Jake Long, Juniper Lee and Danny Phantom

I know, we've been over this, but just in case there are some who'd like to open this back up for discussion. This is a thread about the comparissons between these 3 shows; "American Dragon: Jake Long", "The Life and Times of Juniper Lee" and "Danny Phantom". I'll Start

AD:JL= American Dragon: Jake Long

TLATOJL= The Life and Times of Juniper Lee

DP= Danny Phantom

Powers:

Similarities: Jake, June and Danny all have powers that, along with their resourcefulness and cleverness, make them heroes

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake got his powers through his lineage, his powers are only those natural to a dragon

TLATOJL- June also gained her powers through her heritage, she's really just a human with magically enhanced physical abilities

DP- Danny was once a normal child who was mutated by a lab accident, which gave him his powers. His powers are something all ghosts have.

Secret Life:

Similarities: because of their powers, Jake, June and Danny all lead secret lives revolving around duties as heroes

Differences:

AD:JL- As a dragon, it's Jake responsibility to watch over and protect all magical creatures in his world

TLATOJL- June is responsible for the protection of the magical world around her.

DP- Danny's "duty" is actually something he chooses to do, not because he thinks it's fun, but because he knows it's right.

Public Life:

Similarities: Jake, June and Danny all have to deal with the day to day life of all people their age

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake is relatively an average child who has trouble balancing responsibility and pleasure

TLATOJL- June is a hard working overachiever, who tries to do all the things she wants to do and all the things she must do.

DP- Danny has always been looked down upon by his peers and has had much trouble his normal life as he has as a hero.

Home:

Similarities: Jake, June and Danny all reside in cities that are bothered by the very problems they must deal with daily

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake resides in New York City (an actual city), which is home to a variety of Magical creatures that he must deal with.

TLATOJL- June lives in a town called "Orchid Bay", which is hub to the supernatural powers of the magical world.

DP- Danny lives in "Amity Park", a town that is frequently visited and attacked by ghosts.

Family:

Similarities: Jake, June and Danny all have families that have been a help to them more than once (even when they don't know it)

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake has a human father (who has proven to be a good source of Jake courage and enthusiasim) a Mother (from whom he gained his powers) an overachieving, slightly annoying yet sweet and admiring younger sister (who also has powers similar to her brother's) and a wise, yet comical maternal grandfather (who not only has powers like his grandchildren, but is the one who is training Jake to be the hero he is destined to be)

TLATOJL- June has a mom and dad (neither have powers or are even aware of their daughter's secret life) an older brother (who has no powers and was unaware his younger sister's secret until later) a younger brother (who gained at least one of his sister's abilities around the same time she first gained them) and a paternal grandmother (who not only has all of her Granddaughter's powers, but once proceeded her in her duties)

DP- Danny has a Mom and Dad (who are ghost hunters themselves, but were oblivious to their son's secret life for a long while, but unwittingly provide the very technology he uses to fight ghosts and have been a bit of an inspiration to him in this very profession) an older sister (who didn't know about her brother's life until later, but has proven to be quite an asset to him from time to time) and a younger female clone of him (who has all his powers as well a few of her own)

Friends and Assistants:

Similarities: Jake, June and Danny all surround themselves with loyal friends an assistants who are always around to give a helping hand when needed.

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake has 2 friends; Trixie Carter (a nice, loyal yet sassy African-American girl, who often provides the voice of reason to Jake) and Arthur "Spud" Spudinski (a slow-witted, yet intelligent boy, who is always a help to Jake when needed). He is assisted however, by "Fu-Dog" (a magical talking Shar-pei, with a talent for magical potions)

TLATOJL- June has 3 friends; Jodie (a cheerful blonde girl) Ophelia (a gloomy, yet comical goth girl) and Roger (a slow-witted yet hilarious young boy). She is assisted by Monroe (a scottish, magical, talking Pug) and Lila (an intelligent, strong, yet insecure Sasquatch girl)

DP- Danny has 2 friends; Sam Manson (an individual, ecology-minded Goth girls, who not only provides advice to Danny, but also has a crush on him) and Tucker Foley (A technologically gifted African-American boy, who helps danny use the Technology he uses). Though Danny is often assisted by his family, he is mainly assisted by his friends.

Reputation:

Similarities: In addition to their normal every day reputation, Jake, June and Danny all have a reputation as they are as heroes.

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake is well-known as the hero and protector he is among the magical world.

TLATOJL- June is well known for he heroic deeds and is looked to by the magical world as the protector she is.

DP- For a while, Danny was feared as a menace by the people of Amity Park and was treated as an enemy and as prey among his fellow ghosts. But was eventually accepted by humanity and is known as a hero among some ghosts.

Arch-Enemies:

Similarities: Like all heroes, Jake, June and Danny all have their own arch-enemies to battle and thwart.

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake's archenemy is the number one threat to the magical world, The Dark Dragon (a malevolent dragon, consumed by powerful dark magic, has a deep hatred of humanity and desire to destroy it)

TLATOJL- June has no constant archenemy, but has tangled with many powerful foes; like Auntie Roon (a powerful yet sassy evil witch) Loki (the demon trickster god) a powerful demoness and Kai Yee (one of June's predecessors, one who went bad after gaining a lust for power).

DP- Danny's archenemy is an old friend of his parents from their college days; Vlad Masters/Vlad Plasmius (an incredibly wealthy businessman, who was mutated in an accident caused by Danny's father, that gave him powers stronger yet similar to Danny's. And has dedicated his life to using his powers to get whatever he wants, including Danny's mom)

Enemy Organizations:

Similarities: Jake, June and Danny all have to battle enemy organizations who wish to destroy them and all of their kind.

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake frequently battles "The Huntsclan" (a militaristic organization of ninja warriors dedicated to destroying magical creatures, especially dragons)

TLATOJL- June battles an "H.A.M." ("Humans Against Magic" an organization also dedicated to the destruction of magical creatures)

DP- Danny fights the "Guys in White" (a government organization for the destruction of Ghosts, particularly Danny)

Love Interests:

Similarities: Like all young people, Jake, June and Danny all have their crushes

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake has a crush on Rose (a blonde girl, who was ironically a member of the Huntsclan until she found out Jake's secret, which actually brought them closer)

TLATOJL- June has a crush on Marcus (a suave African-American boy)

DP- Danny has had a crush on Paulina (a popular, hispanic girl who looks down on Danny and his friends) Valerie (an African-American girl, who also looked down on Danny for a while, but started to like him, even though she is a ghost hunter) and eventually his goth friend Sam.

Title:

Similarities: Jake, June and Danny all have their own titles, which both friend and foe alike call them

Differences:

AD:JL- Jake is known to friend and foe alike as "The American Dragon"

TLATOJL- June is known as the "Te Xuan Ze"

DP- Danny has been dubbed by the public as "Danny Phantom", but some of his fellow ghosts just call him "Danny" or "ghost child"

Jake Long was my favorite of these three shows. Yes, his slang got annoying, but they did a very good job of establishing how this was what he did when he wanted to relax. Plus, the show treated the whole concept the most logically of these three shows, IMO.

Danny Phantom was a cliche-storm of epic proportions that never went above average, in my opinion. I liked its willingness to change over time, allowing Danny's relationship with the community to change as time goes on, but it failed to look at the concept realistically, I believe. It made no sense to me that a student like Danny couldn't fly under the bullies' radar when the school was populated by so many other people of an obviously lower social standing. Why did the teacher assume Danny stole the test in "Ultimate Enemy?" Because the story wanted him to, nothing more and nothing less. Why did Danny erase his parents' memories and never admit his identity afterwords at the end of "Reality Trip?" Again, because having him protect his secret identity was important for...some reason.

From a strictly technical standpoint, Juniper Lee was a poor attempt at an action cartoon, or at least was hurt by positioning itself as an action cartoon. It would have been much better portrayed solely as a comedy cartoon. The victories very rarely felt like Juniper's. I feel that making the magical world invisible to everyone was another misstep, as it robbed a lot of the drama out of keeping the magical world secret. Also they failed to establish exactly why Juniper couldn't let her friends know about her secret, yet again amping up the drama artificially as opposed to looking at it logically.

I didn't notice how DP was Spider-man with GHOSTS! until you posted this o__O

I still like thinking of DP as Inviso-Bill.

It's just funny.

All three shows were pretty good, not wonders of the ages, but watchable.

Didn't cred bout Juniper. But Dnny ws the best of the trio in my opnion. Great job OP

Danny Phantom? Huh, I never noticed I always made a Juniper Lee/Jake Long comparison. I mean both are chosen ones who have to maintain the balance between the normal world and the magic world, they're both Asian American, they both have a talking dog, They HAVE THE SAME FREAKING INITIALS, and a bratty younger sibling of the opposite sex (Though to be fair, only Jake's one is bratty), they had a grandparent of the same sex who did the duty before them, in fact I was just thinking about this a few days ago.

I've always loved Danny Phantom and t a lesser extent Jake Long despite the annoying overuse of slang. I never cared for Juniper Lee because it felt dull and I saw all the Jake Long similarities almost immediately and wrote it off as an inadequate rip-off.

edited 20th Apr '11 9:25:39 AM by MousaThe14

Never watched Juniper Lee. Danny Phantom was alright, in my opinion. Never watched too much of it, but from what I saw, it was okay. "Reign Storm" was pretty good and I though "Ultimate Enemy" was fantastic. Jake Long was my personal favorite and I think it's incredibly underrated. Jake's slang never really bothered me.

Well, with the development cycle of a cartoon being what it is, chances are it was just an extreme coincidence and not an actual rip off.

Okay they came out same year, months apart, so it's just a coincidence... The similarities are too frightening through. I wonder if someone on the CN side got a rumor or someone from the Disney side was fired and in their bitterness pitched an opposite sex version of Jake long to the CN people. I mean look at them if someone didn't know about the release times the assumption one stole from another would've been in their minds like the Pokemon/Digimon arguments of long ago.

Okay, This is getting too WMG than my normal self... I guess I should've given the show a better chance?

I loved Danny Phantom because it is to a degree Spider Man with ghosts, and I discovered it at the moment Spidey stopped being readable to me. Danny was a better Peter Parker than Peter Parker was at that time (or since) so it has become my replacement for that fix.

Danny Phantom and American Dragon Jake Long were both cool looks at the Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World trope. Juniper Lee was extremely dull.

Danny Phantom had surprising character development but clichéd plots,Jake long had creative plots but lacked character half way in the show's run.

I always felt that Am Drag and Jun Lee were both cartoon versions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with a slightly more family oriented bent. And I could make a case for other precedents, including a few comic books.

That said, there are two Jake Long books which predate the series by a few years.

Judd Winnick actually alwasy described Juniper Lee as "Buffy meets the Simpsons"

I only knew and Whatched Danny Phantom (And only up to Season 2. I coldt whatch Season 3 because, at the moment, it just didnt existed, and when it did, I alredy stopped whatching TV... long story than no one cares about).

I think have HEARD of Juniper Lee, and maybe even whatched a bit of it. I dont even rememeber my opinion towards it. xD

And the other... I never even heard of it O_o...

Wait, what's this about books?

The Dragon Hunter and the Gnome Eater, by Jeff Goode. Availability is doubtful, though you may have luck with a library or something.

Does this description sound right about American Dragon: Jake Long?

American Dragon: Jake Long has a rather shifting story line and theme. It's characters and plot can go from being Comedic and Silly to Dark and Terrifying to Show Stopping

Both Danny and Jake basically had an Auto-transform button. Just though I'd point that out.

They're all just rip-offs of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

I just tried watching that show because I loved Dr. Horrible, but it turns out the entire show was boring to me because I watched 3 similar shows as a child.

The only thing that these three shows have in common is just that they are all copycats. Jake Long and Juniper Lee are the obvious ones when it comes to the copycating. I remember there was an online discussion that had something similar to this one, I couldn't get into watching American Dragon or Juniper Lee for that matter. It was obvious that they were the same. Not to mention that I consider Jake long an ass as much as Ben 10 was. Did the creators of Jake long know about Juniper Lee(or even vice veria?). I do know that my sister hated Juniper's brother, and considered him The Scrappy of the show.

Danny Phantom, uggh. I am just going to say that I hate Butch Hartman. You guys need to see what he did for Hanna-Barbara back in the 90's. Pfish and Chip is more appealing then his "flat" cartoons that come out of the days of The Dark Age Of Animation. I even thought that Danny Phantom was a cool concept, but however it falls into his terrible cliched bullshit that has to come out of Nick. Which I dislike a lot.

wtf why do you hater hartman?

Here is a partial list of problems people tend to have with Butch Hartman's work.

I heard Hartman didn't even see Danny Phantom as a pet project he was invested in. He made it solely because Nick approached him with a sweet deal for another cartoon, and created the premise from all these bits cobbled together!

It says a lot that he and Seth Mac Farlane are good friends and even worked with each other once. Dr. Hartman is named after his friend Butch!

ZMage, now? ...I don't have any ill repute for the place, but how many TV Tropes people here are not from Toonzone, out of curiosity?!

edited 25th Apr '11 12:17:52 PM by kyun

To be fair, most of those are true.

ToonZone? Never heard of it.

Do you have a better place for news regarding western animation? 'Cause I'm kinda looking for one. They've started covering way too many comic books, and I already have a comic book news site.

I don't know about TUFF Puppy, but looking at Fairly Odd Parents, Danny Phantom, and that Poorly Disguised Pilot for a Crash Nebula series, it certainly doesn't look to me like Butch ever really stretched his creative muscles on anything.