Cute, small and green.
Pocket Dragon Adventures was a 1998 TV show created by Craig Miller and Marv Wolfman, who story edited the animated series which ran for one season. Produced by Spanish animation D'Ocon Films, in co-production with Televisión Española, Bohbot Entertainment, and DIC Productions.
Based off of collectable figurines of the same name which was launched back in June 1989 created by artist Real Musgrave, the cartoon is about the titular Pocket Dragons (a group of very small dragons) who live with a kindly old wizard, and their many adventures.
The plots usually involve the well-meaning but hyperactive Pocket Dragons getting into some kind of messy situation. Either due to their own actions, or those of others, and going through some wild and crazy hi-jinks while trying to make things right before the wizard finds out.
The entire series is currently available on the streaming platforms Tubi, Pluto TV, and Peacock.
Provides Examples Of:
- Acting Out a Daydream: Cuddles is the Sleepyhead of the group, but sometimes when he dozes off daydreams he's a daring adventurer named Sir Cuddles. He can only be snapped out of this alter-ego persona if someone says "Cushladoo".
- All Love Is Unrequited: Specs has a huge crush on Princess Betty Bye Belle who runs the town library and is as much as a Bookworm as he is. Belle is aware of his feelings but sees him more as a friend.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Binky becomes gigantic in the episode Attack of the 50 Foot Binky because she was tired of being the smallest Pocket Dragon. She concocts a potion that'll make her as tall as Filbert, but as Specs later discovers she failed to put a delimiter on the potion. Now Binky will grow endlessly with no stopping, unless they can find a rare magical flower to halt the process.
- Ditzy Genius: Scribbles is a scatterbrained inventor whose creations tend to cause more problems than they solve. She and Specs disagree as to which of them is smarter, and she often steps up to act as The Leader should Filbert be incapacitated.
- Dream-Crushing Handicap: Zoom-Zoom is the fastest most rash of the little dragon group, and wishes he could fly, even wearing an old-style aviator's helmet. Unlike regular-sized dragons however, Pocket Dragons as a species are unable to fly.
- Fantastic Racism: Knights like Sir Kenneth hunt dragons despite the fact that in this fantasy world, full-sized dragons are sapient bipedal civilized and every bit as intelligent as humans.
- Guardian Entity: Filbert, the leader of the group sees himself as guardian and protector of the castle and wizard, despite the fact that nearly everyone who knocks of the door is a well-acquainted old friend of the wizard.
- Limited Animation: Subverted when compared to D'Ocon's other productions, sometimes not even matching their artstyle. This is because they only animated half of the series in-house, while the rest of the episodes were outsourced to Taiwanese/Chinese/Korean studios. Even then, the D'Ocon-produced episodes still feature a lot of the tropes the company is known for: reused animation, low-budgets, simplified framerates, among others.
- The Klutz: Sir Nigel's brother Chumley is far more gifted as a talented painter, than an explorer.
- Medieval European Fantasy: Zigzagged. The setting of the show is normally depicted to be around the Middle Ages with knights in armour, but a lot of fantastical, sometimes science-fiction elements, get thrown into the mix. Notably American taxi cabs pulled by rhinoceroses.
- Merchandise-Driven: This series is based off of a toyline of the same name.
- Mouse World: The titular friendly dragons are not to be confused with Fairy Dragons, they are the smallest species of dragon, smaller than Shoulder-Sized Dragon, and flightless. They live with humans in their homes, and do their best to protect their households by being creative with everyday household appliances, but it sometimes backfires. The wizard's Pocket Dragons lead by their leader Filbert, are so energetic they're usually the cause of the episode's problem they're trying to solve.
- The Leader: Downplayed. Filbert, who wears a red bandanna around his neck, is the largest and oldest of the six Pocket Dragons. He always assumes the role of leader, but he's seldom in control of the others. Often quarreling with Scribbles and the others, who each see themselves as fully competent and capable without direction.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Like the franchise the animated series is adapted on, Pocket Dragons are mischievous but always friendly mouse-sized dragon race that love to live in human's homes and help with their chores. The series focuses on the main six of these creatures who live with a kindly old wizard.
- Overly Long Name: Sir Nigel the dragon's Welsh brother's full name is "Chumley Gwilliam Llywelyn Spikey Smoke". Specs agrees they'd best call him just Chumley, or they'll be making introductions all day long.
- Title Theme Tune: It's recommended you turn the volume down when watching the cartoon, because its original theme song is loud.
- Two Men, One Dress: The Pocket Dragons once got together in a manually controlled robot to trick someone.
- Weak, but Skilled: What the little dragons lack in size and strength, they more than make up for, in their excitable tenacity and ingenuity in solving problems.
