Jake and the Never Land Pirates

Premise

The show revolves around a group of three children; Jake, Izzy, and Cubby (two boys and a girl) who are pirates in Never Land, looking for treasure. Their main obstacles are Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and Tick-Tock the Crocodile 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".

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.

Almost every episode contains two eleven-minute animated segments, followed by a live-action song by the Never Land Pirate Band. The singing characters "Sharky" and "Bones" appear in both animated and live action forms.

Main characters

Captain Jacob "Jake"

Voiced by: Colin Ford (Episodes 1–36, 38–40, and 56), Cameron Boyce (Episodes 37, 41–55, and 57–59), Sean Ryan Fox (Ep. 60–Season 4), Riley Thomas Stewart (understudy, Jake's Buccaneer Blast; Season 4–present), and Gabe Eggerling (Season 4-Current).Jake is the protagonist of the series and leader of the Never Land Pirates. He is Captain Hook's main pirate rival. One of his catchphrases is "Yo ho, let's go!", and he is shown using a telescope and steering the ship in the opening.He wears a red bandanna and later covers it with a blue captain's hat. He consistently wears brown boots and white shirts. He wears blue pants and later black pants.He had a wooden sword called the Forever Sword (cut from the Forever Tree, which was given to him by Peter Pan. He has also briefly used a transformable Mega-Mecha Sword and golden Destiny Sword.As a captain he later uses a metal one called the Mighty Captain's Sword. It is able to cut through metal padlocks, heat up to cut through ice bars, shoot heat beams, and deflect cold or energy blasts. Both cutlasses have a crossguard on the hilt, but his newer metal sword has a larger pommel and no knuckle-bow on the side. Jake also acquires an invisibility ring, and has used Izzy's pixie dust to fly. His parents are never seen or mentioned.

Isabel "Izzy"

Voiced by: Madison Pettis (Seasons 1–3 through Battle for the Book), Megan Richie (Jake's Buccaneer Blast,Season 4–present)Izzy is currently the only girl pirate in the main group and acts as second-in-command to Jake. She has a small sack of pixie dust, which was given to her at an unknown point by the fairies (Tinker Bell and her friends). The team uses the pixie dust only for emergencies. However, there had been episodes when pixie dust is not used at all especially in "No Returns". Her catchphrase is "Yay hey, no way!"

Robert "Cubby"

Voiced by: Jonathan Morgan Heit (Season 1–3), Jadon Sand (Jake's Buccaneer Blast, Season 4–present)Cubby is the youngest of the group with his catchphrase, "Aww, coconuts!" He has the map of Never Land and is shown manning the crow's nest in the opening. Cubby is not a member of the "Lost Boys", despite the fact he physically resembles the Cubby of the group. Cubby's personality is rather timid and he is not very confident in himself. Sometimes, he can be clumsy, and is Jake's best friend.

Skully

Voiced by: David Arquette (speaking) and Loren Hoskins (singing)Skully is a small, green parrot who acts like a guardian to the team. He is usually shown wearing a black bandanna with white skulls on it. He keeps a lookout for Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.

Captain James Bartholomew Hook

Voiced by: Corey BurtonCaptain Hook is Never Land's resident pirate captain and Peter Pan's nemesis. Hook is commander of the galleon "The Jolly Roger". Legendary for his cruelty to his enemies as well as his own men, Captain Hook has trouble holding onto a permanent crew. In fact, at the moment, he only has three members of crew, the rest of his crew was never seen or appeared in the show. He speaks with an English accent.

Mr. Smee

Voiced by: Jeff BennettMr. Smee is Captain Hook's first mate.

Sharky and Bones

Voiced by: Loren Hoskins and Kevin Hendrickson (singing)/Jeff Bennett (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. Live action versions appear at the end of the show and they perform an original song.

Marina the Mermaid

Voiced by: Ariel WinterA young mermaid who lives in the ocean around Never Land with the rest of her people. Unlike some of her sisters, who tend to be snobbish, selfish, vain and downright cruel, Marina is sweet, 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. Marina also has a little sister named Stormy, and has a crush on Jake.

Tick-Tock the Crocodile

Voiced by: Dee Bradley BakerThe very same crocodile that devoured Captain Hook's left hand after Peter Pan cuts it off in a sword fight some years ago. Tick-Tock loved the taste of Captain Hook's hand so well that 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

Russi Taylor - Never Bird - A former sidekick of Captain Hook whom she soon betrays and joins forces with Jake and his crew.

Loren Hoskins - Sandy the Starfish - Marina the Mermaid's singing pet starfish with the ability to heal with a special song.

Tori Spelling - Pirate Princess Patricia - A legendary pirate who was cursed and shipwrecked in a hidden grotto but was later rescued by Jake and his crew.

Lisa Loeb - Winger - Skully's close friend who reveals to be the princess of the Sky Bird Kingdom.

Adam West - Wise Old Parrot - An aged scarlet macaw and ruler of the Sky Bird Kingdom.

Sharon Osbourne - Mama Hook - Captain Hook's mother.

Jane Kaczmarek - Red Jessica - A swashbuckling pirate with whom Captain Hook falls in love.

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.

Adam Wylie - Peter Pan - Captain Hook's nemesis and the leader of Never Land (specifically the "Lost Boys", who never appeared in the show). He has been mentioned numerous times throughout the series, and made an appearance in the special episodes "Peter Pan Returns", "Jake Saves Bucky", "Never Land Rescue", and "Battle for the Book".

Allisyn Ashley Arm - Stormy - Marina's lazy, yet, well-meaning younger sister. She may or may not have feelings for Cubby.

Carol Kane - 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. Later,in "My Little Pony Friends and the Secret of Rara",before she turns to Misty,she killed Rara's maternal cousins Raul Burtonburger and Lucia Burtonburger,she has being turns to Misty in the end of the movie by Irift' gem dust' magic (Jake lies that Pirate Princess Patricia turns her to Misty).

Tiffani Thiessen - Misty the Wonderful Witch - A good witch who tends to be the Pirate Princess' neighbor.

Jerry O'Connell - Pip the Pirate Genie - A genie who used to resided in a ship-in-the-bottle.

Rhys Darby - Percy the Penguin - A penguin who Jake and his crew help to get his group to their colony.

Teri Hatcher - Beatrice Le Beak - A sneaky pirate who steals things from Captain Hook.

Dee Bradley Baker - Various animals of Neverland

Leigh-Allyn Baker - Queen Coralie - Mermaid ruler of Neptune City

Jack McBrayer - Wander the Friendly Pirate Mummy

Bill Farmer - Ghostly Bob

Maia Mitchell - Wendy Darling - Wendy appears in "Battle for the Book".

Elliot Reeve - John Darling - John appears in "Battle for the Book".

Colby Mulgrew - Michael Darling - Michael appears in "Battle for the Book".

Estelle Harris - Peg-Leg Peg appears in "Pirate Ghost Story".

David Tennant - Dread, an evil genie.

Malcolm MacDowell - Lord Fathom, an evil Merwizard.

Mark Hamill - ShiverJack, a villainous sorcerer with ice-themed powers.

Tony Hale - Dr. Undergear, a mad inventor.

Christian Slater - The Grim Buccaneer, a shadowy and swift pirate.

Music

The show's musical elements are handled by Loren Hoskins and Kevin Hendrickson, who were emailed by the show's creator Bobs Gannaway, asking if they would be interested in creating songs for the show. According to Hoskins, Gannaway "just wanted good music to listen to while he was writing the pilot". Gannaway searched "pirate music for kids" online and found his way to Captain Bogg and 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.

Reception

The series has received generally mixed reviews. A review in Variety called it "part video game, part interactive cartoon, part advertisement for 'Peter Pan' merchandise". The Los Angeles Times gave a mixed review of the show's portrayal of Captain Hook compared to the classic Peter Pan, stating that the character "has been laundered — reasonably enough, yet sadly as well — into a shell of his former self, too silly to be frightening, not even a decent bully, just a kind of (much) older boy who wants to steal your toys." Common Sense Media rated it "on" for ages 3 and older, praising the educational content, role models, and especially the messages of the show, and expressing only mild concern about the moderate violence. As the flagship of the newly launched Disney Junior channel, the series was rated the most-watched program among boys ages 2–5 during its first few weeks on the air, with 2.9 million viewers, including 1.1 million ages 2–5, and over 600,000 women ages 18–49 (presumed to be mothers and other caregivers). On July 27, the series was awarded #2 of the Best TV Shows 2011 list.

The character Jake has too received positive reviews. The character has been thought of as a "classic Disney character", lovable and entertaining addition. He has quickly become an icon at Disney's Hollywood Studios from the popular Disney Junior Live as well as being added on the park's entrance drawings. The atmosphere character can be seen at the Hollywood And Vine character breakfast and the Animation courtyard, while at Disney California Adventure, Jake can be found on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood Land.

Broadcast

The series airs worldwide on Disney Junior. It premiered on May 6, 2011 in Canada, on May 7, 2011 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, on May 29, 2011 in Australia and New Zealand, on June 1, 2011 in South Africa, on July 4, 2011 in India, on July 11, 2011 in Southeast Asia, and on April 29, 2013 in Zimbabwe.

Merchandise

Upon the initial release of the series onwards, there has been a high demand for toys, games, and other merchandise from the show. At the American International Toy Fair in New York City, Disney announced a line of toys to be released in the summer of 2012.

Video games

On May 24, 2012, the Jake's Never Land Pirate School app is released on the iPad and Android devices.

A variety of other video games are based on the series including:

1. Big Air Adventure a 5-series crossover of title characters from Doc McStuffins, Henry Hugglemonster, Miles from Tomorrowland, and Sofia the First
2. Bucky's Never Sea Hunt
3. Cave of Mystery
4. Go Bananas
5. Golden Pirate Pumpkin Patch
6. Hook Yer Pirate Name
7. Hook's Merry Winter Treasure Hunt
8. Izzy's Flying Adventure
9. Jake and the Never Land Pirates Sand Pirates
10. Never Land Games
11. Shadow Shenanigans
12. Sharky and Bones Pirate Rock
13. Super Pirate Powers
14. The Great Pirate Pyramid
15. Rainbow Wand Color Quest

Spin-offs

On July 27, 2012, Disney announced a spin-off series of the show centering Skully. The show is titled Playing With Skully, and is a collection of short cartoons that aired on September 19, 2012.

Another short series entitled Jake's Never Land Pirate School premiered on November 26, 2012.

The third spin-off, Mama Hook Knows Best! premiered on September 29, 2013, starring Sharon Osbourne as Mama Hook.

The fourth spin-off entitled, Jake's Buccaneer Blast premiered on October 26, 2014, as the first Lego Duplo adventure.