Dragon Tales Live! (partially found footage of live stage shows; 2001-2006)

A poster for the show with Max and Emmy riding on Ord and Cassie.

Status: Partially Found

Dragon Tales Live! was a franchise of touring live stage musical shows based on the Dragon Tales educational animated TV series that aired on PBS Kids. The shows were produced by Minneapolis-based VEE Corporation (now named VStar Entertainment Group) and ran from 2001 to 2006.

Background

Dragon Tales was a traditionally animated preschool series that first aired on PBS Kids on September 6, 1999. The show followed the adventures of two human siblings named Max and Emmy, who use a magical dragon scale to transport themselves to a fantasy world called Dragon Land. They meet the huggable, loveable and fearful Ord, the shy, reserved and kind Cassie, and the two-headed dragon Zak and Wheezie, who have completely different personalities: Zak is a bit grumpy and sarcastic, and prefers things quiet, neat, clean and orderly, while Wheezie is fun-loving, loud, hyper, and wild; this usually leads to arguments between the two. The show aimed to teach pro-social lessons (such as how to be a good helper, being patient, telling the truth, etc), although some episodes taught things like numbers and shapes. The show also incorporates Hispanic and Mexican themes; the wise, elderly teacher Quetzal is Mexican, and both Emmy and Max are as well. In season 3 a new character, Enrique was added; he is a young boy from Colombia who travelled to Dragon Land with Emmy and Max. He was not added to the stage show as the show was cancelled after the third season in 2005. Reruns ceased on August 31, 2010.

Productions

Dragon Tales almost immediately exploded in popularity when it first aired in 1999, and as a result stage shows began to tour nationally; the first performance was at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 4, 2001. Performances continued from this point forward until 2006, one year after the production of the TV show ended; the last known performance was on March 11 at the iPayOne Center (now named Pechanga Arena) in San Diego, California.

Three 90-minute productions were made: Missing Music Mystery, Journey To Crystal Cave, and Riddle of Rainbow River. All three performances featured performers playing the dragons in full-body costumes (the soundtrack used dubbed voice lines from voice actors from the cartoon), and two real children in each production playing the roles of Max and Emmy (both with visible microphones). Each performance contained multiple songs (most of which from the TV show with a few original songs) and preserved the educational focus of the TV series; audience members were encouraged to dance, chant and interact with the characters.

Show List

Name	Summary	Status
Missing Music Mystery	Max and Emmy arrive in Dragon Land the day of the concert at the Singing Springs. The concert was off to a great start when, suddenly, the Singing Springs stopped singing. Missing Music Mystery follows the story of 6-year-old Emmy, her 4-year-old brother Max, and all of their dragon friends as they go on a magical adventure to solve the mystery of the missing music.	Partially Found (About 30 minutes of footage have surfaced. There are some images available, and at least two commercials exist containing footage.)
Journey To Crystal Cave	Emmy and Max are faced with the challenge of restoring the power to the magical dragon scale which allows them to travel to and from Dragon Land. Searching from Snowy Summit to the Crystal Cave, encountering a variety of obstacles and interesting characters, Max, Emmy and their dragon friends work together to solve the 100-year-old puzzle of bringing magic back to the dragon scale. They have until sunset and the clock is ticking!	Lost (No video footage of any kind has surfaced; a small number of photos are available.)
Riddle of Rainbow River	Emmy and Max wish to be a princess and a royal knight. While preparing an ice palace for Princess Emmy, the Themomulator weather machine gets stuck. In order to save Dragon Land from a deep freeze, they must travel along the Rainbow River to find the Hot Springs and solve the riddle.	Lost (No footage of this show has been found, and only a handful of photos have surfaced.)

Gallery

Images

• 

  An advertisement for the show, with all of the main characters shown (from left to right: Zak, Wheezie, Max, Cassie, Emmy, Ord).

• 

  An advertisement for the world premiere in Minneapolis.

• 

  An image of Journey To Crystal Cave (left to right: Cyrus The Slinky Serpent, Cassie, Nippy The Snowdog, Emmy, Chilly The Snowman).

• 

  A picture of Riddle of Rainbow River with the dragons (right) and Wyatt The Wishing Well (left).

Footage

Footage of Missing Music Mystery (approximately 30% of the show's length).

A commercial from 2002 for Missing Music Mystery (starts at 1:21:34).

A commercial from 2003 for Missing Music Mystery.

An interview with some of the cast.

See Also

• Dragon Tales "One Small Step for Cassie" and "Circle of Friends" (lost pilots of PBS Kids animated series; 1999)

Bumpers

• Bookworm Bunch (partially found interstitials from PBS Kids channel block; 2000-2001)
• PBS Kids (partially lost schedule bumpers and interstitial material of TV channel block; 1999-present)
• PBS Kids Vote-A-Rama (lost bumpers of "Arthur" themed marathon; 2002)
• Someday School (partially found PBS Kids channel block; 1998-2000)

PBS

• Adventures with Kanga Roddy (partially found PBS children's series; 1998-2000)
• Backyard Safari (found PBS children's educational series; 1997)
• Barney & Friends "Season 9" (partially found alternative version of PBS children's series; 2004-2005)
• Christmastime with Mister Rogers (found holiday special of PBS children's educational series; 1977)
• Feeling Good (lost PBS health series; 1974-1975)
• Lamb Chop's Play-Along (partially lost PBS children's puppet series; 1992-1995)
• Mister Rogers Talks About Conflict (found episode arc of PBS children's educational series; 1983)
• The Puzzle Place (partially found PBS puppet series; 1994-1998)
• Reading Rainbow (found Johnny Kemp opening sequence for PBS children's educational series; 1999)
• Shining Time Station (found season one intro of PBS series; 1989-1990)
• Springtime with Mister Rogers (found primetime special for PBS children's educational series; 1979)
• Storytime (found PBS children's reading series; 1992-1998)
• Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? "Auld Lang Gone" (non-existent episode of PBS children's game show; 1992)
• Zoom (found pilot of revival of 1972 PBS children's series; 1995)
• Zoom (partially lost revival of PBS children's series; 1999-2005)

PBS Kids

• The Charlie Horse Music Pizza (partially lost PBS Kids "Lamb Chop's Play-Along" spin-off series; 1998-1999)
• Curious George (lost test pilot of PBS Kids animated series based on books; existence unconfirmed; 2004/2005)
• Cyberchase "The Poddleville Case" (found test pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; 1999)
• Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids animated musical series; 2006-2008)
• The Good Night Show with Melanie/Leo (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2005-2006)
• The Good Night Show with Nina & Star (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2006-2017)
• Jet Propulsion (partially found pitch pilot of "Ready Jet Go!" PBS Kids CGI-animated series; 2013)
• Kratts' Creatures (found PBS children's educational series; 1996)
• The Let's Go Show (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2007-2008)
• Make Way for Noddy (partially found PBS Kids version of British children's TV series; 2005)
• Molly of Denali (partially found pitch pilot of PBS Kids animated series; 2018)
• Nature Cat (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; early 2010s)
• Peg + Cat (partially lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; 2011)
• Preschool Musical... On a Stick (partially lost PBS Kids Sprout "High School Musical" parody; 2008)
• Seven Little Monsters (found episodes of PBS Kids animated series; 2000-2004)
• Space Race (partially found PBS Kids web series; 2011)
• The Sunny Side Up Show (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2007-2017)
• Super Why! (partially found British dub of PBS Kids CGI animated series; late 2000s-2010s)
• Super Why! (lost second pitch pilot of PBS Kids CGI-animated series; 2004-2006)
• What's The Big Idea? (non-existent pitch pilot of "Sid The Science Kid" PBS Kids CGI animated series; 2007)
• WordGirl (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; existence unconfirmed; 2005)
• WordWorld (found test pilot of PBS Kids CGI animated educational series; 2005)