10 Best Dragons In Film & TV

10. Jake Long - Jake Long: American Dragon

Jake Long: American Dragon seemed to just miss the boat for Disney animated TV shows.

Following the success of movie spin offs Hercules and Tarzan, plus original cartoons like Kim Possible, Disney shifted towards live-action shows.

Just as Jake Long: American Dragon launched in 2005, The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody started, with Hannah Montana a year later. Disney had done live action before through the likes of That’s So Raven, but midway through the 00s it felt like a pivot towards rearing young stars. Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Bella Thorne, Debby Ryan and Zendaya all came off the Disney processing line.

It’s a shame this development left Jake Long behind though, because the now cult show was like a diet high school anime.

The premise was somehow both simple and convoluted, but made a solid jumping off point for the season through its run. Jake was a normal teenage boy, except he could turn into a dragon. Meanwhile, his crush Rose is secretly a dragon hunter.

The show balanced the two halves of their world incredibly well, and Jake could have been a classic Disney character had he debuted at a better time.