"American Dragon: Jake Long"
The Rotwood Files (2006)

Directors:

Nicholas Filippi
Steve Loter

Writers:

Randi Barnes (writer)
Mark Drop (writer)

TV Series:

"American Dragon: Jake Long" (2005)

Original Air Date:

18 November 2006 (Season 2, Episode 15)

Genre:

Animation | Family

Plot:

Jake plays a trick on Principal Rotwood, making him leave, only to have an even tougher principal take his place. |

Plot Keywords:

Hip Hop | Skateboarding | Supernatural Powers | Crush | Cartoon

Cast

Dante Basco	...	Jake Long (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Amy Bruckner	...	Millie Fillmore (voice)
Corey Burton	...	Sigmund Brock (voice)
John Di Maggio	...	Fu Dog (voice)
Charlie Finn	...	Spud (voice)
Miss Kittie	...	Trixie Carter (voice)
Paul Rugg	...	Professor Rotwood (voice)
Tara Strong	...	Cheerleader Stacey (voice)
Lauren Tom	...	Jake's Mother / Additional Voices (voice)
Keone Young	...	Jake's Grandfather (voice)

Pivotal!

The promos for this episode clearly seemed exaggerated at first, but the ending proved they were beneath the hype. That's right, I said "beneath" the hype.

Jake and his crew sabotages an assembly speech by Professor Rotwood, and as Trixie said it, "the walls came a tumblin' down." Meanwhile, Spud starts eating onions so he can cry more often when Stacey, the Cheerleader he has a crush on stars becoming impressed by what she thinks is sympathy. The principal that replaces Rotwood is named Sigmund Brock, and he actually turns out to be pretty cool... at least for most of the student body. As we find out though, Principal Brock is just as determined to reveal the existence of Dragons and other magical creatures as Rotwood is. Unlike Rotwood though, he doesn't talk about this goal with too many people. Worse than that, with his skills in chemistry, he may actually succeed. Needless to say, Jake has to get this Principal kicked out, but he has no idea how he's going to do it, until he gets help from an unlikely ally; None other than Hans Rotwood himself.

It turns out, Rotwood was a student of Brock's and wants him out just as bad as Jake does, so they decide to work together. Both Jake's parents, as well as Spud and Trixie find the idea of Jake working with Rotwood unsettling, but Spud and Trixie manage to accept him. The first plot turns out to be a total disaster, and Principal Brock turns all the other students against him. When Jake & Rotwood are formulating Plan B, they both start reminiscing about all the trouble he got in. But when he inadvertently reveals his responsibility for getting Rotwood fired, he too turns against him, and actually starts working with his old Professor Brock! Now he and his friends have to break in without Rotwood. The capture of Jake, Spud and Trixie, isn't anywhere near as big of a surprise as Brock's attempt to reveal who among them is the Dragon, and the same goes for Rotwood's double-cross for both Brock and Jake!

American Dragon Jake Long has had some episodes that mark turning points for the series, among them, "Professor Rotwood's Thesis," "Ski Trip," "The Hunted," "Half-Baked," "Dreamscape," and to a lesser extent, "Hero of the Hourglass." But this time, there's not going back for Jake Long, much like the Daria episode "Lucky Strike" where Quinn proudly declares that she and Daria are sisters, after four and a half seasons of denying their relationship. Not until "Homecoming" later in season two is there an episode that nails the course for the entire series.