Rise of the Snakes (also titled Rise of the Serpentine on the DVD release) is the first season of the animated television series Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (titled Ninjago from the eleventh season onward). Michael Hegner and Tommy Andreasen created the series. It revolves around the adventures of four teenage ninja who live in the fictional world of Ninjago and fight against the forces of evil. The season aired from December 2, 2011 to April 11, 2012 following the pilot episodes. It was succeeded by the second season, titled Legacy of the Green Ninja.
Rise of the Snakes introduces the central character Lloyd Garmadon (voiced by Jillian Michaels). It follows the story arc of the character's development to becoming the prophesied Green Ninja. In this season, Lloyd is depicted as a young boy who serves as a minor antagonist to the ninja team. The storyline focuses on his attempts to become an evil warlord by taking control of five Serpentine tribes before turning from the path of evil. Lord Garmadon returns as an unlikely ally of the Ninja Team, Pythor P. Chumsworth is introduced as the season's main antagonist and a legendary snake named the Great Devourer is introduced as the season's overarching antagonist. The season also develops the character of Nya as she maintains a secret identity as the mysterious Samurai X.
Contents
Voice cast
Main
Jillian Michaels as Lloyd Garmadon, the Green Ninja and Elemental Master of Energy
Vincent Tong as Kai, the Red Ninja and Elemental Master of Fire
Michael Adamthwaite as Jay, the Blue Ninja and Elemental Master of Lightning
Brent Miller as Zane, the White Ninja and Elemental Master of Ice
Kirby Morrow as Cole, the Black Ninja and Elemental Master of Earth
Kelly Metzger as Nya, Kai's sister
Paul Dobson as Sensei Wu, the wise teacher of the ninja
Mark Oliver as Lord Garmadon
Recurring
Ian James Corlett as Skales
Michael Dobson as Pythor P. Chumsworth
Paul Dobson as Acidicus
Mark Oliver as Dr. Julien
Colin Murdock as Ed
Jillian Michaels as Edna
Brian Drummond as Kruncha and Nuckal
Kirby Morrow as Lou
Mackenzie Gray as Mistaké
Mackenzie Gray as Fangtom
John Novak as Slithraa
Production
Development
The Hageman Brothers, who were the writers for the series from its initial launch until the tenth season, developed the idea for the character of Lloyd. Series co-creator Tommy Andreasen stated that Lloyd's story arc as the Green Ninja was conceived immediately after the character was created, although the mystery of the identity of the Green Ninja was built up over the course of ten episodes and finally revealed in the episode titled The Green Ninja.
Animation
The animation for the first season was produced at Wil Film ApS in Denmark. The season was created with a 22-minute format that would continue until the release of the eleventh season.
Direction
The episodes for Rise of the Snakes were directed by Peter Hausner, Justin Murphy and Martin Skov.
Release
The first and second episode of the season titled Rise of the Snakes was released on December 2, 2011 on Cartoon Network as a sneak peek until January 18, 2011. The subsequent episodes were released throughout the following months until the season finale Day of the Great Devourer, which was released on April 11, 2012.
Synopsis
The mischievous son of Lord Garmadon named Lloyd mistakenly opened many of the five serpentine tribes and got tricked by an Anacondrai named Pythor. The Ninja team Kai, Jay, Zane and Cole tried to discover the true identity of the Green Ninja; and to stop Pythor and the five serpentine tribes from finding the four Fang Blades to unleash the Great Devourer that originally bit Garmadon with its venom as a child.
Ratings
The first season of Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, which was released on Cartoon Network, achieved the top position on Wednesday nights from 7 to 9 pm with children aged 2–11 and 9–14.
Accolades
Director Peter Hausner was nominated in the category of "Directing in a Television Production" at the Annie Awards in 2012.
Other media
The season was accompanied by a related app titled Rise of the Snakes, which was released for iOS on March 22, 2012. The game involves fighting as one of the main ninja characters against the Serpentine and includes six battle arenas.