Animated Reflections: Blazing Dragons (Season 1)

Blazing Dragons was created by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) and was a Playstation and Sega Saturn game released in 1996. It was not long after that it was released as a cartoon series (created along side Gavin Scott) produced by Nelvana and Ellipse, with two seasons of which both were different from each other, which is why I will look at both separately as I do have some issues with the second season. But enough about that, lets look at:

Blazing Dragons is a world with a twisted tale of Arthurian Lore of Knights and Dragons, with the Dragons are the good guys and the human Knights are the villains. In the kingdom of Camelhot, King Allfire leads his Knights of the square table against the evil forces of Count Geoffrey and his evil Knights. Well, in theory that's how its suppose to go.

King Allfire isn't the Dragon he use to be and the Knights ain't exactly the most capable at their jobs. Enter the main characters of the show. First is Flicker, inventor and Sir Loungealot's squire and second is Princess Flame, a smart and capable individual who tends to go the extra mile when its required.

Flicker is the main focus of the show, wanting to be a valiant Knight of Camelhot and being the one who sticks to the King's Code of Shivery word for word (much to Flame's annoyance at times). Being Sir Loungealot's Squire isn't easy for him, as Sir Loungealot is one of the lazy and selfish Knight the kingdom has and is always taking Flickers glory for himself. Doesn't help that his inventions don't always work out the way he planned them too. He also has feelings for Princess Flame (who is also his best friend, which seems to be a thing between Princesses and Squires) who also shares his affections, but he tends to be shy at times.

Flame on the other hand suffers from being a Princess and by that I mean she is forced to follow the rules for medieval Princess, though that doesn't stop her from bending the rules. She's willing go do a number of things to save her kingdom, but also to save herself, taking a number of risks when dealing with her rather large step-mother. Flame is a rather good sword fighter, holding her own on a number of occasions,

Loungealot is technically a main character as he seems to be the one who makes Flicker's life a constant pain. He is lazy, self-absorbed and is a bit of a coward. He is also the kingdoms famed champion. As for his standing with his fellow Knights, sometimes he is praised, sometimes he is made fun of. More often then not, Loungealot's arrogance seems to get him into all sorts of trouble and it's up to Flicker to help get him out of it (usually at Flicker's own expense).

King Allfire himself is a good King, but too many good years seem to have affected his physique. Flame is his daughter from his first marriage, but what to his first wife is unclear. He re-married to Griddle and her own son Blaze became a Knight. Queen Griddle is a little selfish and has some anger issues, who just expects the kingdom to love her. Loungealot constantly tries flirting with her for his own benefit. Blaze has the stereotypical aspects of a character that one would think is possibly homosexual, being that of flamboyant and effeminate. What his sexual preference is is never explained in the show (due to it being a children's cartoon) and though he isn't the best at being a Knight, he does tend to prove himself more then capable on several occasions (in truth, I feel he's probably their best Knight having re-watched the series).

Then there's Sir Burnevere the Overly Educated, a Scottish Dragon who's accent and overly complicated words make's it difficult for his fellow Knights to understand him at times. Despite being the brains of the Knightly Order, he tend to show about as much intelligence as the other Knights when it comes to their tasks. The last two Knights are Sir Galahot the Proper, who is more straight forward and well spoken and Sir Hotbreath the Not-So Proper (an carried over theme from Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Sir Lancelot the Brave and Sir Robin the not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir Lancelot) who's only real gimmick is that he is constantly burping fire.

The last set of good characters are Cinder and Clinker, a twin-headed Dragon who is the kingdoms Jester, with one sounding more positive and the other sounding more negative. They usually have a number of jobs other then Jester and tend to appear all over the place. Lastly is the Minstrel, who has the job of doing the introduction, ending and is basically the in-story storyteller. He is usually playing his Lute.
 

Now that we have that lot out of the way, the Villain's section will be much easier. The main Villain is the evil Count Geoffrey (also known as the Dreaded Count Geoffrey de Bouillon, Oppressor Par Excellence of the Poor and Weak), who is constantly trying to take over the kingdom of Camelhot and bring ruin to the Knights of the Square Table. He is very much a cartoon villain in the way he works, which I do enjoy. His own fortress of Threadbare Castle is constantly falling apart and so uses the local Peasant's to stand on each others shoulders in order to form pillars to hold the roof up. In one episode alone he charges an air tax for people breathing air.

Count Geoffrey usually seeks help from Merle the Wizard (looks more like a witch then a wizard). Merle is usually one to come up with the creatures or spells needed for the plans, though tends not to get too caught up when things go wrong (in other words, she suffers the least from failed plans). Finally, there are his various henchmen. The first is his Evil Spy, a guy in a rather tacky Dragon suit which clearly looks fake, but it's a cartoon so most don't notice. Given how Geoffrey treats him, one wonders why he still works for him. Finally are Evil Knights #1,#2 and #3. Why are they called that? Beats me, maybe its just easier for Geoffrey to remember. The three can fight, but are all incredibly stupid.

Honestly, so much has been said about the characters, that nothing more can really be said when it comes to story. It goes by the usual standards, a problem occurs thanks to Count Geoffrey (or at least, he takes advantage of one) and its usually down to Flicker to find a way to solve it. The story is carried more so by its cast of characters and its comedy, relying on visual or running gags. A good example of this is the first episode in which the Knights embark on a quest to find the Holy Quell (which is a Quell dressed like a Bishop) and when every time they say it a holy choir is heard. Through out the episode this happens, but also a running gag of Sir Blaze firing a crossbow and picking up something that sounds like Quell (like Kale). Fairly simple, but entertaining in context.

Animation seems smooth enough, though simple in design. The background and foreground designs seem to have some being detailed while others are very basic in looks. The character designs are not overly complicated, with some being more sharp in edges compared to others. The Dragons themselves are of a different design compared to the Video Game version, with them walking on two legs as opposed to the four from the game. There is more colour to them as well. The shows music seems to blend in at times that you don't notice it, but then there are other times when you know it's trying to promote the comedic moment. Has a very catchy theme song to boot.

As something I got to watch on the weekends, this was a personal favourite of mine, with a high preference for Season 1 over Season 2. There are some rather humorous and clever ideas in some of these episodes, with the quest for the Stone of Wisdom in which the 'temple' is very much like a medieval shopping mall. You can see where some of the comedy was inspired from and even though it is a medieval theme, it's clear that it's only that in an over all theme, with various objects and places based on more modern things (such as the Stone of Wisdom episode). Heck, the show even makes jokes about it's own settings at some points, even breaking the fourth wall at times.

Overall, it's an enjoyable time, though don't expect to be enlightened at any point. It is a show that relies on its comedy for the most part, so you may or may not enjoyment if the humor isn't up to your standard. As I stated before, there are differences between Season 1 and Season 2, something I will be looking at another time.