Jackie Chan has achieved in Hollywood what many actors could only dream of. He emerged as a known action star in the industry after coming from a different film industry, armed with only broken English. The Western audiences became familiar with Jackie Chan after the crazy edge-of-the-seat action thriller, Rumble in the Bronx. He later became even more popular with the Rush Hour franchise.
He was still a newbie to the American audiences when Sony decided to gamble big on him for a TV show. They presented the animated series, Jackie Chan Adventures, to an audience who were still warming up to him. Interestingly, the Sony chief’s idea gave birth to one of the most beloved cartoon series by Chan.
The story behind how Jackie Chan Adventures came into being, even before his fame
While Jackie Chan became familiar to American audiences with 1998’s Rush Hour, he was still relatively new when he became a cartoon character for Sony Television. Jackie Chan Adventures followed an Indiana Jones-like animated version of Chan going on adventures with his Uncle and niece Jade, working for an organization called Section 13.
It was Sony Television’s then-vice president Andy Kaplan who noticed Chan in Rush Hour and wanted to create an animated action-adventure. She told SYFY, “Jackie’s audience is far and wide. So I thought if we could create a fun show that highlighted Jackie’s multi-layered talents, maybe we’d have something special.”
Kaplan conveyed the idea to Sony’s then-head of Family Entertainment, Sander Schwartz. He had some concerns regarding the show, beginning with Chan’s little connection to the audience. His film with Chris Tucker was undoubtedly a hit, but Schwartz believed that the young audience of their show was still not familiar with Chan.
However, they decided to gamble on the actor, and John Rogers was brought in to come up with a script. Rogers was a huge fan of Hong Kong action cinema, and one of Chan’s films helped him set the tone of the series: 1986’s Armour of God. He told SYFY, “He goes on adventures, chasing artifacts; all we had to do was figure out a way to make it kid-friendly.”
Rogers pitched it to Sony, who approved it and brought on Jeff Kline and Duane Capizzi as writer-producers. It was Capizzi who added one of the most interesting elements in the series after being inspired by 1987’s A Chinese Ghost Story. He combined elements of magical Hong Kong cinema with the action-comedy of Chan.
Sony then pitched the series to Kids’ WB, which was popular at the time due to Pokémon. They were happy to add this series to their lineup, as their former President, Donna Friedman Meir, shared, “That basically, I had been handed the equivalent of Friends at 8 o’clock on Thursday night.”
The show ran for a total of five seasons and 93 episodes. It aired in over 60 countries. Each episode also included a fun section at the end where Jackie Chan and the show creators would answer questions from several kids in a fun Q&A.
Jackie Chan’s dedicated efforts often included ignoring injuries
The stunts choreographed and performed by Jackie Chan himself, especially in his earlier days in the industry, were anything but safe. The Police Story actor has endured multiple injuries, often displaying glimpses of these mishaps in behind-the-scenes videos at the end of his movies.
In the 1986 film, Armour of God, Jackie Chan was nearly killed in a reckless stunt. Chan had to jump off a cliff onto a tree, and on the first take, Chan nailed the jump. However, The Myth actor insisted on another take, during which he fell from the tree, almost 40 feet to the ground.
Chan broke his skull upon impact, and a piece of bone struck his brain, and he was flown to a hospital for immediate surgery. The accident left a permanent hole in his brain and a slight hearing loss in his right ear.
In yet another incident, The Foreigner actor had to drop from a clock tower to the ground in the 1983 film, Project A. Chan landed twice on his neck in two different takes. He revealed that this neck injury left him unable to speak clearly for almost two years.
Earlier in his 1982 film, Dragon Lord, Chan injured his chin and couldn’t speak properly throughout the rest of the film. Notably, he was also the director of the latter film. In Rumble in the Bronx, he had to jump from a bridge onto a hovercraft in the climax, and broke his ankle in the process. This unwavering commitment eventually earned him his stardom.
Jackie Chan Adventures is now available for purchase on AppleTV.
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