Jane and the Dragon

Plot

Jane is a redhead 12-year-old adolescent girl who lives in a small fictional kingdom called Kippernium located in southern England. Jane was being trained to become a lady-in-waiting but had always dreamed of becoming a knight. When the prince is taken by a dragon, Jane sets out to defeat the beast. When Jane brings the prince back, the king makes her a knight apprentice. Jane and the dragon end up becoming best friends. Further details of this early adventure are never explained in the series. They are, however, explained in detail in the book Jane and the Dragon by Martin Baynton. The series follows Jane's interactions with the rest of the castle's residents and their frequent adventures. Themes of integrity, loyalty, friendship, and courage are woven through the stories. Jane frequently makes errors in judgment, but every episode ends happily. As a knight apprentice, Jane trains and performs various tasks and duties around the castle. Her master is wise Sir Theodore. Sir Ivon, a valiant but somewhat comical knight, has an apprentice of his own named Gunther, a boy whose integrity seems outwardly questionable and whom Jane views as a rival. Dragon helps Jane as she trains to become a knight. When she is on patrol duty, he lets her ride on his back as he flies around the kingdom. Jane, in turn, helps Dragon, who is an orphan, in his efforts to uncover the secrets of his ancestry. In addition to Dragon, Jane has several other friends among the castle staff. Jester the royal jester, Pepper the castle cook and Rake the castle gardener are all about Jane's age. She is also friends with Smithy, the castle blacksmith and stable hand. Also residing in the castle are the King and Queen, their two children, Jane's parents and the wizard. The only non-resident of the castle seen is Gunther's father, a merchant who has regular dealings with Jane's father and the king. No other characters are seen or heard in the series. The wizard is never seen but he lives in a tower, in the far corner of the Royal Gardens near the castle. He is seemingly knowledgeable in alchemy. The younger members of the castle staff appear to be afraid of him, for some reason. While hoping to preserve verisimilitude in its portrait of the earthy characters inhabiting a medieval castle Baynton engineered into his depiction substitute swear words to avoid controversy with parents. Jane is prone to exclaiming "Maggots!" when frustrated or exasperated. In this manner the series taps into the imagination of children, encouraging them to find their own expressions that can be much more fun and creative and colourful than conventional profanity without being offensive.

Characters

The characters were voice-acted (in English) by the Canadian actors credited below and physically performed and performance-captured by a team of five actors at Weta Productions in New Zealand.

Jane Turnkey (voiced by Tajja Isen, performance-captured by Angela Green) – A 12-year-old girl and the daughter of the King's chamberlain and the Queen's lady-in-waiting. She found her life as a future lady-in-waiting to be boring and wanted to become a knight and experience adventure. When she heard that the King's son Cuthbert had been kidnapped by a dragon, she set out to rescue him and kill the dragon. However, upon meeting the dragon Jane befriended him instead. Her courage in rescuing the prince led the King to make Jane a knight's apprentice. Jane wields a special sword, which she found in Dragon's cave. It is made of special metals and was forged using dragon fire. Its unique properties make it capable of piercing dragon skin. The sword's hilt also doubles as a removable whistle, which lets out a sound that Dragon can hear from great distances.

Cleva – Jane's horse.

Milton Turnkey (voiced by Ben Campbell, performance-captured by Aaron Alexander) – A royal chamberlain and Jane's father. The son of a knight, his father died in battle defending the castle. He oversees all of the kingdom's finances and negotiates trade deals with the surrounding kingdoms. Milton is overprotective of Jane at times, and is generally supportive of Jane's efforts at knighthood and helps both her and Dragon when the need arises.

Adeline Turnkey (née d'Ark) (voiced by Jill Frappier) – The queen's Lady-in-Waiting, as well as Jane's mother. She was born in the year 776 to Sir John d'Ark, the First Knight of the King. She has concerns over Jane's plan to become a knight and does not always approve of the influence that Dragon seems to have over her. Adeline also opposes some of Jane's tomboyish looks and behaviors, to the point that she forbids Jane from attending a royal ball unless she wears a dress, for fear of embarrassment.

Dragon (voiced by Adrian Truss) – A dragon who is estimated to be 200 to 300 years old. When he was young, Dragon was orphaned, forcing him to teach himself how to fly and survive on his own. Dragon was later captured by humans and kept as a pet and was traded many times before escaping. After many years, he set out to discover more about the history of dragons. Dragon saw a rune in the dragon language on his cave wall that had been left by his father many centuries before and indicated a child. Dragon kidnapped Prince Cuthbert, believing that he was the child and could help him uncover what happened to the other dragons (who had long since vanished). Jane journeyed to rescue Cuthbert, but learned that Dragon was friendly and brought Cuthbert home safely without anyone being harmed.

Awards and nominations

The show was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production in 2007.

Reception

Andrea Graham of Common Sense Media gave it 5 out of 5 stars and called it "a soaring delight." Graham also wrote: "With its lovable characters, engaging story lines, and wit reminiscent of the Shrek series, Jane and the Dragon may capture the attention of the entire family."