Dragon Tales is an animated educational fantasy children's television series created by Jim Coane and Ron Rodecker, developed by Coane, Wesley Eure, Jeffrey Scott, Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser, and produced by Sesame Workshop (formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop), Sony Pictures Television (formerly known as Columbia TriStar Television) and Adelaide Productions. The series focuses on the adventures of two siblings, Emmy and Max, and their dragon friends Cassie, Ord, and Zak and Wheezie.
The series began broadcasting on PBS on their newly-renamed PBS Kids block on September 6, 1999, with its final episode airing on April 11, 2005. Yearim Productions was responsible for the animation for all seasons (Sunwoo Entertainment and Wang Film Productions only did animation for season 1 and Rough Draft Korea only did animation for seasons 2 and 3), with the exception of Koko Enterprises, which recorded the show along with BLT Productions. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the United States Department of Education, cereal company Kellogg's and greeting card manufacturer, American Greetings were responsible for funding. The show is available to stream for free on Tubi and The Roku Channel.
Development Dragon Tales is inspired by the characters created in 1978 by Laguna Beach, California artist and retired educator Ron Rodecker. Rodecker was recovering from a coronary artery bypass graft when he began sketching dragons as a means of symbolizing forces in life that were too big to control. In 1995, Jim Coane, then a producer at Columbia TriStar Television, found the artwork and developed it into a television series with several writers. The project was considered something of a risky venture because it was not based on a well-known franchise like many children's television programs, such as Arthur or Paddington Bear. The series was immediately shipped to PBS member stations at the suggestion of PBS, but all originally passed at the time.
In October 1995, Jim Coane met Marjorie Kalins, senior VP of programming and production at Children's Television Workshop, and showed her the idea for the series. Kalins, who loved the idea, brought the series to Children's Television Workshop, which agreed to a partnership with the Columbia TriStar Television Group. Kalins helped him and Columbia TriStar Television obtain an $6.2 million grant from the Department of Education and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The grant proposal was written by former Days of Our Lives cast member and Finders Keepers host Wesley Eure. Coane stated that there was never any consideration of trying to shop the program to a commercial broadcast network and that PBS was, in his mind, the only destination for the program. As Columbia TriStar Television was the TV division of two major Hollywood film studios, which in turn are owned by the Sony Pictures Entertainment division of Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony, Dragon Tales became one of the few PBS Kids and Sprout programs to be co-produced by a major Hollywood studio's TV subsidiary; The other PBS shows were Bill Nye the Science Guy (made by Walt Disney Television), and Curious George (produced by Universal Animation Studios). In 2002, CTTV was renamed to Sony Pictures Television, a company that would co-produce the third season of the program.
After a tour of the lot of Sony Pictures Studios, Wesley Eure created the first treatment of the show, including the initial conception of the two-headed dragon Zak and Wheezie, back then known as "Snarf and Bugger." The series received a massive multi-million dollar grant from the federal government, beating out The Muppets and Sesame Street for the request. As part of the conditions for the grant, Eure was required to create a companion series for the program, which he titled Show and Tell Me, based on his own lecture series known as "Anyone Can Write a Book." Though the companion series was never actually created, Eure remains hopeful that it will one day be produced. Eure's name was not included in the initial credits for the series, forcing him to hire an attorney to ensure that he received credit.
Following the development of a show bible by Jeffrey Scott, with some tweaks by writers Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser, the series was ordered for just over 60 eleven-minute episodes by PBS. Scott was assigned to write and edit half, with Ruby/Lesser assigned to the other half. At this point, the writing team was provided with a document titled "FUN AND LEARNING IN DRAGON LAND: A Writer's Guide to Dragon Tales Educational Content" which provided directives as to which curriculum should be included within the stories, such as "emotional challenges > understanding other people's emotions > recognizing and labeling feelings in others" and the statement that "CURRICULUM IS PARAMOUNT!"
After the creation of the first script, all writing parties involved agreed that the scripts "weren't fun or funny, they were flat and boring." The writers successfully explained to the consultants, educators, and psychologists of PBS that children watch television to be entertained and must be entertained to be educated. They were then provided with a new directive, "Come up with entertaining stories and shoehorn in the curriculum wherever it fits!" Scott states that from the experience he learned an invaluable lesson about how to create a successful preschool series. Dong Woo Animation, Rough Draft Korea, Sunwoo Entertainment, Wang Film Productions (season 1 only), Yearim, Siriol Productions (season 3 only) and Lotto Animation contributed the animation for this series. Dragon Tales is one of the last major animation productions in the West to use cel animation (in season 1 only; the series switched to digital ink and paint in season 2).
Premise and overview
The series focuses on the adventures of six-year-old Emmy and four-year-old Max, two Mexican-American human siblings. Upon moving into their new house, they find an enchanted dragon scale which, upon reciting a special rhyme, can magically transport them to Dragon Land, a whimsical fantasy world inhabited by many colorful dragons. Befriended by four dragons with distinctive personalities – the very shy, yet intelligent and sweet-natured Cassie; the very strong, yet fearful Ord; and polar opposite conjoined twins, neat-freak Zak and rambunctious Wheezie – Emmy and Max frequently travel to Dragon Land and help their friends in fulfilling particular quests, assisting them in their daily problems, and learning important morals through their experiences in Dragon Land. At the end of each episode, Emmy and Max hold hands and recite another special rhyme to return to Earth.
The dragons also each have their own dragon badges worn around their necks that glow when they accomplish something they usually have trouble with. For example, Cassie's glows when she overcomes her anxiety, Ord's glows whenever he faces his fears, and Zak and Wheezie's glow when they overcome their differences and work together.
To educate preschoolers mildly about Hispanic and Latino culture, a new character named Enrique was introduced during the show's third and final season, providing the series with a third protagonist. Surrounded by a variety of unique characters and faced with numerous differing situations, Emmy and Max commonly embark on adventures with their dragon friends, conquering fears or achieving goals despite any obstacles along the way.
As a series broadcast on PBS, the program has an educational focus, combining lessons of a pro-social nature with those of more general educational value. Educational themes covered included identifying shapes, learning words and letters in both English and Spanish, counting, and basic math. Social themes are also covered, such as good sportsmanship, the importance of being a good friend, overcoming obstacles such as jealousy or fears, and getting along with siblings. Many of the show's interstitial song segments, known as "Dragon Tunes," also covered such themes, such as "Make It Fun", which encourages viewers to not complain about having to do seemingly mundane chores such as washing dishes or helping parents with cooking meals, but instead, find ways to make them fun; and "Hum," which encourages those who had a fear of the dark or trying new things to hum softly to comfort themselves. Three stated goals of the program's educational philosophy are the encouragement of pursuing new experiences, finding ways to approach and learn from challenges, and that learning can come through trying and not succeeding entirely. Despite two of the show's human leads, Emmy and Enrique, being six and eight years old, the show's described target audience was children closer to the age of four.Scott, Jeffrey. (2002). How to Write for Animation. New York: Overlook Hardcover. . p. 126
Another key topic of the program is the encouragement of honest expressions of emotion. In "Cassie, the Green-Eyed Dragon," Cassie feels jealous of her little brother, Finn, who gets everyone's attention when she takes him to school for "circle time." Discussing the matter with her best friend, Emmy, and her teacher, Quetzal, helps her to understand that jealousy is a natural feeling that everyone experiences sometimes, but that there are ways that she can appreciate her brother, while still feeling appreciated herself.Dragon Tales story - Season 2 - "Cassie, the Green-Eyed Dragon" In "Feliz Cumpleaños, Enrique," Enrique feels sad and homesick for his homeland of Colombia when his birthday celebrations in Dragon Land are not like the traditions of those back in his old home. He talks with Quetzal, who encourages him to cry, even though he had been told that crying was something a boy at his age was not supposed to do. After doing so, he feels better and can enjoy his party celebrations.Dragon Tales story - Season 3 - "Feliz Cumpleaños, Enrique"
As with Sesame Street, which is also produced by the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), the program's creators encourage "co-viewing," the practice of parents or other caregivers watching the program along with their children and engaging in activities such as discussion, singing and dancing, and pretend play. The program's official website offers several activities and lesson plans to aid in these efforts.
Characters
Main Emmy (voiced by Andrea Libman) is a 6-year-old brunette girl and Max's older sister. She commonly appears as the leader of the group until she gave her position to Enrique while helping him get used to Dragon Land on his first day. She is known for saying "Definitely!", whenever a good idea arises. Her best friend is Cassie as she always rides on her when she's flying. She is also known for being impulsive and occasionally refuses to think before she acts. She can also occasionally be a bit bossy with Max, wanting things being done her way. Max (voiced by Danny McKinnon) is a 4-year-old boy and Emmy's younger brother. His best friend is Ord as he always rides on him when he's flying. He is also occasionally prone to anger and can rage very quickly. He is also known for saying "It's not fair!", whenever he gets upset or angry. He is also often seen to dislike being too little for certain activities and wishes he could be bigger.