American Dragon: Jake Long: A Great Cartoon Produced by Disney
It never ceases to amaze me when my children find a new animated television show and it instantly becomes their “favorite.” Having said that, one of the cartoons my three-year old son, Emmanuel and nine-year-old daughter, Tia (okay – and myself) have taken to the past few months, is American Dragon: Jake Long.
The series, which is produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, is a hip cartoon with some of the funniest and most up to date dialogue you’ll see on any television show anywhere.
Long is an ordinary thirteen-year-old Chinese-American boy living in New York City who has a secret that he is the American Dragon.
The premise of the show states that Long is a descendant of a long line of dragons, and it is his duty to protect the community of magical creatures secretly living among the masses in New York.
He lives with his parents, Johnathan and Susan, and his seven-year-old sister, Haley. His grandfather and sister are also dragons although the dragon powers having skipped his mother’s generation and his father is unaware of his family being dragons at all.
Throughout the series Jake is taught how to use his innate magical powers by his grandfather and a 600-year-old Shar Pei named Fu Dog. Jake needs these powers to protect the other magical creatures of the city from various malevolent beings most notably the villainous Huntsclan led by the Huntsmaster.
His best friends are Trixie and Spud with whom he skateboards. Jake is also in love with Rose, another schoolmate of his. The series is driven by Jake’s search for balance between his life as a schoolboy and his secret life as a powerful magical guardian.
Here are some of the main characters of Kae Long: American Dragon.
Jacob “Jake” Luke Long (Dante Basco): The hero of the show, Jake is a cool, laid-back skateboarder who had a crush on Rose, until he found out she was actually the Huntsgirl. Their dual identities often cause trouble for the star-srossed pair.
Luong Lao Shi (Keone Young): Jake’s grandfather Lao is a Chinese dragon. He runs the Canal Street Electronics shop (“Never had a customer, never had a sale”), and his only friend is Fu Dog. His attempts at training Jake sometimes causes more damage than help.
Fu Dog (John DiMaggio): Fu Dog is a 600-year-old talking Shar Pei and Lao’s only companion. All throughout his life he and a hairless talking cat, Yan Yan (Tia Carrere), have fought over Fu’s family amulet (causing famous disasters along the way). He is more down with the fads and trends than Lao is.
Haley Kay Long (Amy Bruckner): Jake’s intelligent little sister who also has dragon power, which are not fully developed yet, takes pride in her ability to expose all of Jake’s secrets, including her own, and highlight her own “gifts”.
Trixie Carter (Miss Kittie): Jake’s best friend, who is also quite somewhat a tomboyish. She is a hardcore fashion enthusiast and does not support Jake and Rose.
Arthur “Spud” Spudinski (Charlie Finn): Spud is Jake’s other best friend and is extremely loyal and somewhat slow. However, he often comes up with intelligent things to say at random times.
Professor Hans Rotwood (Paul Rugg): Jake’s harsh and slightly deranged schoolteacher, has an obsessive interest in magical creatures, with his ultimate goal being to find and capture a magical creature to prove once and for all that they exist. Although Professor Rotwood styles himself as an expert on mythical creatures, his knowledge of the magical world is superficial and more often than not, inaccurate.
Rose (Mae Whitman): Rose, Jake’s crush. A member of the Huntsclan. There is a birthmark on her right palm and wrist resembling a red Chinese dragon, otherwise known as the “Mark of the Huntsclan”. Jake eventually learns of her secret identity as the Huntsgirl. She in turn eventually learns that Jake is the American Dragon.
Thorn the Huntsgirl (Mae Whitman): The Huntsclan persona of Rose. While more careful and modest outside Huntsclan duties, she is more daring and relentless otherwise, showcasing expert hand-to-hand fighting and weapon skills.
The Huntsmaster (Jeff Bennett): Jake’s main enemy, Huntsmaster is the leader of the Huntsclan. Other than a pair of glowing red eyes, his face has never been shown, although the back of his head appears to be horribly scarred and deformed.
As Jake Long himself might say, “Yo, check out the show – and holla’ back playa’.”
