Dragon Tales

Dragon Tales
Dragon Tales title card
Created by	Ron Rodecker Jim Coane
Developed by	Jim Coane Wesley Eure Cliff Ruby Elana Lesser Jeffrey Scott
Directed by	Phil Weinstein Michael Hack
Voices of	Andrea Libman Danny McKinnon Ty Olsson Chantal Strand Jason Michas Kathleen Barr and Eli Gabay
Country of origin	United States
Production
Executive producers	Jim Coane Nina Elias Bamberger Jeff Kline
Producers	Richard Raynis Ron Rodecker Cliff Ruby Elana Lesser
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Production companies	Columbia TriStar Television (1999–2002) Sony Pictures Television (2002–present) Sesame Workshop Amblin Entertainment (2012-present) Curious Pictures (2012-present)
Original release
Network	PBS Kids(USA) Discovery Kids (Brazil) Tiny Pop (UK) Italia 1 (Italy) Cartoon Network (India) Playhouse Disney (Australia and New Zealand) Cartoon Network (Pakistan) Cartoon Network (Japan) Nick Jr. (UK) Fox Kids Jr. (Ireland) Nickelodeon (Poland) EBS (South Korea)
Release	September 6, 1999 – November 25, 2005

Dragon Tales is an American animated pre-school children's television series chronicling the adventures of two siblings, Max and Emmy and their dragon friends Cassie, Ord, Zak, Wheezie, and Quetzal. The television series, based on characters designed by Ron Rodecker, was created by Jim Coane, an Emmy-award-winning creator and executive producer, along with the creative talents of Wesley Eure (author of The Red Wings Of Christmas, star of Land of the Lost, Days Of Our Lives & Finders Keepers). Originals have been shown on the PBS Kids Channel/PBS Kids Sprout and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States from Labor Day 1999 to November 25, 2005. However, PBS has declared that it will no longer hold the license to the series starting on September 1, 2010. Dragon Tales has been removed from the PBS websites and is no longer shown on PBS. But on July 20, 2011, it was starting in Season 4 Dragon Tales will air on PBS January 2, 2012 with more PBS new Shows. Episodes of the show are still sold on DVD.

Origin

Dragon Tales is based on the characters created in 1978 by Laguna Beach, California artist and retired educator Ron Rodecker. In 1997, Jim Coane, then a producer at Columbia TriStar Television, found the artwork and developed it into a television series with several writers. Coane then brought the project to Sesame Workshop, where Marjorie Kalins helped him and Columbia TriStar Television obtain a grant from the Department of Education and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The grant proposal was written by Wesley Eure. Coane was the executive producer for the first two seasons.

Show overview and structure

When six-year-old Emmy and her four-year-old brother Max move into a new house, they discover an ancient dragon scale that transports them to Dragon Land, a world of fantasy that brims with talking trees, rainbow rivers, gnomes, giants – and dragons! They meet the young dragons Ord, Cassie, Zak and Wheezie, who have human personalities and share similar fears and questions about growing up as Emmy and Max.

Alongside their new dragon friends and their teacher Quetzal, Emmy and Max explore the magical world that they’ve found, encountering challenges and working together to find solutions. Each episode introduces a new challenge for the children and the dragons. Topics like dealing with fear of the doctor, learning to speak up, and coping with separation from a sibling help viewers learn strategies for navigating their own challenges.

In the episodes, the children go to Dragon Land by using their 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 each being half 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 flora and fauna of Dragon Land.

The series mixes in Spanish language 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 "Dragon Tune," and the second story. Each story is approximately 10–12 minutes long.

Characters

 

Protagonists Emmy and Max (top image) in a season 2 episode of Dragon Tales. Ord, Enrique, Max, Emmy, Zak and Wheezie, and Cassie in a season 3 episode (bottom image) of Dragon Tales.

Emmy

Emmy, voiced by Andrea Libman, is six years old. She was born in September 1st 1993 and she's the leader of the group until she gave her position to Enrique while helping him get used to Dragonland. She is Max's older sister. Her best friend is Cassie, and she is perhaps known for saying, "Definitely!" whenever a good idea arises.

Max

Max, voiced by Danny McKinnon, is four years old. He is Emmy's younger brother. Max is young and innocent. He was born in October 1995. For the most part, he and Emmy get along fine, but occasionally have arguments. His best friend is Ord. He loves Emmy very much.

Enrique

Enrique, voiced by Aida Ortega, is six years old and born in 1993 too and is Emmy and Max's new friend who moved to the US from Colombia. He first appears in the beginning of 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, much like Dora the Explorer.

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 Olsson, is the blue male dragon who can turn invisible when he's scared. When he gets upset, a rain cloud forms over his head and starts pouring rain on him; this happens when he loses his blanket. He is best friends with Max, who rides on his back. A running gag in the show features Ord making "dragoncorn" by throwing purple kernels in the air and cooking the kernels with his fire breath.

Cassie

Cassie, voiced by Chantal Strand, is the cute, sweet, pink female dragon of the group. Her best friend is Emmy, with whom she always rides. Cassie is quite shy and unsure of herself, which makes speaking up for herself difficult. Cassie sometimes shrinks to a small size when she is upset. A running gag in the series is how Cassie mentions that she has seventy-two brothers and sisters.

Zak and Wheezie

Zak & Wheezie, created by author/actor Wesley Eure is voiced by Jason Michas and Kathleen Barr. Zak and Wheezie are a two-headed dragon and are siblings; Zak (green) is the male, and Wheezie (purple) is the female. Zak prefers to pursue things in a logical manner. Wheezie is very messy, loud, and ignorant much to her brother's annoyance, and is perhaps known for saying "Loooove it!" When she loves something.

Zak and Wheezie always fly with Enrique. Prior to his debut, Zak and Wheezie rarely flew with any of their human friends.

Quetzal

Quetzal, portrayed by Eli Gabay, is a dragon who is the teacher at The School in the Sky where young dragons attend. He has an identical twin brother named Fernando who works in his garden. Quetzal typically speaks with a Mexican accent, and is likely named for the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl.

Lorca

Lorca, voiced by Lenore Zann, is Max, Emmy, Zak, Wheezie, Ord, and Cassie's friend. He is in a wheelchair and is incapable of flight.

Sid Sycamore

Sid Sycamore, voiced by Scott McNeil, is a talking tree who loves telling jokes that relate to the concept of trees; the dragons' tree house is attached to him.

Finn

Finn, voiced by Ellen Kennedy, is Cassie's younger brother. He is light blue.

Other characters in Dragon Land

Each of the following have appeared more than once:

• Cassie's younger sister Kiki (unknown actress). Kiki is green.
• Cyrus, a lizard-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 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.
• Polly Nimbus, the operator of the cloud Factory, which controls Dragon Land's weather. Her surname is a pun off of nimbus clouds.
• Wyatt, a talking wishing well that immediately grants any wish for a single coin. Often tells stereotypically bad puns. He is old friends with Quetzal. Whenever coins pile up too high, he knows it is time for them to emptied and taken to the First Dragonland Bank. Earlier in the series, he was called Willy.
• Dr. Booboogone, a veteran pink dragon who works as a doctor. She wears a doctor's coat. (Shirley Milliner)
• Captain Scallywag, a pirate who captains a flying galleon.
• Eunice, a unicorn. She can't see very well, so she wears glasses.
• 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.
• Priscilla, the manager at the lost and found, who during her first appearance, was feeling embarrassed because her wings (often called "feathers") were bigger than other dragon's. She eventually realized that boy dragons like girl dragons with big wings and raises her self esteem.

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 called 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. When it rains, the pigments turn to mud.
• 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 color and resemble dragonberries.
• Crystal Cave – A giant, crystallized cave where crystals are stored and special crystals dance, with the aid of water from Singing Springs, and some Dandelion fuzzies from the Dandelion Forest.
• Crystal Fountain – A fountain inside Crystal Cave for cleaning.
• Dandelion Forest – A forest made of dandelions that actually roar and growl and are as tall as trees just like real lions. Ord is so allergic to dandelions that when he sneezes in front of the dandelions, he usually does so with an incredible force that the dandelions 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 named Wyatt (named Willy in his first appearances) who laughs at lame jokes.
• Marshmallow Marsh – A swamp full of sticky marshmallow goo, which is almost impossible to clean off and it is near Mushroom Meadow.
• Rainbow Falls – A waterfall where there are always rainbows.
• 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".

Dragon Tunes

Between each short there is a song performed by either Sophie Michalitsianos, Jeff Southworth, Joey Levine, or Mary Wood . These songs are available on CD.

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

• Frosted Flakes (September 6, 1999 – September 30, 2007)
• Rice Krispies (September 6, 1999 – December 14, 2000)
• Froot Loops (September 1, 2001 – September 30, 2007)
• Kellogg's (February 21, 2005 – September 30, 2007)
• Chuck E. Cheese's (January 2 2012 - present)
• American Greetings (September 30, 2007 – September 27, 2009)
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting (September 6, 1999-August 31 2010 January 2 2012-Present)
• U.S. Department of Education (September 6, 1999, September 1, 2001–present)
• Viewers Like You (February 21, 2005 - August 31 2010, January 2, 2012 - Present)
• Ready To Learn Television Cooperative Agreement (February 21, 2005 - November 25, 2005)

Dragon Tales Episodes to Season 1, 2 and 3 and 4. Season 1 (1999-2000)

1. To Fly With Dragons/The Forest of Darkness (This is the First Dragon Tales Episode to be Premiered September 6th 1999)

2. To Kingdom Come/Goodbye Little Caterpoozle

3. Knot a Problem/Ord's Unhappy Birthday

4. Tails You Lose/Calling Dr. Zak

5. Pigment of Your Imagination/Zak's Song

6. Snow Dragons/The Fury is Out on This One

7. The Giant of Nod/The Big Sleep Over

8. A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words/The Talent Pool

9. Emmy's Dream House/Dragon Sails

10. Eggs Over Easy/A Liking to Biking

11. Sky Pirates/Four Little Pigs

12. Zak and the Beanstalk/A Feat on Her Feet

13. Not Separated at Birth/A Kite for Quetzal

14. Dragon Drop/Cassie Loves a Parade

15. A Cool School/Max's Comic Adventure

16. It Happened One Nightmare/Staying Within the Lines

17. Following the Dots/A Smashing Success

18. Quibbling Siblings/Wheezie's Hairball

19. A Tall Tail/Stormy Weather

20. Blowin' in the Wind/No Hitter (Last Version in Oct 22 1999 Season 1 Episodes. More Episodes Coming up in January 17th 2000)

21. Do Not Pass Gnome/Treasure Hunt (This is the Second Version to be more Season 1 Episodes on January 17th 2000)

22. The Jumping Bean Express/Get Offa My Cloud

23. Backward to Fowards/Sounds Like trouble

24. The Greatest Show in Dragon Land/Preparing According to Instructions

25. Wheezie's Last Laugh/Frog Prints

26. Crash Landings/The Big Cake Mix Up

27. Quetzal's Magic Pop-Up Book/My Way or Snow Way

28. Sand Castle Hassie/A True Blue Friend

29. Zak Take's a Dive/Under the Weather

30. My Emmy or Bust/Light my Firebreath

31. Follow the Leader/Max and the Magic Carpet

32. Rope Trick/Baby Trobules

33. Small Time/Roller Coaster Dragon

34. Up Up and Away/Wild Time

35. Bad Share day/Whole Lot Maracas Goin'On

36. Ord Sees the Light/The Ugly Dragling

37. Out With the Garbage/Lights, Camera, Dragons

38. Bully for You/The Great White Cloud Whale

39. To Do or Not To Do/Much Aldo About Nodlings

40. Don’t Bug Me/Over and Over (This is the Last Season 1 on April 28th 2000, First Season 2 is Coming up on June 4th 2001)

Season 2 (2001-2002)

1. Lucky Stone/The Mefirst Wizard (This is the First Season 2 Episodes of Dragon Tales on June 4th 2001 to October 8 2002)

2. Cassie Catches Up/Very Berry

3. Finder Keepers/Remember the Pillow Fort

4. Big Funky Cloud/Copy Cat

5.One Big Wish/Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

6.A New Friend/Have No Fear

7.Cassie, the Green-Eyed Dragon/Something's Missing

8.A Crown for Princess Kidoodle/Three's a Crowd

9.Knuck Knuck, Who's Where?/Just Desserts

10.Dragonberry Drought/A Snowman for All Seasons

11.I Believe in Me/Bye,Bye Baby Birdie

12.Back to the story/dragon scouts

13.The serpent’s tail/head over heels

14.Sticky situation/green thumbs

15.Teasing is not pleasing/team work

16.On thin ice/the shape of things to come

17. hide and can’T seek/The art of patcince

18.so so long/hands toghter

19.sneezy desy/try youli like it

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External links

• Dragon Tales at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• Sony Pictures Television official Dragon Tales site (DVD Series)
• Detail account of series' genesis