgirl, she is agressive, a capable fighter and willing to prove herself as she has to kill the American Dragon in order to join the Huntsclan. She has her chance in the season 1 finale but when Jake reveals he is the American Dragon, Rose lets him live. We'll be touching on Rose more in Season 2 as that is where her character truly develops.
The Huntsman voiced by Jeff Bennett
The Huntsman is the main baddie in the series and I have to say for a Disney Channel villina, he is pretty cool. Unlike Doof or Drakken, they play it srtaight and let you know he doesn't mess around. He wants all magical creatures destroyed as he sees them disgusting little creatures. He will even kill innocent citizens to get waht he wants. One of the most interesting aspects I think is part of his costume because if you look closely, his helment is that of a dragon's head. Even though, The Huntsman is all powerful and evil. The Dragon Council, who are a council of dragons who come to together to find ways to protect the magical world only rank him at number # 4.
The Dark Dragon voiced by Clancy Brown
Now some of you may be asking if the Huntsman is the main villian, why isn't he ranked at number 1. Three words: The Dark Dragon! The Dark Dragon is the number 1 threat to the magical world. It's funy looking at him now because whereas Huntsman wants to destroy magical beings. The Dark Dragon wants to take over the world and make magical creatures the domiant beings. The Dark Dragon is actually the strongest foe Jake ever had to face before him only one other dragon was able to defeat him and that was Jake's Grandpa. Jake was the first dragon to defeat him twice. The Dark Dragon is stronger than any of the other dragons and much more cunning than some of the other villians. His human form is never seen as The Dark Dragon chooses to remain in Dragon form 24/7, so it si unknown who is actually The Dark Dragon.
My Thoughts on Season 1
I'll go ahead and give you my thoughts on season 1 now. For a first season, it was a lot of fun. It set up the characters nicely and introduced some great villians and soem good story arcs that would be carried over to season 2. Perhaps, my only grip besides that one lyric is that compared to season 2, the antimation just doesn't stand out. It's just there.
Now, I know I left out some character such as Hayley and Professor Rotwood. Well, I left out Hayley because I don't think she actually attriubted much to season 1 but I will cover in pt. 2 I left out Rotwood because in the grand scheme of thhings, he does not enhance the main story of Jake comign to grips with dragon power and trying to take down the Huntsman. Come back, next time for pt. 2. When I go over Season 2.
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