She jokingly quoted a famous line from 'Dragon Tales' — only for her fiancé to reveal the character was based on him

Rewatching cartoons you enjoyed as a kid can bring up certain emotions and feelings of nostalgia. Imagine Kelly King's (@kelking98) surprise when she uttered a few lines from an old cartoon show, and her fiancé, AJ Mejia, told her he was the inspiration behind one of the characters. In an exclusive interview with People, Kelly, a dancer and social media influencer, revealed how she found out her fiancé and his sister inspired the characters of Max and Emmy on Dragon Tales.

On March 1, King posted the video on TikTok, which has received 414.1k views and 24.8K likes so far. She captioned it, "This was not on my 2026 bingo card." 

Kelly told PEOPLE that she and AJ were making breakfast one morning, when she said the famous lines from Dragon Tales, "I wish, I wish with all my heart…," when he responded with, "You know I was the inspiration for Max in Dragon Tales." Initially, she thought he was lying and making a false claim until she called his sister, Lia, to confirm.

"She’s the reliable one... so I called her, and she confirmed the exact same story... I was shocked, and honestly... you could see the resemblance," King said.

The story of how AJ and Lia became sources of inspiration for Max and Emmy started with their late great aunt, Leah Leary. She had a gift shop called The Laguna Gander in Laguna Beach, California, where she sold photo frames and sometimes used pictures of her great-niece and great-nephew for the displays. Ron Rodecker, an artist and creator of Dragon Tales, was friends with Leary, and he drew dragon pictures and put them up in Leary's shop.

One day, he was asked to work on the series, and took inspiration from the photos of AJ and Lia, which he had seen in the store. He continued to send Leary dragon photos, often featuring a little girl and a boy. After hearing the story, Kelly said, "Honestly, his family is so cool and well-connected that once I realized he wasn’t lying, it actually felt totally on brand for him and his sister to inspire Max and Emmy."

Dragon Tales was originally released in 1999. The show lasted for three seasons and was aired on PBS. It is an "animated educational fantasy children's television series" following the adventurous lives of Emmy and Max, along with their dragon friends. It’s funny how a simple line from a childhood show can still feel so personal years later. Research suggests that the sense of joy while watching a cartoon show can actually strengthen bonds and well-being for families.

A national Canadian survey of more than 1,000 parents and children found 79% of parents love watching cartoons with their kids. 87% parents said that hearing their child laugh while watching brings them great joy. The study also revealed that 98% of children aged 3–10 watch cartoons at least once a week, and 95% of Canadians agree that laughter is good for overall well-being. Additionally, 86% of respondents said cartoons help build fond childhood memories, and 88% of parents hope their children will have similar memories of watching together. 

The majority of the comments did not believe AJ was the actual inspiration, while others asked Kelly to elaborate further on the story and even give them proof so they could believe it. @mckennacomets wrote, "I promise you there’s a Dragon Tales Wikipedia somewhere that has his name on it, and you HAVE to update it!" @jebba91 commented, "Yeah, imma need you to update us with all the details."

You can follow Kelly King (@kelking98) for more updates and dance content.

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