I wanted a wind noise, because the sound is made by air pushing through the complex pattern that’s revealed when the handle’s code is unlocked. So the sound mixer who built the landscape of sounds for Jane experimented with different wind sounds until we found one that felt right, a sound that Dragon would be drawn to!
First of all, congratulations on reading Charles Dickens, I read and reread all his novels when I was about ten years old – I loved them! Of course the period Dickens was writing about is a more recent period of English history, many hundreds of years after Jane’s time. Children began their apprenticips in Dickens' era at a much older age than in Jane’s time, when children often learnt their trades the moment they could be useful. The full history of how Smithy came to be in service to the King is too long to repeat here, but when the Castle hit hard times, most of the senior staff had to leave and find work elsewhere. So like Rake and Pepper in their roles, Smithy had to learn on the job and grow his skills.
Jester is a romantic and like most boys, he wanted to be a heroic
character one day...perhaps a knight from one of the great ballads.
The reason he kept the armor a secret was because he didn’t want to
be teased about having a heroic dream. Then he saw how brave Jane was
to put up with all the teasing and ridicule in order to follow her
dream. That’s when he realized he would never be as brave as Jane,
and so gifting her his armor gave her a chance to follow her dream.
Some part of my brain seems to be writing all the time. Everything that happens around me every day seems to trigger story ideas. I keep a small notepad in my pocket so that whenever a story idea comes to me, or a line of verse, or a solution to a story point, I can capture it on paper before it skitters away into some dusty corner of my head. But then there is the ‘serious’ writing time when I sit at the computer and put some long hours in. I find I can do that at any time of the day so long as I have a good supply of hot tea close by. I can’t write without regular cups of hot tea!
Potatoes were thought to have arrived in Europe from the New Colonies of the Americas hundreds of years after Jane’s time. But of course, they had been discovered and used and eaten long before they were taken to England. Dragon loved potatoes when he first flew to the America’s and he took some back for Rake, who loves collecting new fruits and vegetables.
Thank you for taking the time to do the search. Yes, all the character’s names were carefully chosen. Parents often choose names that reflect character traits they believe in, usually good ones of course. The Merchant clearly had certain hopes and expectations for Gunther from the very start!
Jane loves wearing dresses, but she is trying to get her mother to take her training as a knight seriously. So wearing a dress has become an issue between them, a mini battleground where Jane shows her defiance.
I feel the way a parent feels if told their child is just another child. Every child is unique and special, and we have all loved creating a very special cast of characters that we love. Since we could first tell tales 'round a campfire, stories have been the way of handing on truth and experience and lessons learnt, so yes, I think fiction reflects reality and then shapes it.
The knights’ codes were codes of conduct and behavior. As with all codes, they were based on the social understandings of their time. But throughout history, social order has been challenged when the need is strong enough. Think of Buddicca and Joan of Arc, two extraordinary female warriors who led armies of men into battle. Exceptional individuals, boys and girls, question, challenge, and sometimes change for the better, the social structures of their day!
I have high hopes that Gunther’s true nature will surface as he grows up. Whenever he stands up for what’s right, even when that means standing up to his father, he seems to gain strength and self-respect. And I would like to have more stories with Sir Ivon in them, he’s such a sound and solid fellow!
I am working on the Jane novel, slowly but surely. Yes, I did have Pepper's acrophobia and Rake's claustrophobia as part of their relationship, I thought it would be beautiful in a romantically tragic way if they could only meet at the edge of their two worlds, in doorways. But as we started writing the episodes it became clear it would restrict their ability to be involved in a lot of the stories. So it's still a little part of their characters, but it's more a worry for them than a fear.
Back in Jane’s time, Europe had very little experience of Martial Arts because their contact with the ‘Far East’ was very limited. Most of the skills that knights used were based around the technology of the weapons that had been developed locally for hundreds of years. But sparring is a common form of practice in most hand to hand contact sports, which have developed from weapons training.
There’s nothing to stop you,
There’s nothing to say,
Nothing to stand in your way.
What are you waiting for?
What do you see?
What were you hoping to be?
All of a sudden
All fingers and thumbs,
All of the dreaming is done.
Maybe they’ll understand,
Maybe they see,
Believing in all you can be.
Holding on tight through the wide awake night,
Frightened of what you can see,
All of your might-have-beens falling like dreams
All that you wanted to be.
What if you wait,
What if you stay?
What if your dream falls away?
Broken like moonlight, over the sea
Weeping for all you should be.
Holding on tight through the wide awake night,
Frightened of what you can see,
All of your might-have-beens falling like dreams
All that you wanted to be.
-From Nathaniel, 12, Bluefield, West Virginia, USA
Dragon is fascinated by cows, but nobody, not even Jane, really understands why. She’s not sure that even Dragon knows. But Dragon’s fascination means he thinks that counting cows is much more dignified a way to fall asleep that counting sheep!
You’re quite right. I hope the episode did show that Jane was struggling with those feelings. She knew she was feeling jealous but she also knew Gunther and was genuinely worried that he would take advantage of the friendship with Dragon. If Gunther had stood up to his father and done what he knew was right, then perhaps he and Dragon would have stayed better friends, but Gunther chose to obey his father and take advantage of Dragon, just as Jane had feared.
We spent a long time creating Jane, but we didn’t model her features on anyone. Her long lanky frame is exactly how my daughter Terri looked when she was twelve (Terri lived on horseback and hanging upside down from trees!). A lot of the movements and gestures of Jane are from the young actress Angela, who played her for our motion capture system.
Kippernia is in the south of England. I grew up loving all the King Arthur legends; I thought there was something very romantic about the codes of honor and chivalry, the saving of damsels, and jousting in front of huge crowds. In my imagination, I was always the handsome victorious knight of course!
Jane does know, and really cares for Jester as a friend and tries to be considerate of his feelings. She does that best by deliberately not noticing so that they can continue to be comfortable as friends. Jane is very focused on her training, and her ambition means she isn't going to allow herself to be distracted by boyfriend issues.
A few viewers have spotted this -- well done! Yes, Jane can sing beautifully. Singing and playing musical instruments were part of her basic education to be a Lady In Waiting so that she could entertain the Queen. Jane has chosen to reject this. So she doesn't get asked to put on pretty dresses and to play and sing to the Court, she makes everyone believe she has lost her musical ear completely. But her mother isn't fooled for one moment!
Girls develop at different speeds. Some have bursts of height and can be quite lanky for a while and don’t develop their more feminine figures until later. Some, like Pepper, develop their curves early. Jane also burns up huge amounts of energy in her active training, so she has remained slimmer than Pepper!
The glass mirrors with metal plating behind them that we have today are a very recent invention, only a few hundred years old. In Jane's day, mirrors were made of polished metals like bronze, tin, or silver, and they reflected light off their polished surfaces. So Jane's mirror doesn't give a very clear reflection.
I’m not familiar with that program -- I don’t think it plays here in New Zealand -- but I shall look out for it. I started writing my history of Jane’s Dragon in 1987 when I wrote the first Jane book, so I had to make up my own history for him and the science for how he can fly and breath fire. Did I say ‘make up’?! Both Jane and Dragon’s histories are completely and magnificently true of course!
There will be other books, and yes, I am writing a large novel for the whole of Jane’s life and her adventures with Dragon. It won’t be ready for a long time, I’m afraid. But it helps me to map out all the adventures she has and her life with the other characters at the castle and beyond.
Thank you! Yes, the plan is for all of the current 26 episodes to be released on DVD by Shout Factory in the US. We will try hard to include some extra features with each new DVD.
Jane won't be turning 13 anytime soon because there are so many stories to tell from this year of her training. But many of her most important adventures will take place through her teenage years. Jane has uncles, aunts, and cousins that she hasn’t met yet, but no brothers or sisters.
He certainly does, but there are quite a lot of fathers like Magnus who want the best for their children but aren't very good at showing affection. The main trouble with Magnus is that he is ambitious for Gunther in the wrong way. He would love to boast that his son is an important knight on the royal guard because it would be a great honor for the family. So he pushes Gunther for the wrong reasons.
Well spotted, Caleb! I loved the idea of Jane being a flaming redhead with green eyes and Dragon being a "greenhead" with flaming eyes. I wanted Dragon to have round eyes, more like a humans because they are more expressive. In some of my early drawings of him I tried reptile eyes, but he just looked plain scary all the time and it was hard to read his emotions, so I threw that idea out.
Jane was born at the castle. Her mother and father were already in service to the Royal family. And so Jane first met Jester when he arrived with his family of traveling players to perform for the King. You can find that part of Jester’s history on the profile pages.
Jane has been on several diplomatic missions. Part of the reason is so that the King can show off the fact that he has a young apprentice with a rather powerful dragon at her disposal. It’s a smart way to send a message when you know that your castle is under-powered with soldiers and guards!
Some of paintings were done by Dragon before he met Jane, when he first returned to his cave after all his adventures. He tried painting all the different animals and large vessels he’d seen in different countries. He calls them his "musings" and told Jane that he had seen others on cave walls all around the world, and hoped they were also the musings of other dragons from thousands of years ago. But some of the runes and paintings in Dragon’s cave are much older and were there 300 years ago when Dragon was born, though he was too young to remember them.
Jane has also learned to use staves for single combat and lances for mounted attack. She also has to learn the assault machines such as the trebuchet and the catapult. She can wear her armor now as it is very light and strong, made from the same steel tempered in dragon fire as her sword.
Bras are quite a recent invention, but women have improvised clothing to give them support from as long ago as 2500 BC. In Jane’s time, they would tie strips of material rather like wide scarves around their chest as an undergarment.
Because Jester's family are travelling players, he gets word from them occasionally from traders and other travelers passing through the Kingdom. He hopes that one day he will be able to show them his own skills in the hope that they will be proud of him, and also to reassure them that the hard decision they made years ago for his betterment was well placed.
We have written some episodes like that. It remains to be seen if they will work within the series format as chronological episodes. Some territories where Jane airs will shuffle the episodes so much that it can be confusing. But I would love to see if we can achieve it!
Jane refuses to wear dresses so that her mother will take her decision to train as a knight seriously. She wears leather leggings because that was a standard knight garment, just as bike riders wear leathers today for protection from scuffs and scrapes if they fall off their bikes. Jane isn't really wearing a short skirt over the leather leggings though, it's a fabric lining behind the waist armor she wears round her hips so it moves like a pleated skirt. I think Jane wears this so that she can look a bit feminine - a small token to appease her mother!
I do illustrate my own books. I illustrated the Jane and the Dragon books over twenty years ago now. I like to use coloring pencils and pick out the edges and highlights in brown ink. To become an illustrator, the most important thing is to get lots of practice, especially drawing faces. I found the best time to practice was when my family were watching TV. I could watch them and sketch away as they went from happy, to sad, to frightened all in the space of one program!
Yes, indeed, there is a long history behind the armor that Jester gives to Jane. How he came to own it, and the true nature of that armor and its link to Dragon, are all part of the long chain of discoveries that Jane and Dragon make as they uncover the truth about dragons and their own destinies. But I can’t give away those secrets here...sorry!
Any metal has to be heated to the point that it goes soft if it's going to be beaten and worked into the shape of a blade. Metalsmiths heat blades in hot open braziers to soften them to be worked with a hammer and anvil. A dragonblade needs the extra heat of dragon fire to soften it enough so it can be beaten into shape. But if too much heat is applied, the blade will melt completely, just as other metals will if too much heat is applied. The trick is to get it hot enough to be soft, but not so hot that it melts!
You are quite right, he is growing as an independent young man able to stand up to his father, but just a little. Gunther defies his father completely in one episode when Dragon is threatened with expulsion from the kingdom. It's the first time that we see the knight's code of ethics winning out in Gunther's heart over his fear and his sense of duty to his father.
It certainly does rain! Have you seen the episode where Jane falls off her horse during a thunderstorm? The whole castle staff have to take shelter in the Throne Room where Jester tries to keep their spirits up with brilliant jokes. Gunther reckoned it would be less painful back outside in the driving rain.
Some of the games and sports we play today were popular in Jane's time. Individual sports like archery, wrestling and hammer throwing were designed to develop fighting skills and fitness and were mostly played by boys and men. Team sports like bandyball, which was an early form of hockey, were played by everyone, as was a simple version of soccer called gameball. Cricket started a little after Jane’s time and was called stoolball because two milkmaid stools were used as the wickets. And a form of bowls called skittles was popular as were two early forms of golf called paganica and suigan.
Jane and the Dragon is doing very well all around the world with a wonderful and passionate following. If the series remains popular and the TV stations keep on playing it, then we hope to be able to go on making new episodes for a long time to come. I also plan to tell more of those adventures through books so that the everyone can see how both Jane and Dragon's destinies work out!
This is a hard one, I am attached to them all and have several favorites. But I guess "Mismatched" and the "Royal Babysitters" have to be up there. Jane and her friends are still having their usual struggles to do the right thing and are still getting themselves in a tangle, but in these episodes the drama elements are reduced so there is more time for social comedy between the characters, which helps to show more of their personalities.
Smithy has made quite a few contraptions, though I'm not sure he would claim they were inventions. The pig wheel that powers his bellows is one. Among others, he created a collapsing sun umbrella for Lavinia and a tangle-free hair cap for Jane to control her hair, which she thanked him for but has never used. But most of his contraptions are made to Sir Ivon's designs, like the bowling ball of doom and a self loading catapult. If Smithy had been left to design these on his own they might even have worked!
-From Audrey, 15, Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA
I hope so. I would love to see the show keep growing and for us to introduce the other characters who occupy Jane's life and castle. So tell all your friends about the show! If we make it a big success, we can afford to make several more series and grow the cast a little more each time. That would be wonderful!
Your question goes to the very heart of the unfolding story of Jane And The Dragon! When they discover the reason these swords were made, they begin to understand the truth about dragons, what happened to them, and Jane’s ultimate destiny with her Dragon.
They get board and lodging only. But sometimes they get a small coin called a Quadran on very special occasions, but it’s more to mark the occasion than as payment for work. In Jane’s England, the currency was quite complex because a lot of foreign currency was also in circulation, but the basic English measures was a pound and was measured as a pound of silver. It’s still referred to as the Pound Sterling today, sterling is a measure of silver. The pound was divided into 20 shillings or 240 pennies. The English silver penny was the most common coin in circulation and was called a Denarius. And a Mancus was worth 30 pennies. An Obole was half a denarius, or halfpenny, and a quarter penny was called a Quadran and later a Farthing.
The Crusades were a period of terrible war between two religious cultures, but those cultures had traded together for hundreds of years before that. The Roman Empire was in decline in Jane’s time, but the Roman era had been one of great expansion and trade so they had introduced the English to spices and exotic products from their trading partners around the ancient world.
Yes. Dragon finds them both very entertaining. He thinks the whole idea of the Court having to tiptoe 'round the bad behavior of the Prince hilarious. And he has a big soft spot for Princess Lavinia because she asks the same kinds of questions about life as he does. But finding them entertaining is one thing, having to look after them is another matter entirely.
Jester’s clothes do have a puzzle design on them. The history of jigsaw puzzles is quite recent in Jane’s Europe, where they were used to teach maps and charts back in the 1700’s. There are no records or tapestries or paintings showing puzzles from Jane’s day. Some historians believe puzzles were common in other cultures before that in China and Egypt, but there is no good historical evidence. But we do know that the idea of building rather large puzzles did exist back then, because the pyramids and burial chambers were giant puzzles designed to confuse robbers and keep the contents safe. And Jester was very well read.
The summoning tool in the dragonblade can only be opened by someone who breaks the rune code. This used to be given by the dragon himself to a trusted shortlife for reasons Jane is still to discover. When the three internal sections of the hilt core are aligned in the right way, the ‘summoner’ falls from the end. It’s attached by dragon thread to the hilt. Swinging it round and round forces air through the complex design creating a strange piping note that a Dragon can hear above all the background noise.
We get so many emails asking us to make more episodes and we so SO want to. But first Jane needs to be watched by even more people, if everyone who loves the show spreads the word and gets more families watching it, then broadcasters will want us to make a new series of stories. And yes, we have written some new scripts to be ready, and there is a big battle with the castle under threat in one of them!
Quite right. Jane and Gunther are both very lucky, born into wealthy families who see reading as an important skill for their future. The others were born into laboring families who placed more importance on trade skills. Jester found people to teach him to read when he was very young. He has full use of the Royal library and has taught Pepper to read. Smithy and Rake both take lessons with Jester and are picking it up slowly.
I’ve been following some of the discussions online and I really enjoy all the speculation. I know what really happens in the end, of course, and all I can say is that all three have some rocky relationships ahead of them. But true friendships made in childhood last a lifetime, and it’s the same for Jane.
I think it’s understandable when there is no history of meeting dragons in their lifetimes, and I think if I met a giant flying crocodile with teeth that big I would be a little respectful, if not a little fearful myself!
Okay, dear Jesterfreak. Just for you here is a verse from Jester’s favorite ballad which he refers to in his profile. I think you can guess the context!
I may be just a Jester,
But my heart is full of holes
Just like a chain mail vest,
And so,
Now you know.
Yes, quite right, and they do question it at first, and the early episodes and the books are all about this struggle, as she has to prove herself in the role. But we couldn’t make this a central story element for each episode without it becoming a bit boring!
By calling them shortlives, Dragon is saying that he is different, that he lives a long time. He’s not the most humble of characters, is he? And so he likes to point out his magnificence to everyone, including his magnificent life span.
I can’t answer that without giving away a great deal of the stories that are still to come. But you are right, in that Jane’s life is far shorter than a Dragon’s, so they can’t be companions for the whole of dragon’s life.
Jane’s leggings are made of a lightweight leather that’s very cool but very tough to wear so she doesn’t get scratched knees during all her practice fights and skirmishes. However, she also wears them all the time to annoy her mother, who thinks they are very unladylike!
I think poor Prince Cuthbert is attention seeking. His sister is so smart and lively and everyone enjoys her company, but instead of learning from her and realizing why people like her, he just gets cross and annoying.
I think Dragon would like the chance to find that out! Rake once fed him a whole bed of cabbages that had wilted from frost damage. He lost count at twenty-three. Because Dragon’s an herbivore; he has to eat a lot of vegetation which needs to sit in his stomach for a long time in order to rot down like compost and give off methane gas for his fire and flight. But quite how much, I don’t know.
It’s no secret that Jester has a bit of a crush on Jane and he was looking forward to having time with her exploring the caves. But then Dragon arrived and Jane gave her big green friend all her attention. Jester felt like he was pushing in on two good friends and because he always puts Jane’s happiness first, he made his excuses to leave. Then Dragon made Jester tag along.
They did indeed, and some Christmas traditions started in Jane’s time. Carol singers going from house to house began when carols were banned in churches in medieval times. The word ‘carol’ means to sing and dance in a circle and Christmas services got so rowdy that the Church ordered the carol singers out into the street! And ‘piggy banks’ are from the medieval Christmas too. On Boxing Day, lords gave their workers coins sealed in hollow clay pots with a slit in the top. These small clay pots were called "piggies". The term ‘eating humble pie’ comes from the medieval Christmas. A Lord would give his poorer villagers the heart, tongue, feet, ears and brains of his deer for them to cook in a Chrismas pie. These parts were known as the deer's ‘umbles’. So the poor ate ‘umble pie’ as a special Christmas treat. And Christmas pudding in Jane’s time was a spicy oat porridge called "frumenty" with currents and nutmeg.
-From Elizabeth, 17, Bishopville, South Carolina, USA
Well spotted, Elizabeth! Cuthbert had a cat he loved very much, a bit of a rough cat that got into fights and lost one eye. When the cat died, Cuthbert drew a picture of it and had copies of the picture embroidered onto some of his clothes.
I hope we will. For the first series of the show we had to decide which rooms we needed to spend the most time in with our stories because each set we build is expensive. If we are lucky enough to get another series, and that depends on growing our audience (so tell all your friends to tune in, won’t you?), then we plan to build more of the castle's interiors...including Jester’s room!
I’m delighted rather than surprised. I wanted to make a show that I would want to watch, and I’m almost as old as Theodore. So it’s been wonderful to get all the comments of support from all ages.
He tried to give the pig some food! It was an act of kindness but Cuthbert didn’t understand that feeding a pig is very different to feeding a pony. Pigs use their nose more than their eyes to find food and they snatch-grab at it, so you have to watch out for your fingers when feeding a pig. Smithy’s pig hadn’t meant to bite Cuthbert and Cuthbert was shocked and hurt and reacted angrily.
-From Nathaniel, 11, Bluefield, West Virginia, USA
Gunther doesn’t know who his mother really is or even if she’s still alive. He wants to find out but isn’t yet old enough or brave enough to challenge his father for the truth. But he does find out one day, when he’s a few years older. And does he meet her...That’s a story still for the telling!
Weaknesses! Jester! You are quite right of course. Jester knows his weaknesses better than anyone. He is not courageous, though Jane has taught him to be a little bolder. He is intolerant of bad taste and knows he has a weakness for the finer things in life.
Yes, like everyone else, Jane’s personality is growing and evolving because of the things she sees and learns and the people she meets and admires. The same is true for all her friends. But Jane never loses her hunger for knowledge, her sense of honor and her desire to challenge injustice wherever she sees it.
Jane saved the Prince from the Dragon when she was ten years old and training to be a Lady-In-Waiting. The TV show takes place two years later when Jane is twelve and training to be a knight. So the song tries to quickly sum up the back story. But if you want to read it for yourself, it's all in the original book "Jane And The Dragon" which is published by Candlewick Press.
Dragon is only 300 years old and could live for a thousand years. So he will have to learn to live without Jane as a friend one day. They have many adventures together as yes, they do unlock runes and discover the secret about dragons and the reason they have a such a special friendship.
The Wizard lives in the crooked tower in the corner of the Royal Gardens. He is a very private person and hardly ever comes outside in daylight. Many in the castle think he left years ago and nobody noticed. However, his tower rooms are very large and go down under the castle where they link to a large cave. And there are tales that he has an access stairwell all the way to the rocky beaches below.
Take a peek at our Meet the Cast section! There’s a lot of information there about Jane’s favorite color as well as her favorite food and ballad. You can also learn about some of her friends’ likes and dislikes as well.
Smithy had to make the gates when he first arrived to work as an apprentice to the blacksmith. He’d brought his favorite pet pig with him, but it kept running into the Vegetable garden and eating the produce! So Smithy’s first job was to make some low gates that could keep his pig in the yard. He called them the pig gates and decorated them with an image of his pig...who is now much better trained and so the gates don’t need to be closed very often.
Dragon needs to eat a lot of vegetation to create the methane gas for his fire and for the gas sacks that make him light enough to fly with small wings. His teeth are a mix of rippers and grinders because, like all the other dinosaurs, his dragon species evolved over millions of years and early strains of his kind did indeed eat meat and were ground dragons who never took to the air.
Dragon does take things seriously sometimes. He’s just not very good at judging what’s really serious to Jane and her Shortlife friends, so he can find some things VERY funny when in fact they can be rather sad or serious.
There are some connections. Jane and Dragon believe that Dragon is the baby Dragon that a scribe saw flying from the top of the mountain when the castle’s foundation corner stone was laid. The event is depicted on a special flag that’s only carried on certain Royal occasions.
Sadly for Ivon, none of his weapons were used with any great success on the battlefield, or anywhere else come to that. He did become famous later on in his life, but not through his inventions. He and Theodore do something very heroic to save the castle. The episode has already been written and I hope very much that we will be making a second series of the show so that you can see for yourself Ivon’s heroic act!
Yes. I try to write stories that excite me about characters that interest me. If you set your characters difficult challenges then how they face those challenges and make important decisions will always lead to moral interpretations. But I don’t set out to write about a particular moral.
Jane heads off on some great adventures with Dragon as she gets older, but she tries to return to the castle when she can, and catch up with her friends. But one of them isn’t there to greet her when she returns from one of her long expeditions. What has happened to them and why Jane blames herself will all be revealed in time!
I know that schools have made their own Jane costumes for school plays, but there are no Jane costumes for sale yet. Jane made her own costume herself using borrowed clothing. The blouse with the soft yellow design she chose because it was a present from the Queen, such fine material that is light and easy to wash was very hard to come by in Jane’s time. The heavy-duty patchwork tights were a present from Jester. The studded leather tunic is body armor that Smithy adapted for her. Leather armor was popular at the time because it was lighter than chain mail and yet it could stop a sword blow. Several layers of leather were sown on top of each other to give it strength. The chain mail skirt is from the original suit of armor that Jester gave to Jane when she was 10 years old.
We have started writing scripts for a second series of Jane, and one of the stories tells of how Jane first met Dragon. Although there are no stories planned for how Jane’s friends came to the castle, but I am writing a novel about Jane that covers all the early years and how her friends came to be there. Sadly I can’t promise to finish it any time soon!
Quite right, Billy! The English we speak today has been influenced by so many factors, including absorbing words from the French, Normans and Romans who invaded and settled the land we now call England. Back in Jane’s time, it wasn’t even one country, it was a series of smaller Kingdoms and each area had its own version of the language.
The look is based on my original illustrations. I illustrate my stories using coloured pencils, so it’s a very art-driven aesthetic. The show was art directed by my son, Theo Baynton, a wonderful graphic artist. He worked with the Weta designers to analyze how I draw. They then developed a look for the animation that would capture the feeling that these were picture book illustrations coming to life. It took them a long time to make it work, almost a year before we started production, but I’m so thrilled with the final result!
Yes, I have a story I want to tell about Smithy’s chariot. In fact he has two, but that’s part of the story. And I can’t give too much away about when and why Jane leaves the castle, but she and Dragon have a very big duty ahead of them and Jane has some very tough choices to make. But will I abandon her friends? No. Their futures get woven into Jane’s in ways she will never expect, and in some cases never choose. So Jane will have many more adventures with all her friends. All but one.
Gunther has a few issues doesn’t he? He wants to do the right thing most of the time but… And I agree he should go on a quest to discover who his mother was. He starts to hunt for clues close to home to begin with though, and he gets rather upset about something he turns up.
Mmmm. Jane does ride horses in several of the episodes. Perhaps you’ve missed those. She’s trying to practice riding in Three’s a Crowd. She has a bit of a tumble from one in Fowl Weather Friends, and she races to Dragon’s aid on a horse in Dragonslayer.
Yes, they do have an interesting tension don’t they. In some ways they are rather alike, both headstrong, determined and eager to do well. And in other ways they are so different. Jane is always jumping in head first to help others where Gunther helps himself first and others if there’s enough time. As to getting paired up, they have to go on patrol together sometimes, but I don’t think that’s what you mean, is it?
What a good question. Yes it was very hard for Dragon to learn to talk. But he has quite strong and long lips and a very strong tongue so he can get most of the mouth shapes he needs. Getting him to stop talking – that’s the really hard part.
Yes. I’m writing the lyrics to some of Jester's ballads! In New Zealand, schools are writing tunes to go with the lyrics for their "Jane and the Dragon" Web site. If there’s enough interest we could print them here too. What do you think?
Well done, Danny! Your question goes to the heart of Jane’s story and her future. It's part of the truth about dragons that she wants to uncover. When she is a little older, Jane discovers exactly why dragonblades were created. The answer surprises and frightens her because it ties her to a future, to terrible danger, and to a commitment to Dragon that must last a lifetime. So unfortunately...if I answer your questions here I will reveal too much of the bigger adventure!
Oh yes, Kasha! If you haven’t caught it already, watch out for the episode where Jester confronts a wild boar. He’s very brave...so brave that he even risks taking his hat off in one scene.
Thank you! He is cool isn’t he? You’re quite right, we had to change his proportions a little for the show. We had to make sure he could walk and crawl, fly, reach his nose and sit up. So he has to have a skeleton and muscle system that really works. When I draw him in my books I can just draw him to work for the pictures, which was a lot easier.
That’s great that you’re going to write about the period! We spent a long time researching for the show, deciding which elements from the period we were going to focus on and which we would leave out. We decided to make up our own slang for the show because it was fun to do...and because some of the real slang of the time was just too rude to have on a TV show!
I would love to have Jane sparring with a real sword. But she has to get a lot better at it and be strong enough to be dressed in full protective armor for the practice. And she does spar with Ivon and Theodore as well...take a look at the opening of "A Dragon’s Tail."
Jane and Dragon often ask the same questions. Jane thinks that if she hadn’t decided to be a knight, she would have become a sailor and gone off and explored the world. Dragon thinks he would have oh so bravely rescued her from certain death in a terrible storm. Jane thinks she would have rescued him in some foreign land by saving him from embarrassing himself. But they both think that they were meant to meet up and become friends, whatever job Jane had done.
Smithy has several roles since the castle fell on hard times a few years ago. He is the blacksmith, the stable-hand and the knight’s servant. So he looks after and maintains the horses, the armor and all the many weapons. And because he’s a very good blacksmith, Ivon uses him to build his rather odd experimental weapons.
Yes, he does have ears, those flaps which look like tiny bat wings below his horns are Dragon’s ears. I agree, a drawing competition would be a great idea! I understand that in the US where you are viewing the show there has only been 13 episodes so far. I believe more episodes are about to be aired starting in October 2007. Stay tuned!
You are quite right! Back in Jane’s time, normal armor was very heavy indeed and if a knight was in full battle armor they had to be winched up onto their horse. The technology for producing strong but lightweight metals like our modern steels was many years later. The reason that Jane’s armor is so light is because it was made by a different process that Jane discovers all about when she starts to uncover Dragon’s true history. I can’t give too much away here...
One book is called "Three Is A Crowd," and one is called "Dragon’s Tail." And yes, I do have plans for books to tell the stories of how Jane becomes a full knight, and also how Jane leaves the castle to go on some really big adventures with Dragon as they try to uncover the truth about dragons!
Good question, Joey! We have a story about Dragon having too much gas in his belly but it hasn’t been made into an episode yet. I won’t give too much away, but as you know, Dragon uses gas to help him lift off, his wings are too small to fly if he didn’t have a gas bladder to help him. When his gas runs out, he has to land, and if he has too much gas he finds it very hard to get down to the ground...he has to burn gas off from one end or the other!
Certainly girls can become knights these days. There are medieval festivals all over the world that hold jousting, sword fighting, and archery competitions. Some of the best archers in the world are women. And there are all kinds of competitions on horseback that copy some of the skills knights used to practice. And remember that knights were the police force of their day, upholding peace and keeping the law.
To answer your first question, I think red hair is such a wonderful dynamic color. If you grow up with red hair people expect you to be a bit fiery, so maybe Jane’s personality has grown to deal with having red hair. She could either hide it quietly under a pretty hat, or flaunt it. She chose the latter, so yes, I think they are connected. Regarding your second question: Jester’s room is directly under Jane’s and we had a peep through the window in the Jester Justice story where Ivon challenges Jester to a duel. Gunther doesn’t live in the castle; he lives in his father’s house in the town square.
Jane feels pain like everyone, but in her training she is learning not to focus on it. She has to ignore her bruises and scrapes, the blisters on her sword hand and the beads of sweat stinging her eyes. Instead she tries to focus all her attention on the immediate job of reading her opposition’s next move.
Jester has tried to teach Jane back flips and cartwheels, but Jane refuses to learn. She wants to become known for her swordplay, and doing a back flip with a sword in her hand would not be a good idea!
In "Foul Weather Friends," Jane solves the code that unlocks the dragonblade handle. When opened, it reveals a beautiful whistle carved from dragon horn. To summon Dragon, Jane swings the whistle on its slender chain round and around above her head to force air through it. But Jane first opens it in a storm and the violent wind blows through the whistle without the need for swinging it.
Jane made the stuffed dragon when she was training to be a Lady-In-Waiting. She always had to practice her needlework skills and made the stuffed dragon as a present for Princess Lavinia when the Princess was only two years old. This was long before Jane met Dragon, so this one was just based on stories she had read about knights and Dragons. But when she presented the toy, Lavinia wouldn’t stop screaming...so Jane decided to keep it for herself!
Yes, they cared about him so much they wanted to do the very best they could for him. They found out he was a very bright child and wanted him to have an education. But only children in a Royal Court had an education in those days, all other children had to work as soon as they could walk. So it must have been heartbreaking to leave him to be tutored at the castle, but they felt it was the best future they could make for him.
Jane’s suit of armor stands near the end of her bed in her tower room. Watch out for the episode called "The Dragonslayer" when we see Jane dressed in full armor for the first time!
Pepper is not too bad at cooking, she just gets distracted sometimes and can add some very interesting ingredients to a recipe. Sometimes this can delight everyone, but not always. Her worst recipe was when she used soap instead of butter in a creamy vegetable soup. Dragon loves it when Pepper makes mistakes because he usually gets the leftovers. And Pepper’s best recipe is roasted vegetables with cheese melted over the top. Everyone in the castle loves that meal!
This first group of adventures are all set in the year of Jane’s training when she is twelve. I have many more stories about Jane and her friends as they get older. I hope the show will be so successful that we can afford to make still more series that will follow her adventures as she grows!
In the years ahead, Dragon with the help of Jane will discover the answer to your first question. And Jane believes that Dragonslayers used dragon blades like hers, which can penetrate a dragon’s hide. Before very long she also discovers how these blades were made and why they are sharper than any other weapons.
As a trainee knight, Jane wanted to live independently from her parents, who still live in the main castle with the Royal family. Because she is still a young girl, and because Sir Ivon snores like a volcano, it was not appropriate for her to take a hammock in the knight’s quarters. So the King granted Jane permission to live out in the old tower, which was only being used as an old storeroom. Her friends all helped her to convert it into a comfortable bedroom!
They are very sharp and VERY strong. This makes them very useful for the tips of blades or the cutting edge of tools. The only problem is that you need another tool made of dragon's tooth in order to cut and shape a dragon’s tooth!
Sickness was a real problem back in Jane’s day. They had a good knowledge of herbal medicine but there were no antibiotics and people could get very ill from infection from a simple cut. Pepper, Smithy, and Rake have the best understanding of herbs and their healing qualities, so they are often the ones to help out with nursing duties.
Dragon doesn’t know the exact day he was born, so he doesn’t have a birthday. He has mentioned this to Jane several times in the hope that she will make one up for him and throw him a surprise party...but so far she hasn’t taken the hint!
Is Gunther secretly like Jane? I think he has the right qualities to be a knight, but we don’t see them very often because they are buried under a lot of anger. But deep down, Gunther has a stout heart. As for the clothes: long hair and skirts were very fashionable for men for hundreds of years. And in many cultures around the world, they still are. And yes, you're right -- Jane is often afraid. She is very intelligent and only a fool would risk danger without fearing the consequences, and fortunately Jane is no fool!
I love fan art! I feel very honored when anyone loves the show so much that they want to celebrate it with a drawing. I used to draw all my favorite TV characters when I was younger. It would be wonderful to have a page of fan art on the Jane Web site. What do you think of that idea?
Great question Drew...but I think you are making an assumption! Perhaps Jane does have a brother or sister. Perhaps she has never met them and perhaps she doesn’t even know they exist. That would be interesting. What do you think?.
The big difference was that they had to eat whatever was in season because food storage was more difficult in Jane’s time. But they had a broad range of meats, fish, fruits and vegetables just like us. Kippernia was famous for its herring, which was one food source they could store very well by smoking it.
Jane has quite a formal style of writing. She never uses contractions, which is the term for joining two words to make a short new word. So Jane will write will not instead of won’t. And I have instead of I’ve. Excerpts of her journal can be found all over the place if you know where to look. Perhaps we should include some pages of it here! What do you think?.
We chose our names very carefully. We think they say something about the nature of each character, and suggest their history too. The only one who is named after a real person is Sir Theodore. My dad’s name is Theodore and he is a very kind and noble person, just like the old knight himself!
People who lived in castles in Jane’s day were surprisingly clean! In fact, they had running water and baths with steaming hot bath water. They had soap and scented oils and they cleaned their teeth with willow twigs. To be clean was considered a mark of your high station in life, because if you were a peasant farmer working in the fields you couldn’t help but get a bit dirty and sweaty each day.
Good news! I’ve just finished writing two Jane chapter books. In the States they will be published by Candlewick Press. In England, Australia and New Zealand they are published by Walker Books and they should be in the bookshops very soon!
It’s been wonderful! It’s taken four years to make the TV series and I’ve been surrounded by wonderful talented people who have all fallen in love with making the Jane world, just as I did when I started writing the books in 1987 (21 years ago!). I have so many adventures I’m bursting to send her on, and of course I know what’s going to happen to her as she and Dragon head out of the castle in the years ahead and explore the world together.
Religion was very much a part of life in England back in Jane’s time. It was an interesting mix of the Christian Church, which had been introduced by the Romans, and the ancient religions that had been practiced for many centuries. Most people believed in what they called the old gods, and all meals were sacred to these gods. When animals were killed for meat they were sacrificed to the gods. Politicians usually chose to become priests in order to have more power in their community and the Roman emperors were considered to be gods themselves. So it was an interesting time indeed and very complicated – so complicated that I decided not to mix it into our day-to-day Jane stories.
A bit of both I think. It’s good for Jane to have someone in the castle who challenges her all the time. Gunther is a complicated character, he’s not exactly a bully, and he struggles hard to be good. I think when he teases Jane it’s his way of getting attention.
Three questions! Yes, Jane and her friends use all the latest hair cleaners of their time. They use a mix of oil and ashes first, then clean that out with a simple form of soap made from a mixture of clay, animal fat, and wood ash. Rather than thin their hair, most girls wear it tied up in various styles. Leaving it loose like Jane is thought to be very undignified. And yes, they are all old enough to get married! In Jane’s time childhood could be very short indeed.
Dragon would be very upset if I showed him your question, Morgan! He believes he is structured magnificently and is a fine product of evolution. He produces vast amounts of methane gas from eating vegetables and stores the gas in large belly bladders. This makes him light like a balloon. So dragons never had to develop large wings for uplift.
At the moment we have a lot more stories to tell about Jane at this age. But I know what happens to Jane as she gets older, the truth about dragons, and their adventures together for many years. I will tell those stories on the TV or in books about Jane!
Good on you for writing a story, Ashley! My only advice is to follow what your heart tells you the characters should do. Don’t listen to friends or family. What do YOU want to happen in your story? Ask yourself lots of "what would that do?" questions. For instance, what would happen next after the dragon turns into a human? Would he be happy? Maybe he likes being a dragon and now Katrina and Trey must go on an adventure to find a cure for his "human-ness."
I suspect it could have helped a little. Dragon had stolen Cuthbert away to his cave because he wanted help understanding the runes on his cave wall. And because one of the runes was of a small child, he hoped it might be of Cuthbert and that the boy would have information. When he found out what a pain Cuthbert was, it might have been a relief to have Jane come and rescue him.
Dragon does hoard treasure – but it’s only valuable to him. He has collected a giant pile of it in a heap at the back of his cave. You can glimpse it in some of the stories. The ‘treasure’ pile is made up of anything that has dragon runes, or symbols or images carved on it. Jewels and gold are of no value to him.
Jane does indeed have friends outside the castle! We will be meeting some of them in Jane books and if enough people fall in love with the show and want to see more episodes, then I know for certain that we will be meeting friends from outside the castle walls in those stories.
The sad truth is that it depended on their circumstance. Children of royalty were often married to the children of other kingdoms at a very tender age to secure peace treaties – the countries became 'married.' So there was no romantic courtship for them. But for the middle classes there was time for romance, though much of it had to be conducted in secret through letter writing.
What a great question. Jane is everything I would like to have been at her age. In my imagination, I was tough and intelligent of course. I wanted to stand up for the weaker kids in class when they were bullied. I know Jane would have done that. I wish I had challenged myself more to be stronger, kinder, more helpful and more...well, heroic, I guess. But I was a very average boy who felt invisible in class, and not very brave in the face of bullies and fools.
What a great idea - a full set of Dragon runes I can share! Let me see what can be done about that, I will have to wait until Jane and Dragon discover a lot more though, or I will be giving away some of the secrets to future episodes. We made the Dragon runes up from scratch – ha ha, bad pun. We decided Dragons can only scratch in curved lines. Also, they see the world from above so shadows would mean a great deal. Tall objects cast longer shadows, so older people cast longer shadows than children. The runes use all these ideas.
Hi Lindsay! Animation is a wonderful way to tell stories. I believe the most important ingredient in a story is the cast of characters. Animation allows you to create all kinds of quirky characters. My advice is to watch people very closely. Watch if they walk with their toes or heels down first. Do they lower their head when they enter a room, or do they look round at everyone? The key to animation is observation!
Hi Rachael. Two questions in one! Firstly, yes, Jane and the Dragon will have to go into battle. I will say no more on that topic as it might spoil the stories yet to come. As for Dragon having a name, I know the answer to this but I can’t reveal it here, as it would spoil some of the discoveries Jane is still to make about Dragon. And he thanks you for calling him ‘mighty’...he thinks it’s no more than he deserves!
The theme song is catchy, isn't it? You may be happy to hear that fans will soon be able to come to Qubo.com and play the "Jane and the Dragon" theme song whenever they like. In the meantime, we'd hate to keep you from singing along, so here are the lyrics:
Jane and the Dragon
There once was a lady in waiting
Let's call her Jane.
That girl wasn't ordinary-
No way for me a lady stuck in waiting
I'd rather battle fire-breathing dragons
I knew I could prove that a girl could be a Knight
Though my friends all laughed at me
but...
I wouldn't be discouraged and trained in secret
Then a dragon pinched the Royal Prince
and everyone was freaking
So I went alone to the dragon's home
to slay the dragon
Hey now, hey now now
Jane and the Dragon are best friends now
Dragon's sweet, he let me save the young Prince
Then the King made me a Knight apprentice
Hey now hey now now...
With Dragon's help I'll be a Knight someday
Composed by Martin Kucaj
Lyrics by Arlene Bishop
Published by Cinesymphonies, Nelvana Limited 2005
I certainly will. There are two more books coming out very soon. One is called "Three Of A Kind," and one is called "Dragon’s Tail." I hope to write many more stories about Jane’s adventures with Dragon and her other friends. A soundtrack of the music would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? I think the musicians who write it are brilliant. I shall pass the idea on and keep my fingers crossed!.
This is a great question, Danny! Yes, Ivon is Scottish and for much of their history the English and the Scots have had their battles and feuds. As far back as the Roman era there were problems, and Hadrian tried to keep the Northern folk from coming south by building a huge wall right across the country. You can still visit it today. But the real disputes we read about in history began a lot later, once England existed as a complete country...long after Jane’s time. She lived in about 800AD, when England was only a group of separate kingdoms, each with a feudal ruler. And all the kingdoms had their disputes and their battles.
I hope your friend Jason never meets the dragon he’s talking about! I can only speak for Jane’s Dragon, and he definitely breathes fire. The fuel for his fire is the methane gas that builds up from eating cabbages and other rotting vegetables. He has two hard flints at the top of his wind pipe that he can crack together to create a spark to ignite his out breath – if he chooses to.
Jane has been translated into French and Spanish so far. It takes quite a long time to make one episode. It takes several weeks to write a good script and several more to make a storyboard -- which is like a comic of the story with simple drawings to show the animators what has to happen in each shot. Then we record the voices and then the animation begins. So it takes many months to make one episode from beginning to end!
I’m not sure when the new episodes will be broadcast in the United States. We have made 26 so far and they're being seen in other countries around the world. But each country has a different schedule, so keep watching...they can’t be far away!
I would love to make a movie of them. Some of the stories I want to tell about Jane and Dragon are too long for a TV show, so they will have to be books or films. It would be so neat to sit in a movie theatre and see the Jane world come to life on the big screen. I have all my fingers and toes crossed!
You have to be brave enough to share it with friends and family. I always use my family as my first readers. They try to be very honest, which is what I need if things have to be changed. But you also have to trust your own reactions to your story! If you think there are some weak parts to it then keep polishing them until you feel more confident that you have made it as good as it can be. In the end, writing is a craft like any other...and the more you practice the better you will get!
You're quite right! Back then, there were no rules about how old you had to be to get married and some children were married very young indeed. If Jane had not become a knight, I think she would have found a way to be an adventurer of some kind and would set off to see the world. Her spirit is too large to be locked up in a life of service in a small community.
Jane’s world is a small corner somewhere on the East coast of England in the 9th century. In Jane’s time, England was not yet a complete country united under one king. It was a group of small kingdoms, each one ruled by a different king.
Jester knows his real name but he keeps it a secret. Gunther thinks it must be embarrassing. In fact it’s not - it’s an interesting Roman name. Jester’s family are travelling players called Romanies or gypsies, originally from Italy. And one day Jester will reveal his true name to Jane!
They both lost! Jane was glad she didn’t have to choose between two such terrible displays. But she also knows that Jester is a very good dancer and that the competition is just a game between her two friends. Jester could dance elegant rings around Smithy, but he chooses not to. It’s one of the delightful things about Jester; he will play the fool so that other people feel at ease.
I’m sure Jane will wear a dress one day. A small part of her still longs to wear elegant feminine clothes, but for now she is busy proving to her mother and to the world that she is tough enough to be a knight. She thinks that wearing a dress will undo all that hard work.
Great question! Dragon’s skin is very tough but still has nerves in it. Some of the toughest skin on shortlives is on the soles of their feet. They can walk barefoot all day and not get a single scratch – but it’s also where they are the most ticklish.
The codes are dragon runes, or dragon language. Dragon has been collecting anything with runes on it in the hope that it will help him unlock the truth about dragons. He wants to know the full truth, not the stories he hears from shortlives. Most of all he wants to know what happened to dragons and he hopes the runes will help to reveal the past and solve all those mysteries.
There is now a lot of new information about the characters on the Meet the Cast page! It will tell you all about their families and where they live. For instance, Smithy is the son of a local pig farmer, and his family still live on a small pig farm not far from the castle.
For three hundred years, Dragon kept himself a secret from the world. He's spied on shortlives, learnt their languages, and tried to understand them. But the few times that he revealed himself he always got into trouble and was attacked...Then he met Jane! At last he found someone who wasn't scared of him and didn't want to kill him. Someone he could talk to. And he has three hundred years of talking to get out of his system!
Jane's father is the King's Chamberlain. He runs the castle staff and tries to keep the King's treasury from running out of money. He appears in several episodes, and one in particular where he gets so worried by something that happens to Jane that he gets right into the action himself.
It's just the way it grows! Her mother, The Lady-In-Waiting, wants Jane to use bows and clips to control it like a proper young lady of the Court. You can imagine what Jane thinks of that idea! So Jane likes it just the way it is, especially because it looks rather like a ball of dragon fire.
No, Dragon can't perform magic. His flying and fire-breathing seem like magic, but they are all due to the methane gas he builds up in his body from eating lots of vegetation. His scales and skin seem like magic because they are too strong for most weapons, but they are just very tough like slivers of bone. Unfortunately, a lot of shortlives in Jane's world used to believe that parts of a Dragon had special magical powers, so they would hunt Dragons for their teeth, claws, and scales.
Well spotted, Tuano! The links on Jane's skirt of armor do look like dragon scales. But they are actually made of metal. They are part of a suit of special armor that was found in Dragon's cave. It's covered in dragon runes and dragon symbols, including the metal scales of the skirt.
Sir Theodore is teaching Jane all the skills of being a knight. The first rule is to keep the peace and avoid combat if possible. So Jane tries to use her brain to solve her problems. But she knows that one day she might need to use her skills in combat to defend her friends and the Royal Family. Keep watching, Ned, and you'll find out the answer to your question!
We wanted Jane to be a cartoon that wasn't like other cartoons. We have tried to create a world where the characters behave like real people in a real world but who look like drawings from a book. The hope was that we could make a world that looked like it had stepped right out of the pages of a children's book, rather than a normal TV cartoon. I like to think we succeeded...don't you?
Rake doesn't have a harsh word for anyone. He sees the best in people and has a great deal of affection for Jane and all their friends. But there is one special person who can bring a bit of color into his cheeks, and she does it without rubbing beetroot on his face...though Rake has done that himself once, to please Princess Lavinia!
Yes, they do...they play Bandyball! It was a very popular sport throughout England in Jane's time. It was a team game and could be played with as few as two people on each side or with hundreds.
Sometimes entire villages would play against each other! The game involved hitting a ball (made from a pig's bladder that was filled with dried seeds) towards the other team's goal, which could be a post, a wall or a building. It was played with curved sticks and was a bit like modern hockey, except players could kick, throw, and hit the ball.
My inspiration comes from real people. The characters in Jane's world are based on friends I had when I was young, on my children and friends of my children. It's the same for the adult characters. For instance, the King is very much like a teacher I had when I was at school. He was always trying to please everyone and he wasn't as smart as the children he was trying to teach. But he was a kind man and so we were always polite to him even though he was a bit silly and boring.
Yes, I do know Jane's Dragon! He's lived in my head for over twenty years and is always telling me about his adventures from the years before he met Jane. He has now asked me to ask Jane if she would write them down for him. I've promised to pass on the message!
And yes, Macie, I am real. This is not a computer making up replies to all the wonderful questions everyone sends in. My name is Martin Baynton and I wrote the Jane And The Dragon books and work as a producer and writer on the TV series. Sadly, there isn't enough space to answer every question that is sent in, but I read ALL of them and I want to thank you all so much for the kind words and emails of support. They mean a great deal to me and to the rest of the Jane team.
Jane is voiced by a very talented 13-year-old Canadian actress named Tajja Isen. You might recognize her voice on TV as that of Betty from "Atomic Betty" and Jodie from "Time Warp Trio." She's also an accomplished singer -- she portrayed Young Nala in the Toronto production of "The Lion King" for nearly a year -- as well as a pianist and songwriter. I think Tajja has a bright future ahead of her...just like Jane!
The voice behind Dragon belongs to Adrian Truss, one of Canada's leading comedians. He has performed with the Second City comedy on stage and television, as well as with the improv troupe he co-founded, Illustrated Men. You can hear Adrian's voice in other animated series such as "Atomic Betty" and "Rolie Polie Olie." Adrian has also written and directed several plays for the stage. He's a truly multi-talented fellow and we're thrilled that he's helping us bring Dragon to life.
Gunther doesn't know where his mother is. His father refuses to talk about her and gets very angry if Gunther asks about her. He has a few memories of her and has collected bits of gossip here and there. One tale is that she was the daughter of a rich trader and that the Merchant only married her to get her father's business.
I love fanfiction! It is wonderful, touching, and humbling to know that there are people who love Jane so much they want to write their own stories for her. I have always loved books and TV shows where I am so hooked on the characters that I want the stories to go on forever. With some shows, I wish I could step through into the world and live there myself. I hope that is what "Jane and the Dragon" is doing, and that fanfiction is a way of spending more time in her world with her friends.
We know that all kinds of creatures lived on the earth. The earth is such a very old place, and humans have only been here for a very tiny part of its history. There were once thousands of wonderful creatures who flew in our skies and swam in our seas. I would like to believe that one of those species might have been a flying reptile who could breath fire. After all, what good is an imagination if you can't dream of dragons once in a while?
Dragon and Jane would both like to know the answer to that question! They know that Dragon himself is about 300 years old because he learned shortlife calendars and counting systems when he was very young, and he can remember counting more than 290 shortlife years. In one of the Theodore's books it says dragons used to live for two thousand years. However, Dragon doesn't think that book is reliable since it also states that dragons were vain, self-centered, and childish.
Jane's sword is a dragonblade. It's covered in dragon runes on the hilt, the blade, and the sheath. Jane understands some of them; they include the runes for love, death, life and blade. Some of the same runes are on Jane's armor. In one episode, Jane unlocks a secret code in the handle of her sword, and later, she discovers her sword is much more special and more dangerous than she could ever have imagined!
It will come up in the Jane books. Whether or not it comes up in an episode on TV depends on how successful the series becomes! I hope that Jane will be watched by millions of people one day, and that they can follow Jane's many adventures...which include her discovering the history of her grandfather, discovering what happened to dragons, and why she must leave the castle one day to follow her destiny with Dragon.
"Jane and the Dragon" is a co-production created by Nelvana and WETA. Nelvana is an animation company based in Canada that has produced
many kids' cartoons including "Max & Ruby," "Rolie Polie Olie," "Franklin," "Little Bear" and "Braceface." WETA is best known for its
Academy Award-winning special effects work on the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy.
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