Jake and the Never Land Pirates

Premise

The show takes place in Neverland and focuses on three pirate kids Jake, Izzy, and Cubby. Each episode consists of two eleven-minute segments in which Jake his crew and the audience have adventures around Never Land and outsmart Captain Hook and his crew. Every episode begins with a prologue of Jake asking the viewer to say "Yo-ho-ho!" with him and his crew. In each segment, they earn gold doubloons each time they solve a problem together, and at the end they count them and put them in their "Team Treasure Chest".

The first season of the series followed more "playful" conflicts, such as Jake and the crew reclaiming their basketball or skateboard from Captain Hook. The second season had less interactive moments and a larger scale of adventure, with plots such as the characters finding a lost city of gold and an ancient pirate pyramid. The third season has an updated theme song and more action. The fourth and final season has one fourth-wall break at the end of each episode.

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, being part of Hook's crew.

Characters

Main

Jake (voiced by Colin Ford from season 1-early season 2, Cameron Boyce from late season 2-early season 3, Sean Ryan Fox from "Smee–erella"-"The Great Never Sea Conquest", Riley Thomas Stewart from late season 3-early season 4 and Gabe Eggerling in late season 4) is the protagonist and leader of the Never Land Pirates, and Captain Hook's main pirate rival. He is shown using a telescope and steering the ship in the opening. He used the wooden Forever Sword, which was cut from the Forever Tree and given to him by Peter Pan. He also briefly used the transformable Mega-Mecha Sword and the golden Destiny Sword. As a captain, he uses the metal Mighty Captain's Sword, which can 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 the Mighty Captain's Sword has a larger pommel and no knuckle-bow on the side. He also acquires an invisibility ring and has used Izzy's pixie dust to fly.

Izzy (voiced by Madison Pettis from season 1–early season 3 and Megan Richie from late season 3-season 4) acts as Jake's second-in-command. She has a small sack of pixie dust given to her by Tinker Bell and her friends, which the team uses only in emergencies. She is smart, brave and sweet, she has pirate and mermaid friends. Her catchphrase is "Yay, hey, no way!"

Cubby (voiced by Jonathan Morgan Heit from season 1–early season 3 and Jadon Sand from late season 3-season 4) is the youngest of the group and Jake's best friend, who is timid and lacks confidence. He has the map of Never Land and is shown manning the crow's nest in the opening. He is not a member of the Lost Boys, despite physically resembling the Cubby of the group. His catchphrase is "Aww, coconuts!"

Skully (speaking voice by David Arquette and singing voice by Loren Hoskins) is a green anthropomorphic parrot who acts like a guardian to the team and keeps a lookout for Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. His catchphrase is "Crackers!"

Bucky is Jake, Izzy, Cubby, and Skully's pirate ship. It is shown to have some life, as it can listen to their orders. It can move parts of itself, including stairs, a slide, a bell, and its sails and steering mechanisms, and fly.

Captain Hook (voiced by Corey Burton) is Never Land's resident pirate captain and Peter Pan's nemesis. He is the commander of the galleon "The Jolly Roger". He is legendary for his cruelty to his enemies and his own men and struggles to maintain a permanent crew, as he currently has only three crew members and the rest of his crew is never seen. He also likes to keep a collection of different things, such as seashells. His greatest fear is encountering Tick Tock, the crocodile that ate his hand after Peter Pan sliced it off in a sword fight.

Recurring

Marina (voiced by Ariel Winter) is a young mermaid who lives with her people in the ocean surrounding Never Land. Unlike some of the mermaids, who tend to be selfish, vain, and cruel, Marina is gentle and kind to the crew and is close friends with Izzy, often showing them the secrets of the Never Sea she has discovered. She also has a little sister named Stormy and has a crush on Jake.

Tick-Tock (vocal effects by Dee Bradley Baker) is the crocodile that ate Captain Hook's left hand after Peter Pan cut it off in a sword fight and has followed the Jolly Roger ever since. He also ate an alarm clock, whose sound alerts Captain Hook to his presence.

Never Bird (vocal effects by Russi Taylor) is a former sidekick of Captain Hook, who betrays him and joins Jake and his crew.

Sandy (voiced by Loren Hoskins) is Marina's singing pet starfish, who has the ability to heal through a special song.

The Pirate Princess (speaking voice by Tori Spelling and singing voice by Laura Dickinson) is a pirate who was cursed and shipwrecked in a hidden grotto, but is later rescued by Jake and his crew.

Winger (voiced by Lisa Loeb) is Skully's close friend, who is revealed to be the princess of the Sky Bird Kingdom.

The Wise Old Parrot (voiced by Adam West) is an aged scarlet macaw and the ruler of the Sky Bird Kingdom.

The Monkey (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is a mischievous primate who steals Jake's bongos, but later returns them and befriends Jake and his crew.

Mama Hook (voiced by Sharon Osbourne) is Captain Hook's mother.

Red Jessica (voiced by Jane Kaczmarek) is a pirate whom Captain Hook falls in love with.

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. Three soundtracks have been released featuring songs from the show.

Broadcast

The series aired 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, with TVNZ in New Zealand and 7flix in Australia. It was also broadcast in Belgium on Club RTL, in France on M6 and TF1 as part of the TFOU block, and in Greece on ERT1 (Season 1 only).

Reception

Critical

The series received 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 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.

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 was released on Apple and Android devices, as well as a storyline-based MobiGo cartridge video game by VTech.

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

Big Air Adventure a 5-series crossover of title characters from Doc McStuffins, Henry Hugglemonster, Miles from Tomorrowland, and Sofia the First

Bucky's Never Sea Hunt

Cave of Mystery

Go Bananas

Golden Pirate Pumpkin Patch

Hook Yer Pirate Name

Hook's Merry Winter Treasure Hunt

Izzy's Flying Adventure

Jake and the Never Land Pirates Sand Pirates

Never Land Games

Shadow Shenanigans

Sharky and Bones Pirate Rock

Super Pirate Powers

The Great Pirate Pyramid

Rainbow Wand Color Quest

Jake's Story Quest

Spin-offs

A spin-off series of shorts of the show centering on Skully, titled Playing With Skully, 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, but instead of a series, it was a book. The fourth spin-off entitled, Jake's Buccaneer Blast premiered on October 26, 2014, as the first Lego Duplo adventure.