Jay Jay the Jet Plane

*Jay Jay the Jet Plane*
Jay Jay the Jet Plane
Also known as	Jay Jay
Genre	Children's television series Musical
Created by	David Michel; Deborah Michel;
Written by	John Semper; Eleanor Burian-Mohr;
Starring	Eve Whittle (US); Vanessa Stacey (UK); Brian Nahas;
Voices of	Mary Kay Bergman; Debi Derryberry; Gina Ribisi; Chuck Morgan; Sandy Fox; Donna Cherry; Michael Donovan;
Narrated by	John William Galt (pilot series); Chuck Morgan (US); Michael Donovan (US); Brian Cant (UK);
Theme music composer	Stephen Michael Schwartz; Parachute Express
Opening theme	"Gee, How I Love to Fly" (1994–1996); "Jay Jay the Jet Plane Theme Song" (1998–2005)
Ending theme	"Gee, How I Love to Fly" (Reprise) (1994–2004); "Jay Jay the Jet Plane Theme Song" (1998–2005)
Composers	Craig Dobbin; Brian Mann;
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	62 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	David Michel; Bruce D. Johnson; William T. Baumann; Chris Walker;
Producer	David Michel
Running time	25 minutes
Production companies	PorchLight Entertainment; Modern Cartoons; Wonderwings.com Entertainment; Knightscove Family Films;
Release
Original network	Direct-to-video (pilot series); TLC (US; November 2, 1998 – March 14, 2000); PBS Kids (US; June 11, 2001 – November 25, 2005);
Picture format	NTSC
Audio format	Dolby Surround
Original release	Pilot series:; December 13, 1994 – October 29, 1996; CGI/live-action series:; November 2, 1998 – November 25, 2005;

Jay Jay the Jet Plane is an American live-action/CGI-animated musical children's television series which aired on The Learning Channel, PBS Kids, TBN and Smile.^[1] The series aired for a total of 4 seasons and has 62 episodes. The series is centered on a group of aircraft that live in the city of Tarrytown and takes place at the Tarrytown Airport. The episodes were commonly distributed in 25-minute-long (without commercials) pairs, with one header sequence and one end credit for each pair. Each episode contains one or more songs.

The theme song and many of the other songs were written by well-known children's singer/songwriter Stephen Michael Schwartz and sung by his popular musical group, Parachute Express. The series was created by David and Deborah Michel and was intended to be educational to teach life and moral lessons to children.

History[edit]

Original Series[edit]

Early episodes using physical models ('Pilot Series')[edit]

In late 1994, a short live-action series was produced at AMS Production Company in Dallas, Texas, with real model plane characters, and handcrafted human characters; they had the same personalities as in the later series. This original series was narrated similarly to the first twelve seasons of Thomas & Friends, or Theodore Tugboat.^[2] Three videos were released: Jay Jay's First Flight in December 1994, Old Oscar Leads the Parade in February 1995, and Tracy's Handy Hideout in October 1996. This original series was narrated by and features the voices of John William Galt. These three were known as the "pilot series".

CGI and live-action-based episodes[edit]

On November 2, 1998, the CGI-animated/live-action series premiered on The Learning Channel as part of the Ready Set Learn block. Voice actress Mary Kay Bergman provided the original voice of Jay Jay, Herky, Savannah, and Revvin' Evan. After her death, Debi Derryberry and Donna Cherry replaced her.

In 2005, new episodes were produced featuring additional characters, including the red Latina monoplane Lina. Each episode begins featuring a Jay Jay's Mysteries segment in which Jay Jay and Lina explore things that may be mysteries to the intended age group, such as how planes fly, and how the five senses are used. The mysteries segment is followed by a story that comes from the third season episodes of the series, so in effect, the new series repackages previously broadcast content on the subchannel networks Qubo and Smile. It aired on Channel 5 and Tiny Pop in the UK.

In 2019, Yippee TV became the exclusive streaming service of Jay Jay the Jet Plane.^[3]

Reboot[edit]

Promotional announcement image, depicting the new design of Jay Jay.

A new reboot of the series titled The New Adventures of Jay Jay the Jet Plane^[4] (originally titled The New World of Jay Jay the Jet Plane) has been confirmed through Trilogy Animation Group's website. The first trailer for the show was released in July 2022. Until the day of launching, it is still currently in development and in production.^[5] The characters' were completely redesigned, and made to look more cartoony, newer, and like the original series, it will be CGI-animated.^[6]

Characters[edit]

Young planes[edit]

Jay Jay (voiced by Mary Kay Bergman in Seasons 1 & 2, then later by Debi Derryberry in Season 3 and the reboot after Bergman's death and Donna Cherry in Jay Jay's Mysteries in the CGI/live-action series) is a small brown (originally in the pilot series) blue jet plane who acts as a twin brother figure, and is 6 years old.
Tracy (voiced by Gina Ribisi in Seasons 1 & 2, and later by Sandy Fox in Season 3 and the reboot Jay Jay's Mysteries in the CGI/live-action series) is a small pink jet plane who is Jay Jay's twin sister and best friend. She is 6 years old and has normal hearing but understands American Sign Language.
Snuffy (voiced by Gina Ribisi in Seasons 1 & 2, and later by Sandy Fox in Season 3 and the reboot Jay Jay's Mysteries in the CGI/live-action series) is a small green, later yellow propeller-driven monoplane who is a good friend of Jay Jay and Tracy, and is 4 years old. He is equipped for skywriting.
Herky (voiced by Mary Kay Bergman in Seasons 1 & 2, and later by Debi Derryberry in Season 3 and the reboot after Bergman's death and Donna Cherry in Jay Jay's Mysteries in the CGI/live-action series) is a small (originally in some of the pilot series) yellow helicopter who is Jay Jay's friend, and is 5 years old.
Ricky Rescue (voiced by Josh Keaton) is a yellow and red helicopter who acts as a teenage brother figure. He is known for his rescue duties. He is Herky's twin brother. Like Herky, Ricky has skids and cannot taxi on the ground.

Adult planes[edit]

Big Jake (voiced by Chuck Morgan in Seasons 1 & 2, then later by Michael Donovan in Season 3 in the CGI/live-action series and James Mathis III in the full CGI reboot) is a silver, later slate blue propeller-driven Lockheed Super Constellation, Lockheed Model 10 Electra plane who acts as a father figure to the young planes.
Savannah (voiced by Mary Kay Bergman in Seasons 1 & 2, then later by Debi Derryberry in Season 3 after Bergman's death in the CGI/live-action series and Ozioma Akagha in the full CGI reboot) is a silver, later purple supersonic jet from Georgia who acts as a mother figure. She speaks with a heavy Southern accent.
Old Oscar (voiced by Chuck Morgan in Seasons 1 & 2, and later by Michael Donovan in Season 3 and the reboot Jay Jay's Mysteries in the CGI/live-action series) is an old gray (originally in the pilot series) green biplane who knows all sorts of flying tricks and acts as a grandfather figure.

Road vehicles[edit]

Revvin' Evan (voiced by Mary Kay Bergman in Seasons 1 & 2, and later by Debi Derryberry in Season 3 and the reboot after Bergman's death and Donna Cherry in Jay Jay's Mysteries) is a red fire engine.
Tuffy (voiced by Sandy Fox) is a confidential tow truck and is the cousin of Revvin' Evan.

Humans[edit]

Brenda Blue (portrayed by Eve Whittle in the US version, Vanessa Stacey in the UK version of the CGI/live-action series, and later voiced by Stephanie Southerland in the full CGI reboot) is a woman in a blue jumpsuit and usually wears a red cap or a blue cap, as well as a pair of red high top Converse. She is in charge of the airport and is the airplane mechanic.
Miss Lee Jones is the librarian who works at the Tarrytown Public Library. She is deaf and cannot speak, and uses sign language. Tracy and Brenda are able to translate her.
E.Z. O'Malley (portrayed by Brian Nahas in the CGI/live-action series) is the founder of E.Z. Airlines, with cousins Grumpy O'Malley (who lives at Dewdrop Farm), Pierre O'Malley (lives in France), and Tex O'Malley (lives in Texas).
Mrs. Blue is Brenda Blue's mother, who sometimes visits Tarrytown Airport.

Jay Jay's Mysteries[edit]

Lina (voiced by Ashley Whittaker) is a red propeller-driven monoplane and Old Oscar's niece from Mexico.
Montana (voiced by Donna Cherry) is a purple propeller-driven safari plane who only appeared in two Jay Jay's Mysteries episodes alongside Lina.
Captain Bob is a firefighting plane.
Peter Petey is a semi-trailer truck.
Solar is a yellow solar-powered monoplane with 6 propellers and long, wide wings covered by solar panels on the tops of the wings.
Truckee is a dump truck.

Episodes[edit]

Season		Episodes	Originally aired (United States dates)		Original network
Season		Episodes	First aired	Last aired	Original network
	Pilot series	12	December 13, 1994 (1994-12-13)	October 31, 1995 (1995-10-31)	Direct-to-video
	1	12	November 2, 1998 (1998-11-02)	December 21, 1998 (1998-12-21)	TLC
	2	14	January 4, 1999 (1999-01-04)	March 14, 2000 (2000-03-14)	TLC
	3	14	June 11, 2001 (2001-06-11)	July 20, 2001 (2001-07-20)	PBS Kids
	4	10	September 5, 2005 (2005-09-05)	November 25, 2005 (2005-11-25)	PBS Kids

Reception[edit]

Common Sense Media gave the series a four out of five stars, saying, "Parents need to know that this series offers young fans life lessons such as valuing friends, overcoming shyness, and learning to like yourself. Kids will enjoy the often funny antics of 6-year-old Jay Jay and his friends. Don't be surprised if you catch your preschooler singing along with the show's simple songs."^[7]

References[edit]

^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 442–443. ISBN 978-1476665993.
^ Amazon.com Jay Jay's First Flight VHS. ASIN 6303398499.
^ "Jay Jay the Jet Plane". Yippee TV.
^ "Trilogy Animation Group Reveals New Animation Slate".
^ "Animation Studio | Trilogy Animation| Orange County | United States". Trilogy Animation.
^ "resume". Denis Morella Animation Portfolio.
^ "Jay Jay the Jet Plane - TV Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. October 19, 2009.

External links[edit]

Jay Jay the Jet Plane at IMDb

[1] Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 442–443. ISBN 978-1476665993.

[2] Amazon.com Jay Jay's First Flight VHS. ASIN 6303398499.

[3] "Jay Jay the Jet Plane". Yippee TV.

[4] "Trilogy Animation Group Reveals New Animation Slate".

[5] "Animation Studio | Trilogy Animation| Orange County | United States". Trilogy Animation.

[6] "resume". Denis Morella Animation Portfolio.

[7] "Jay Jay the Jet Plane - TV Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. October 19, 2009.

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