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Kale UD

Lady Kale, Princess of Avalon (addressed to as Aunt Kale by Princess Gwenevere) is one of the main characters and the antagonist of the first season of Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders as well as a secondary villainess of the second season, voiced by Corinne Orr. Kale-centered episodes include "Jewel Quest, Part I", "Dreamfields", "Revenge of the Dark Stone", and "Morgana". Her name was changed to Caluixa in the Catalan version, Starla i les amazones de les joies.[1] Kale and Morgana later inspired the character of Dark Sorceress in Avalon: Web of Magic, and also remains one of the most popular Jewel Riders characters, much more so than Morgana.

Kale magic

Tall and beautiful, the outlaw Lady Kale is a banished member of the royal family of Avalon who now dwells in her dark Castle Thornwoods. She is a selfish and cruel twin sister of Avalon's ruler Queen Anya and aunt of Anya's daughter and the series' protagonist Princess Gwenevere. Serving her are three ill-natured magic animal stooges: Grimm, Kale's darling flying dragon carrying her in an aerial wagon, and Rufus and Twig, the duo of pet dino-weasels magically bonded with her.

Lady Kale is fiercely vengeful against and deeply envious of both Anya and the good wizard Merlin as she believes this magical kingdom belongs to her. Having discovered the powerful Dark Stone, Kale ruthlessly seeks to master all the magic of Avalon and destroy her sworn enemy Merlin. She will do anything for power, and will stop at nothing to achieve her revenge. For the first time in Avalon's history since the fall of Morgana and the ancient wizards, the whole kingdom is in peril. Now Princess Gwenevere and the other Jewel Riders must embark on a grand adventure to save Avalon from Kale's evil magic, before she can plunge the entire realm into darkness to rule it forever.

Kale Jewel Box

"I have waited a long time for this. The waiting is finished, and so is Merlin!"

Official descriptions[]

Bwkale
12-12

Project Summary 6/26/95[]

KALE - Outlaw Princess

Kale is sexy and dangerous, beautiful but deadly. She is graceful and sinuous like a snake. Kale seeks revenge against her sister, Queen Adrianna [Queen Anya], because Kale feels it should be her ruling Avalon, not her sweet sister. Kale will do anything to rule the magic of Avalon and control the Crystal Palace.

Show Bible[]

Lady Kale is equally ruthless and ravishing -- blessed with a keen, cold, and cunning intellect. She is contentious, aggressive, willful, stubborn, and physically strong. Above all, she is hungry for power and firmly believes that she, not Anya, should be ruling Avalon. By the same token, Kale is also infinitely charming and mysterious. A deadly combination.[2]

Official website[]

Banished from the Crystal Palace for plotting to take the throne away from her sister, Anya, the outlaw Lady Kale has dedicated her life to seeking revenge upon Merlin. Merlin, she believes, is responsible for not granting her the Sun Stone which would have given her the power to become Queen. Instead, he gave that precious jewel to her sister who is now the good Queen Anya. When Lady Kale discovered a new Enchanted Jewel called the Dark Stone, her destiny became clear. Using the Dark Stone, and aided by a group of misfit beasts, she has vowed to master the "wild magic" of Avalon and take control of the Kingdom. From her castle in the Thornwoods, she plans outlaw raids on traveling caravans that transport goods and information across the kingdom, stealing knowledge of the whereabouts of the Seven Stones of The Kingdom. Her jewel, the Dark Stone, enables Lady Kale to talk to animals and persuade them to turn to evil.[3]

Collectible card[]

The dark and mysterious Lady Kale is Queen Anya’s sister. Merlin selected Anya instead of Kale to receive the Sun Stone and become Queen. When Kale tried to take the throne away from her sister, she was banished from the Crystal Palace. Now Kale, who is mean, aggressive and powerful, is out for revenge.

In the show[]

24-10

Background[]

Young Kale

A young Princess Kale in a dream vision in "Dreamfields"

Dragon lady

The adult Kale and Grimm the dragon in "Fashion Fever"

Lady Kale was born as a Princess of Avalon and an elder sister to Anya, and as such she has been led to believe she would receive the sacred Sun Stone to become a Jewel Rider and the next Queen. But when the wizard Merlin, protector of Avalon, gave it to Princess Anya instead, the teenage Princess Kale felt cheated, to her great disappointment and anger. Although the ambitious girl had studied the magic very hard, she was at once denied everything she ever wanted: the power of the Sun Stone and the right to rule. Having been banished from the Crystal Palace for plotting against Anya, Kale's bitterness and ambition grew ever more. She became obsessed to take control of not just the Sun Stone but all of the magic in Avalon and become the undisputed ruler for all time. Unlike her sister, Kale never married and did not have any known children as she spent years preparing for her great vengeance on Merlin, Anya and anyone else she thinks has wronged her.

Dragon flight

Lady Kale with the Dark Stone and Grimm in "Jewel Quest, Part I"

Kale cackle

Kale triumphant after facing and defeating Merlin in "Jewel Quest, Part I"

One fateful day, Kale's dweasels track down a centuries-lost jewel of great dark magic, which she appropriately names the Dark Stone, and the waiting is finally over. With the help of its terrific power, Kale ambushes and traps Merlin and throws him into the deadly void of the Wild Magic to perish there. After swapping the captured unicorn, Sunstar, for Merlin's key, Kale seizes and opens the Jewel Box containing the Crown Jewels—however, at the last moment Merlin suddenly intervenes to send these seven jewels away back to their lands and out of her grasp, at least for a time being.

Dark Stone Lady Kale
The Outlaws

As the wild magic is growing out of control, Lady Kale is determined to stop at nothing until she gets her hands on all of the lost Crown Jewels. From the solitude of her dark castle in the remote Thornwoods, protected by the living thorntrees, she begins organizing the Outlaws' raids on traveling caravans in an effort to gain information about their sightings. If Kale could tame the powers of these mighty Jewels, she might be able to twist the wild magic to her dark designs—and finally destroy her greatest enemy, Merlin.

Lady Kale Dark Stone sketch

Not since the rebellion of ancient wizards one thousand years ago did such an evil power threaten Avalon as Kale spreads chaos through the lands and is about to take all that is Merlin's and begin her reign over "an empire that will last an eternity" (as described in a script-only line, along with Gwen's reply "an empire based on darkness on cruelty"[4]). The newest generation of the Jewel Riders] and their friends are about to face a great challenge in their great Jewel Quest to defeat her and preserve the goodness of the kingdom for future generations.

Attributes and personality[]

Kale 140

Lady Kale looks similar to her good twin Anya, sharing her sister's their imposing and statuesque figure and angular facial features with high cheekbones and narrow slanted eyes. However, Kale has contrasting colors of her hair and eyes (Anya being blonde and blue eyed), and a darker skin shade.

  • Height: 5' 11 (180 cm)
  • Hair: Jet black, worn long
  • Eyes: Violet
  • Age: "Unknown"[2]
Kale evil smile
Kale cruel

The vain and vindictive Kale holds a mortal grudge against Merlin, her former mentor turned archenemy, as well as a burning hatred for her own sister, Anya, whom she does not regard as rightful ruler. She blames Merlin for him allowing her good sibling to inherit the Sun Stone and become a Jewel Rider and then the Queen. The young Princess Kale always felt that it was her birth right and destiny to receive the Sun Stone and the throne of New Camelot. Now, many years later, Kale is still deeply convinced it should be her ruling Avalon and that it was all just Merlin's fault. After finding a new magic jewel she called the Dark Stone, Kale plans to steal the power of the Crown Jewels that would help her make all in Avalon bow down to her and then reign for all time. Merlin and his friends must make sure the former princess turned an evil witch will not succeed in replacing him as the eternal ruler of magic.

Kale 101
Kale sb

Lady Kale is extremely haughty and stubborn. She talks in grandiose, arrogant manner and is also prone to overly dramatic antics and furious fits. Kale is very short-tempered, bossy and uncaring for her animals, except for her darling dragon, and treacherous to her allies. She also repeatedly attempts to corrupt her niece, the show's heroine Princess Gwenevere, but without success. One episode shows her having doubts about her ways and her potential good side. However, Kale herself refuses to acknowledge this, and the issue is not explored again as she never redeems.

Abilities[]

12-06
Main article: Dark Stone
Jewel magic Kale
Sword fight

Lady Kale fencing-off the Pack knights' leader Drake in "Fashion Fever"

Lady Kale is a very dangerous enemy for the Jewel Riders. Besides being physically fit, strong, agile, and skilled with weapons, Kale has remarkable learning of magic and an insider's knowledge of the of the secrets Crystal Palace. Without Merlin, Kale became the mightiest magic user in all of Avalon.[5] As long as her threat continues, the kingdom may never be at peace again.

Kale whip

Kale using a magical whip as a weapon in a storyboard (turned into an energy blast in the show)

Kale magic

The main source of Kale's magic is the Dark Stone, a magic jewel of terrible and awesome power that she discovered in a Wild Magic portal and tuned it so it would only work for her and her evil schemes. It allows her to warp the good magic of Avalon to darkness, ride the Wild Magic through the Travel Trees, fire energy beams and blasts, communicate with all animals (similar to Tamara's Heart Stone) and bind them to herself, twist the form and shapes of things, pull objects (and even people), capture her enemies into magical sphere traps, and project her image and voice on distance. Unlike the Jewel Riders and the Wolf Pack with their Enchanted Jewel, Kale usually casts her spells without need to speak magical invocations. She also usually has her jewel armor on all the time, with very few exceptions.

Evil Princess
Kale evil

Even though Kale as skilled in the magical arts as she is beautiful, Merlin has kept much of his knowledge a secret and the wild magic could often prove too much even for her. The Dark Stone is very powerful, but is also a "wild" jewel, which means it is unpredictable and hard to handle. In the second season, with the evil wizard Morgana lending Kale some of her own powers, she can do more things with the Dark Stone—such as to mind-control people (and not just animals), use it as a powerful magic hammer or a sword, and even magically disguise herself as another person.

Minions[]

04-01

Lady Kale's transportation of choice is the Dragon Wagon, an aerial vehicle that is powered by her darling animal, Grimm—a huge, vicious dragon. Grimm is dumb, but strong, fast and agile, and capable of breathing fire. He is absolutely loyal to Kale, and in turn she cares for him greatly even as she seldom has any pity or compassion for anyone and anything else.

Kale crew sb
Witchy

Kale bullying her dweasels Rufus and Twig in "The Wizard of Gardenia"

She also owns a pair of cowardly, mischievous, magic-sniffing pet dweasels (dragon-weasels), the brothers named Rufus and Twig (the first purple and the second green). The goony duo serves as her spies and scouts who can detect "magic bits" and in fact it is them who even find the Dark Stone that then bounds them with Kale. The dweasels call her Kale "Great Witch" / "Witchy One" / "Witchy Thing" / "Witchy Witch" and are often verbally and physically abused by their mistress whenever they disappoint or just annoy her, but they keep on faithfully (and happily) serving her nevertheless.

Outlaws

The Outlaws in "Prince of the Forest"

Kale Kit-0

Kale with Kit in "Home Sweet Home Heart Stone"

Aiding Kale on her schemes of conquest are her other underlings, in particular the band of Outlaws who appear in both seasons when she hires them to help (and also intimidates them with a prospect of "a one-way ticket into the Wild Magic" if they fail her). Kale also has some human admirers willing to secretly help her gain power, such as Lord Delphonse (the innocent Sorrel gets wrongly accused of being a spy for Kale, but in truth he adores Tamara). Unfortunately for her misguided followers and greedy supporters, Kale has only loved only herself (not unlike Lord Batton) and Grimm, and would gladly betray and abandon anyone and anything else without a pity or remorse—just like she is ready to let the destructive wild magic loose in Avalon. Kale also plans to have good magic animals turned to evil and work for her. For this goal she almost succeeds with Sunstar early on, and with the baby prism fox Kit along with a whole bunch of random Heartland Farm animals on another occasion.

Fashion and style[]

Kale adventure

Lady Kale is known for her deceivingly good looks that she takes a great care to emphasise and play up. She is usually wearing glamorous and formfitting costumes in the shades of red/pink and purple/violet, along with red/purple make-up and long red nails. She is also always seen wearing her crystal earrings which are the same as Anya's except differently colored (just like their eyes, Anya's being blue). Her original full-bodysuit costume is leather.[6]

Kale Antonio

'Madame LaPayne' and Antonio

Kale's "power-up" Jewel Armor—her main costume through the series—a dragon-themed suit with a long cape, thigh-high boots, and scaly right shoulder and arm guard. In "Fashion Fever", an incognito Kale goes as Madam LaPayne in an especially flamboyant appearance described as "a dark clad figure in a Morticia Addams style cape."[7] In another episode, "The Fortune Jewel", she also magically transforms herself into a plump and short woman as part of her disguise of the innocuous innkeeper of the "Ye Ol Magic Inn". Among her other outfits, Kale sometimes magically dresses herself in Anya's lavender royal dress. Her other fashion includes "velvet gowns, sequined shawls, a tiara, jewellery, etc."[8] (In "Jewel Quest II", she threatens to use Sunstar's wings to make a shawl for herself.)

Kale 134
Kake ff
Kale sp
Kale snap

Lady Kale is also the perhaps most expressive out of all regular human characters in the show, showing a wide range of often extreme emotions—such as disgust, hatred, fury, fear, and even sarcastic mock sympathy and feigning freight. This is often shown in a very theatrical / cartoonish ways, as she strikes dramatic poses, laughs/cackles evilly, claws the air, and generally tends to "chew the scenery" over-react to things. At the end of the final episode of the first season, her eyes briefly glow red magic power; this is happening more often in the scripts.

Kale pose

Three senes from a storyboard of "Wizard's Peak" (production note: "Think 'Jafar' for this attitude.")

Appearances[]

LK

First season[]

Kale group attack

Kale in the Dragon Wagon in "Jewel Quest, Part I"

Kale fall

Fallon's magic throws Kale from the Wagon in "The Faery Princess"

Kale dress

The Sun Stone-wielding Kale wearing Anya's royal dress in "Dreamfields"

Lady Kale spends most of the episodes of the first season either competing with the Jewel Riders in the search for the Crown Jewels or trying to steal the Jewel Box, Merlin's key, and the other magic jewels. In all of these efforts, however, Kale fails every time as the heroines, especially Fallon, always manage to fight off or trick her and collect each of the stones. For instance, in "The Faery Princess" she attempts to take over the Faeryland as a perfect new kingdom for her to rule since the faeries are so tiny and peaceful but the Jewel Riders arrive in time to the rescue, and in "Home Sweet Heart Stone" she attempts to turn Kit the prism fox into her new magic animal but fails again and just barely survives being sucked into the Wild Magic. In "Dreamfields", Kale actually walks away from claiming a Crown Jewel to reflect on the motives of her actions and Gwen then tells her aunt that she believes there is still goodness deep inside her and that one day it can prevail over the bad things she feels.

Queen Kale

'Queen Kale' over the throne of Avalon in "Revenge of the Dark Stone"

During the season's two-part finale, Kale actually succeeds in the latter as she seizes control of the Jewel Keep at the Crystal Palace. Becoming seemingly invincible, she overthrows Anya, unleashes the dark magic onto Avalon, time-freezes everyone in New Camelot, and strips the Jewel Riders of their powers using her invention of what he calls the anti-magic. In "Full Circle", it seems that all hope is lost for the Jewel Riders. But when Kale turns her full attention to seek out Merlin and finish him off, the wizard uses his remaining powers to pull Kale into the Wild Magic. Merlin then holds her there for long enough for the girls to release the positive magic of the Crystal Palace (revealed as the most powerful Enchanted Jewel in Avalon) and replace him with themselves in binding the gathered Crown Jewels' matrix setting. Unaware of this, Kale attempts to tune the Crown Jewels to herself, after being led into believing she managed destroy Merlin when she got his staff for herself. This results in her being helplessly trapped in her own magic matrix by the power of the Crystal Palace. Since Kale had lost the Dark Stone, after the staff's jewel breaks in her hands and she is left unprotected from all that wild magic of the Crown Jewels out of the Jewel Box, she quickly ends up disintegrated. Once the short reign of Queen Kale ends, all the dark spells she cast are lifted—except of Merlin to remain exiled, as it turns out he sacrificed his own Jewel to prevent Kale from taking over the magic of Avalon.

Second season[]

Kale_vs._Morgana-_Retrospective_&_Reaction_-_Princess_Gwenevere_(Starla)_and_the_Jewel_Riders

Kale vs. Morgana- Retrospective & Reaction - Princess Gwenevere (Starla) and the Jewel Riders

Kale restored

Lady Kale the moment after she was brought back to life in "Morgana"

For a while, it seemed that the Jewel Riders' victory was complete. Besides her animals, not even a trace has remained of Kale in Avalon after her magical demise, having been "dissolved into pixie dust" that was then dispersed by the Crystal Palace through the infinity of the Wild Magic. But very soon, unexpected by everyone in Avalon, Kale undergoes an equally magical resurrection after the Dark Stone is summoned to a floating palace inside the void of the Wild Magic. There, she re-materializes and meets her accidental rescuer—who turns out to be no less but the creator and original user of the Dark Stone, who is revealed as the legendary evil Queen Morgana. Following a brief showdown between them, in which Kale proves she now controls the Dark Stone, the two evil women grudgingly decide to team up. Kale is thus sent back to Avalon in search for the other Wizard Jewels in a preparation for the return of Morgana and the deciding battle between the forces of light and dark.

Kale and Morgana
OutlawPrincess

Kale quickly picks up Grimm and the dweasels and goes on her first mission for Morgana. She soon faces the Jewel Riders' greatly increased powers since they now have the Crown Jewels tuned to themselves, forcing Kale to rely on the extra magic of Morgana herself in her encounters with Gwen's group and friends. She sarcastically jokes this is "the power of friendship" in action, too, but the bossy Morgana insists Kale works for her, and not with her. In fact, the ever ambitious and proud Kale has no plans of sharing the Wizard Jewels with Morgana (or even informing her on the stones' locations) and even secretly plans to get rid of her as soon as possible.

Soon after her return, Kale attempts to have the Jewel Riders destroyed by ordering the Guardian to do this, but he breaks free from her (and really Morgana's) power. In "Fashion Fever", she again sneaks into the Crystal Palace in disguise and copies a map of the Wizard Jewels locations, fencing-off both Drake and Fallon to make her escape. In "Mystery Island", she manages to swim out of the underwater cavern trap without the Jewel Riders' ability to transform into a mermaid, and then ends up trapped in time in the prehistoric Avalon but still somehow (off-screen) manages to return to the present era without the Time Stone. (This episode was the last to air during the series' original syndicated run on Amazin' Adventures, leading many viewers at the time to believe this was the end of the entire story, with Kale was literally last seen there). Trying to keep the control over one of the jewels away from Morgana, Kale decides to spare the life of Gwen's love interest Ian captured by the Outlaws during "Prince of the Forest", which eventually proves to be her undoing.

Jewel Riders crystallized

Kale triumphant after defeating most of the Jewel Riders in "Lady of the Lake"

Kale Morgana GT

Kale and Morgana close to taking over Avalon in "Lady of the Lake"

Kale's final appearance is in the show's next-to-the-last episode, "Lady of the Lake" ("Spirit of Avalon"), when she nearly destroys the Grandfather Travel Tree and then together with Morgana she turns most of the Jewel Riders and their animals into statues. Kale then gives her niece an option to give up the Wizard Jewels and save herself, but Princess Gwenevere fights on to save her friends, Merlin and the goodness of Avalon. With a crucial help from her loving devotee Ian, the princess uses the Staff of Avalon and the collected Wizard Jewels against her wicked aunt at the Misty Moors beach near the Isle of Myst—Gwen's spell hits the Dragon Wagon, which crashes and she is ejected turned into a statue herself, along with her minions. (In the draft script of "The One Jewel", Gwen would instead use the Sun Stone and the Staff to create a mirror shield and reflect Kale's own spell at her. She is also described as crystallized—rather than turned to stone, as it seems to happen in the show.[9])

Kale's_Stone_Cold_-_Princess_Gwenevere_(Starla)_and_the_Jewel_Riders

Kale's Stone Cold - Princess Gwenevere (Starla) and the Jewel Riders

Morgana soon comments: "You've gotten rid of that thorn in my side, Kale, once and for all." Kale then only makes a small cameo in her now, as Gwen says, 'stone-cold' form early on in "The One Jewel" ("The Last Dance") when she can be briefly seen as Ian picks up the Dark Stone for its later use in their fight against Morgana. (There, Kale and her minions are actually shown as burrowed into a dune, as they were described in the original script of "Lady of the Lake".) The Dark Stone itself soon ends up destroyed, and it even seems that all of dark magic is now gone as the second season ends, excluding any possibility of Kale being somehow again brought back just by its power as she did after the first season.

Theoretically, Merlin's new One Jewel should be able to restore Kale, just like Gwen saved her friends from the same fate using the Staff of Avalon just moments after defeating her, if they wished so. The sequel comic, to be released in 2024, does not even mention Kale in the volume 1 sneak preview. While it did promise the return of "a foe the Jewel Riders thought they'd once vanquished", as of January 2024 it is yet to be released did it mean Kale or Morgana (if even any of them).

Behind the scenes[]

Queen of the Crown

Queen of the Crown from The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers

Portrayal[]

Corinne Orr

Corinne Orr

Lady Kale was played by Corinne Orr, as was Kale's good twin Queen Anya. Previously, Orr has also voiced the Queen of the Crown from The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, a character similar in many ways to Kale and also created by Robert Mandell. Orr recalled it was lot of fun with portraying "Queen Kale, oh she she was so evil!"[10] Her deliberately over-the-top performance was dubbed over by Margrit Straßburger in German, Évelyne Grandjean in French, Cinzia Massironi in Italian, and Annica Smedius in Swedish.

Inspirations[]

Evil Queen Kale

The Evil Queen from Disney's Snow White influenced Lady Kale's looks and character

DW seat

The Wagon's seat jewel pattern, the same as on Kale's belts and boots

Kale seems to be in part based on the Arthurian figures of Lady of the Lake (of which "Lady Kale" is an anagram) and also Morgan le Fay, especially since the character of Morgana did not seem to exist even in the backstory when the show's first season was planned. Just like the legendary Lady of the Lake (also known as Nimue or Vivian), Lady Kale is a a former student of Merlin who would later suddenly imprison him into a tree (here via the Travel Trees); the Lady was also a princess in some versions of the legend, and in the original scripts Kale would find the Dark Stone in a lake ("pool").[11] The show was originally supposed to last just one season that would end with Kale's defeat by Merlin and the Jewel Riders. For the second one it was decided for Morgana to become the main villain and for Kale to return but for a smaller role. Eventually, the actual Lady of the Lake appears as a wholly positive (even if very mysterious) character to give Princess Gwenevere magic to defeat Kale seemingly for good.

Development[]

Kale lower

One storyboard's jewel armor variant with bare thighs and below-knee boots, also missing shoulder guard and the waist and leg belts

Kale power ball

A storyboard showing Kale casting a magical power ball using her hands

Lady Kale's character originated from the largely male "evil adversaries" of the original project to adapt the book series Dragonriders of Pern. They were described as "renegade murderous dragonriders from the South Continent" engaged in "huge conflicts" with the heroes,[12] and Kale had already existed by the time when the Dragonriders of Pern project turned into that of Jewel Riders by the working title Enchanted Camelot, having kept her giant dragon. In fact, Kale and Morgana "were both versions of the Morgan from the Arthurian legends."[6] The work on Kale's design began with establishing of her color palette to "reds and blacks and purples" as to help easily visually identify her as a villain.[13] According to art director Greg Autore, "the asymmetric look was part of the original plan to make her look a bit off without fully understanding why. This gave you subconscious mistrust of the character. Reds, blacks and touches of purple to look more evil."[6]

Kale pic
Kale magic hands

Magical energy emanating from Kale's hands (here gloved in her main costume)

In early versions of the show, including Enchanted Jewel Riders and Enchanted Camelot from late 1994, there have been major differences in her character. Kale was to have "florescent" hair color (her doll does have fluorescent purple hair), bronze skin, and steel grey eyes. Autore said it "made more sense on screen to go bold in black" with her hair.[6] She would have wear the Dark Stone from her neck (similar to how the Pack's knights wear their Forest Stones), and when using it would cause "the power to totally possess her, causing bright purple lights to shine from her eyes."[2] The original design was her to be clad in smooth chainmail, but it was found too hard to animate.[14] Greg Autore elaborated that her "chainmail would always be worn with something underneath. In this case I assumed a heavy silk."[6] Some storyboard pictures show Kale using her hands to directly control magic similar to Merlin and Morgana, or wielding a whip as a weapon; these concept were also abandoned. Kale was also to have three more minions in addition to Grimm and the dweasels: Nitemary ("giant blue bat, grumpy whiner"), Slither ("green snake, nasty, has a sweet tooth for owls"), and Geezer ("purple singing goblin"). She was also supposed to have been "planning to recruit a magical animal army to storm New Camelot."[2]

Kale 006

An early sketch vs final version

Kale sa

A more symmetrical storyboard sketch

Some earliest publicly available graphics of Kale can be found in a March 1995 "final storyboard" for the first episode of the version under the working title Princess Guinevere and Her Jewel Adventurers. In it (and some later storyboards), Kale's original costume was more revealing, along with with a few variants of her "powered-up costume" (jewel armor). She can be also seen there with noticeably rounder eyes as well as shorter and either completely straight or extremely curly hair (instead of her usually very long waves), and with circle (and not crystal drop) shaped earrings. Autore said: "On Kale it had more to do with the harsh dominance of the color red and not because it was a primary color. It fit her character best (harsh and dominating) – so I designed her in red. One thing to note if you are studying her [jewel armor] costume. I made it specifically asymmetrical to give an subtle tone up front that she was not quite right/good. The secondary animals [for Kale] were dropped since she was no longer the prime antagonist."[15] The exact colors changed repeatedly in the course of development, along with the details of her costume (at first leotard-based) and body (with her skin color initially described as "burnt orange" but later lightened while makeup was added along with some cleavage).

Fallon and Kale figures

Fallon's and Kale's figures

Autore also said he did not like how Kale's action figure (which under-performed in sales) turned out: "The result (in my mind) was that the figure ended up looking like Lady Kale’s little sister and not like the cool character from the show. Therefore, I would not make that mistake again. Morgana would have had a [mature] woman's body and even been a bit taller. It was a shame since Kale had such a cool feature with light up eyes."[16] He added, "She was also not very girl-friendly so she was watered down. In hindsight – she was watered down too much. Later we pushed it two different directions – cuter more girl friendly and older more femme fatale for screen."[6] Kale's figure has purple hair, as opposed to Fallon's black, and scale-like armor.

Legacy[]

Kara

The Dark Sorceress with Kara

Lady Kale (along with some aspects of Morgana) inspired the character of Dark Sorceress (Miranda), an evil Dark Mage and prime antagonist in the Avalon: Web of Magic franchise.[17] Both of them have serious sibling issues towards their queen sisters and attempt to corrupt the descendants of their respective good twins (Gwen-like Kara in case of Avalon). Miranda "covets the magic of Avalon and wants to rule the crystal city."

The Dark Sorceress and the Spider Witch also have a villain team-up during the second half of Avalon, as do Kale and Morgana in Jewel Riders. Furthermore, the Dark Sorceress has an army of Shadow Creatures, magical animals that she has turned to dark magic and enslaved, which is notably similar to the original concept of Kale's animal army. She also uses dream magic and tries to corrupt the protagonists, like Kale does in "Dreamfields". Even the manner of her final defeat in the final book Full Circle is similar to how Kale was (originally) defeated in the episode "Full Circle".

In the novels, the Dark Sorceress is wearing a dress similar to Kale's from "Fashion Fever". In the animated series, she has an outfit similar to Kale's jewel armor, complete with a big cape.

Corinne Orr

Kale's voice actress Corinne Orr posing with a fan (Lisa Miray Hayes) and Kale's doll in 2007

Meanwhile, Kale herself has remained a popular character among the fandom of the show and a clear favourite of many. For instance, winning the "Miss Avalon 2017" poll of The Jewel Riders Archive against all three Jewel Riders with two/third of all votes.[18] In our own poll run for 3 years in 2017-2020, only a third of the readers were satisfied with what happened to Kale in the show, the rest votes split between her being revived and given another chance, winning and ruling together with Morgana, and ruling alone (in fact the most popular option).

See also[]

References[]

  1. Starla i les amazones de les joies - Descripció dels personatges
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Enchanted Jewel Riders Show Bible – The Jewel Riders Archive
  3. Lady Kale's profile at the original official website
  4. Jewel Quest script (Enchanted Quest)
  5. Badlands (script)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Five - The Jewel Riders Archive
  7. The Fortune Jewel (script)
  8. Dreamfields (script)
  9. The Dragon Wagon dives for the Wizard Jewels. Kale stands and whips the Dark Stone. The magic shoots toward Gwen. Gwen holds up the Staff of Avalon high! On the Staff is the Sunstone. Gwen holds up the Staff of Avalon high! On the Staff is the Sunstone. Powered by the Sunstone, The Staff forms a mirror shield in front of Gwen and Ranger. Kale's magic blast reflects off of the mirror and bounces back right at the Dragon wagon. The Dragon wagon is encircled in Kale's own magic blaze. KALE "Ahhh!! No!! Argle!" The Dragon Wagon barrels down on Gwen and Ranger, but it is turned to crystal. Gwen and Ranger duck as The Dragon Wagon crashes into the beach, plowing into a sand dune. A huge furrow rips where the dragon wagon tears through the sand. The crystal Dweasels fly into the dune sticking in head first with their feet sticking out. Grimm slams into the sand dune head first, his big feet sticking out! Kale lands on top, a crystal statute standing over the frozen crystal wagon.
  10. Ep 7 | Princess Gwenevere/Starla and | The Jewel Riders Archive Podcast | Corinne Orr
  11. Jewel Quest (script)
  12. Dragonriders of Perm – The Jewel Riders Archive
  13. Episode 003 - Greg Autore Interview Part Two
  14. Ep 12 - Greg Autore Interview Part 4 (Jewel Riders Art Director | Disney Doll & Mattel Toy Designer)
  15. Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Three | The Jewel Riders Archive Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Three | The Jewel Riders Archive
  16. Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Four | The Jewel Riders Archive
  17. Character Comparison: The Dark Sorceress | The Avalon Archive
  18. "Who would you vote for Miss Avalon 2017?"

External links[]


Characters
List of characters
List of episodic characters

Main characters
Jewel Riders (Princess Gwenevere, Fallon, Tamara, Sunstar, Moondance), Lady Kale, Morgana, Archimedes, Drake
Major characters
Merlin, the Pack, Shadowsong, Queen Anya, Ian, Rufus and Twig, baby animals
Other characters
King Jared and Goliath, Grimm, Thunderbolt, Cleo, Spike, Travel Trees, Guardian, ancient wizards, Lord Batton, Gliders, Kit, Arienda and the Faery Wraiths, Outlaws, Wintermane

Magic
12-10

Magic, Wild Magic, Jewel Quest, Jewel Armor
Magic jewels
Enchanted Jewels (Sun Stone, Moon Stone, Heart Stone), Crown Jewels, Wizard Jewels (Dark Stone)
Places and items
Avalon, Crystal Palace, Enchanted Gardens, Hall of Wizards, Morgana's lair, Jewel Box, Merlin's key
Main magic users
Merlin, Wizards (Morgana), Kale, Jewel Riders (Gwenevere, Fallon, Tamara, Sunstar, Shadowsong, Moondance)
Other magic users
Anya, The Pack (Drake, Thunderbolt), Ian, Rufus and Twig, Babies (Cleo, Spike), Travel Trees, Guardian of the Magic, Arienda and the Faery Wraiths, Wild Magic Gliders, Kit

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