Jackie Chan Adventures

Jackie Chan Adventures
Genre	Action Adventure Fantasy Family Comedy
Format	Animated series
Created by	John Rogers
Developed by	Jackie Chan Adelaide Productions Columbia TriStar Television Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television International
Directed by	Phil Weinstein Frank Squillace
Starring	James Sie Stacie Chan Sab Shimono Noah Nelson Clancy Brown Miguel Sandoval Franco Velez Lucy Liu Jackie Chan
Ending theme	Chan's the Man by Wheatus
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	95 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jackie Chan, Willie Chan, Brian Gersh, Solon So, Jeff Kline
Running time	23 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Kids' WB!
Original run	September 9, 2000 (2000-09-09) – July 7, 2005 (2005-07-07)
External links
Website

Jackie Chan Adventures is an animated television series chronicling the adventures of a fictionalized version of action film star Jackie Chan.^[1][2] Many of the episodes contain references to Chan's actual works. This series ran on Kids' WB! from September 9, 2000 to July 7, 2005 for a total of 95 episodes, or 5 seasons. During its run, it was also shown on Cartoon Network, and afterwards, its reruns landed on Disney XD. An Arabic translation has been airing on MBC 3 since early 2006 and an Tamil translation has been airing on Chutti TV since its launch. There have been several toys and video games based on the series. Its main character designer is Jeff Matsuda.

Plot

Jackie Chan is an amateur archaeologist living above his uncle's antique shop in San Francisco, California when he comes across a magical artifact in a hidden treasure room of a Bavarian castle. This brings him to the attention of his old friend, Captain Augustus Black, who is in charge of a secret governmental organization known as Section 13, as well as the criminal organization known as the Dark Hand, led by Valmont. The artifact he found is a shield, which contains one talisman from a set of twelve. This sets Jackie, his uncle (Uncle), his niece (Jade), and allies on many adventures involving magic, danger, and often the fate of the world itself.

Characters

Main article: List of Jackie Chan Adventures characters

The main protagonists are:

• Jackie Chan - an archaeologist, who works part-time for Section 13.
• Jade - Jackie's 11 year old niece from Hong Kong. Highly adventurous, stubborn, impulsive, and most certainly vigilant, she constantly intends to get into the action.
• Uncle - Jackie's superstitious old uncle who owns an antique shop and is also a master Chi wizard.
• Captain Black - the bald leader of secret spy organization "Section 13" and an old friend of Jackie.
• Tohru - A huge Japanese man who claims to be "too small for Sumo" (although he weighs 480 lb (220 kg)). Originally a Dark Hand criminal, he becomes Uncle's apprentice in the 2nd season and remains with the Chans for the rest of the series.

Seasons

Main article: List of Jackie Chan Adventures episodes

Season 1: The Twelve Talismans

(13 episodes) Jackie is recruited by Section 13 to search for twelve magic Talismans scattered across the globe, in order to stop a criminal organization known as the Dark Hand from using them to revive an ancient demon sorcerer, Shendu, in order to gain access to the lost treasure of Qin Shi Huang. When the tiger Talisman is split in two along with Jackie, his dark half hands over the rest of the Talismans, allowing the Dark Hand to reanimate Shendu. Shendu travels to China to summon his dragon army to destroy all of Asia. Jackie pulls the Talismans out of Shendu, causing him to transform back into a statue, and Jade destroys him. However, this leaves a vacuum to be filled by a new more powerful evil force.

Whilst the ending theme for other seasons are the same as the opening, in the first season, the ending theme is "Chan's the Man" by Wheatus.

Season 2: The Demon Portals

(39 episodes) Shendu has possessed Valmont and is trying to bring his brothers and sisters - the Demon Sorcerers - into this world through a series of mystic portals, located with the magic Pan'ku box. Jackie must stop this to save the world. After initial failure, Shendu's spirit possesses Jackie as previously planned and travels to Australia, rewriting the Book of Ages so that the demons were never banished and now rule the world, with no one remembering their now-alternate lives; however, Jade manages to retain her memories by ripping a page out of the Book before Shendu made his alterations, and, with the help of the J-Team, changes the world back. In this series there are also a large number of "filler" episodes, where Jackie goes off on his own adventures, involving minor criminal organizations and other bandits such as Spring Heeled Jack, the Monkey King, as well as more grisly ones with beings such as the Jiangshi and the Chupacabra, and occasional run-ins with Dark Hand members. There are also three episodes set during the time period of Season One. At the end of the season, the Dark Chi Wizard Daolon Wong was introduced, who after having been foiled in his long-term plan to engulf the world in dark chi, pursued the Talisman powers, paving the way for the events of Season Three. In the intro, Hak Foo replaced Tohru, and Shendu is shown as a spirit possessing Valmont.

Season 3: The Talisman-Powered Animals

(17 episodes) Daolon Wong attacks Section 13 in search of the Talismans, at the same time as the Dark Hand does as well. In an attempt to stop them, Jackie destroys the Talismans, only to have their power scattered around the world once again. Now Jackie must find the animals of each Zodiac symbol before Wong can find them and steal their power. Wong manages to get the rooster's and pig's respective abilities of levitation and laser vision, while Jackie and the others successfully get the rest of the animals. When the time comes to find the dragon, Wong resurrects Shendu in exchange for his Talisman power of pyrokinesis. However, Shendu betrays him upon revival and steals the rest of the powers. In the end, Jackie's uncle uses a spell to imprison Shendu in a statue and separate his powers into Talismans, the same spell used on him centuries ago.

Season 4: The Masks of the Shadowkhan

(13 episodes) Tarakudo, the King of the Shadowkhan, is awakened by Daolon Wong. Taking the Enforcers as his servants, he sets off to find the legendary nine Oni masks which, when worn, each release a new type of Shadowkhan. Jackie battles the King of the Shadowkhan to stop him from plunging the world into eternal shadow. Sometime during this season Shendu's son, Drago, travels back in time from the future in an attempt to bring back his father but is defeated and detained in Section 13.

Season 5: The Demon Powers

(13 episodes) In the final season, Drago escapes from Section 13, and it's another race around the world as Jackie must locate seven cursed objects of the immortals that imprisoned Shendu's siblings which are all imbued with their demonic power before Drago does. As an easter egg, the Dragon Talisman is hidden in the background at some point in every episode.

Magic and the Supernatural

The series nearly always involves magic and the supernatural, like spells, demons, chi, and stone talismans.

Talismans

The Talismans represent the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac:

• Rat: Power and ability of Animation. "Motion to the Motionless" Gives inanimate objects life. The animated object takes on the personality, powers and abilities of the person or thing it's modeled after. A Quetzalcoatl (sun god) statue could fly and shoot fire balls and the Lo Pei statue knew chi magic. When Shendu was under the spell of Lo Pei, this Talisman was required to maintain his form, if the Talismans were used to free him from statue form. Found on top of an ancient Chinese lantern. Can also deanimate objects or people.
• Ox: Power and ability of Super Strength. Found by Jackie on the mask of El Toro Fuerte. In the episode "The Mask of El Toro Fuerte", it greatly strengthened Jade to superhuman levels. Can also strengthen objects.
• Tiger: Power and ability of Balance (the spiritual kind, not the literal kind.) When activated, it splits the user's positive and negative halves (Yin and Yang) into two separate beings, each holding a half of the Talisman. Can also be used to find the "other half" of a broken object. The two beings rejoin when they reunite the broken Talisman. It was found within a pie. In Season 1 episode 12 "The Tiger and the Pussycat" Shendu claims it is the glue which binds the others together. The sheep talisman can reverse all effects of the Tiger talisman."
• Rabbit: Power and ability of Super Speed. It was found stuck in the shell of a Giant tortoise in the Pacific. When combined with the levitation Talisman, it gives the user the power of flight.
• Dragon: Power and ability of Combustion. Allows highly destructive and explosive pure fiery energy to be discharged from the Talisman. The dragon Talisman fuses to the wielder's hand. Found in a volcanic cave.
• Snake: Power and ability of Invisibility. Found on the ceiling of a chamber of a snake worshiper's temple near the Amazon River and later donated to a New York museum. It is also Viper's favorite Talisman (as she considers it to be her "sign").
• Horse: Power and ability of Healing/Renewal. "The noble horse of a knight" can "expel all alien forces within," curing the user of illness (foreign bodies), and can also heal physical injuries, repair broken objects, and instantly relieve physical pain and disorientation. Found within a structure atop an unnamed mountain. In the Old West, it was government property destined for the San Francisco museum. Its whereabouts in between are unknown.
• Sheep: Power and ability of Astral Projection, or the ability to remove the soul from the body (and others too) and wander as an invisible spirit. While projecting, the wielder is able to enter another person's dreams. Although you can't hurt a person's astral form, if two or more users are both astral then they can do damage to each other (As seen when Chow fought Jackie) and the user's body is susceptible to all damage when the astral user returns to the body (i.e Hak Foo during his fight with Tohru). It was first found in a crate on a freight train bound for Istanbul.
• Monkey: Power and ability of Shape-shifting. Grants the ability to change the shape of yourself or others into different animals. Found by Jade at the bottom of the sea next to a volcanic island. Any item/person/animal may be changed into the shape of any animal by saying the name of the intended animal's shape.
• Rooster: Power and ability of Levitation. The user of this Talisman will have the ability to levitate objects into the air as well as his/herself. Combining this Talisman with the rabbit Talisman will allow the person to achieve supersonic flight. It also grants the user telekinesis. Found within a golden shield inside a ruined Bavarian castle. This was the first talisman of the series and has been used quite often throughout the series.
• Dog: Power and ability of Immortality. "The dog talisman is best friend to man, it restores youthful energy to its holder, and grants eternal life." Found in a Bavarian windmill.
• Pig: Power and ability of Heat Vision. "Heat Beam Eyes" Allows the user to expel unusually strong and powerful beams of pure yellow-colored heat energy from their eyes. Found on the hat of a mechanical pig atop a Bavarian clock tower. It also give the user power to see shapes as heat. Used to counteract Snake talisman (Invisibility)

Chi Magic

In the universe of Jackie Chan Adventures, several characters can use a form of magic using chi energy. Chi magic involves the use of potions, magic objects, and incantations. Below are some of the Chi incantations that have been used throughout the series. Each wizard usually uses the same incantation but can accomplish many different effects, ranging from banishing demons to turning living creatures to stone.

• Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao - The main good incantation of the series, this spell is used most often by Uncle. It is used for multiple purposes, including: banishing Shendu from Jade's body, returning the Demon Sorcerers to the Netherworld, turning Shendu to stone, and extracting the Demon Chi of the Demon Sorcerers. The incantation is actually Cantonese for "Ghost and goblins quickly leave" (妖魔鬼怪快啲走).
• Lai Shui Zai - The incantation used by Bai Tza during her attempt to flood San Francisco. It is possibly 'Lai Shui Zai(來水災)' in Chinese. It means 'Occur, flood' or 'Come, flood'. The spell circle that this spell needs has a '水' at the middle of it, in Chinese, meaning 'Water'.
• Kuai Kuai Qi Lai - Incantation used by Shendu (in Jackie's body) to open the portal to the Book Of Ages. In Mandarin, 快快起來 literally means "Quickly Quickly Stand Up."
• Nukeru, He Men Jaaku - The Japanese incantation used for the removal of Oni Masks. It is also used to imprison Tarakudo in his Oni Mask. Can be translated as "Come out, evil spell."
• Qu Yiqi Bushi Ni - The main incantation used by the evil chi wizard Iso. He uses it to do a variety of things.

References to Jackie Chan's Career

The TV series features references to Jackie Chan's films and his own life throughout the series. In the episode "A Night at the Opera", Uncle states that he was part of the stage group "Seven Little Fortunes", which Jackie Chan was actually part of in real life. Another example is season 3 episode 7 Jackie is bit by a snake, and uses a kung fu style known as "the drunken master" from one of his earliest headlining films of the same name. According to Jackie during one of his question segments, the characters of the show are based on certain people in his life. Uncle is based on his agent and father, Jade is based on an assortment of his nieces, and Tohru is based on one of his stunt team members as well as himself. Season 2 Episode 11 is titled "And He Does His Own Stunts" in reference to the fact that Jackie Chan does his own stunts in his movies.

Some episodes' titles are based on actual movie names. For example "Half a Mask of Kung Fu" is based on Half a Loaf of Kung Fu, "Shanghai Moon" is based on Shanghai Noon, "Armour of the Gods" is based on Armour of God, "Project A, For Astral" is based on Project A and "Rumble in the Big House" is based on Rumble in the Bronx.

VHS & DVD Releases

In 2001, Sony Pictures released episodes from the first season on VHS and DVD. But one format differed from the other in that of the four DVDs released, three were select, individual episodes while the fourth contained the whole season of 13 episodes; the VHS series had only three, separate episodes. Also, there was a difference in the titles of the said episodes released on VHS and DVD. The Day Of The Dragon VHS box cover art was the same as that of the first season DVD case cover, which featured Jackie, Jade and Uncle with the villains behind them, dimmed in a yellowish background. On these, the episodes were presented sans the teasers that originally appeared prior to the opening/intro sequence as they aired. They are currently unavailable and out-of-print, especially since they had limited pressings and no plans have been announced to follow up season one with DVD box sets of the remaining four seasons. However, the entire series can be ordered and seen via video-on-demand service at Amazon and iTunes. As of October 2010, the entire series is available on the Netflix Instant Streaming service.

List of Jackie Chan Adventures Titles On VHS:

• The Day Of The Dragon
• The Power Within
• Friends & Foes

List of Jackie Chan Adventures Titles On DVD:

• Jackie Chan Adventures - The Entire Season One
• The Dark Hand Returns
• The Search For The Talisman
• The Shadow of Shendu

References

1. ^ Stanley, T.L. (October 14, 2000). "Now Chan Is the Picture of an Action Hero" (in English). The Los Angeles Times (USA). http://articles.latimes.com/2000/oct/14/entertainment/ca-36327. Retrieved 7 May 2011. 
2. ^ Fritz, Steve (September 18, 2000). "MEN IN BLACK and JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES" (in English). Mania. USA. http://www.mania.com/men-black-jackie-chan-adventures_article_24267.html. Retrieved 7 May 2011. 

External links

• Jackie Chan Adventures at the Internet Movie Database
• Jackie Chan Adventures at TV.com