How To Count Your Dragons

Up to and including those from "How To Train Your Dragon," there have been more animated dragons than any other animal. Here's a good long list:

"The Reluctant Dragon," Disney, 1941. This movie consisted of several segments, including "The Reluctant Dragon." This was the first time Kenneth Graham's character had been animated.

"Dizzy Dinosaurs," Kartune, Famous Studios, 1952. This predecessor of "The Flintstones" included a sight gag that showed cavemen going to the movies and buying popcorn that was popped by a dragon.

"Knighty Knight Bugs," Looney Tunes, Warner Bros, 1958. Bugs is assigned by King Arthur to recover the Singing Sword from the Black Knight(Yosemite Sam). This villain has a rather troublesome pet dragon.

"Dante Dreamer,' Noveltoons, Famous Studios, 1958. Dante is a little boy with a big imagination, who fantasizes about fighting and slaying a dragon when his mom tells him to put the trash in the incinerator.

"Sleeping Beauty," Disney, 1959. During this film's climax, Maleficent transforms into a dragon.

"A Stone Age Felix," Felix The Cat, Trans-Lux, 1960. One of the prehistoric creatures Felix encounters in the Stone Age is a dragon!

The opening of "Touche Turtle, " Hanna-Barbera, 1962, has him extinguishing a dragon's fire with a hose.

"Little Snow White," "The Famous Adventures Of Mr. Magoo," UPA 1964. In this version of the fairy tale, Snow White has a baby pet dragon called Blazer.

"Monster Fred," "The Flintstones," Hanna-Barbera, 1964. Dr. Freep's pilot light is a dragon.

"Zot," Underdog," Total Television, 1964. Underdog agrees to marry Princess Glissando to save Polly. He's allowed to return to Earth after defeating the aliens' feared enemy, the two-headed dragon of Zot.

"Dragons Of Ashida," Jonny Quest, Hanna-Barbera, 1964. The "dragons" in this episode are actually huge genetically altered lizards.

"Dragon Master," Atom Ant, Hanna-Barbera 1965. Sent back in time to King Arthur's era, Atom tames a fierce dragon, and sics him on the villains when they return to the '60's.

"Dragon Drubbers," Sinbad Jr, Hanna-Barbera, 1965. Sinbad rescues a princess from a dragon-with unexpected results!

"The Laser Breathing Space Dragon," Space Kiddettes, Hanna-Barbera, 1966. The Space Kiddettes meet a most unusual alien monster.

"The Herculoids," Hanna-Barbera, 1967. Zok, the laser dragon is one of these animal heroes who served King Zandor.

"Mighty Mightor," Hanna-Barbera, 1967. Tor uses his club to turn himself into Mightor, and Tog into a fire-breathing dragon.

"The Living Island," Shazzan, Hanna-Barbera, 1967. Chuck, Nancy, and Kaboobie are chased by the Hunter's dragon hounds, until Shazzan is summoned to rescue them.

"The Revenge Of Dr. Millenium," Birdman, Hanna-Barbera, 1967. In ancient China, Birdman destroys Dr. Millenium's mechanical dragon before the villain captures him.

"The Lost City Of The Dragon Men," Samson And Goliath, Hanna-Barbera, 1967. Samson and Goliath encounter the Dragon Men, who come complete with a dragon lizard.

"The Ice Dragon," Aquaman, Filmation, 1967. Aquaman, Aqualad, and Tusky contend with a dragon that breathes ice instead of fire.

"The Deadly Director," The Fantastic Four, Hanna-Barbera, 1967. A robot dragon is one of the many dangers the Four face in their own "movie."

"Here Comes The Grump," DePatie-Freleng, 1969. The Grump rode on his Jolly Green Dragon, a well-meaning beast who spewed fire when he sneezed, and took abuse from his master. Both characters were modeled after Yosemite Sam's Black Knight, and the dragon from "Knight Knight Bugs."

"The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop," Hanna-Barbera, 1969. Both "Bad Fortune In A Chinese Fortune Cookie," and "Big Baghdad Danger" had Penelope threatened by dragons.

"The Reluctant Dragon And Mr. Toad," Rankin Bass, 1970. Tobias was the Reluctant Dragon in this adaptation of Kenneth Graham's book. He was the bane of existence of King Herman, always sneezing and spewing fire when he saw daisies. Other dragons in this series were Tobias's father, Sir Andrew, the baby dragon Dippy, and a robot dragon that stole the toy factory.


"Bailey's Comets," DePatie-Freleng, 1973. One episode has the team encountering a dragon in Switzerland, of all places!

"Pete's Dragon," Disney, 1977. Pete is the only one who can see Elliot the dragon. This combined live action with animation.

"The Hobbit," Rankin-Bass, 1977. Bilbo's up against Smaug in this adaptation.

"Puff The Magic Dragon," Murikami-Wolf-Swensen, 1978. A special based on the classic Peter, Paul, and Mary song. There were two sequels, "Puff The Magic Dragon In The Land Of The Living Lies," and "Puff And The Incredible Mr. Nobody." Burgess Meredith voiced Puff in all three.

"Godzilla," Hanna-Barbera, 1978. Godzooky, Godzilla's nephew, is a dragon who can only blow smoke rings. However, in the episode "The Beast Of Storm Island," he is temporarily able to breathe fire.

"The Stone Cold Dragon Of Gold," Fangface And Fangpuss," Ruby-Spears, 1979. The gang sees a golden dragon in Hong Kong.

"The Space Dragons," Space Ghost, Hanna-Barbera, 1981. Space Ghost defeats the Space Dragons.

"The Smurfs," Hanna-Barbera, 1981. Three episodes of this classic series, "Sir Hefty," "St. Smurf And The Dragon," and "The Cursed Country" all feature dragons. The latter is the first adventure with Johan and Peewit.

"Dungeons And Dragons," Marvel Productions, 1983. As the title implies, there are quite a few dragons in this series.

"Kip's Dragon," Shirt Tales, 1983. Kip meets and befriends Sparky, a dragon who runs away from a circus.

"Dragons Of Dar-Shan," Wildfire," Hanna-Barbera, 1986. Wildfire, Princess Sara, and company have a run-in with these dragons.

"The Flight Of Dragons," Rankin-Bass, 1986. Peter meets several dragons in an enchanted setting.

"Quest For Camelot," Warner Bros, 1998. Kayleigh and Garrett are joined in their quest to recover the stolen Excalibur Sword by the two-headed dragon Devon and Cornwall. Note: Devon was voiced by Eric Idle, who also starred in "Monty Python And The Holy Grail," another movie based on Arthurian legend.

"Mulan," Disney, 1998. Mulan's friend and advisor is Mushu, a wisecracking Chinese dragon.

"Pokemon," 4Kids Entertainment, 1998. Dragonite is a dragonlike Pokemon in the series and movies. So are Charizard, Gyarados, and Aerodactyl.

"Dragon Tales," PBS, 1999. Kids interact with dragons in Dragonland.

Digimon, 1999. Some of the Digimon were dragons, like Exveemon, Seadramon, and Azulongmon.

"Jackie Chan Adventures," Columbia. 2000. Jackie deals with many villains, including Shendu and his son, both dragons.

"Yu-Gi-Oh!," 4Kids Entertainment, 2001. Yugi Moto and his friends often use dragon cards to defeat their adversaries (Blue Eyes White, Dragon, Red Eyes, Black Dragon, Harpy Lady's Pet Dragon, and Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and a few others could be brought to life). In addition, he, Joey, and Seto awaken the dragons Timaeus, Hermos, and Critias, respectively.

"Weathering Heights," Loonatics Unleashed, Warner Bros, 2005. Weathervane turns herself into a dragon during this episode's climax.

"Bakugan, Battle Brawlers," 2008. Dan Kuso's personal Bakugan is Drago the dragon. Hyrdanoid is another from this series.

Not to mention the Dragonball Z dragons, and Magellan from Eureeka's Castle, Jake Long and his Grandpa from "American Dragon: Jake Long," Dulcy from "Sonic The Hedgehog," and Granymyr from "He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe."

So there, you have it. Dragons of all shapes and forms. Some good, some evil, and some incredible.

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"I, TammiToon, am Boston Strong."

A few others:

"Gang Of Assassins," Speed Racer, Trans Lux, 1967. The title villains use a dragon submarine.

One of the "Birdman" bumpers has him and the Galaxy Trio defeating a dragon that rises from the Earth. And in "Return To Aqueous," the Galaxy Trio deals with a dragon-like monster operated by Lotar.

"Wacky Races," Hanna-Barbera, 1968. The Gruesome Twosome have a pet dragon.

"The Four-Eyed Dragon Of Cygnon," "Josie And THe Pussycats In Outer Space," Hanna-Barbera, 1972. On the planet Cygnon, the Pussycats have an encounter with Thurgo, who turns out to be a mechanical dragon created by fellow Earthman Dr. Benedict.

"Sesame Street" had an animated subtraction lesson in which King Midas used his ability to make things disappear to get rid of four dragons who were threatening a fair maiden.

One of the "King Vitaman" ads has His Majesty using the Dragon Wagon to save a maiden from a dragon.

Zok and the rest of the Herculoids returned on "Space Stars" in 1981.

Mushu also appeared in the "Mulan" sequels.

"Scoobra Cadoobra," "The Thirteen Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo," Hanna-Barbera, 1985. Maldor The Malevolent uses his dark magic to turn a rabbit into a dragon.