Jake and the Never Land Pirates

Here is one of my favourite shows from Disney Junior.

***Jake and the Never Land Pirates*** is an Annie Award-winning musical interactive animated Disney Junior show based, on the successful Disney franchise, *Peter Pan* that was in turn based on the famous book and play by British author J.M. Barrie. It is the first Disney Junior original show following the switch from Playhouse Disney.

It stars Sean Ryan Fox, Megan Richie, Jadon Sand, David Arquette, Corey Burton, and Jeff Bennett. Colin Ford voiced the titular character Jake up until season 2 episodes 11, 13, and 14, while Cameron Boyce voiced the character through Episode 67. Madison Pettis voiced Izzy for the first three seasons through *Battle for the Book*, while Jonathan Morgan Heit voiced Cubby for the same first three seasons. The show quickly became Disney Junior's most popular series.

The 4th season is known as *Captain Jake and the Never Land Pirates*, reflecting Jake's new outfit in the Season 3 finale.

## Plot

The series focuses on a band of young pirates consisting of Jake, Izzy, Cubby, their parrot Skully and Bucky, their living pirate ship, who continuously spend their days competing against Captain Hook and Mr. Smee for treasure. They are often accompanied by several characters, including their mermaid friend Marina.

In November 2011, Disney announced a one-hour prime time special for the show to air February 13, 2012 entitled *Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Peter Pan Returns*. A second season was also ordered for the series and began airing on February 20, 2012. The series is a critical and commercial success, receiving high praise from critics and fans for its educational, yet entertaining format. The series is currently in its third season, premiering on January 3, 2014 with an updated theme and opening. Also, a line of items, such as party supplies, apparel, room decor, plush, role play and accessories, and action-oriented play sets and figures, including a boat of Bucky, Jake's Pirate Ship, were released in the summer of 2012, while in 2013, three Lego Duplo sets will be released based from the series. At the American International Toy Fair in New York City, Disney announced a film based on the series, premiered on September 19, 2012, entitled *Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Bucky's Great Race*. The film was later downgraded to a special episode renamed *Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Jake Saves Bucky*. The one-hour special premiered on September 19, 2012 on Disney Channel in the USA, and released on DVD October 16, 2012. A third special, *Jake's Never Land Rescue*, debuted September 29th, 2013 and was released on DVD November 19th of that same year. The fourth special, *Battle for the Book*, debuted October 26, 2014 and was released on DVD January 6th, 2015. The 5th special, *Captain Jake and the Never Land Pirates: The Great Never Sea Conquest*, premiered July 31, 2015, and will be on DVD January 12, 2016.

## Premise

The show revolves around a group of three children who are pirates in Never Land, looking for treasure. Their main obstacles are Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Tick-Tock the Crocodile, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell from Disney's *Peter Pan* franchise. Captain Hook usually sees Jake and his crew doing something fun and steals it from them, and Jake and his crew have to get it back. After they succeed, Jake and his crew count their gold doubloons (which they receive after solving puzzles, or "pirate problems") and put them in their treasure chest known as the "Team Treasure Chest." Jake inspires little children that when you need to find something, you should look for it and not give up for the evil and not well people to earn it.

The first season of the series followed more "playful" conflicts such as, Jake and the crew getting their basketball back from Captain Hook, or Jake and the crew taking back their stolen skateboard. The second season gave a larger scale to the adventure in the show, now having the characters find a lost city of gold, and an ancient pirate pyramid. The 4th season has the kids interact just once an episode.

Each program contains two eleven minute animated episodes, followed by a live-action song by the Never Land Pirate Band. The singing characters "Bones" and "Sharky" appear in both animated and live action forms. This is omitted in Season 4, as it is just Jake in different short clips in the end credits.

## Cast

### Main Characters

Jake
Voiced by Colin Ford (Ep. 1 – 36, 38 – 40 and 56), Cameron Boyce (Online; Series Ep. 37 and 41 – 67), Sean Ryan Fox (Ep. 68 - current), Riley Thomas Stewart (Buccaneer Blast, understudy Season 4)
Jake is an 8-year-old boy and the main protagonist of the series and leader of the Never Land Pirates. He has a wooden sword, created from the Forever Tree which was made and given to him by Peter Pan, and serves as Captain Hook's main pirate rival.
Izzy
Voiced by Madison Pettis (Seasons 1-3), Megan Richie
Izzy is the only pirate girl in the group. She is 6-years old. She has a small sack of Pixie Dust, which was given to her by the fairies (Tinker Bell and her friends). The team only uses the pixie dust for emergencies. However, there have been episodes where pixie dust is not used at all. Her catchphrase is "Yay, hey, no way!"
Cubby
Voiced by Jonathan Morgan Heit (Seasons 1-3), Jadon Sand
Cubby is a 5-year-old boy and the youngest of the group with his catchphrase,"Aw, coconuts!" He has the map of Never Land, and is not a member of the "Lost Boys," despite the fact he physically resembles the Cubby of the group. His personality is rather timid, and he is not very confident in himself.
Skully
Voiced by David Arquette (animated speaking)/Loren Hoskins (singing)
Skully is a small green parrot who acts like a guardian to the team. He keeps a look-out for Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.
Captain Hook
Voiced by Corey Burton
Captain Hook is Neverland's resident pirate captain and the main antagonist of the series. Commander of the galleon "The Jolly Roger" and legendary for his cruelty to his enemies as well as to his own men, Hook has trouble holding onto a permanent crew. In fact at the moment, he holds only three crew members. Hook is seen to be completely hopeless without the constant aid of Mr. Smee. He's also considerably "nicer" and more playful in this show than in the Peter Pan franchise, probably due to the absence of Peter Pan, and a much smaller (and loyal) crew.
Mr. Smee
Voiced by Jeff Bennett
Mr. Smee is Captain Hook's "left-hand man," first mate, and the secondary antagonist of the series. Despite him working for the bad side, he still is quite a kind and generous man.
Sharky and Bones
Voiced by Loren Hoskins and Kevin Hendrickson (singing)/Jeff Bennett (animated speaking)
Sharky and Bones are members of Captain Hook's pirate crew. They usually spend time performing musical numbers rather than advancing the plot, acting as troubadours or Greek Chorus. Both Hoskins and Hendrickson, specialists in a music form called "Pirate Rock," were asked by Disney to write the music and lyrics for all the songs for the show.
Marina the Mermaid
Voiced by Ariel Winter
A young mermaid who lives in the ocean around Never Land with the rest of her fellow mermaids. Unlike some of her mermaid sisters, who tends to be snobbish, selfish, vain at times, Marina is gentle and kind to the young pirates. She often shows them the secrets of the Never Sea she finds. Marina and Izzy are very close friends, and may even be the same age. Like Izzy, Marina is rumored to be the love interest of Jake. Marina also has a little sister named Stormy.
Bucky
Jake, Izzy and Cubby's pirate ship, who has a mind of its own and communicates with the crew through its ringing ship bell.

Tick-Tock the Crocodile
Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker
The very same crocodile that devoured Hook's left hand after Peter Pan cut it off in a sword fight some years ago. Tick-Tock loved the taste of Hook's hand so well, he has followed the Jolly Roger ever since, licking his chops as he imagines the rest of his meal. And he also swallowed an alarm clock that goes tick-tock to warn Captain Hook.
### Recurring characters

1. Russi Taylor - Never Bird - A former sidekick of Captain Hook who she soon betrays and joins forces with Jake and his crew.
2. Loren Hoskins - Sandy the Starfish - Marina the Mermaid's singing pet starfish with the ability to heal with a special song.
3. Tori Spelling (speaking)/Laura Dickinson (singing) - Pirate Princess - A legendary beautiful pirate who was cursed by a sea witch and shipwrecked in a hidden grotto but rescued by Izzy and the others.
4. Lisa Loeb - Winger - Skully's close friend who reveals to be the princess of the Sky Bird Kingdom.
5. Adam West - Wise Old Parrot - An aged scarlet macaw and King of the Sky Bird Kingdom.
6. Dee Bradley Baker - Monkey - A mischievous primate who steals Jake's bongos. Later on, her returns them and becomes friends with Jake and his crew.
7. Sharon Osbourne - Mama Hook - Captain Hook's mother. She was once queen on the Never Sea and taught Hook how to become a worthy pirate captain.
8. Jane Kaczmarek - Red Jessica - A swashbuckling pirate with whom Captain Hook falls in love with.
9. Josh Duhamel - Captain Flynn - A pirate who became stranded on the Never Land desert with his ship *The Barracuda*, but rescued by Jake and the Never Land Pirates.
10. Adam Wylie - Peter Pan - Captain Hook's arch nemesis and the leader of Never Land (specifically the "Lost Boys", who have never appeared in the show). He has been mentioned numerous times throughout the series, and made an appearance in the extended episodes *"Peter Pan Returns",* *"Jake Saves Bucky", "Jake's Never Land Rescue*" and *"Battle for the Book".*.
11. Allisyn Ashley Arm - Stormy - Marina's lazy, yet, well-meaning younger sister. She may or may not have feelings for Cubby.
12. Tiffani Thiessen- Misty the Wonderful Witch - A good witch who tends to be the Pirate Princess' neighbor and good friend.
13. Jerry O'Connell - Pip the Pirate Genie - A genie who is Captain Flynn's sidekick.
14. Rhys Darby - Percy the Penguin - A penguin who Jake and his crew help to get his group to their new home.
15. Teri Hatcher - Beatrice Le Beak – A sneaky pirate who steals things from Captain Hook.
16. Jack McBrayer - The Pirate Mummy - A mummified pirate captain who lives on the desert.
17. Carol Kane - The Sea Witch - An evil witch who wants to turn the Pirate Princess into gold, but when Izzy stops her, she later turns into a good witch.
18. Leigh-Allyn Baker - Queen Coralie- The queen of the Mermaid of Never Land and ruler of Neptune City.
19. Maia Mitchell as Wendy Darling - Wendy appears in "Battle for the Book".
20. Elliot Reeve as John Darling - John appears in "Battle for the Book".
21. Colby Mulgrew as Michael Darling - Michael appears in "Battle for the Book".

## Music

The show's musical elements are handled by Loren Hoskins and Kevin Hendrickson, who were emailed asking if they would be interested in creating songs for the show. "The show's creator, Bobs Gannaway, he just wanted good music to listen to while he was writing the pilot", said Hoskins. Gannaway typed "pirate music for kids" into a web search engine and found his way to Captain Bogg & Salty, listening to their songs while working on the script. He introduced the band to Jay Stutler, vice president of music at Disney Television Animation. "We're in charge of creating every note of music for the show. "We create the underscore. "We sit in the studio and record the background music that comes in and out." The music for the show has been praised for being enjoyable for both the children, and the adult caretakers. A soundtrack, featuring songs from the show, was released September 20, 2011.

## Trivia

* The episode "Cubby's Goldfish" was shown in some international viewings of *Winnie the Pooh*.
* "Hide the Hideout", "Peter Pan Returns", "Jake and Sneaky Le Beak","Who's a Pretty Bird?" and "Aye, Aye Cap'n-Cap'n" are the only times Skully has ever collected any Gold Doubloons. Most of the time, Jake, Izzy and Cubby collect them.
* "Captain Hook's Parrot" was the first time anyone other than Jake introduced the episode.
* The presence of the Darling children in some episodes (like *Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Battle for the Book*) may implies that the series is actually placed chronologically just after the first *Peter Pan* film, before *Return to Never Land*.